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Dr. Sujata Karkare, staff physician at WIU's Beu Health Center, recently was re-certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine. She took her board exams last fall and was notified about her results early this year. According to Mary Margaret Harris, director of Beu Health Center, board re-certification confers a standard of excellence in knowledge and practice to physicians who are not only certified through the examination process, but who also work diligently on the maintenance of their skills during the 10-year cycle between American Board of Internal Medicine examinations.
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Beu's Dr. Karkare Re-Certified by American Board of Internal Medicine

March 9, 2010

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MACOMB, IL -- Some might call Dr. Sujata Karkare a glutton for punishment. But Dr. Karkare's patients, as well as her fellow medical staff members at Western Illinois University's Beu Health Center, are grateful for the many years of education and training to which she has committed much of her adult life. A medical doctor and an academic one -- Dr. Karkare holds both an M.D. degree and a Ph.D. degree -- she spent six years in medical school and five years earning her doctorate.

Last fall, Dr. Karkare spent a few hours per day again "hitting the books," as she studied for the American Board of Internal Medicine re-certification board exams. The long hours she spent preparing for the six-hour exam were in addition to the full-time hours she serves as a staff physician at Beu, as well as her active involvement with various boards, committees and organizations at Western, the Macomb community and the area's medical community.

"I was thrilled when Dr. Karkare shared me with me that she had passed her board exams and was re-certified with the American Board of Internal Medicine," Mary Margaret Harris, director of Beu Health Center, noted. "As a member of our medical staff, Dr. Karkare has demonstrated her commitment to the constantly changing needs of WIU students."

According to Harris, board re-certification confers a standard of excellence in knowledge and practice to physicians who are not only certified through the examination process, but who also work diligently on the maintenance of their skills during the 10-year cycle between American Board of Internal Medicine examinations.

Harris also explained that before Dr. Karkare could even take the re-certification examination, she had to complete several hours of self-assessment mandated by the American Board of Internal Medicine.

"The purpose of this is to have the physician assess how he or she compares with their peers in regard to his or her practice of medicine. Dr. Karkare had to complete 100 credit hours of medical knowledge self-assessment modules and a practice module prior to taking the exam last fall," Harris said.

While Dr. Karkare noted the preparation for re-certification was time consuming, she said going through the process and passing the re-certification exam is important for all physicians, particularly for internal medicine practitioners.

"There are approximately 11 sub-specialties under the internal medicine umbrella. So whether you want to be a cardiologist, a pulmonologist, or an endocrinologist, as examples, you have to complete an internal medicine residency prior to doing a fellowship in any of these sub-specialties. Re-certification is important for physicians so they make sure they are current in their knowledge and are providing the best quality care for their patients," she said.

Now that Dr. Karkare has been re-certified, she won't have to take the exam again until 2019; however, she noted, her education never really stops as she practices medicine at Beu Health Center.

"Just like many fields, medicine is a highly evolving one. I think many would be amazed at the kinds of health problems that college-age students can have and what their needs are," she said. "As much as they are an unique population, their needs are also very unique."

Although she may not have to contemplate the re-certification process again for a few years, Dr. Karkare continues to engage in her life-long learning process and share her knowledge with her work at Beu, as well as with the work she does and services she provides for various medical-related committees and organizations. Currently, she serves as the medical adviser for McDonough District Hospital's Diabetes Center; the medical adviser for the Bella Hearst Diabetes Institute Board; a member of WIU's Institutional Review Board; and member of the McDonough County TB Sanitarium Board. She also serves as the chair of Western's Eating Concerns Coalition committee, and she provides the WIU community with ongoing education about health issues. For instance, in February, Dr. Karkare presented "My Healthy Heart," a lecture that addressed prevention of and risk factors for heart disease.

Dr. Karkare will also provide information about heart disease at the Women of Color Seminar, part of WIU's celebration of Women's History Month in March, which is slated for 11:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, March 27 at the Multicultural Center. (Registration is due by 4 p.m. Friday, March 12; cost is $5 for students and $7 for non-students. Contact the Women's Center at [309] 298-2242 or womenscenter@wiu.edu to register, or you can download the registration form at wc.wiu.edu/programming/pdf/
WomenofColorSeminarRegistrationForm.pdf.) She also will be discussing heart disease at the Quad Cities campus health fair on Friday, April 9.

Dr. Karkare has been a staff physician a Beu since 2000. Prior to that, she practiced internal medicine at the LaMoine Valley Clinic in Macomb. She completed her internal medical residency in Ohio, at the Northeastern Universities College of Medicine affiliated hospitals in Canton. She earned her Ph.D. from Kent State University in Ohio and completed medical school at T.N. Medical College, University of Bombay in India.

For more information about the services that Beu Health Center delivers for WIU students and the campus community, contact Mary Margaret Harris at (309) 298-1888 or
MM-Harris@wiu.edu. Learn more about Beu Health Center at beu.wiu.edu/ and visit Beu on its new Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/BeuHealthCenter.

Posted By: Teresa Koltzenburg (WIUNews@wiu.edu)
Office of University Communications & Marketing