I just had to weigh in on the examination subject ("The Perfect Patient," October JADA) because it has been a sore point with me for years.
I have been practicing for 15-plus years now and still feel that the [examining boards] do nothing to protect the public. There were a few classmates who passed the clinical exams whom I would not want treating me because of marginal skills. There were fine students who failed because of patient no-shows or unacceptable lesions. The exam did nothing but cause them emotional and financial hardship. It is crazy to put all eight years of college on the line like that.
A number of years ago, I had an opportunity to go to Florida but had to forgo it because of the restraints of getting licensed there. My friend, who is a surgeon, had no problem getting a license to practice medicine there. If the public needed protection, you would think it would be more necessary for a surgeon.
If a person graduates from an accredited school, we should have confidence in that training and allow people to practice where they want without restraint.
