State Medical Licensing Boards Research Articles

Voluntary National Examining Board.

Detroit, Mich., May 12, 1902. <h3>To the Editor:</h3> —I again endorse the idea of a voluntary national examining board. The establishment of such a board and the movement toward interstate reciprocity can go very well in hand, and will probably do so for some time to come. It is to be hoped that all those who will participate in the meeting of the American Medical Association at Saratoga-especially those who will attend in an official capacity—will study the subjects and become familiar with the various sides of the questions. Some information may be furnished by the confederation of members of Reciprocating State Medical Examining and Licensing Boards, a meeting of which, as I understand, will take place in Chicago, May 20. Very truly yours,

A NUCLEUS OF STATE RECIPROCITY IN LICENSING.

Representatives of the State Medical Examining and Registration Boards of the States of Indiana, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin met in Chicago last week and organized under the title of the Confederation of Members of Reciprocating State Medical Examining and Licensing Boards. The objects of the organization were embodied in the report of the committee to draft a policy, which was adopted and which is given elsewhere in this issue. The states formally endorsing this report will be guided by it, but will arrange an itemized standard of preliminary qualifications and medical course that will be required. This seems like a seriously conceived step toward reciprocity of licensure and we hope it will prove to be in the right direction. It appears from the report that there is left a large discretion with the several Boards, which is, we believe, as it should be. Limitations by ironclad rules, making it necessary

The scientific expert in forensic procedure

To examine the relative qualifications of expert witnesses testifying on behalf of plaintiffs vs defendants in ophthalmology malpractice litigation.Correlational and descriptive study; analysis of expert witness and physician demographic data available on several databases.The Westlaw legal database was searched for ophthalmologist expert witness testimony from January 2006 to June 2014. Physician demographic data were used as the main outcome measures, including length of experience, scholarly impact (as measured by the h-index), practice setting, and fellowship training status and were obtained from state medical licensing board sites and online medical facility and practice sites. H-indices were obtained from the Scopus database.Defendant and plaintiff expert witnesses had comparable mean years of experience (32.9 and 35.7, respectively) (P = .12) and scholarly impact (h-index = 8.6 and 8.3, respectively) (P = .42). Cases tended to resolve on the side of the expert witness with the higher h-index (P = .04). Significantly higher proportions of defendant witnesses were in academic practice (P < .05) and underwent fellowship training (P < .001).Ophthalmologist expert witnesses testifying for both plaintiffs and defendants had over 30 years of experience and high scholarly impact. Practitioners testifying on behalf of plaintiffs were statistically less likely to work in an academic setting and have subspecialty training. Scholarly impact of expert witnesses appeared to affect trial outcomes. Surgical societies should stringently police for appropriate expert witness testimony given by both plaintiff and defense experts in malpractice litigation.

Conference of State Medical Examining and Licensing Boards.

—The third annual meeting of the Conference of State Medical Examining and Licensing Boards will be held in Milwaukee, Wis., June 7, 1893. The following subjects will be discussed, and we will be glad to have you notify us of your intention to prepare a paper on some one of them, and take part in the discussion of any or all of them. We will also be glad to have you suggest, in advance of the meeting, other subjects you may think it desirable to discuss. The Evolution of State Medical Examining and Licensing Boards. Their present and prospective influence in elevating the moral and intellectual tone of the profession. Composition of Boards. The desirable number of members. The desirable appointing power. The advantages and disadvantages of separate boards representing the different schools of practice. Provisions of the Various State Laws. Should the possession of a diploma from a

Conference of State Medical Examining and Licensing Boards.

Conference of State Medical Examining and Licensing Boards.