Cool picture of Kingfisher from Wikimedia Commons - has nothing to do with the post. by: Alex Smith, @AlexSmithMD It's been 10 years since I became certified in Internal Medicine, and that means it's time for me to re-certify. My clinical practice is small, as I'm mostly a researcher. The entire focus of my clinical practice is palliative care. I used to attend on the wards, but I don't anymore. Can I just say how much I hate studying for the boards...again? MKSAP again? Really? Why am I reading about some obscure disease that I have no interest in remembering as a palliative medicine physician? Hospice and Palliative Medicine is one of the few sub-specialties to require board ongoing maintenance of certification in the clinician's primary area of specialization - be it internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, radiation-oncology - whatever it may be (medicine subspecialties count - you could be certified in Oncology and Palliative Medicine, wi