Program helps bring inactive doctors back into the field
09/15/09 Portland, OR
Dr. Carrie Ganong was ready to return to medicine, feeling better after years spent away from work dealing with a nerve-damaging medical condition. Southern Oregon was ready for Ganong. Until she started practicing in Klamath Falls, kids with diabetes and other hormone problems had to travel to Portland or Sacramento to see a pediatric endocrinologist.
Dr. Carrie Ganong was ready to return to medicine, feeling better after years spent away from work dealing with a nerve-damaging medical condition. Southern Oregon was ready for Ganong. Until she started practicing in Klamath Falls, kids with diabetes and other hormone problems had to travel to Portland or Sacramento to see a pediatric endocrinologist. But it took more than a year for Ganong to figure out how she could possibly get back to caring for kids. Oregon requires extra training and certification for doctors who haven't seen patients in two or more years. Ganong hadn't seen patients from 2001 through 2006. The Oregon Medical Board said she needed more training to get a license. But Ganong knew of only one program to retrain doctors. It's in Denver and is so expensive, she estimated it would take two years to pay off.
