I searched to see if I could find many physicians who list this on their CV’s. To my amazement, there are large numbers who list this. There are many faculty members at Harvard and Yale who have this on their list of honors. I was amazed to see this listed on the CV of a department chairman that I know. Another colleague, whom I know slightly, has posted a very long CV listing numerous legitimate accomplishments and his award as a “Top Physician” by the Consumers’ Research Council is in there with the rest. In a listing by St. Jude’s Hospital, (http://www.stjude.com/stjude/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=16b8fa3186e70110VgnVCM1000001e0215acRCRD&vgnextchannel=0f7d56c0df936110VgnVCM1000001e0215acRCRD) one can see many of honors from many physicians and scientists displayed on the same web page. One physician has listed his Nobel Prize. But on the same page, another fellow has his “Top Physician” award from the Consumers’ Research Council listed. St. Judes apparently considers the Consumers’ Resesarch Council award fit to display on the same page as a Nobel Prize.

My guess is that whoever is making the list actually looks for people that seem qualified in some way. That is probably why you got one and why I did. All the people I found in my field who are displaying this honor seem to be pretty well qualified people but we should all have a healthy skepticism of all “qualifications” “credentials” and “honors.” I agree with Chris above. Having a given degree (including a medical degree) does not mean that much by itself. Some fields such as medicine have succeeded better in walling themselves off from a lot of the competition from other quarters. CPA’s don’t do too badly in that respect either. I am sure you are better in financial planning than I am, but there could be a person without a college education at all that might be better at it. There could be a person with irregular medical credentials from another country that might be a better physician than I. In general, “legitimate” credentials are important for many things. But it is good to be skeptical look at actual performance as best we can.