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Rand Paul's ophthalmology certification not recognized by national clearinghouse

danarhea

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U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul says he is a "board-certified" ophthalmologist -- even though the national clearinghouse for such certifications says he hasn't been for the past five years.

Rand Paul, who practices in Bowling Green, says he is certified by the National Board of Ophthalmology, a group that he incorporated in 1999 and that he heads. But that entity is not recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties, which works with the American Medical Association to approve such specialty boards.

Now, before everyone starts blasting away at Rand Paul, let me make a couple of points.

1) Rand Paul WAS certified up until about 5 years ago.

2) Certification with a sponsored group costs a lot of money.

3) Rand Paul saw this as extortion.

4) So Rand Paul created his own specialty board, and certified himself.

5) Rand Paul is still the same guy, with the same abilities he had 5 years ago.

Rather than telling me that Rand Paul is incompetent, it tells me that he practices his Libertarian views in real life. He is going to take a lot of heat here, and this may very well cost him his Senate race, but kudos to him for practicing what he preaches. If I lived in Kentucky, I would still vote for him.

Article is here.
 
4) So Rand Paul created his own specialty board, and certified himself.

It's one thing to start his own board because he's unhappy with the existing one (assuming that's legal). But certifying himself? That sounds pretty shady. At the very least, it's a huge conflict of interest IMO.
 
The whole forming a new group and then letting it lapse only to reform it in 05 makes this kind of shady. At the same time, the guy went to Duke Med School, was board certified until he refused to pay the re-up fees, and is admitted to practice at the two local hospitals, so its not like he's some Tijuana hack.
 
Sounds to me like he's a cheap skate.
 
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To me, much like the interview with Rachel Maddow, it just makes him look not ready for the prime time. Whether his actions where really that bad here, it looks bad. Reviving the board to apparently certify himself cannot help but raise eyebrows.
 
To me, much like the interview with Rachel Maddow, it just makes him look not ready for the prime time. Whether his actions where really that bad here, it looks bad. Reviving the board to apparently certify himself cannot help but raise eyebrows.

Yeah, pretty much. I mean, I don't doubt his skills as an ophthalmologist, but in what freaking specialized industry like this do people self-certify?

Or maybe I'm just jealous. They, uh, don't let pilots self-certify. :)
 
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