I found some additional information and added it to the end of the diary.
The question that still remains:
Where in Pittsburgh, PA did Paul complete his residency to qualify as an OBGYN?
Curious as usual, I started looking into Ron Paul's background and have questions. Is it ok to ask questions? I am not making conclusions but feel it is really, really important to know all the facts on such an important decision as President of the USA.
From Ron Paul's website
He graduated from Gettysburg College and the Duke University School of Medicine, before proudly serving as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force during the 1960s. He and his wife Carol moved to Texas in 1968, where he began his medical practice in Brazoria County. As a specialist in obstetrics/gynecology, Dr. Paul has delivered more than 4,000 babies!
1. Is it possible to become a licensed OBGYN with only 1 years internship? And NO residency?
2. In 1963 was it possible to join the Air Force for only 2 years? And can an Air Force Captain also be a medical resident? How would that time be shared?
If not, can you get out if you switch over to the Texas Air National Guard in 1965?
3. Is it possible to be in the Texas Air National Guard if you don't live in Texas.
4. In 1970, did Texas grant Medical License for OBGYN to a 1 Year Intern w/no residency?
If Ron Paul didn't complete the required 4-7 years of OBGYN residency, did he practice legally in Texas? Research indicates he refused to bill Medicaid and Medicare. Is there a connection?
That was very nice of Ron Paul; however, it raises another question:
Did Medicare and Medicaid require a proof of license and was Ron Paul a licensed OBGYN from 1968 through the late 1970s?
I have tried really hard to find a copy of Ron Paul's medical license(s) one attained prior to joining the Air Force and another for practicing in Texas with no success. At the end of this diary is some updated, yet conflicting, certification (not licensing) information.
Also, AT END OF ARTICLE IS A RECAP OF Effort to Search the Texas Medical Board site.
FOR NEWCOMERS: If you are new to Daily Kos, the text you see that is either BROWN or ORANGE is a link to the site where information was found. Just click on either to view the referenced document. If you see indented text following a link, the indented text is from the link.
I used Wikipedia, Ron Paul's website, and an online biography to provide the following information about Ron Paul.
Before examining Ron Paul's career life, I want to present an example of what it means to qualify as a Flight Surgeon so that you have this example to compare to Paul's path:
In 1981 according to this story, you don't have to be a licensed doctor to be a Flight Surgeon. All that is required is 4 years Bachelor, 4 years Medical School, and 1 year internship:
Here's the story of a Navy Flight Surgeon who graduated from Dartmouth Medical School in 1981:
Having attended DMS on a US Navy scholarship, Georgia completed his internship at the Bethesda Naval Hospital, and then trained to become a Navy flight surgeon, caring for pilots and air crew stationed in Iceland monitoring Soviet submarines. “Mostly my job was to make sure that the aviators were safe to fly,” he explains.
More than ten years after completing medical school, Georgia returned to Bethesda Naval Hospital to do a residency in diagnostic radiology.
His training completed, Georgia was assigned to the navy hospital ship USNS Comfort, home ported in Baltimore.
So Steps to be Flight Surgeon:
1. Four years of medical school.
2. One year intern
3. No medical license
4. Special training by military to be a Flight Surgeon who doesn't really do surgery
To become a licensed medical doctor, you have to complete both an internship and a residency. An internship lasts one full year, and residency follows. Looking at the following time line, it doesn't look possible for Paul to have completed both.
Paul, Ronald Ernest (Ron)
Ronald Paul was born on August 20, 1935, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
After graduating from Dormont High School in Green Tree, Pennsylvania in 1953 (Age 18)
Received his Bachelors of Arts degree in 1957 (Age 22) and
1957 Ron Paul married Carol Wells.
Attending Duke University Medical Center from 1957 - 1961 (Age 26)
Paul relocated with his wife to Michigan, where he completed his medical internship at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.
So Paul was an intern, not a resident, from the summer or fall of 1961 - ?1963 when he joined the Air Force (Age 28)
What are the requirements before becoming a licensed OBGYN?
Education, Internship, and Residency requirements to become an Obstetrician
Obstetricians complete four years of medical school (Duke) and then a year of internship (Henry Ford Hospital) before entering residency graduate education in obstetrics, which usually takes about four to six years. Completion of the qualifying licensing examinations is required to practice medicine. Licensure by the regional licensing authority is required.
OBGYN Training Programs and Requirements
To become an OB/GYN, applicants must earn a bachelor's degree, complete medical school and fulfill a 4-year residency requirement. During residency, students spend at least 50 hours per week attending to patients and learning from doctors. After they complete their residency, applicants must then take boards or licensing examinations before they can legally practice medicine.
I can't find information on line about the details of Ron Paul's residency to become an OBGYN. Medical Doctors usually list their residency information.
MORE QUESTIONS:
If Ron Paul entered the Air Force in 1963, what month?
What month did he begin his internship in 1961?
How many months was Paul an intern?
Was Paul on an Air Force scholarship like the case first mentioned above?
By 1963, Paul has three small under age 7.
From Wikipedia and other sources, this is Ron Paul's military experience AS A FLIGHT SURGEON.
1963 (Age 28) - 1965 (Age 30) Joined Air Force for only 2 Years (Age 30)
1965 - 1968 Flight Surgeon Texas National Guard (Age 33)
Ron Paul was a flight surgeon, making sure pilots were healthy to fly, for 5 years, not delivering babies or in an OBGYN residency, that I can find any record of.
So, What IS a Flight Surgeon?
Flight Surgeon requirements as listed today
Flight surgeons are medical doctors, either MDs or DOs...
They perform routine, periodic medical examinations ("flight physicals") of these personnel.
In the U.S military, flight surgeons are trained to fill general public health and occupational and preventive medicine roles, and are only infrequently "surgeons" in an operating theater sense
MORE QUESTIONS: The US had entered the Viet Nam war in 1961.
U.S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s, with troop levels tripling in 1961 and tripling again in 1962.[28] U.S. combat units were deployed beginning in 1965.
QUESTIONS:
Was graduating from Medical School and a year of being an intern enough to enlist as a Flight Surgeon in 1963, too?
How could Ron Paul be in the Texas National Guard while living in Pennsylvania?
We do know that in 1963 Ron Paul lived in Pennsysvania because that is where Rand Paul was born. Rand was the middle of five children.
Paul left the Air Force after two years to join the Texas National Guard before the worst part of the Viet Nam war began.
Two sources state that Paul moved to Texas AFTER completing his military service IN the Texas Air National Guard.
He and his wife Carol moved to Texas in 1968, where he began his medical practice in Brazoria County.
Upon arriving in Texas, Paul continued his medical work. Specifically trained in obstetrics and gynecology, Paul then began his own practice.
QUESTIONS:
Was Ron Paul in the Texas National Guard before he and his wife moved to Texas?
When and where did Ron Paul complete his OBGYN Residency?
Where are his Medical licenses for the world to see?
Did Ron Paul ever work for a Group and/or a hospital for further training before starting his own practice?
Where are records showing he completed obligatory continued medical education hours? OBGYNs are required to continue their training until they stop practicing because the field changes so quickly?
Did Ron Paul open his OBGYN practice in Texas at the same time he spent with the Texas Air National Guard?
Paul lived in Lake Jackson, Brazoria County, Texas, although most sites just say Brazoria County.
QUESTIONS: What does it look like there?
Lake Jackson, Brazoria County, Texas is not that big of a place. In 1968 it had to be the tiny town that the refinery workers lived in.
Can someone help figure this out?
Thanks.
FOR FUN: Here's a picture of Captain Ron Paul. The two bars indicate rank of Captain.
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/...(I-think)
THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED WHEN I TRIED TO SEARCH FOR RON PAUL'S, or any doctor for that matter on the Texas Medical Board site:
So, I go here
http://www.tmb.state.tx.us/
And there is a link LOOK UP DOCTOR
That takes me here
http://reg.tmb.state.tx.us/...
And I find this message
Data last updated on Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Searching this database allows you to view information about physicians, physician assistants and acupuncturists licensed by the State of Texas, as well as individuals holding a temporary physician or physician assistant license, or current physician-in-training permits.
Our licensees submit some of the data. For information on data the Board has verified please click here.
Data is updated daily and may be considered the most current information available. Access to this computer system is authorized for the automated verification system only. All other access to this computer system is expressly prohibited. Any unauthorized access or use of this is subject to both civil and criminal penalties.
Civil and criminal for unauthorized access? It's TEXAS, that is frightening language.
I didn't dare click on the I ACCEPT USAGE TERMS, quite frankly.
So I clicked on the here.
Which takes me here:
http://www.tmb.state.tx.us/...
And this is what it says:
The Texas Medical board has a website located at http://www.tmb.state.tx.us . We have a public web based verification system that is run in-house located on our website. To access this database choose the link “Look up a Licensee” from our home page. This database will provide links to view Board Orders, where applicable.
So I click on the link hoping to find the option "Look up a Licensee” and there is none.
I'm back where I began. There is no "Look up a Licensee" link. I do use a Mac, maybe a PC would have better luck.
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UPDATE:
Where in Pittsburg, PA did Ron Paul do his residency to qualify as a Family Practitioner and/or OBGYN?
According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), certification requires 4 years of residency and passing tests, etc.
I did find this
From the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)
What training is required and what is covered?
The obstetrician-gynecologist goes through four years of specialized residency training in areas dealing with preconceptional health, pregnancy, labor and childbirth, postpartum care, genetics, genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis.
Training in gynecology also covers women's general health, including care of reproductive organs, breasts and sexual function.
Screening for cancer at multiple sites is performed or initiated by the Ob-Gyn specialist.
Gynecology also includes management of hormonal disorders, treatment of infections, and training in surgery to correct or treat pelvic organ and urinary tract problems to include cancer of the reproductive organs.
During four years of training, the obstetrician-gynecologist learns about aspects of preventive health care, including exams and routine tests that look for problems before you are sick, immunizations, overall health and provision of care for a range of medical problems, not just those of the reproductive system.
And I found this, although the origin of this information isn't clear:
Gets drafted into the United States Air Force
Paul's medical training was interrupted when he was drafted during the Cuban Missile Crisis into the United States Air Force.
He remained in the military during the early years of the Vietnam War. He was never sent to Vietnam, instead serving active duty (1963–1965) that took him to other countries, including South Korea, Iran, Ethiopia and Turkey.
He served as a flight surgeon out of Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, from 1963 to 1965, attending to the ear, nose and throat problems of pilots.
He then served in the Air National Guard from 1965 to 1968 while completing his medical residency in Pittsburgh.
I also searched the American Board of Family Medicine, but it resulted in no record for Ron Paul:
I also found this from The American Congress of Obsetricians and Gynecologits (ACOG) Physician Lookup. Ron Paul is listed as a
LF / FL Life Fellow or Founding Life Fellow/ any Fellow of the College who has 25 years of active Fellowship and has chosen to retire.
Ron Paul is not listed on the American Board of Family Medicine.
In a GOP debate, Ron Paul says he worked at a hospital in San Antonio:
PAUL: I practiced medicine before we had Medicaid, in the early 1960s, when I got out of medical school. I practiced at Santa Rosa Hospital in San Antonio, and the churches took care of them. We never turned anybody away from the hospitals.
Medicare and Medicaid became law in 1965.
QUESTION: In the early 1960s Ron Paul's bio says he was at DUKE and a hospital in Michigan, returning to Pittsburg, PA to complete his residency. It also states that he moved to Texas in 1968. So his GOP debate answer refering to work in a San Antonio hospital in the early 1960s conflicts with the bios. Also, San Antonio is 240 miles from Paul's stated Texas town that he moved to in 1968, Lake Jackson, Tx.
So, the question remains:
Where, in Pittsburgh, PA did Ron Paul complete his residency? What is the name of the hospital?