PROFESSIONJudging and being judged: The thankless job of doctor disciplinePhysicians who serve on state medical boards aren't always popular, but they're necessary.By Damon Adams, AMNews staff. April 12, 2004. He doesn't wear a police badge or a carry a nightstick, but some people make themselves scarce when David Garza, DO, enters a room. "Sometimes the conversation in the doctor's lounge dies down a little or changes topics when you walk in. Sometimes people just scatter," said Dr. Garza, a family physician in Laredo, Texas. Such reactions often come with serving on a state medical board; Dr. Garza is a member of the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners. Physicians who serve on the boards that license and regulate doctors acknowledge that their work is often thankless. Charged with policing the profession, they are viewed by some as the equivalent of internal affairs officers of a police department -- a position that can attract guardedness and disdain from colleagues. Their decisions also come under scrutiny from state legislators and consumer watchdog groups, who sometimes criticize boards for doing a lousy job of disciplining doctors. But board members say the positive aspects outweigh the negative. They say many colleagues respect and credit them for keeping watch over the few doctors who get into trouble. They believe their actions promote professionalism, and that medicine is made better by guidelines they create on matters such as pain medication and end-of-life care. "It's tough to sit there and make decisions that affect a physician's livelihood. Nobody praises the work the board does," said N. Stacy Lankford, MD, a retired urologist and member of the Medical Licensing Board of Indiana. "There's a healthy tension between the general physician public and the board, and I think it's appropriate. We're not there to represent physicians. We're there to represent the public." [...]Full text of AMNews content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.
Copyright 2004 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
|
AMA meeting special section
See comprehensive House of Delegates coverage. Meeting coverage | Slide show | PDF Feature articlesWhat's in a number? Cost variance figure drives policy and courts controversy Breaking through barriers Incoming AMA president ready to tackle tough issues Twitter What's the use? Physicians tell how they use the microblogging tool
Follow us on Twitter
Comprehensive coverage
Most-viewedJuly 6 issueHouse health reform bill first to tackle Medicare physician pay Hospital system tries letting patients read physicians' notes Columns and series
From the vault: 5 years agoAMA studies liability surcharges July 5, 2004We're hiringClinical topics reporter
|