Ongoing Certification Requirements

Diplomates must hold a valid, full, and unrestricted (U.S. or Canada) medical license, and must immediately inform the ABS of any conditions or restrictions in force on any active medical license they hold.

Hospital or surgical center privileges are required if the diplomate is clinically active. If a diplomate is clinically inactive or does not otherwise hold privileges, they will be asked to provide an explanation.

Two reference forms must be submitted every five years. In most cases, one should be completed by the Chair of Surgery and the other by the Chair of Credentials at the institution where the diplomate performs most of their work. If necessary, a physician(s) of comparable rank may complete the form as long as they are familiar with the diplomate’s recent clinical activities. If a diplomate is clinically inactive, two physicians familiar with their current non-clinical activities should complete the form.

Surgeons who enroll in the Continuous Certification Program with a lapsed certification must submit additional references per our lapsed certificates policy.

Ongoing participation in a local, regional, or national outcomes registry or quality assessment program, either individually or through the diplomate’s institution, is expected. Diplomates must describe how they are meeting this requirement — no patient data is collected. See Practice Improvement for more details and resources.

Diplomates must earn 150 credits of Category 1 CME relevant to their practice over five years, of which at least 50 must include self-assessment — a question-and-answer exercise that assesses understanding of the material in the CME program. When a diplomate participates in a CME activity that includes self-assessment (SA), the SA credits will be transferred to ABS along with the category-1 credits via the PARS system. Check the ACCME’s CME Passport website to find CME activities that meet ABS continuous certification requirements. Activities with self-assessment will be denoted with “SA” (e.g., ABS Point: 1; ABS Credit Type(s) CME, SA).

NOTE: ACCME’s CME Passport website is hosted and maintained by the ACCME, not by the ABS. For questions or concerns related to any activities listed in the CME Passport, please contact the ACCME or the CME provider directly.

This requirement will change to 125 CME credits with no self-assessment required when a diplomate passes their first Continuous Certification Assessment, beginning January 1 of the year following the first successful assessment attempt. See our CME page for more information.

CME is counted over a five-year rolling basis, and this five-year window shifts annually on Jan. 1. Diplomates should check the CME repository in their ABS portal for information about the current five-year window.

Successful completion of a Continuous Certification Assessment prior to certificate expiration is required to maintain certification. To register for an assessment, diplomates must be up to date with all other program requirements and current with all program fees.

For diplomates who hold multiple ABS certificates, this is the only requirement that must be repeated for each certificate, aside from the annual fee.