WWNO: No evidence Louisiana's Surgeon General is board-certified family physician

[Dennis Donovan]

WWNO - No evidence Louisiana’s Surgeon General is board-certified family physician

WWNO - New Orleans Public Radio | By Rosemary Westwood
Published February 17, 2025 at 2:34 PM CST



Louisiana’s top public health physician appears to have misrepresented his credentials, claiming in multiple state communications that he is a family medicine physician despite not being listed as board-certified.

In statements on the Louisiana Department of Health and Gov. Jeff Landry’s websites, Surgeon General Dr. Ralph Abraham is described as a family medicine doctor.

Abraham’s official health department biography states that “Doc is a practicing family medicine physician in Richland Parish and a former three term [sic] Congressman for Louisiana’s 5th Congressional District.” Similar language is found in a press release from the governor’s office, his cabinet biography, and a newsletter for Medicaid providers. His bio on X describes him as a “rural family physician.”

But Abraham is not listed as board-certified on the online portal of the American Board of Family Medicine, the credentialing body for all family medicine physicians. Nor is Abraham listed as specializing in family medicine on the State Board of Medical Examiner’s website.

He’s not registered with the Louisiana Academy of Family Physicians either, the organization told WWNO/WRKF.

/snip

[SheltieLover]

1. Repuke. Lips moving? Definitely lying.

[TheRickles]

2. To be fair to him, he hasn't represented himself as being board certified.

A physician can practice in any specialty without being board certified in that specialty, as long as they have completed the appropriate residency training. So if Abraham completed a family practice residency, then he can call himself a family medicine doctor even though he may not be board certified in family medicine. However, non-board certified docs usually only practice in underserved areas where it's harder to recruit physicians and specialists. Not sure what his practice situation was.

FWIW, the linked article also mentioned that he practiced for 10 years as a veterinarian before going to medical school.