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The eight-year eligibility window specified in 19.1.1 allows a reasonable period following the completion of 3-year CPME approved podiatric medicine and surgery residency. The eight-year window exceeds that provided generally by our allopathic and osteopathic colleagues.
Additionally, ABPM’s policy allows those who have yet to obtain specialty certification from the other CPME-recognized certifying board an additional year to consider certification with ABPM and ensure their professional and economic viability. Both eligibility periods are comparable to those offered by our allopathic MD/DO colleagues, including the 24 distinct specialty certifying boards under the American Board of Medical Specialties umbrella.
More recently, ABPM’s Board of Directors has approved an additional 2-3 years due to the training and education impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, provided the candidate reaches out to ABPM to request extra time. Extra time is not approved simply by asking the question, but is only available on a case-by-case basis, only to those whose eligibility may have expired between 2020-2022.
Finally, the ABPM Board of Directors has determined that it cannot now elect to certify some practitioners who are presently outside of the eligibility window while others have been timed out of the process and were denied the opportunity to sit.
From ABMS Standards for Certification of Allopathic and Osteopathic Medicine
GS-3. Each ABMS Member Board will determine criteria for eligibility, including the expiration date for the Board Eligible period. The expiration date must be no fewer than three and no more than seven years following the successful completion of accredited training, and in accordance with the corresponding Member Board requirements, plus time (if any) in practice required by the Member Board for admission to the certifying examination.
Unfortunately, most of the podiatrists who fall into this category are no longer eligible to obtain Board Certification from ABPM. This is due to the confluence of several factors and determinations made both by the ABPM Board of Directors and the Council on Podiatric Medical Education (CPME) why recognizes and empowers certifying boards to conduct Board Certification.
CPME 220 regulates how recognized specialty certifying boards may conduct their certification procedures in section 5, stating:
5.2 The specialty board shall require candidates for certification to have successfully completed a minimum of three years of CPME-approved residency training.
This generally means that, presently, the Board can only certify only those podiatric physicians who have completed a 36-month CPME-approved Podiatric Medicine and Surgery Residency (PMSR). This regulation was adopted and standardized in 2011 and both recognized certifying boards are required to comply.
The Board of Directors of ABPM has also adopted the following policy regarding Board Eligibility:
19.1 Board Eligibility – Candidates completing a CPME-approved residency program are considered Board Eligible at the conclusion of their final residency year.
19.1.1 Board Eligibility status is granted for a period up to eight (8) years, after which a candidate will no longer be permitted to sit for the examination process. If a candidate attempts certification within the eight (8) year period but does not achieve certification they will be granted an additional five (5) years of eligible status.
Applicants are encouraged to contact Board Headquarters at (310) 375-0700 or sarah@podiatryboard.org for official verification of their eligibility status.
The only people eligible to sit for the ABPM examination in May are those who were tested prior to 2022 and have only passed one section.
If you passed only one section of the exam prior to October 2022, your scores are valid for eight years from your residency graduation date. For example: if you completed residency in 2021, and you attempted and passed only the Cases or Didactic section o the exam, you are eligible until 2029 to pass the remaining part of the exam you failed.
As of October 2022, the Certification Exam is scored as a single exam composed of two sections (Cases & Didactic). You must pass both sections in one sitting in order to pass the exam. If you fail one part of the exam you must take the entire exam over again the next time it is offered in the Fall. Failing one part of the exam adds a one-time 5 year extension onto your original eight year eligibility period, for a maximum eligibility period of 13 years.
As of October 2022 you are considered eligible to sit for the Exam for eight years from the date you completed your CPME approved PMSR-36 or PMSR/RRA-36 residency. If you do not attempt the examination in that time period you are no longer eligible. If you attempt to take the Certification Exam during this eight year period and fail, your eligibility period is extended out for an additional 5 years. The maximum eligibility range is therefore 13 years.
How long am I eligible to sit for the Certification Exam?
As of October 2022 you are considered eligible to sit for the Exam for eight years from the date you completed your CPME approved PMSR-36 or PMSR/RRA-36 residency. If you do not attempt the examination in that time period you are no longer eligible. If you attempt to take the Certification Exam during this eight year period and fail, your eligibility period is extended out for an additional 5 years. The maximum eligibility range is therefore 13 years.
How does passing/failing work for the current Certification Examination?
As of October 2022, the Certification Exam is scored as a single exam composed of two sections (Cases & Didactic). You must pass both sections in one sitting in order to pass the exam. If you fail one part of the exam you must take the entire exam over again the next time it is offered in the Fall. Failing one part of the exam adds a one-time 5 year extension onto your original eight year eligibility period, for a maximum eligibility period of 13 years.
What happens if I passed only one section of the exam that I took prior to October 2022?
If you passed only one section of the exam prior to October 2022, your scores are valid for eight years from your residency graduation date. For example: if you completed residency in 2021, and you attempted and passed only the Cases or Didactic section o the exam, you are eligible until 2029 to pass the remaining part of the exam you failed.
If there is an Examination provided in May, who is eligible to sit for this exam?
The only people eligible to sit for the ABPM examination in May are those who were tested prior to 2022 and have only passed one section.
If you pass one section of the exam, your scores are valid for the length of your eligibility. For example: if you complete residency in 2021 you are eligible until 2029. If you take the exam in October 2021 and pass the cases but not the didactic section, you have until 2029 to take and pass just the didactic section. Your case section score is valid until your eligibility expires.
Applicants must meet all eligibility requirements, pass both the didactic and case sections of the Certification Examination and must provide evidence of an active license to practice podiatric medicine to be granted board certified classification.
In order to determine whether or not you are eligible to sit for the ABPM Board Examinations, go to our Exam Certification Examination page and click the Am I Eligible? button.