The New Certifying Exam: What it Is — and Isn't

ABEM recently announced that a new Certifying Exam will launch in 2026 as the final step for physicians in the process of becoming ABEM certified. The Certifying Exam resulted from a rigorous review of ABEM’s Oral Exam and the critical exploration of how physicians become certified that was conducted by the Becoming Certified Task Force. Over 4,000 stakeholders participated in the process and ABEM learned that its certification process can be even more relevant to practice and can assess additional competencies that the current Oral Exam format cannot such as critical communication and procedural skills.  Looking across the medical specialty boards, more than half have an oral exam, the majority of which are “in person.”

So that’s the “why.” Here’s what the exam is (and isn’t):

Read more

ABEM is proud to announce the development of a new Certifying Exam for physicians seeking initial certification. Informed by feedback and a rigorous review process, the new exam will launch in 2026. The Certifying Exam will test additional competencies that are not tested on the Qualifying Exam or current Oral Exam, such as procedural skills, troubleshooting, and high-stakes communications. It will be comprised of two case types: Clinical care cases and objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) cases.

Learn more about the Certifying Exam
Why Raleigh, NC?
Summary of Becoming Certified Initiative Feedback
Key Findings from the Becoming Certified Initiative
Your feedback is important. Let us know if you have questions.

If you certified or recertified after 2021, you now have an annual fee. The annual fee payment:

• Is not an additional fee; it replaces any individual activity fee (LLSA fees, MyEMCert module costs).
• Is the only fee you pay after your initial certification exams and covers all the necessary costs for your continuing certification (other than optional CME).
• May be paid annually or in one lump sum.
• Avoids any interruption to certification.

A late fee will be assessed for annual fees not paid within the allowed timeframe.

Learn more
5-year Certification Cycle and Annual Fee FAQs

The Oral Certification Exam tests different knowledge, skills, and abilities than the Qualifying Exam.
Gorgas DL, Calderon Y, Carter WA, White SR, Feldhaus KM, Reisdorff EJ, Joldersma KB, Kraus CK. The correlation between performance on the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) qualifying and oral certifying examinations. Acad Emerg Med 2024;31(1):91-3. PMID: 37515431.

There is a crisis of attrition and a need to keep EPs (particularly female EPs) engaged early in their careers.
Gettel CJ, Courtney DM, Agrawal P, Madsen TE, Rothenberg, C, Mills AM, Lall MD, Keim SM, Kraus CK, Ranney ML, Venkatesh AK. Emergency medicine physician workforce attrition differences by age and gender [abstract only]. Acad Emerg Med 2023;30(11):1092-100. PMID: 37313983.

Board certification has income return on investment of $43,000 per year.
Reisdorff EJ, Masselink LE, Gallahue FE, Suter RE, Chappell BP, Evans DD, Salsberg E, Marco CA. Factors associated with emergency physician income. J Am Coll Emerg Physicians Open 2023;4(2):e12949. PMID: 37064163.

We need to prioritize emergency physician wellness across the career spectrum.
Lu DW, Zhan T, Bilimoria KY, Reisdorff EJ, Barton MA, Nelson LS, Beeson MS, Lall MD. Workplace mistreatment, career choice regret, and burnout in emergency medicine residency training in the United States. Ann Emerg Med 2023;81(6):706-14. PMID: 36754699.

COVID-19 did not impact career choice in emergency medicine residents.
Akhavan AR, Zhan T, Lall MD, Barton MA, Reisdorff EJ, Bilimoria KY, MD, Lu DW. Suicidal ideation, perception of personal safety, and career regret among emergency medicine residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Accepted January 2024, AEM Educ Train.

Thank you to all of the Oral Examiners who helped with another successful Oral Exam! Your dedication to the specialty of Emergency Medicine helps propel it forward.