What are the requirements for Board Certification for an Emergency Physician in the United States?

After residency and any fellowship training, an Emergency physician is considered Board Eligible. This means he or she is eligible to take the next round of certification exams. Depending on the accrediting body of the residency (AOA or ACGME), the Board Eligible physician takes a specific set of board exams.

For ACGME residency graduates, they are Board Certified under the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM). They take a written exam and an oral examination. If they perform well enough to pass both exams, they are then Board Certified for a period of 10 years from the date of initial certification. When that certification expires, they may retake a written board exam and remain board certified, provided they have also performed all the requisite Continuing Medical Education (CME) and LifeLong Learning Assessment (LLSA) tests in the interim years.

For AOA residency graduates, they are Board Certified under the American Osteopathic Board of Emergency Medicine (AOBEM). They take a written exam, and oral exam, and after those are passed, must submit 20 charts for peer review. Once that is complete and all steps passed successfully, they are Board Certified for a period of 10 years, to be recertified every 10 years, after completing all AOBEM required CME and COLA (Continuous Osteopathic Learning Assessment - the AOBEM version of the LLSA).