Revocation of Board Certification for Legally Permitted Activities

Abstract

From the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. I n 1917, the American Board of Ophthalmic Examinations (precursor to the American Board of Ophthalmology) was founded. It was followed by the founding of the American Board of Otolaryngology in 1924 and the America Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG) in 1930. The number of medical specialty boards increased rapidly during the 1930s and 1940s, and currently there are 24 boards offering certification in more than 140 specialties and subspecialties. Medical specialty boards developed in part to justify and define a specialty. Boards sought to ensure clinical expertise by certifying that their diplomates had a defined body of knowledge and skill. Board certification also helped make specialty practice economically viable by limiting entry into the specialty and minimizing competition from nonspecialty physicians. To protect the quality and reputation of their imprimatur, their diplomates, and their specialty, boards also developed professionalism requirements for obtaining and maintaining board certification. The purpose of medical specialty boards is to serve the public. Boards that are now responsible for certifying physicians typically emphasize professional, ethical, and moral standards in reserving the right to revoke board certification. Standard reasons include falsely obtaining board certification, having a medical license limited or revoked, or committing a felony. Several of the boards permit revocation for misdemeanor convictions of moral turpitude, convictions that have a “material relationship to the practice of medicine,” or unauthorized disclosure of examination content. In 2010, following publicity about the practice of lethal injection, the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) incorporated the American Medical Association’s opinion regarding physician participation in capital punishment into its reasons for revocation of board certification: