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Another serious problem with certification: We should be wary of
certification because it often becomes a mechanism to exclude
qualified (certified) professionals. For example, you often can't
practice medicine or dentistry in another state, province, or country,
no matter how well qualified you are, because this would be competing
with professionals already established in that jurisdiction. Not a
very nice reason, but there you have it. I'd hate to see our mobility
as techwhirlers reduced by a certification process that acquires its
own unholy life and grows beyond its original intention. (And don't
they always do this?)
Note: I've confirmed this opinion with two dentists, one optometrist,
and two M.D.'s. I've heard comparable tales from lawyers, but not
engineers.
--Geoff Hart #8^{)}
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
Disclaimer: If I didn't commit it in print in one of
our reports, it don't represent FERIC's opinion.
