It’s almost impossible to judge a professional’s skills if you’re not a member of that profession. Only a radiologist can say whether another radiologist accurately read a CT scan. Only a dentist can attest to the quality of the crown another dentist fits over a molar.

So how do you, a layperson, judge the qualifications of your doctor? If they drive fancy cars, wear designer clothes, and charge the highest fees in the community, you can be sure they’re successful. But does that mean they’re qualified? You can ask your girlfriends or your sister or mother to recommend someone. You can determine whether you have rapport with a physician. But that won’t tell you about qualifications, either.

If you want to know whether the kind, caring person you select has the minimum qualifications, there’s one way to determine that. Go here to see whether your doctor is board-certified.

Board certification isn’t mandatory. Once a doctor gets a medical degree and a state license to practice medicine and surgery, he or she can practice any specialty. No law requires a doctor to complete a four-year residency in a specialty, such as ob-gyn, in order to be called a specialist. Nothing prevents a doctor from giving him or herself the title of obstetrician or fertility expert or perinatal specialist or really, almost anything.

But only board certification assures you that the doctor has earned that title.

A board certified doctor has gone a giant step further than a physician who hasn’t passed her boards. After completing a residency program, passing a written test in the specialty, and practicing for a year or two, she’s gathered up all her cases and submitted them to an august body known as the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Before these distinguished university professors and chairs of departments, she’s been extensively questioned about real and hypothetical situations and asked about diagnoses, patient management and treatment.

As an oral examiner for the American Board of Ob-Gyn since 1997, I’ve certified hundreds of new ob-gyn candidates who have proven their capabilities under difficult circumstances. And there were some who did not pass because they didn’t meet those high standards.

So I speak from experience when I say that board certification is the minimum you should expect from your doctor.

– Yvonne S. Thornton, MD, MPH