Two programs set positive course of assistance

The example of the Pennsylvania State Board of Medicine's Impaired Professional Program (IPP) shows that the function of licensing boards with respect to impaired physicians can be significantly expanded in a positive direction. Although most of the physicians in the IPP are impaired by drugs or alcohol, the program is open to physicians suffering from other conditions, such as psychiatric or medical illness, that may interfere with their ability to practice medicine. This article discusses the Impaired Professional Program of the State Board of Medicine. For physicians in Pennsylvania this means participation in the Physicians' Health Programs of the Educational and Scientific Trust of the Pennsylvania Medical Society.