Specialty Certification: Do Not Be Afraid

Michael.....first, that surgery test we took was useless....next , so is the NCCPA  and finally...get a couple more initials after your name and you won't need specialty certification . It will take so long to figure out the initials they'll be frustrated and give you the gig !

A PA should be versatile..but should know one thing well. If you were an Anesthesiologist for the rest of your life you would need Certification every few years...also an Internist, Orthopod etc...BUT a PA needs to be adaptable. In those fields you would be making enough money to never change and as an MD you could do whatever you want. As a PA...I don't think so. It probably will not hurt to have that little extra but it might if you don't and everyone else does. When everyone gets it , it will mean NOTHING ! It is simply a way for NCCPA to make a buck. In a few years they'll come up with another marketing device...History repeats.

NCCPA's "Specialty Certification"  examinations for Psychiatry, Emergency Medicine, Orthopedics, Nephrology and Cardiothoracic Surgery is short sighted and even worse will lack the needed credibility to be taken seriously.  

Medical Boards will not recognize the certification.  Hospital Previlege Committees will find this new credential lacking in demonstrated competencies.  

The idea that 25 hours of CME in the specialty of choice is going to influence practice behaviors is questionable.  The examinations will be difficult to construct due to a need to demonstrate reliability and validity.  It is hard to see a group of specialty PAs agreeing on a core knowledge blueprint for the specialty exam development and what if a seasoned PA with some 20 years of specialty experience fails the "specialty certification" examination....will their competencies be called into question?  What about those specialty PAs who choose not to participate.....will these folks be casted as inferior to the new Speicalty Certified PAs?  

It seems to me a meaningful certification process needs to include a formal component for higher learning.  It should advance the profession and demonstrate on the candidate a willingness to gain new clinical knowledge that will benefit the patients they serve.  NCCPA "Specialty Certification" process does not center on improving patient care, rather it is nothing more that a self-recognition of past achievements.

By the way the NCCPA is not replacing the PANRE (Recert Exam) with the Specialty Certification exam.  Passing a specialty examination will not satisfy the requirement to take and pass a core "primary care" recertification examination.

I respect Mr. Doll's concerns about recent pressures to be able to prove skills and accountability.  I too took and passed the NCCPA surgery exam without ever having been in the OR other than during my PA training.  As someone who has credentialed PAs for over two decades, I can assure you that simply possessing an extra credential from the NCCPA will never qualify one to be a specialist in any given area.  The credentialing process is far more sophisticated and proof of skills will require procedure/patient logs, references to specific skills, and demonstration of training for specific tasks.  All of these are readily available to the profession without the introduction of confusing and potentially career limiting certification examinations.  The NCCPA surgical exam went away because of lack of interest despite protests from the profession.  Where is the groundswell of interest in creating five new exams?  

Mr. Doll is correct in his assessment that the NCCPA is responding to potential competition in the exam market but it is the profession that may potentially suffer from this risky venture.  The dollars being spent to develop something that no one is asking for, are your dollars.  The NCCPA is doing many great things with their excess revenue but this is not one  of them.

Recognition of specialty skills is absolutely necessary and should be pursued by our respective profession organizations to meet the demands of public accountability.  Special certification will not satisfy those issues but has the potential to destroy our professional flexibility.