ABR certifying exam

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The ABR certifying exam is the second of two exams necessary for certification in diagnostic and interventional radiology in the United States of America (the first is the core exam). It is taken 15 months after the end of the PGY 5 year (or three months after a one year PGY 6 fellowship).

The exam is computer-based and is five hours long.

The exam has five modules:

  • noninterpretive skills (NIS)
  • essentials of diagnostic radiology
  • three clinical practice areas
    • these are selected by the candidate, and may be chosen from
      • general radiology
      • breast radiology
      • cardiac radiology
      • gastrointestinal radiology
      • genitourinary radiology
      • musculoskeletal radiology
      • neuroradiology
      • thoracic radiology
      • pediatric radiology
      • ultrasound
      • nuclear medicine
      • vascular and interventional radiology
    • the three clinical practice areas may contain more than one of any module (e.g. a candidate could choose two thoracic modules and one neuroradiology module)... if more than one module of the same clinical practice area is chosen, the additional modules are more difficult 

The first exam was administered in October 2015. The exam was graded as pass or fail, without the "conditional" category in the core exam.

The exam is offered in both Chicago, Illinois and Tucson, Arizona.

This exam replaces the old ABR "written boards" and "oral boards", which were discontinued in 2013.

Radiology training