Initial Certification Research

Published: Comparison of State Board Disciplinary Actions in Board-Certified Versus Non-Board-Certified Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians

Summary by Lawrence R. Robinson, MD

Board certification is not required for medical licensure in the United States (US), although it is sometimes required for hospital privileging or participation in some payer plans and may be used as an indicator for patients to consider when selecting a physician. In other specialties, board certification has been associated with positive physician and patient outcomes. It has also been associated with a lower risk of disciplinary actions (DAs).

To better understand the potential impact of physician practice for those who did not attain ABPMR certification, the objectives of this study were to: (1) estimate how many physicians who were enrolled in a PM&R residency program are licensed to practice medicine without ABPMR board certification and (2) assess DA differences between board-certified versus non board-certified physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians.

There were 14,729 physicians with matched American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Federation of State Medical Boards data. Of these, 93% had attained initial American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation certification and 7% had not. Compared with the board-certified physicians, those who never passed part I (attempted once or more) were 4.7 times more likely to have a disciplinary action (P < 0.001), and those who passed part I with multiple attempts but failed part II (1 or more times) were 3.3 times more likely to have a disciplinary action (P = 0.013).

We conclude that absence of American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation certification is noted in approximately 7% of physicians who undertook PM&R residency training and obtained medical licensure. These individuals are at higher risk for state medical board disciplinary action.

Read the abstract or download the full article, which has been published online ahead of print: Comparison of State Board Disciplinary Actions in Board-Certified Versus Non-Board-Certified Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians

Robinson, Lawrence R. MD; Raddatz, Mikaela M. PhD Comparison of State Board Disciplinary Actions in Board-Certified Versus Non-Board-Certified Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians. American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation 101(7):p S26-S29, July 2022. | DOI: 10.1097/PHM.0000000000002009