A Closer Look At The Costs Of Passing The Boards In Podiatry

I’d like to discuss our profession’s board exams. My senior residents just took their American Board of Foot and Ankle Surgery (ABFAS) qualification exams and are scheduled to take the American Board of Podiatric Medicine (ABPM) qualification exams in May. There are some recent changes to the ABFAS qualification and certification that will go into effect in the next couple of years. There is also the issue of the ABFAS pass rate, which I plan on discussing at a later date.

Board certification is a way of demonstrating our competence to our patients. Most hospitals accept ABPM certification in regard to granting privileges. For residents completing a 36-month residency with or without rearfoot certification, the requirements are passing the qualifying exam (part 1) and passing the certifying exam (part 2). No case submission is required. The cost for part 1 and 2, if you plan to take them in the same year, is $1,700. The fee for both exams is due at the time of application in March. Residents are taking this exam during their third year, which means these fees are due in the spring of their third year. To maintain board-certified status, an annual fee of $350 is required.

As our profession has transitioned to becoming highly surgical, having ABFAS board certification can demonstrate surgical competence. There are various parts to this exam that are scheduled to change in 2020. As of now, we are required to take part 1, which consists of four parts: foot didactic, foot computer-based patient simulation (CBPS), rearfoot didactic and rearfoot CBPS. Each of these sections has a price of $425. There is also an application fee of $225. So just to take the Part 1 qualification of ABFAS, it costs $1,925. This fee is due in the spring and the exam is typically in March. So that amount of money is due during residency.

If you pass all four parts (that is a big if that I will discuss later), then you may sit for the certification CBPS for foot and rearfoot, $425 apiece. A case review is also required. I will cover that in a separate DPM Blog. The case review for foot and rearfoot costs $475 apiece. The total for certification is $2,025, which includes a second application fee.

The ABFAS and ABPM offer an in-training exam to residents. The costs are around $200, which the residency program typically pays. These exams are a way for residents to assess their level of knowledge during their training to identify areas they need to focus on when studying for the actual exams.

There are changes to ABFAS that are coming in 2020. During the final year of residency, residents will be able to take their in-training exam, which will include a new modified CBPS portion. If residents pass this in-training exam with the new CBPS portion, they may pay the qualification fee and use this passing score as their qualification exam. Also, there will be no CBPS portion for certification, only a case review. Provided residents pass all of the sections during their in-training exam, they will only be required to pass the case review to become board-qualified.

The board qualification road is long, confusing and rather expensive. All of these expenses are due while we are still in residency, which is a tough ask for someone living on a minimal salary with little to no expendable income. Also, all of these prices are based on the fact that the individual passes these exams on the first try. As the statistics for ABFAS show, this is very, very often not the case. I will discuss this pass rate in my next entry.