Board Certification

Key facts

Legal status

Voluntary; a state license, not certification, is required to practice

Certifying bodies

ABMS member boards (MDs and DOs) and AOA specialty boards (DOs)

ABMS member boards

24

Upkeep

Continuing certification, formerly called Maintenance of Certification (MOC)

What is board certification?

A physician becomes board certified by completing an accredited residency and passing a certifying examination from a specialty board. The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) coordinates 24 member boards, such as the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Surgery. Osteopathic physicians can certify through ABMS boards or through the specialty boards of the American Osteopathic Association (AOA).

No law requires board certification. It signals specialty expertise to hospitals, health plans and patients, and many hospitals and payer networks require certification, or board eligibility within a set period, for privileges or network participation.

How board certification works

The usual path looks like this:

Boards also limit how long a physician can describe themselves as board eligible after training. Each board sets its own window.

• Complete an accredited residency, plus a fellowship for subspecialty certification.
• Hold a valid, unrestricted state medical license.
• Pass the board's written examination; some boards also require an oral examination.
• Maintain certification through continuing medical education, periodic assessments and professional standing requirements set by the board.

Why board certification matters

Credentialing committees and health plans verify certification before granting privileges or network status. For market analysis, certification separates trained subspecialists from physicians who only describe a focus, which makes it a stronger signal than a self-selected taxonomy code when identifying key opinion leaders, trial investigators or referral targets.

Common misconceptions about board certification

Board certification is not licensure. A physician whose certification lapses can still hold a license and practice. Certificates from ABMS or AOA boards also differ from certificates issued by organizations outside those systems, which hospitals and health plans may not accept.

Nurse practitioners and physician assistants also describe themselves as board certified, through their own national bodies such as the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA).