Aerospace Medicine Eligibility Pathway Comparison

	Residency Pathway	Complementary Pathway	Special Pathway	International Medical Graduate (IMG) Pathway
Who the Pathway Is Intended For	Graduates of an ACGME-accredited or RCPSC Aerospace Medicine residency	Physicians who are making a mid-career shift into the practice of Preventive Medicine	Physicians who are currently certified in another ABPM specialty	Qualified IMGs
Board Certification	Not required	Not required	Current ABPM specialty certification (Occupational and Environmental Medicine or Public Health and General Preventive Medicine) is required.1	Current Aerospace Medicine certification in the country of training or practice is required.2
Clinical Training	One year of clinical training is required.	At least two years of prior ACGME-accredited training in another ABMS-recognized specialty is required.	One year of clinical training is required.	One year of clinical Aerospace Medicine experience is required as part of Aerospace Medicine residency training.
Residency	A two-year (or longer) ACGME-accredited or RCPSC residency in Aerospace Medicine is required.	One full-time year or two half-time years as an “other learner” in an ACGME-accredited Aerospace Medicine residency program is required.5   The Aerospace Medicine residency must include at least eight months of direct patient care.	Not required	Aerospace Medicine residency training at least two consecutive years in length, which includes at least one year of clinical Aerospace Medicine experience, is required.3
Graduate Coursework	MPH and coursework in the five content areas are required.4	MPH and coursework in the five content areas are required.4	Not applicable	MPH and coursework in the five content areas are required.4
Practice Activity	One year of practice within the previous three years is required if applying between 24 months and seven years after completing residency.5	Two years of practice within the previous five years is required.	Two years of practice within the previous five years is required.	Not required
Practice/Residency Location	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable	Applicants must either: 1) Intend to reside or practice in the U.S. within 24 months of the date of application for Certification, or 2) Serve U.S. interests while practicing outside the U.S.

Documents and Verifications

Applicants should gather the following documents and verifications when they apply.

	Residency Pathway	Complementary Pathway	Special Pathway	IMG Pathway
CV/Resume	Required only if applying between 24 months and seven years after completing residency.5	Required	Required	Required
Board Certification Verification	Not required	Not required	Required	Verification of current Aerospace Medicine certification in the country of training or practice is required.
Graduate Coursework Transcript	Required	Required	Required	Required
Residency Program Verification	Required	Required	Not required	Required; must include verification of at least one year of clinical Aerospace Medicine experience.
Letters of Reference	Three letters required, if applying between 24 months and seven years after completing residency.5 At least one letter writer must be certified by ABPM in Aerospace Medicine.	Three letters required; at least one letter writer must be certified by ABPM in Aerospace Medicine.	Three letters required; at least two letter writers must be certified by ABPM in Aerospace Medicine.	Three letters of reference from physician peers who have appropriate training in Aerospace Medicine.
Practice/Residency Location Attestation	Not required	Not required	Not required	Attestation of intention to reside or practice in the U.S. within 24 months of submitting application or, if practicing outside the U.S., that the practice serves U.S. interests, is required.

¹Diplomates certified in a subspecialty (Addiction Medicine; Clinical Informatics; Medical Toxicology; Health Care Administration, Leadership, and Management; and Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine) do not qualify for the Special Pathway.

²The certification body must be recognized as a national certification organization and meet certification standards considered by ABPM to be equivalent to the ABMS Standards for Initial Certification and ABPM Aerospace Medicine certification.

³The residency training must include written standards for the training that, after appropriate investigation and due diligence by ABPM, are deemed to be sufficiently equivalent to the then-current ACGME Program Requirements for Graduate Medical Education in Aerospace Medicine. The residency program must be accredited by one of the following:

• A recognized international health or government authority or organization within a NATO country or these non-NATO countries: Australia, New Zealand, and Japan;
• A recognized international health or government authority or organization within any country not listed above but is deemed, after appropriate investigation and due diligence, by ABPM to be sufficiently equivalent to ACGME-accredited training within the U.S.; or
• ACGME-International with Advanced Specialty Accreditation.

⁴Courses that include multiple content areas must meet the equivalent academic requirements and content of the traditional individual courses.

⁵If applying more than seven years after completing residency, please see ABPM’s Policy for Re-entry.