Expert: Ronald Levy, M.D. - 4/6/2009

Question
I just found out that the the anesthesiologists used for colonoscopies in my Dr.'s. office are not bd. certified! Shouldn't I have a bd. certified one? If so, tell me why or why not Bd. certified is necessary. I think I should have such. Why would they use otherwise? Thank you.

Answer
That gets into a complicated issue. Board certified does not necessarily correlate with competance. It just means they have (at one time) passed a written and oral exam. There are several reasons why someone might not be board certified. The most common is that they recently graduated and haven't taken the tests yet. These people MAY be the best to have since they have the most recent knowledge but on the other hand the least experience. The may not have boards because they couldn't pass the tests...this is obviously not good. Or they just never decided to take the exam. You should go to the ABA website and search for the anesthesiologist:

https://secure.abanes.org/portal/WhosCertified.asp

It will tell you if they are certified, when and for how long. If they are not certified, see if they are board-eligible. If so, they are still in the exam process.

Depending on where the practice is located, there may not be any bd certified docs around. If you have any questions, ask them why they don't use bd certified anesthesiologists.

Ronald Levy, MD
Professor of Anesthesiology
UTMB-Galveston