RE: The High Cost of ABFAS Certification
I passed the ABFAS foot certification 7 years out of residency. How do I feel? Relieved and very bitter! After a repeat failure rate for case submission of 60%, I have finally been granted a PASS my final year of board qualification. The fourth time was a charm. Not calculating my time spent gathering the massive amount of documentation required, I have spent over $6,000 for this piece of paper to send to hospitals and surgery centers to keep my staff privileges. I am not calculating the loss of revenue I could have been making as a shareholder in a surgery center during this time that requires ABFAS certification after 5 years.
Annual Board Qualified dues: $205 x 7 years= $1435, Cost to take the Board Qualification (foot and ankle)=$1,500, Cost to take Board certification (foot only)= $225+$425+$475=$1,275, Repeat Foot case submission= ($225 + $425) x 3 = $1950, Total= $6,160
Where is this money going? Is California really an appropriate headquarters for our boards? How many of the grandfathered-in diplomates could pass the boards today? Does our profession need another class action lawsuit in order to see change? This is a restriction of trade to many of our fellow podiatrists. We are the lowest man on the totem pole of doctors and our boards are keeping the young down even further and holding our bank accounts hostage on top of the student loans and cost to run a practice. Something has to change!
Name Withheld
