Exam Procedures

General Information – Updated 4/10/07


ADMISSIBILITY TO EXAMINATION
An applicant is admissible to the examination only when all of the preliminary and graduate educational requirements of the Board currently in force at the time of receipt of the formal application have been satisfactorily fulfilled and deemed acceptable.


EXAMINATION SITES
The certifying examination will be computer-based. It will be administered at NCS Pearson Professional Centers at approximately 200 locations throughout the United States. Applicants may register at the testing center of their choice on a “first-to-register” basis. Exact location of these centers can be found on the NCS Pearson website: www.pearsonvue.com/abnm.


APPLICATIONS
Officers, members, and employees of the Board are not authorized to comment on the eligibility of applicants. The Board decides on the eligibility of an applicant to take the examination only by approving or disapproving individual applications. It has no “Board Eligible” category.

Certification
Credit toward the nuclear medicine requirement: Applicants who have not completed a radiology training program who do not have 36 months of nuclear medicine training in an approved nuclear medicine program and are seeking credit for training in accredited programs in other clinical disciplines closely related to nuclear medicine must write to the Board to request any credit toward the 36 months of required nuclear medicine training. A copy of the Board’s response must be included with the applicant’s application to take the examination.

Applicants are not eligible to take the certifying examination if it has been more than 7 years after completion of nuclear medicine residency training or if they have failed the examination 3 or more times in the past. These applicants must satisfactorily complete an additional year of training in an accredited nuclear medicine training program.

Maintenance of Certification
Applicants for the MOC examination must be fully participating in MOC including payment of all MOC fees.

ABNM diplomates with time-limited certificates that have been issued since 1992 must take a Maintenance of Certification examination to maintain their certification. The ABNM recommends that diplomates take their Maintenance of Certification examination 2 years prior to when their certification expires to allow the diplomate to retake the examination if necessary. If they pass the Maintenance of Certification examination, the expiration date on their new certificate will be 10 years after the expiration date of their old certificate so that there is no penalty for taking the examination before the certificate expires.

ABNM diplomates with lifelong certificates are expected to participate in MOC and take the Maintenance of Certification examination at ten year intervals. Taking the Maintenance of Certification examination will not change their lifelong certification status. The Maintenance of Certification examination will be administered for 3 ½ hours only and is scheduled for the same dates as the certification examination.

Applicants for the Maintenance of Certification examination  1) must have been previously certified by the ABNM, 2) must hold a valid and unrestricted license to practice medicine, and 3) must be engaged currently in the practice of and/or teaching or research in nuclear medicine.


RELEASE OF INFORMATION
Candidates will receive the results of their examinations (pass/fail letter) within three months after the examination.

A list of ABNM diplomates is published in The Official ABMS Directory of Board Certified Medical Specialists, published by Marquis Who’s Who.

Upon request and with the approval of the Chair of the Board, the Board will release information concerning diplomates to federal and state licensing bodies and to educational and professional organizations for specific, limited appropriate professional use. An authorization for release of this information is a part of the examination application form. A $100 fee is charged for this verification service.

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POLICY ON RE-EXAMINATION
Candidates who fail the certification examination are eligible for re-examination. An examination fee must accompany each completed application for re-examination. Candidates who have failed the certification examination three times must provide evidence of an additional year of training in an accredited nuclear medicine program before they can take the certification examination again.

If a candidate is disqualified because of false statements on the application form or because of dishonesty in taking the examination resulting in invalidation of his/her examination by the Board, acceptance for re-examination shall be at the Board’s discretion.


REVOCATION OF CERTIFICATE
The ABNM receives reports of disciplinary actions taken by state medical licensing boards. Any certificate issued by the Board shall be subject to revocation at any time should the Board determine that a physician who has received a certificate was in some respect not properly qualified to receive or retain it. Diplomates have an obligation to notify the Board within 60 days of all disciplinary actions taken by medical licensing boards and to inform the Board when such actions expire or are otherwise removed. Individuals who have not made this disclosure shall be required to explain why they have failed to do so. Any certificate revoked by the Board must be returned to the Board.

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