Administrative Fellowship Program

There are a number of Administrative Fellowship Programs available for those who are interested in medical management or administrative medicine.

Here's what you can expect from some of these programs:

• Directly access senior executive teams, who serve as mentors, through action learning projects;
• Observe decision making and strategy at the senior level;
• Lead and support special project that are aligned with key strategic initiatives
• Strengthen leadership & management skills by assuming full operational responsibilities in an inpatient unit, clinical practice and/or specialized shared services

Medical universities and health systems that currently offer administrative fellowship programs include:

U Penn
Emory
Harvard
Johns Hopkins
MD Anderson
Mass General
Mainline Health
Northwestern Memorial
and many others

Some medical boards provide a Special Purpose Medical License for Administrative Medicine. You may want to check with your state medical board to see if such a license is offered and/or required in order for you to practice non-clinical administrative medicine.

The number of inactive physicians in the United States is growing

This is the conclusion in a journal article published last year: "The number of inactive physicians in the United States is growing." When the Research Advisory Committee of the American Board of Pediatrics investigated the issue of active vs. inactive physicians in the United States, they found a growing number of inactive physicians. Why? Read the abstract:

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this research was to explore state physician licensing board policies and regulation of active, inactive, and retired licenses. METHODS: We conducted structured telephone interviews from January to March 2007 with representatives of all 64 state allopathic and osteopathic medical licensing boards in the United States. All of the licensing boards participated. RESULTS: Only 34% of state licensing boards query physicians regarding clinical activity at both initial licensure and renewal. The majority of boards allow physicians to hold or renew an unrestricted active license to practice medicine, although they may not have cared for a patient in years. Only 1 board requires a minimum number of patient visits to maintain an active license. Five boards allow physicians with inactive licenses to practice some form of medicine, whereas 7 boards allow physicians with retired licenses to practice. Few states have any mechanism to assess the competency of clinically inactive physicians who return to active practice. CONCLUSIONS: The number of inactive physicians in the United States is growing. Currently, state medical board policies do not address the issue of continuing competence in license renewal. Greater medical safety concerns on the part of the public will likely lead to calls for greater accountability by state licensing authorities.

Freed GL, Dunham KM, Abraham L; Research Advisory Committee of the American Board of Pediatrics. Protecting the public: state medical board licensure policies for active and inactive physicians. Pediatrics. 2009 Feb;123(2):643-52.  PMID: 1917163

5,721 disciplinary actions against physicians in 2009

According to an annual report from the Federation of State Medical Boards titled, Summary of Board Actions, state medical boards initiated 5,721 disciplinary actions against physicians in 2009. This is roughly a 6% increase from 2008.  You can view the 2009 annual report from the FSMB here.

Each year, the Federation of State Medical Boards publishes the Summary of Board Actions, a compilation of disciplinary actions initiated by its 70 member medical boards. In addition to providing disciplinary data, the report includes information about the context in which each board operates, including standards of proof required when prosecuting cases and the health care professions regulated. This year’s report includes disciplinary data for each board from 2005-09. During 2009, state medical boards took 5,721 actions against physicians, an increase of 342 actions over 2008. To view annual Summary of Board Actions reports since 1990, please go to “Physician Data Center” at www.fsmb.org.

The FSMB emphasizes that the data from this report should not be used to compare or rank states. Why? Because each state operates with different financial resources, levels of autonomy, legal constraints and staffing levels. The Summary of Board Actions is most useful in tracking trends in physician discipline within each state over time.

Disciplinary Actions Against Physicians Up in 2008

Each year, the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) publishes the Summary of Board Actions , which is a collection of disciplinary actions initiated by its 70 member medical boards. There are currently over 960,000 physicians in the United States. According to the summary report, in 2008, state medical boards took 5,379 actions against physicians, an increase of 60 actions over 2007.

The Public Citizen also produces a report and ranks different states:
Public Citizen’s Health Research Group Ranking of the Rate of State Medical Boards’ Serious Disciplinary Actions, 2006-2008 (HRG Publication #1868). A low ranking state identified by the Public Citizen often results in increased activity or funding for that state’s medical board.

Get ready for some acronyms now, because here are the professions regulated by a Board. I thought that you might find this interesting because you may not realize that all these healthcare professions are regulated by a Board.

AT-athletic trainer; ACU-acupuncturist; ANA-anesthetist assistant; AUD-audiologist;
BLD-biological lab director; CP-clinical perfusionist; CT-cosmetic therapist; CHI chiropractor;
CIS-cardiovascular invasive specialist; CPM-certified professional midwife;
CPP-clinical pharmacist practitioners; DO-osteopathic physician; DEH-dental hygienist;
DEI-dietician; ELE-electrologist; EMT-emergency medical technician; GC-Genetic
counselors; HAD-hearing aid dispenser; HYP-hypnotherapist; ICU-mobile intensive care
unit; LO-licensed orthotist; LP-licensed perfusionist; LPR-licensed prosthetist; LPED licensed
pedorthist; MA-medical assistant; MD-allopathic physician; MDX-MD X-ray
operator; MP-medical physicist; MR-medical resident; MT-massage therapist; MW midwife;
NA-nurse anesthetist; NAT-naturopath; ND-nutritionist; NM-nurse midwife;
NP-nurse practitioner; OT-occupational therapist; OP-optometrist; OTA-occupational
therapist assistant; ORT-orthotist; PA-physician assistant; PER-perfusionist; PT-physical
therapist; PTA-physical therapist assistant; POD-podiatrist; POL-polysomnograph
personnel; POM-Practitioner Oriental Medicine; PRO-prosthetist; RA-radiology
assistant; RE- registered electrologist; RN-registered nurse; RAT-radiological
technologist; RCP-respitory care practitioner; RET-respiratory therapist; RIT-resident in
training; RTL-radiological technologists limited; RPA-radiology practitioner assistant;
RRT-radiological technician; SA-surgical assistant; SL-speech language pathologist;
SLA-speech language pathologist assistant; SPA-Specialist Assistant