The 11 hour exhaustive hearing (which I did witness) was inundated with numerous well substantiated claims against the Board. There is no doubt that the Board has spend tons of tax-payer dollars disingenuously including in preparation for this hearing. More importantly, with respect to my blog, they have cancelled their October Licensure Committee Meeting amidst all the recent controversy (allowing registered sex offenders to maintain licensure, Board members being serving in a dual capacity for plantiff’s attorney’s against doctors and sitting on the board to discipline doctors, and members of the board “indirectly” filing complaints of members of their professional community deemed the “competition.” This brings me to the purpose of this blog. The Licensure division of the Texas Medical Board.

I am a oncologist who cares for those with cancer, specifically cancer of the breast. I am a native Texas who graduated from Texas A&M University and went on to Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center. After graduation, I left our great state to do my internship, residency, and fellowship in the leading centers of the world, including Yale Medical School and Cornell-Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. During this eight-year saga after medical school I managed to go into debt over $100,000. My husband worked to bring this debt down as I worked 90+ hours a week making little more than minimum wage during my post-graduate training. After the long and difficult road, we were very happy to receive a job offer back in Texas. We accepted the offer to be close to family and give back to people of the state of Texas, despite having attractive offers around the country. A good friend of mine warned me about the lengthy process of the licensure division. I had received my medical licenses in Connecticut and New York in 1 and 3 months respectively. Knowing this, I applied for my Texas license before I actually accepted the job here in Texas. The rumors were absolutely true. The Texas Medical Board licensure division process was the worst I have ever experienced. The staff were rude, discourteous and would not spend any time speaking to you to discuss where the process was being held up with your file. They stated they were overburdened by the number of new applications, which are up considerably due to Tort Reform. So, I waited patiently.

Months later, I received an email stating that pieces of the application were missing or incomplete. The “missing” articles were missing because someone at the Board misplaced them. I only could prove this to them after several hours of phone conversations because I had sent it return receipt and it was signed for by the Board. This prompted an additional delay of several months to my application after I returned what they had “lost”. At this point, we had already moved to Texas, rented a home, and tried to settle in to our new life. However, I could not begin my employment with my practice group of other cancer specialists. As months passed with no contact from the board, I became disillusioned. I decided to travel to Austin from Dallas on weekday morning to faciliate some communication with Board. Rather than a welcome and how can we help you, I was met with resistance from their department. They gave me no information as to why my application had been held up (now 6 months) and in fact one of their directors, Jaime Garanflo, essentially threatened that if I didn’t stop “harassing” them, they could deny my application. Deny my application? Based on what? The fact that I am looking out for my career and the well being of my family? For the overwhelming affection we have for our great state of Texas and wanting to give back to our community by bringing in medical expertise to help sick patients? So, I left, asking myself why should a regulatory agency have the ability to control of the professional lives of those that the State has given the authority to protect patients and serve physicians and other health care practitioners. Was it worth coming to Dallas at all? Is it fair that I have to live in debt without the ability to earn a living waiting for the wheels of this corrupt and inefficient agency to do it’s job. It was so ridiculous for someone from the Board to testify to Representative Fred Brown and the members of the subcommittee that the wait time for licensure applicants has come down considerably? Will the Board continue to lie in the face of adversity or try to accept their faults and correct them? Why should they care? Their lives and reputations are not being affected. I am sure there are other docs in similar and likely worse situations due to the inefficiency and tyranny of the Texas Medical Board. There is no doubt that the Board should be careful and methodical in researching the background of physicians wanting a medical license in this state. But, after subjecting oneself to the costs, time, and agony of complying with all of the measures stipulated by the Board, should we, the physicians, be penalized by having to wait 6 months to 1 year unemployed waiting for things to move along? Should we be met with the passive-aggressive behavior exhibited by people like Jaime Garanflo, Dr. Donald Patrick, and members of the Licensure Committee? Should we accept that our professional lives are being put on hold because the Medical Board has committed their time, energy, and money in the last few months preparing to defend their actions to the Appropriations Committee? Should be continue to allow them to hoodwink the legislators into thinking they are making the licensure process better and not worse? Let us hope not, or Texas will stand to loose a number of good docs.

I found this link about a Houston doctor who faced a similar ordeal. Her story was featured in the Houston Chronicle.

http://www.tapa.info/html/Newsroom/2007/Newsroom_Jan_25_2007.html

The house hearings can be heard at this link:

http://www.house.state.tx.us/fx/av/committee80/71023a02r.ram