The ABEM Board is committed to providing all who were affected by the postponed exams in 2020 the opportunity to take the Oral Certification Exam in 2021. To accomplish this, the exam will be offered
virtually during several administrations throughout 2021. View Exam Dates
The Oral Exam will continue to be offered in a virtual format to candidates throughout 2022. 2022 exam dates will be released when they have been finalized.
Components of the virtual Oral Exam:
Six single-patient cases and one structured interview case
The structured interview is designed to assess the candidate’s thought processes. It is a discussion about the approach to working up a patient in the emergency department.
Cases are allotted 15 minutes
The Oral Certification Examination is an important part of ABEM certification. It independently confirms competency acquisition during residency and measures unique competencies that are not measured on the written Qualifying
Examination. The steps to ABEM certification are rigorous and set ABEM-certified physicians apart from other providers.
Resident’s Guide to ABEM Certification Written by the ABEM Resident Ambassador Panel: Haig K. Aintablian, M.D.; Alaa M. Aldalati, M.D.; and William Spinosi, D.O.
Becoming board certified in Emergency Medicine by the American Board of Emergency Medicine is a simple process requiring three steps for residents who are in their final years of training… Read more
Becoming Certified Task Force ABEM will be convening an Initial Certification Task Force, which will be charged with evaluating and potentially redesigning the entire initial certification process. Your input will be an important part of this process.
IN-TRAINING EXAM NOTES
2022 In-training Exam Dates Tuesday, February 22 – Monday, February 28, 2022 This seven-day administration window
provides an additional two days to accommodate social distancing if needed.
2021 In-training Examination
Scores were distributed electronically April 13, 28 days post-exam ̶ a record turnaround!
Approximately 8,865 residents from 299 programs took the exam.
Information collected from the optional post-exam survey will be used to inform future research and policy decisions within the specialty of Emergency Medicine.
Training Information Survey Take the survey between July 6, 2021 – October 31, 2021. To participate in the 2022 ITE, the annual program and resident survey must be completed. The ITE is an in-person, proctored exam designed to mirror the Qualifying (written) Exam (QE). The ITE is validated to estimate how a resident will perform on the QE given his or her level of training. ABEM is dedicated to maintaining the current ITE format to replicate as much as possible the experience of the QE that is a high-stakes, single point-in-time exam.
Reporting Resident Demographics
Historically, ABEM has relied upon you as program directors to report the demographics of your residents (e.g., ethnicity, gender identity). This demographic information has been linked to that individual physician throughout their time as an ABEM diplomate with no opportunity to update.
To improve the accuracy of our demographic information, we will ask residents to self-report starting in fall 2021 after the ABEM
portal has been updated with revised demographic information. Doing so will help to better inform the specialty about diversity within Emergency Medicine.
Communicating Resident Leaves of Absence ABEM requires program directors to attest to any training a resident completed in their program. Whenever a resident leaves your program (transfers, graduates, etc.) You will
need to sign in to the ABEM portal to attest to the resident’s training, including any partial training.
Please also remember to communicate resident leaves of absence to ABEM (training@abem.org) when they occur to ensure that the resident’s minimum training requirements are met.
BOARD ELIGIBILITY AND RE-ELIGIBILITY
Under the ABEM Policy on Board Eligibility, if a physician loses their board eligible status, they can become
re-eligible again by completing the Physician Re-eligibility Program (PREP), which consists of
A pre-assessment
Learning plan
Supervised practice
This training is designed to last one year or less. Currently, there are two organizations offering PREP: The Center for Personalized Education for Professionals (CPEP) and a newly approved organization, KSTAR. To become board re-eligible, you must:
Contact ABEM to verify your
eligibility for additional training
Apply to CPEP or KSTAR
Participate in a pre-assessment
Complete a learning plan derived from the results of the pre-assessment
Complete supervised practice
If you have questions, contact ABEM at 517.332.4800, ext. 331, or BoardElig@abem.org.
Reminder! ABEM has an infographic that you can share with your graduating residents. The information included will assist you in meeting the ACGME requirement regarding board eligibility.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR EARLY CAREER PHYSICIANS
Please share these with your recent graduates:
ABMS Visiting Scholar Program The application deadline is June 7, 2021 The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) is seeking applicants for its Visiting Scholars Program. It is a one-year, part-time program open to early-career physicians and others with advanced degrees. More information is available on the ABMS website.
National Academy of Medicine ABEM EM Fellowship Nominations close June 3, 2021 The two-year ABEM Fellowship provides talented, early career health science scholars in
Emergency Medicine the opportunity to experience and participate in evidence-based healthcare or public health studies that improve the care and access to care of patients in domestic and global health care systems. The program especially welcomes nominations of underrepresented minority candidates. Nominations must come from a NAM or ABEM board member. >> Check out the Guide to Nominations
ADDITIONAL CERTIFICATION OPPORTUNITIES
Neurocritical Care Certification Application Period Now Open