Yesterday marked an important day in my professional career. I passed my ABA applied exam! I am now officially board certified and recognized as a diplomate of the American Board of Anesthesiology (D.ABA).
I got to thinking… geez, I’ve been in school for a while: 11 years of grade school, 3 years of college, 4 years of medical school, 4 years of anesthesiology residency, and about 75% done with my first fellowship. I then wondered financially, how much have all my “medical exams” amounted to?
Start off with the United States Medical Licensing Exams (USMLE):
- Step 1 (March 28, 2012) – $530
- Step 2 CK (November 4, 2012) – $530
- Step 2 CS (August 14, 2012) – $1,230
- Step 3 (June 8, 2014) – $800
Now the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) exams:
- Basic written (June 11, 2015) – $775
- Advanced written (July 28, 2017) – $775
- Applied oral and OSCE (March 5, 2018) – $2,100
Then the full, initial physician license in Massachusetts (required to sit for the aforementioned Applied exam) – $1,555 + $600 renewal = $2,155
Add that up. That’s almost $9000 worth of mandatory exams and licensing. I’ll be spending another $1,600 for my critical care boards this fall… and there will be some other fee for my advanced perioperative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) certification in 2019. :shock:
But it’s ALL worth it! ;-)
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