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well hey guys in this video we're going
to be talking about what exactly a
board-certified dermatologist means i
introduce myself in a lot of my videos
as a board-certified dermatologist and i
do that because with each video i put
out inevitably they're going to be new
people watching me for the first time
and i'm trying to introduce myself but i
do get a lot of questions here and there
what exactly does that mean what does it
mean to be a board-certified
dermatologist versus any other type of
dermatologist are there other types of
dermatologists and how does it differ
from other types of doctors so in this
video we're going to explain what it
means to be board certified in the u.s
and why it's important i say in the u.s
because every country has its own system
for
qualifying and certifying their medical
providers their
medical specialists so i'm only going to
be speaking to the process here in the
u.s to be a board certified
dermatologist means that you hold a
certification that affirms you have met
the high standards as set forth by your
peers for knowledge experience and a
commitment to lifelong learning as is
necessary to provide the highest quality
of care to all patients in regards to
treatment of skin hair and nails yes
that's right most people think of
dermatologists as just knowing about
skin but we're also experts in diseases
and conditions of the hair and the nails
and being a board-certified
dermatologist basically means that you
have gone through the training and
you've passed the required exams and
you've proven yourself to know to have
the knowledge and to be able to apply
that knowledge in terms of skin hair and
nails to patients and you have made a
commitment to
lifelong learning to stay up to date
basically on the state of dermatology
being certified is not the same thing as
having a medical license medical
licensure in contrast to board
certification sets the minimum
competence necessary in order to
practice medicine in a given state it is
dictated and governed at the state level
so in order to practice medicine a
medical doctor has to have a license to
practice medicine in their state you can
be a licensed medical doctor but you
can't see patients in another state
unless you get a license in another
state in contrast certification is
specific to the specialties of medicine
there are over 24 different specialties
of medicine dermatology is one of them
you also have internal medicine surgery
pediatrics obgyn ophthalmology i could
go on and on and you also have sub
specialists within those specialties for
example dermatology is a specialty for
which you can be board certified and
then within dermatology there are
subspecialties that you can get
additional board certification in
mohs surgery a specific type of
dermatologic surgery is one type of
subspecialty certification is specific
to specialties and subspecialties so
having a medical license that means you
have the minimum competence necessary to
diagnose and treat patients whereas
certification means that you have
achieved a high
level of knowledge in a specific
specialty of medicine whereas
certification attests to an individual's
advanced knowledge and training in a
specific area of medicine so for me it
is dermatology i am certified by the
american board of dermatology
but for other doctors out there say your
ob gyn for example they're going to be
board certified or they should be board
certified by the american college of
obstetrics and gynecology your child's
pediatrician should be board certified
in by the american board of pediatrics
your
doctor who you see may be board
certified in family medicine or maybe
board certified in internal medicine
depending on what type of
in generalist that you see how do you
get a certification from the american
board of dermatology what do you have to
do in order to get there you have to
complete at least three years of
specialty training in dermatology and
you have to pass a series of tests that
confirm that not only do you have the
knowledge of dermatology
including skin hair nails but that you
can apply that knowledge to patients and
third you have to make a commitment to
stay up to date basically to stay
current and you have to go through the
american board of dermatology
for life as long as you hold that
certification continuing to submit
evidence that you are up to date on your
knowledge there are a variety of
activities that you have to participate
in and periodic self-assessments to make
sure that you are staying up to date in
the new advances in dermatology so once
you earn the certification it's not as
though it's a one-and-done thing you
have to keep you have to maintain it
it's called maintenance of certification
and that entails again periodic
self-assessments
um and
taking these tests for example i have to
go in every couple of months and take a
little test and that test gets submitted
to the american board of dermatology
they keep track of how i do on that test
i also have to participate in so many
hours a year of continuing medical
education credits to make sure that you
are basically staying up to date by
participating in this maintenance of
certification it assures your patients
your colleagues and you yourself it
keeps you accountable basically that
your knowledge base is continuing to be
of that high caliber that patients
deserve when it comes to the treatment
of what you are certified in the reason
certification by these boards is so
important is that it tells the public
and it tells other doctors and it tells
hospitals that this individual has met
qualifications necessary to deliver
quality care for
their particular niche not only have
they achieved that level of knowledge
but they have made a commitment to
continue to build on that knowledge as
the field advances you have to stay up
to date for example it's 2022 there are
so many new medications for the
treatment of acne eczema and psoriasis
that didn't exist when i was in training
as a dermatology resident so i have to
stay up to date on all that stuff and i
have to prove that i am up to date on
all that stuff by taking these periodic
self-assessments online that gets
submitted to the american board of
dermatology pursuing a board-certified
dermatologist for
assessment of a skin condition
why does it matter well there are over 3
000 different skin conditions out there
and let me tell you this when it comes
to the working knowledge of most
physicians
at the point of medical school and
residency training outside of the
dermatology residency you get maybe at
most throughout your career one to two
months of skin education that is not
enough to cover all of these skin
conditions so and it's not something
that is really taught
to the degree necessary in order to
practice dermatology throughout medical
school so while a family physician will
feel pretty confident and competent in
the diagnosis and treatment of common
skin issues like acne and eczema they
may be able to comfortably initiate the
first steps of management when it gets
to
the more advanced cases then they want
to refer to a dermatologist who has the
necessary training and expertise to
begin initiating more advanced therapies
monitoring more severe disease and then
of course there are all of these other
conditions out there that dermatologists
really have the knowledge base not only
to diagnose but to appropriately treat
and manage so what does it mean to be a
dermatologist versus a board-certified
dermatologist well a dermatologist i
guess someone could call themselves a
dermatologist if they have gone through
the path necessary to get into the
training program and maybe even complete
the training program but they haven't
yet obtained board certification by
passing the necessary steps to get that
certification what does it take to
become a dermatologist in the u.s you
have to complete medical school which
here's four years and then you have to
complete at least one year of required
prerequisite postgraduate
medical training basically you're taking
care of patients in the hospital it's
not
seeing dermatology patients it's taking
care of patients in the hospital it's
called the intern year so you have to do
that and then you have to complete a
dermatology residency and that is at
least three years it can be longer if
you're like me and you choose to
do a research fellowship during
residency it can be longer or you do
some kind of combined program but to
keep it simple it's a three-year
residency so that's just what it takes
to be a dermatologist but then you need
to do that additional step to become
board certified and it matters because
it basically affirms that you did all
this training you learned what you
needed to learn to actually take care of
patients apply that knowledge to patient
care and then you have to in order to be
a board certified dermatologist you have
to pass those exams that test your
knowledge and test that you can apply
the knowledge to the care of actual
patients and then you have to make it a
commit commitment to maintain your
certification by going through periodic
assessment continuing medical education
to affirm and report back to the board
of dermatology that you are up to date
on all the advances that happen in
dermatology that's for dermatology the
other medical specialties like
pediatrics ob gyn they all have similar
things that they have to do maybe not
exactly the same but pretty similar
stuff they have to make a commitment to
maintain their certification that's not
to say however that like your family
medicine doctor who is not board
certified dermatology can't diagnose and
manage some very basic skin conditions
and skin issues and many do part of
being a good physician is knowing the
limitations of your knowledge and
expertise and being able to refer out
this is where board certification really
matters too is because your
board certified pediatrician for example
who is well qualified in diagnosing and
managing issues related to the care of
children
uh you know probably feels very
comfortable
diagnosing and managing some very common
skin problems but as part of a
professionalism in medicine they realize
the limits of their knowledge base in
certain skin issues that may be too
severe beyond their knowledge base and
they want to then refer to a board
certified dermatologist being board
certified it's kind of you know
it instills the confidence that you
actually are the one to refer to
versus just somebody out there who
who maybe just be calling themselves a
dermatologist so
that's why it matters for doctors doctor
to doctor i guess board certification
also matters though for you as a
consumer of the health care system
and especially in dermatology and
plastic surgery a lot of things that
people
seek out aren't necessarily
required they're elective
cosmetic procedures so seeing that a
dermatologist or plastic surgeon is
board certified it gives you some level
of confidence that they are competent
and have achieved the milestones the
necessary training they have the
necessary experience
to ensure the highest level of quality
care basically that doesn't mean being a
board certified dermatologist
automatically makes you the best
doctor out there but it does mean that
you have gone through a lot of training
beyond what other peers will have gone
through
for the diagnosis treatment and
management of diseases of the hair skin
and nails understanding what board
certification means also is important
for those of you who
consume social media which are watching
this video so presumably you consume
some amount of social media there are a
lot of physicians and healthcare
providers on social media with a large
platform and i think that's fantastic i
really do think that that is wonderful
when i first came onto youtube there
weren't very many i mean there were some
but there were not as many as there are
now and i really think that that is a
fantastic change but it i think it's
helpful for you as a consumer of social
media to understand
what the qualifications of the person
you are following for example
as i reiterate in a lot of my videos i
am a board certified dermatologist
if i came on here and started a youtube
channel
say i started a youtube channel from
scratch you'd never heard of me i came
on here and i presented myself as a
board-certified physician
and rather than talking about
dermatology which is what i'm board
certified in i start talking about
pregnancy and i start telling you know
doing videos about what to expect when
you're expecting i start doing videos
about the birthing process that would
definitely be not something that i'm
qualified to do
yeah as a medical student i did six
weeks of ob gyn then i did some more ob
gyn and my family medicine rotation i've
delivered babies believe it or not i've
scrubbed into c-sections as part of my
medical training but i am not an ob gyn
but if you don't know those nuance
differences between being a licensed
board-certified physician and what what
all those things actually mean you can
see how it's easy for people on social
media to use their credentials in a
potentially misleading way that's not to
say however that somebody who is a
licensed physician is not qualified to
speak about medicine i mean going
through medical school does put you at
it you know
gives you a an area of expertise that a
lot of people on the internet do not
have
um but i think for people who are
consuming social media it's important to
understand what someone's credentials
are anyways y'all i'm gonna wrap this
video up i hope it was helpful to you
all if you liked it give it a thumbs up
share it with your friends and as always
don't forget sunscreen and subscribe
i'll talk to you guys tomorrow bye
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