Candidate FAQs

You can retrieve your username and/or password by clicking on the "Forgot username?" and "Forgot password?" links on the  ABFAS login page and following the prompts. If you are unable to request a password online, call ABFAS at 415-553-7800.

ABFAS has two types of candidates, Board Certified and Board Qualified. Each candidate type has further distinctions:

Board Certified:

• Ambulatory: A podiatric surgeon who became certified by the American Board of Ambulatory Surgery before it joined with ABFAS.
  
  
• Foot and Ankle Surgery: A podiatric surgeon who became ABFAS Board Certified before 1991.

• Foot: A podiatric surgeon who has passed the ABFAS Part I and Part II foot surgery examinations, holds hospital privileges, and has an active license.

• Reconstructive Rearfoot/Ankle (RRA): A podiatric surgeon who is certified in foot surgery and has also passed the ABFAS Part I and Part II RRA surgery examinations, holds hospital privileges, and has an active license.

Board Certified podiatric surgeons are Diplomates of ABFAS.

Board Qualified:

• Foot: A podiatric surgeon who has passed the ABFAS Part I Foot surgery examinations, holds hospital privileges, and has an active license.
  
  
• Reconstructive Rearfoot/Ankle (RRA): A podiatric surgeon who has passed the ABFAS Part I Foot surgery and has also passed the ABFAS Part I RRA surgery examinations, holds hospital privileges, and has an active license.

• Certified: Ambulatory, Foot and Ankle Surgery, Foot, Reconstructive Rearfoot/Ankle (RRA)
• Qualified: Foot, Reconstructive Rearfoot/Ankle (RRA)

• Administrative: Unrelated to any professional review action (e.g., non-payment of annual fee or special assessment).
• Legal: Upon professional review related to any of the following possibilities: misrepresents certification status or provides false information to ABFAS, has cheated on any ABFAS exam, or violates the Code of Ethics of the APMA, conviction of either a felony related to the delivery of a healthcare item or service or any offense that causes their license revocation.

You will need to pass the Part I Didactic exam and the NEW CBPS exam to become Board Qualified.  Alternatively, passing all required ITE exams in final year of residency can count toward Board Qualification with payment of the Board Qualification Fee. Next, you will have to pass Case Review to become Board Certified.

Board Qualified status indicates that a podiatric surgeon has passed the Part I examination(s), holds hospital privileges, and has an active license. Individuals who are Board Qualified are not members of ABFAS but are “in progress.”

Board Certified status indicates that the podiatric surgeon has passed the Part II examination(s), holds hospital privileges, and has an active license. Individuals with Board Certified status are members of ABFAS.

This is the new certification process effective in September 2020. 

Yes. The American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS) offers voluntary board certification. ABOS candidates undertake a Part I written examination and a Part II oral examination.

Please see the ADA Accommodations webpage.

Once you have completed residency, you should start logging all post-residency cases for which you are the surgeon of record in PLS.  Even if you are enrolled in Case Review, you should continue to log all cases for which you are the surgeon of record until you have passed Case Review.

See the Part II Case Review Overview page for more information about case review. ABFAS randomly selects up to 11 procedures from those logged in Podiatric Logging Service for Surgery (PLS) if a candidate applies for Foot Surgery certification. ABFAS randomly selects up to 22 procedures from those logged if a candidate applies for both Foot Surgery certification and Reconstructive Rearfoot/Ankle Surgery certification. If a candidate applies for RRA certification only, ABFAS randomly selects up to 11 RRA procedures from those logged. ABFAS may evaluate all procedures included in any case.

Candidates must log a minimum of 65 cases in PLS for eligibility to submit cases for review for Foot Surgery certification and/or Reconstructive Rearfoot/Ankle Surgery (RRA) certification (see Appendix C).

For Foot Surgery certification, a minimum of 30 cases must include surgery from the First Ray, Other Osseous, and Reconstructive Rearfoot/Ankle categories listed in Appendix A.

For RRA Surgery certification, you must log a minimum of 30 RRA.

Additionally, the RRA cases must include a minimum of 13 procedures from Appendix B.

Candidates repeating the Case Review portion of the examination must ensure they have an adequate volume of cases to meet the requirement. Cases selected for Case Review in previous years will not be used for Case Review in subsequent years.

• RRA procedures consisting of diagnostic operative arthroscopy, subtalar joint arthroereisis, foreign body/hardware removal, or ostectomy do not count toward the required 30 total.
• Open management of fractures must include some type of internal or external fixation.
• Unproven or experimental procedures do not count toward the required 65 total.
• Removal of internal or external fixation devices or implants do not count.
  Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) procedures and application of biological dressings are not acceptable.
• Please refer to the Board Certification document for required cases and Case Review eligibility charts.

Every candidate must log all post residency surgical cases in which they are the surgeon of record in an electronic database called the Podiatric Logging Service for Surgery (PLS).

For more information see the PLS Logging pages. 

Documentation needs to support that:

1. You are the primary treating provider on the preoperative assessment note or H&P note and that you were actively involved in the surgical decision-making for the patient.

2. You are listed as the primary surgeon on the OP report, the anesthesia record, and the intraoperativeanesthesia record/circulating nurse's notes.

3. There is sufficient documentation to support that you were actively involved in the care of the patient post-operatively.

No. You must log all surgical cases performed, otherwise, you are at risk of failing the hospital audit to verify surgical procedures performed.

Exam fees support ABFAS administrative costs, including the meetings and work of the four committees that develop the exams. ABFAS currently has 16 different exams that cover In-training didactic and CBPS, Board Qualification didactic and CBPS, and Board Certification CBPS and Case Review.

Approximately 135 ABFAS Board Certified members volunteer more than two weeks of their time to meet and review exam performance, develop new items for future exams, and strategize new exam processes for the more than 5,000 individual exams administered each year. In addition, for Case Review, more than 115 ABFAS Board Certified members volunteer for three days (4–5, if you include travel time) to review more than 6,900 procedures submitted for those seeking Board Certification. During the time all of the committees meet, the volunteers are not seeing patients or performing surgery, which means that they are giving up not only their time but their income to make sure that ABFAS exams are the highest quality.

Application fees support ABFAS administrative costs, including the meetings and work of the four committees that develop the exams. ABFAS currently has 16 different exams that cover In-training didactic and CBPS, Board Qualification didactic and CBPS, and Board Certification CBPS and Case Review.

In 2018-19, ABFAS administered almost 6,000 individual exams. To prepare for this, each year approximately 135 ABFAS Board Certified members volunteer more than two weeks of their time to meet and review the current exams’ performance, develop new items for future exams, and strategize new exam processes. In addition, for Case Review, more than 115 ABFAS Board Certified members volunteer for three days (four to five if you include travel time) to review more than 6,900 procedures submitted for those seeking Board Certification. During the time all of the committees meet, the volunteers are not seeing patients or performing surgery, which means that they are giving up not only their time but their income to make sure that ABFAS exams are of the highest quality.

ABFAS volunteers, staff, and part of your annual fee also support the Podiatry Residency Resource (PRR) program and the Council on Podiatric Medical Education (CPME) through the Residency Review Committee (RRC) and its residency program evaluation process (CREC). The one PRR staff member works out of the ABFAS facilities.

As ABFAS is an independent organization that does not take industry sponsorship or funding like other associations, we appreciate all of your support and the value you put on the podiatric foot and ankle surgery profession and becoming ABFAS Board Certified.

No. We only apply fees to administrative/operational costs.

In your situation, a candidate still needs to pass the Foot Surgery Didactic and Foot Surgery NEW CBPS exam to achieve Foot Surgery Board Qualification.  You will also have pass the RRA Surgery Didactic to achieve RRA Board Qualification. Foot Surgery Board Qualification is a prerequisite for RRA Board Qualification. 

Once board qualified in Foot and RRA surgery, you will need to pass Foot and RRA Case Review as well as pass an additional RRA CBPS exam, the RRA Surgery NEW CBPS to achieve RRA Surgery Board Certification.  The Part I RRA CBPS exam is not psychometrically equivalent to the NEW RRA CBPS exam.

You will have to pass both the Foot Surgery Didactic exam and the RRA Surgery Didactic exam in order to achieve Board Qualification in Foot and RRA.

After becoming board qualified in Foot and RRA you will still need to pass the Foot Surgery NEW CBPS exam and the RRA Surgery NEW CBPS exam as well as Case Review in Foot and RRA to become Board Certified in both.

Yes, you will.  The CBPS exam you took in your pre-2020 Part I exams is not the equivalent of the NEW CBPS exam, so you will still need to take the NEW CBPS in order to achieve Board Certification.  You do not need to take another Didactic Exam.

Results are posted online to your personal profile 6–8 weeks after the end of the exam period (e.g., if the exam period is January 10–15, ABFAS will notify you of your results 6–8 weeks after January 15). ABFAS will notify candidates via email when results have been posted.

The purpose of the CBPS format is to evaluate candidates’ clinical reasoning skills, a type of testing called performance-based testing. The CBPS examines content knowledge and candidates’ ability to solve problems and make clinically relevant decisions. During the CBPS, candidates collect and analyze patient information and apply what they have learned, thus demonstrating their abilities to examine a patient (physical examination) and formulate a treatment plan.

Candidates complete the CBPS by considering the relevant aspects of case management (patient history, physical examination, imaging, laboratory tests, diagnostic procedures, diagnosis, and treatment, and, in some cases, follow-up diagnoses and treatments). While collecting patient information, candidates must balance thoroughness with efficiency as well as quality versus quantity. Because the CBPS is a timed examination, candidates need to pace themselves and not take too much time on any one point or decision.

Field testing has demonstrated that users who have practiced the CBPS have ample time to complete each case. While collecting information regarding the simulated case, candidates should remember that relevance is paramount to successful resolution of a clinical problem. For example, if candidates are hesitant about whether a procedure is warranted, they should base their decisions on clinical indications. CBPS scoring is based on the relevance of the processes or actions performed.

 

No. ABFAS considers the status of an individual's participation in and the stage of completion of all Certification components, including an individual's certification status and certification history, to be public information. ABFAS reserves the right to publish and share public information in any and all public forums determined by ABFAS to be reasonable, including the posting of public information on the ABFAS website, sharing the public information with medical licensure boards, managed care organizations, third party payers, or others. While ABFAS generally regards all other information about individuals as private and confidential, there are times that ABFAS must release certain information to fulfill its responsibilities as a medical specialty certification board.

ABFAS specifically regards the results of an individual's Qualification, Certification, or Recertification examination (score and whether the individual passed or failed) as private and confidential.

 

Depending upon when and what type of residency program you completed, there are time limits you should be aware of with respect to becoming board qualified and certified. See the ABFAS Board Qualification Document and the Qualification/Certification Chart by Residency Type.

If you pass one section of the Part I exams but fail another, you will receive credit for the section passed, but you will not receive board status. If you fail one section of the Part I exams, you may retake the failed section during the following six years or at the end of your eligibility window.

 

You may, but are not required, to take the Part I exams in the year you graduate from your residency program. In most cases, residents in their final year who graduate in June take the Spring exam (usually in March). But some do wait for the fall exam.

See the ABFAS Board Qualification Document for more information.

 

Candidates who have a residency completion year of 2020 or earlier, are eligible to register for the Part I examinations (Part I Didactic and NEW CBPS) in the Fall, and if needed, the following Spring.  If unsuccessful, candidates will then only be able to retake Part I examinations in the Spring of each year.

All eligible candidates have the ability to register for any exam during any exam window. That means, if you are eligible to take any Part I Exam (Foot Didactic, Foot NEW CBPS, RRA Didactic, and/or RRA NEW CBPS), you may register for Spring and/or Fall exams. 

The CBPS Exam Preparation webpage has a list of resources to help you prepare, including a CBPS practice exam and explanatory videos on how to best approach and navigate the exam.

Just as in the CBPS examination, the practice exam limits candidates to 15 minutes per case, during which candidates should do a thorough physical examination and include the medical management of the patient. 

Review textbooks and recent journals. Additionally, consider taking our Didactic practice test, and CBPS practice test,  which will give you a sense of the type of questions that appear on the examinations. For more information, see the ABFAS Board Qualification Document and ABFAS Board Certification Document, which describe the areas tested on the examination(s). Diplomates can read more about the LEAD Continuous Certification program on the LEAD webpage.

You can find review courses online; however, ABFAS does not endorse or recommend any course.

A computer-adaptive test is a computer-based examination that automatically tailors to the ability level of the individual examinee. As you answer each question, the computer assesses the response and selects the next question based on whether your previous answer was correct or incorrect.

Answering questions incorrectly will result in an easier examination. However, since the Computer Adaptive Testing (CAT) examinations are graded on difficulty rather than percentage of correct answers, purposely answering questions incorrectly will result in a lower score. To increase your chances of passing the examination, you must answer every question to the best of your ability.

You must pay both the application fee and the examination fee when you apply. You will pay the non-refundable application fee once per calendar year based on the year the exam takes place, regardless of the number of exams for which you are registered. If you register for both Spring and Fall exams that occur in the same calendar year, you will pay the application fee once in the Spring.

You can read more about the application fee on the Fee page. 

Effective September 2020, residents who pass any component of their final year In-training Exam (ITE) will be able to use their passed exam for ABFAS board qualification purposes. There is a $300 board qualification fee for each exam that they use.

You can read more about the Board Qualification fee here. 

To reapply for the examination, simply sign in to your profile page and select "Register for an Exam" in the left column.

Sign-in with your ABFAS user name and password using the "Login" button at the top of the webpage. If you need password assistance, you will find it on the "Login" page.

Board Qualified candidates have 7 years from achieving board qualification to attain board certification. 

You can read more exam registration instructions here. 

ABFAS contracts with Pearson VUE to administer examinations. Pearson VUE offers testing sites nationwide, as well as internationally. Testing sites are only used for Didactic and CBPS exams.  

Case Review does not have an on-site attendance requirement.

All Pearson VUE test centers, regardless of type, are designed to provide a consistent, standardized testing experience in a quiet, distraction-free environment.

To apply, sign in to your profile page using your ABFAS user name and password, and select "Register for an Exam" in the left column.

Sign-in with your ABFAS user name and password using the "Login" button at the top of the webpage. If you need password assistance, you will find it on the "Login" page.

Additional ABFAS registration instructions, click here. 

You can visit the ABFAS exam dates webpages for Part I exams and Case Review to review timelines for each.

ABFAS allows rescheduling examinations, but rescheduling is subject to availability of examination seats at Pearson VUE Professional Centers. Typically, examination seats fill quickly, and rescheduling becomes difficult about 30 days before examination day. You can reschedule examinations within the examination window any time up to 24 hours before examination day. The process to reschedule is the same as scheduling. Sign in to the ABFAS website, and click on the blue “Schedule/View Examination with Pearson VUE” button to begin the process. There is no fee to reschedule.

For additional scheduling instructions, click here. 

To cancel an exam, you must submit your request to cancel in writing by sending an email to: scheduling@abfas.org.

ABFAS provides one free self-verification of status per year for Board Qualified and Board Certified podiatric surgeons. Please email info@abfas.org to request a status verification report for your personal records.

If a verification of status is requested for credentialing purposes, a credentialer or organization must obtain a copy of the status verification through our website. ABFAS collects a $35 fee per verification report for credentialing organizations. 

Hospitals and other credentialing organizations pay for individual verifications of podiatric surgeons undergoing the ABFAS Board Certification process. ABFAS does not release any information about passed or failed exams. The ABFAS verification report provides information about the DPM’s podiatric medical school graduation, completion of residency training, state licensure, current board status, and when that status was achieved and will expire. 

In accordance with standards published by the National Committee for Quality Assurance and The Joint Commission, ABFAS conducts primary source verification of the podiatric medical school graduation, completion of residency training, and state licensure for each ABFAS Board Certified and Board Qualified podiatric surgeon.