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The ABS customer support team will be unavailable by telephone from Monday, Sept. 23 through Thursday, Sept. 26, due to mandatory staff training. For questions and related support, please send a message via our Contact Us page.
For guidance on updating your ABS certification requirements, please see this document. To access the 2024 Continuous Certification Assessment reference materials, please see this page.
Stay Board Certified
The ABS Continuous Certification Program is designed to provide flexible, high-quality, practice-relevant learning and assessment to support surgeons as they maintain their ABS board certification.
Overview
Lifelong learning for high-quality patient care
Continuous Certification demonstrates a surgeon’s ongoing commitment to professionalism, lifelong learning, and practice improvement following initial board certification.
The ABS Continuous Certification Program is designed to provide flexible, high-quality, practice-related learning and assessment to support surgeons. The program was created with input from thousands of diplomates, and allows surgeons to stay current in the medical knowledge they use to treat patients and provide quality patient care.
The certification status of a diplomate participating in Continuous Certification is contingent on passing the assessment every other year, as well as meeting ongoing certification requirements. This program is intended to accurately reflect the rapid changes in surgical knowledge and practice and better promote high-quality patient care.
What is the Continuous Certification Process?
Continuous Certification is an ongoing learning process
Enroll in Program/Register for Assessment
Complete Initial Assessment
Meet Ongoing Requirements
Pass Future Assessments
How Can Newly Certified Diplomates Enroll in Continuous Certification?
Newly certified diplomates are automatically enrolled
As of 2018, diplomates who achieve initial certification through the ABS are automatically enrolled in the Continuous Certification Program. These diplomates will begin taking the assessment two years after achieving initial certification.
General surgery diplomates will complete their first Continuous Certification Assessment two years after the academic year in which they achieve initial certification (e.g., if certified in the 2025-2026 academic year, the first assessment would be due in 2028).
Diplomates who achieve initial certification in vascular surgery, pediatric surgery, complex general surgical oncology, or surgical critical care will complete their first assessment two years after initial certification (e.g., if certified in May 2025 or September 2025, the first assessment would be due in 2027).
*Note: Due to the COVID-related rescheduling of the 2020 and 2021 Vascular Surgery Certifying Exams, those who became certified in vascular surgery in either January or July 2021 took their first Vascular Surgery Continuous Certification Assessment in 2023.
How Can Current Diplomates Enroll in Continuous Certification?
Diplomates with time-limited certificates must register to enroll
Diplomates with expiring time-limited (10-year) certificates must enroll in the Continuous Certification Program to remain certified.
Enrollment is complete only after:
- Meeting all ongoing requirements
- Paying the annual fee
- Signing the program attestation
Completing and passing a Continuous Certification Assessment marks an entrance into the Continuous Certification process, in which CME, participation in a registry or quality assessment program, and licensing information must be up to date, in addition to taking an assessment every other year.
What is the Continuous Certification Assessment schedule?
Continuous Certification Assessments are due every two years
All Continuous Certification Assessments focus on the latest and most important developments in practice to assist diplomates in staying up to date.
- Assessment Window: Ten weeks annually from late-summer to mid-fall
- Assessment Eligibility: Every other year for diplomates enrolled in the program, with a grace year available in the alternating year if necessary
- Assessment Completion: Two weeks to complete the assessment once started, with the opportunity to save progress and continue at a later time during the two-week period
The $285 annual fee covers one assessment every other year, free access to all assessment reference materials, and general Continuous Certification Program participation.
This exam is for surgeons who either: (1) did not successfully complete the lapsed pathway; or (2) are not eligible to enter the lapsed pathway.
What are the Ongoing Certification Requirements?
Diplomates must be up to date on their ongoing certification requirements to maintain their certification
Diplomates should maintain their certification requirements on an ongoing basis. While the assessment is due every other year, all other program requirements should be monitored and updated frequently. Diplomates may check their status and due dates for additional materials anytime via their ABS portal.