Thesis Process Change FAQs

One of the eligibility criteria for the Subspecialty Qualifying Examination is that fellows must submit and defend a thesis that meets ABOG standards by June 15 in the last year of fellowship. The structured defense process for programs to implement is designed to create a rigorous and fair assessment of each fellow’s thesis, as assessed by a committee convened by the program.

The Thesis Defense Form provides documentation of the thesis defense process. In order to make this a smooth transition, the current form was adapted from a form that was already in use in many fellowship programs. The form also describes the structured process for programs to follow, so that it is easily accessible to programs, committee members, and fellows.

This process will apply to fellows graduating in 2026 and all fellows going forward.

For fellows that graduated in 2025 or earlier, the thesis is an eligibility criterion for the Certifying Exam. Learn more here.

The Thesis Defense Process and Form is located on the Subspecialty Certification Thesis Guidelines webpage within the "2026 and Future Subspecialty Graduates" section.

ABOG approval is not required. Changes in thesis topic will be determined by the Program.

If the thesis was defended prior to academic year 2025-2026 and the program followed the thesis defense process using a very similar form, that form can be uploaded according to the process described here and the program and fellow can attest to the satisfactory completion of this requirement via their portal.

If the program thesis defense process differed substantially from the process described here, the program director will send a letter to fellowship@abog.org describing the process and attaching the program thesis assessment form that was used. ABOG will review these materials and notify the program whether this is approved. Once approved, the program and fellow can attest to the satisfactory completion of this requirement via their portal.

If the program did not have a defense process at all, the program will need to follow the new defense process prior to the due date in 2026.

The fellow will not be eligible to take the current Subspecialty Qualifying Examination and must wait until the following year’s exam.

Each fellow will need to upload their thesis and Thesis Defense Form in their ABOG portal in the specified tasks. As soon as the thesis and Thesis Defense Form upload tasks are available in the portal, ABOG will notify fellows via email.

The thesis defense process must be repeated and successfully completed by June 15 of the final year of fellowship to be eligible to take the Subspecialty Qualifying Examination in the year the fellow completes fellowship training.

The fellow will not be eligible to take the Subspecialty Qualifying Examination.

The process is outlined on the Thesis Defense Process and Form, located on the Subspecialty Certification Thesis Guidelines webpage.