Beginning in the calendar year 2020, all physicians who have completed an ABOG- or ACGME-accredited fellowship in one of the five subspecialties must achieve ABOG subspecialty certification within eight years of completion of their training. 

If certification is not achieved within eight years, you're no longer eligible to apply for either the Qualifying or Certifying Exams unless six months of supervised practice is completed. This means that if you completed subspecialty training in the calendar year 2012 or earlier, you must be subspecialty certified by 2020, or you will be required to complete six months of supervised practice before regaining eligibility to apply for certification. 

If you fail to achieve subspecialty certification within eight years of completion of an accredited subspecialty fellowship program and then successfully complete six months of supervised practice, you must achieve subspecialty certification within four years of the completion of the supervised practice. 

1. Must be a Diplomate of ABOG and hold an Active Certificate in Obstetrics and Gynecology.  

2. Must have passed the Qualifying Examination in their subspecialty on their most recent attempt.  

3. Hold an unrestricted license to practice medicine in all states or territories of the United States or Canada in which the candidate holds a medical license. Licenses that have been revoked, suspended, or are on probation, or are subject to conditions of any type, are considered to be restricted.  

4. Have privileges at one or more acute care hospitals. While full, unrestricted privileges to perform all procedures associated with their subspecialty are preferred, at a minimum, these privileges must allow the candidate to perform an in-hospital consultation on patients who have been admitted. The latest date a candidate can have privileges in effect is June 19, 2025. If a candidate holds hospital privileges in more than one hospital, they can give up privileges voluntarily as long as they still hold unrestricted hospital privileges in another hospital. Privileges that are resigned or dropped in lieu of an investigation or adverse action are not considered to be given up voluntarily and must be reported. The candidate’s privileges must remain in effect at the time of the Certifying Examination and may not be suspended or revoked, and the candidate must not be under investigation.  

5. Be of good moral and ethical character and have shown appropriate professionalism in all interactions with patients, peers, and other medical personnel. A felony conviction, even if unrelated to the practice of medicine, will be considered evidence of failure to meet this standard.  

6. Have not resigned hospital privileges or membership in any medical organization (e.g., ACOG) while under investigation. If the candidate is under investigation or on probation, the application will not be approved. The candidate must reapply and pay a new application fee once the probation and/or restrictions have been resolved. However, resolution of these matters does not guarantee that the candidate’s application will be approved.  

7. Have had an independent practice as a subspecialist in their subspecialty field and have privileges in a center or centers providing or having ready access to the essential diagnostic and therapeutic facilities for the practice in their subspecialty field, and to retain such practice until the date of the candidate’s examination. Practice may include locum tenens work.  

8. Submit electronic case lists that document a practice that demonstrates sufficient depth and breadth of practice in their subspecialty field to permit the evaluation of the candidate’s ability to function in the subspecialty. The case lists must be appropriately de-identified.

9. Have not failed to disclose any adverse action. If a non-disclosed falsification or adverse action is identified by ABOG, it will result in a deferral of a candidate’s eligibility to sit for the Certifying Examination for a period of at least 3 years. If the candidate is allowed to sit for the examination at the end of the deferral period, the candidate must meet all requirements in effect at that time.  

10. A candidate who practices outside of the United States, its territories, or Canada must submit, with the application, a letter(s) from a senior responsible officer in the hospital(s) where the candidate practices, verifying the candidate’s responsibility for independent, unsupervised care of patients.