Initial Certification in ABPM Specialty or Subspecialty

Applicant Qualifications

General Requirements

The initial Certification examinations are intended to confirm the determination by the Board that the Candidate is qualified by training and experience to claim competence in the respective Specialty or Subspecialty area to which the Candidate has applied. No Candidate shall be admitted to the initial Certification examinations or have a Certificate granted or issued unless and until the Candidate establishes to the satisfaction of the Board that the Candidate has fulfilled each of the requirements as set forth in this Section 2 or as otherwise required by this Policies and Procedures Manual.

Pathways to Specialty Certifications

There are several Pathways to Certification; the current requirements are set forth in Appendix K.

Duration of Each Year of Training

A training or experience year (“Training Year”) must consist of a minimum of forty-eight (48) weeks of Active Service. In addition to the four (4) weeks of non-Active Service, an additional two (2) weeks of non-Active Service is allowed in any given Training Year but only if such additional two (2) weeks of non-Active Service is in accordance with the training institution’s policies on medical, family, or parental leave. Regardless of the amount of non-Active Service approved by an institution for a resident or fellow, the program director shall have the final authority to determine if a resident or fellow has successfully completed the requirements of a training program and to attest to same if the resident or fellow applies to the ABPM for Certification.

Longer authorized interruptions in a Training Year with documentation of conformance with approved policies on medical, family, or parental leave may be accepted as determined on an individual case basis provided the combined time to be credited includes at least forty-eight (48) weeks of Active Service within an overall period of two (2) calendar years. These special circumstances will be reviewed, and exceptions approved by the Board in its sole and absolute discretion on a case-by-case basis. A decision by the Board pursuant to this subsection 2.1.3 shall be binding upon the Board and the Applicant/Candidate and shall not be subject to appeal or further consideration.

Acceptable Practice Time

The proration of time (e.g., 33% over three years) is not appropriate, and no credit will be given for less than twenty (20) hours/week of practice. No more than Full-Time Practice credit will be granted for any period of practice regardless of the number of hours accumulated during that period. No more than one (1) year of credit can be given for practice time in a given twelve (12)-month period. The completed application form submitted by the Applicant should provide explicit documentation of time spent in the Specialty/Subspecialty area for which Certification is being sought.

Double Counting of Time

The applicability/application of one or more years or portions of years of postgraduate clinical training, academically focused training, practicum or practice as credit for certification by one or more other clinical ABMS member boards will satisfy the ABPM Full-Time Practice requirement (i.e., it can count for both) but only so long as the ABMS member board’s content satisfies all of the requirements of the ABPM (e.g., RRC for PM accreditation). In this regard the sequencing of such experience (e.g., before, interspersed, or at the end of another specialty training program) is not a barrier to acceptance presuming that all requirements for ABPM have been met.

Multiple ABPM Certification

Subject to the limitations provided in Section 2.7 below, an Applicant may apply for admissibility to the initial Certification examination in more than one Specialty or Subspecialty. The Applicant must fulfill the separate requirements of each Specialty or Subspecialty in which application is made and cannot double count the same year for practicum or practice periods. An application may be submitted by an Applicant for more than one Specialty or Subspecialty in a given calendar year.

Diplomates who have; (i) taken and passed both the Core examination and a Specialty examination prior to 2022, or (ii) who have taken and passed the Specialty initial Certification examination in 2022 or later, and who also meet the eligibility requirements for an additional Specialty, may apply to take the initial Certification examination in an additional Specialty.

The provisions of this Section 2.1.6 do not apply to Diplomates who are; (i) Certified in a Specialty and wish to become Certified in a Subspecialty; (ii) Certified in a Subspecialty and wish to become Certified in a Specialty; or (iii) who are Certified in a Subspecialty and wish to become Certified in an additional Subspecialty.