Assessment of Knowledge, Judgment and Skills builds upon and links to the continuous
learning and self-assessment requirements of CC Part II.
Annual Requirement for CC Part III: The ACE Pilot
The Amplified Continuing Education (ACE) Pilot is an innovative enhancement to ABOG's Continuing Certification (CC) program. It aims to identify and close knowledge gaps for diplomates through zero-pressure knowledge gap assessments. The ACE pilot is required for all diplomates participating in CC and is not a separate program. You do not need to opt in when you apply for CC, and will automatically have access to ACE questions through your participation in ABOG's CC program.
Diplomates will be required to take 60 ACE questions throughout the year, in addition to the 60 article-based questions from Part II activities. There is no time-limit to answer ACE questions.
For specific information about ACE, including information about content, scoring, and feedback, visit the ACE Pilot overview page.
Year 6 and Eligibility for the Performance Pathway
ABOG introduced Performance Pathway to enhance and streamline the continuing certification (CC) process. The program integrates the self-assessment and external assessment requirements to encourage you to continuously demonstrate your knowledge of the specialty. The program maintains a rigorous and relevant continuous professional development process that is critical to providing high-quality patient care. Performance Pathway emphasizes demonstration of knowledge throughout the entire CC cycle. ABOG believes that this program helps ensure that you're maintaining a high level of current medical knowledge and are able to apply that information in your practice.
All diplomates in Year 6 will still be required to complete annual CC requirements and meet the 80% Part II article-based assessment threshold.
When diplomates in Year 6 apply for the CC process, they will be notified if they are eligible to participate in the CC Performance Pathway. Those who do not qualify, must pass the 2026 CC Part III Examination administered on July 20, 2026.
Diplomates in CC Year 6 are eligible for the CC Performance Pathway if he/she has (a) an Active Diplomate certification status, (b) has answered at least 86% or more of the CC Part II article-based assessment questions correctly in CC Years 1-5 of this CC cycle, and (c) has unrestricted licenses to practice. These diplomates will be exempt from taking the CC Part III Assessment of Knowledge, Judgment and Skills Exam requirement in Year 6.
Diplomates will be ineligible to participate in the CC Performance Pathway if they have any of the following.
Probationary Diplomate certification status;
current state board disciplinary actions on their medical license, such as revocations, suspensions, probations, denials of renewal, surrenders, restrictions, conditions; or
felony criminal indictments, pleas, or convictions; or deferred dispositions.
Year 6 diplomates not eligible for the Performance Pathway must take and pass the CC Part III Examination in Year 6 in 2026 to maintain certification.
Watch this video to learn more about Performance Pathway.
Ineligible for Performance Pathway: Year 6 Part III Exam
Applications for CC Part III will also be available beginning in January 2025 with the CC application. These do not have to be requested through ABOG. No application will be accepted after March 15, 2026. The exam fee is in addition to the annual CC application fee and must be paid at the time of application. No application will be processed without payment of the application fee and submission of all required documents.
When a diplomate’s application has been approved, an approval email will be sent to each applicant at the email address currently listed in the Profile Section of the applicant’s personal ABOG portal when they are approved to take the examination. The approval email will contain information for contacting a Pearson VUE Testing Center to schedule a seat for the examination. After the approval email from ABOG is received, the diplomate must contact Pearson VUE to obtain a seat for the examination. Diplomates are urged to obtain a seat as soon as possible after notification of approval to avoid long-distance travel to a site with an available seat since ABOG-reserved seats held at Pearson Vue centers will not be held past seat block release deadline date. After that date, it will be harder for diplomates to reserve a seat at their preferred site. Seats in individual cities are limited and are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. ABOG will not refund any portion of the test fee if a diplomate is not able to reserve a seat at their preferred testing center. Once diplomates have secured a seat, Pearson VUE will send a confirmation email with details to include the test center address. Diplomates are encouraged to save this email as ABOG is unable to resend Pearson VUE seat reservation emails. If special accommodations are required, those requests must be received no later than the close of the application period and should be submitted here. It may not be possible to accommodate requests received after the close of the application period. It is the diplomate’s responsibility to complete all steps to confirm the accommodation with the Pearson VUE Accommodations Scheduling Department. A confirmed accommodation will be reflected on the seat reservation email sent by Pearson VUE. For more information, please review ABOG’s Accommodation Policies.
The diplomate will be expected to demonstrate skills necessary to apply the appropriate knowledge to the management of clinical problems. These skills include:
obtaining needed information;
interpretation and use of data obtained;
selection, institution, and implementation of appropriate care;
management of complications;
follow-up and continuing care.
The exam consists of 230 single-best answer multiple-choice questions. Many of the questions are constructed to be thought-provoking and emphasize problem-solving. For most questions, all possible answers may be plausible, but only one answer is most correct. The exam will only be given in English. The content for all exams is determined by ABOG's scientific and psychometrically sound practices, and can be found on ABOG's website. Common abbreviations that may be used can also be found on the website. There is no sole source that will serve as the basis for all questions on the exam. ABOG does not sponsor or recommend review courses for the examination. Diplomates may want to be familiar with the topics that are assessed on the exam and current textbooks.
The exam is scheduled to last approximately 3 hours and 45 minutes. Diplomates will receive information after registering on the Pearson VUE Testing Center website concerning the location of their exam, as well as the time they must arrive. Diplomates will be required to schedule their exam seat reservation with an 8:00 AM start time in their time zone at a Pearson VUE location in the United States or Canada. Requests to take the exam at a Pearson VUE location outside of the US or Canada will be considered if the reason for the request is out of the control of the diplomate (e.g., military deployment).
Specific conduct and expectations on day of testing at the Pearson VUE testing center can be found here, including the Test Security agreement.
In the event of unforeseen circumstances with the testing center, such as early termination of an examination or an interrupted examination, Pearson VUE will offer an option to reschedule your appointment within 5 business days of the original date (on or before the Friday of the week of the exam), and will strive to accommodate your preferred location, date, and time - pending availability at a given center. If the diplomate does not take their exam within the required time frame, the exam fee will not be refunded and will not be credited toward future applications.
The results of the exam will be reported online to each diplomate on or before the last Friday in October. We recognize waiting close to 12 weeks for these important results is difficult and the format of the exam creates an expectation for immediate feedback. Please be assured during this post examination period, extensive quality assurance checks take place to ensure your test result is fair and accurate. For example, content on the exam is re-reviewed to identify potentially flawed questions. If ABOG determines a question with more than one correct answer (or no correct answer) was on the exam, test-takers will not be penalized for that item.
When results are released, ABOG will provide the diplomate their score report in addition to the result of “pass” or “fail.” Each diplomate, regardless of whether they pass or fail, will be provided with the percent scored in each of the major topic areas.
.jpg?sfvrsn=f2eed78d_0)
