Please join us in congratulating Elizabeth Board, M.D. and Sonza Curtis, N.D. on passing the 2014 Institute For Functional Medicine Practitioners Certification exam!!!!
- There are only 3 “IFMCP”s in Georgia!!!! This means they know their stuff, as if we did not already know that! In fact, there are only 213 IFMCP’s in the country!
- Also, Dr. Board is board certified in Pain Management and Acupuncture and Dr. Curtis is a certified physician’s assistant and naturopathy practitioner.
So what does “Board Certified” mean?
1) PHYSICIAN – Anyone who graduates from medical school is called a “PHYSICIAN”.
2) LICENSED TO PRACTICE MEDICINE – Legally, they cannot practice medicine without be “LICENSED” by the state in which they wish to practice. This sets the minimum competency requirements to diagnose and treat patients.
3) BOARD CERTIFIED – In addition to medical school, physicians can go into Residency where they receive training in medical specialties (e.g. anesthesiology, obstetrics) and subspecialties (e.g. pain management). Medical specialty certification in the United States is a voluntary process and can last three to five years after medical school. Training is longer for subspecialties. Each specialty has their own Board (e.g. American Board of Anesthesiology) and the American Board of Medical Specialties oversees all certification programs. At the end of training, physicians take an exam and if they pass, they become “Board Certified” in their given specialty.Depending on the specialty, physicians need to study for and take recertification exams to maintain their ‘Board Certified’ status. For example, this year Dr. Board took the renewal exam for Pain Management and scored in the top 13%! Historically, 25% of physicians who take this exam fail, which indicates it takes rigor to stay Board Certified.
Currently, there is not a Board of Functional Medicine; however, IFM may become a Board of Functional Medicine. In the interim, they remain the preeminent resource and training facility for Functional Medicine, therefore, a Practitioner Certification from IFM carries weight in the medical community.