Board Certification is complete...I am a "Board Certified" doctor!

Well, I recently returned from Los Angeles, California--I flew up there from the Bayou state of Louisiana for my Part II Oral examination to complete the process of becoming a Board Certified physician...i.e. a "Diplomat of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology." I had taken and easily passed the Part I written exam with flying colors in May of 2010 on my first attempt; and, the second part ("the orals") was then offered to those of us that had passed that written examination component (about 67% of doctors pass it).

The Part II Oral exam has a 50-60% failure rate, as it is much more difficult than the written. There is a 1 hour live patient interview followed by a 1 hour section composed of 4 written and video vignettes (short stories of patient cases). I managed both sections quite well as I was examined by a crowd of older, Board Certified psychiatrists throughout the day. And I PASSED IT! I have a huge sense of relief and accomplishment, as there is nothing more challenging in the field of Medicine than for a doctor to be granted Board Certified in their specialty by a group of their peers.

Being a Board Certified doctor is not just the "icing on the cake," so to speak, it is the lit candles,too! This is truly the pinnacle of success...the peak of the mountain. There is nothing higher to strive for and achieve. This certification, and becoming a "Diplomat" in the medical field, represents superior clinical competency and demonstrates mastery in one's specialty of medicine.

So, by the age of 34 years-old, I have published research work in a major medical journal (Academic Psychiatry), graduated from a residency training program through Harvard Medical School, and have been awarded Board Certification. This endeavor (becoming a doctor) has certainly had its challenging times, and it has been a long journey of 9 years and 5 months--I started this in August 2001 one week after my 25th birthday. It required good ole' perseverance, tenacity, and a refusal to let those around me over those years try to throw me off track from achieving this dream. Life is full of people who will try to manipulate you towards their own selfish agenda.

It's great to be home in Louisiana and to now have everything maximized in the academic, clinical, and career fields of medicine. Now, it's time for a full, 100% pursuit of enjoyable, "extracurricular" activities!