The Lord Giveth and The Lord Taketh Away: The American Board of Anesthesiology Strips Me of My Board Certification

They can have their piece of paper, because they will never have my soul.

Jan 13, 2025

NOTE: My husband Ed was in surgery for bladder cancer during this writing, so thank you for giving me a day to attend to personal matters and be with him. ADDENDUM 1/13/25 at 2:55 pm PST: He is now out of surgery! They gave chemo to the bladder and he goes home in an hour or so! He's complaining, so he's GOOD TO GO! LOL!

The Lord Giveth: Board Certification

What is Board Certification?

Over 50% of the population have no idea what this is.

College

It took me 5 years to get my Bachelor of Arts in Cellular and Molecular Biology. At least I graduated Cum Laude, as it was a hard time for me. My marriage was bad, and I was an abused wife.

But with God’s help, I did it.

Medical School

While all my friends spent their senior year in college interviewing at 20+ medical schools all over the USA, I applied to 7 medical schools. All but one was in California. I got accepted to one medical school, Oral Roberts University, in Tulsa Oklahoma.

In the first months, my husband left me because he ran out of marijuana. Under a lot of criticism from Christians who thought I should follow him home and quit, I stayed in school because that’s what God called me to do.

After doing two years at ORU on a full Healing Team missionary scholarship, the medical school closed (there is much more to this story, and I cover it in my No More Tears book).

I acquired a Dean’s letter and drove my car back home to California, not knowing what else to do. I called UCLA and they said they did not have any spots open to take me in. I called USC and Dean Tranquata of the Medical School, said,

“You did what?”

He told me to come in for an interview, and he accepted me on the spot. I had to redo all my “core” rotations, so I did everything twice. After 5 years in medical school total time, I graduated.

As a medical student in the trenches at USC, I did Jail Ward twice, delivered babies by myself, did spinal taps for cerebrospinal fluid alone, and put in IVs with my eyes closed so I wouldn’t wake up all the jail ward by turning on the light.

Internship

I stayed on an did one year of internship at USC’s County Hospital, which had over 1,200 beds.

Not many people know what a medical “internship” is for. Try not to scroll down for the answer, and pick an answer.

THE ANSWER: All of the above. That’s right, in virtually any U.S. state, I could become a plastic surgeon with just one year of internship.

Within the first months, I was assaulted by a 6’ 7” psychiatric patient who was in the ER. He got me by the neck in a choke hold, and lifted me up off the floor. Thank God that a male nurse with military experience saw it, jumped on the guy’s back, and he let go of me. I struggled with a neck injury for months afterwards, eventually requiring a C6-7 discectomy. I had to sit for my Boards with disability considerations, so I could take breaks and move my neck.

I could no longer take the stairs and pull open the huge fire doors. I asked them to make accommodations, and they switched my schedule so I stayed on one floor: Cardiology, the ICU.

But I did it.

I passed my Board Exams, and the Medical Board of California recognized me:

My first job was as an ER doc at Fort Irwin Army Base in California. I made $50 an hour and did 24 hour shifts.

Residency in Anesthesiology

I started residency at USC. Do you know what Residency allows?

ANSWER: I chose the specialty of anesthesiology, and in the old days, I would have had free room and board. After all, I was on call every 3 days and stayed overnight in the hospital. As it was, I got reduced rent on campus, and free food.

I wasn’t happy in anesthesiology residency at USC. I was only 1 of 7 women in a program that had 70 residents, and they were mean to all the women. I got more call, more weekend call, more holiday call.

So I applied to transfer to Stanford, and thankfully, they accepted me in March of 1995.

I had to repeat all my core rotations: Ob/Gyn, Operating Room Heart Surgery, everything. But they treated me like a normal person. I didn’t need to hide in the girl’s bathroom to cry any more. The call schedule was fair, and the Attendings were amazing.

And I did it. I finished anesthesiology.

Board certification is extra training after college (4 years), medical school (4 years), and internship (1 year). Without it, I could be a plastic surgeon or anesthesiologist but I could not hang a shingle on my office that says I was ‘board certified’. So I proceeded with more education and training in a residency program.

After medical school and one year of internship, residency is extra training and extra long hours that are followed by a formal written and oral exam that lead to board certification. Types of residency include all the different specialties like radiology, internal medicine, dermatology, cardiology, a lot of the “-ology”’s. In my case, I had to do three years of anesthesiology training.

I wrote about my time at Stanford in my book, No More Tears: A Physician Turned Patient Inspires Recovery. I’m in the process of providing you with the entire contents and have already posted many pages; see the bottom of this article for starters:)

I passed all the written and oral exams.

Here is my Board Certification certificate in Anesthesiology:

I loved the Care Unit (ICU). I was good at it. Besides, by now, I had done the ICU about twice as much as my peers.

Fellowship in Critical Care

NOTE: I’m in the hospital and will come back later and post a better pic of this for completeness.

A Fellowship in Critical Care required one additional year of special training in the Unit. Stanford was kind enough to select me as one out of three Fellows in the nation to do their Fellowship program in Critical Care. I was treated like an Attending; this was a very prestigious position.

This was my best professional year in my whole life. I couldn’t wait to get to work. Day and night, night and day, it was all my joy. Again, God was very good to me.

After one year of being on call every third day (a full, in-hospital 72-hour call schedule that was 24/7 for 3 days), completion for board certification required additional written and oral exams.

I passed it all.

Fellowship in Forensic Science

I did the Critical Care Fellowship at Stanford, and then was “Grandfathered” in as a Fellow in Forensic Medicine.

I gave a lecture at the Department of Anesthesiology, College of Medicine, at Seoul National University (it’s like their Harvard). They called me a “Professor”.

The Lord Taketh Away: California Medical License and Board Certification with the American Board of Anesthesiology

My California Medical License

As you may know, I stood on the steps of Gov. Newsom’s Sacramento capitol building and arranged a press conference (which was more like a rally) opposing AB 2098, the “disinformation” bill. Ten days later, I received my first demand that I surrender my license.

I had already been under investigation for my pain practice. And there were complaints that I was prescribing ivermectin for Covid. There were anonymous complaints that the Board took as written in stone, but in the end, I was tired of the fight and didn’t have an endless bank account for lawyers.

They came to my office. I wasn’t there. Then the medical board agents came to my home wearing black suits and guns on their holsters so that the neighbors could see. I had moved and the house was for sale. Then while we were out of town, and again wearing black suits and guns in holsters, they came to Ed’s house and left a manila envelope under the front door mat.

The envelope demanded that I give up medical charts on three patients to them, WITHOUT THEIR PERMISSION. There was a notarized letter form in there, that each patient was to fill out if they did NOT want me to release their records. All of them were blank.

I refused to release the records. And I put my license in the mail and sent it back to them. I also sent my DEA license back to the DEA.

My Board Certification

A bit over seventeen years later and almost to the day, this is the letter I received in December, stripping me of my Board Certifications in both Anesthesiology and Critical Care.

The Lord Giveth: Certified Tribal Practitioner

I figured that since God made me a healer, no man could take it away from me.

I searched and found a way to become a Certified Tribal Practitioner, and had this in my hand shortly after giving up my medical license in 2022. For privacy, I blocked out some details.

And this is how we serve God: we keep finding a way. We persevere, we trust in Him, and we do what we believe He is calling us to do. No one can ever take away my training, all the people I helped, and all those I have yet to help.

And we know that He will make a way, because He always does.

Thank you for praying for Ed. He has been in surgery for almost two hours and I am waiting for him to come out.

LET US PRAY

Holy Father, thank you that they are taking care of him. May Your perfect will be done, may he be continually held under Your wings, and may he get out soon.

For all those suffering with cancer or health problems, we also pray that You cover them with Your mighty healing power, Holy God. May Your kingdom come, and Your Will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

In Jesus’ Name.

Amen.

When he is out of surgery, I will come back and write a note in the Comments. Thank you for your prayers!