Views on recertification

It seems to me that the only real reason licensing bodies are going ahead with mandatory certification, as described in a CMAJ editorial,¹ is the sense that “we should do this ourselves before someone does it to us” and the hope that we can create a better public perception without necessarily providing better care. I reject these as very poor reasons for increasing physician stress and expense and effectively reducing physician human resources (through time taken for studying and examinations).

Stanley Lofsky Family Physician Toronto, Ont.