Initial Certification - Subspecialties

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Certification in the Subspecialties
The ABPN issues certificates for the subspecialties related to psychiatry, neurology and neurology with special qualification in child neurology. Some subspecialties require certification in a specialty of psychiatry, neurology, or neurology with special qualification in child neurology, or certification from another board, with additional training in the subspecialty. For specific training and certification requirements please download the appropriate Information for Applicants (IFA) publications. These publications and corresponding applications are revised each year and are available via download from this web site. Please note that applications for examinations are only available for a limited time in the year preceding the examination. Please see the examination schedules page for the current schedule of examination dates and deadlines or click here for a downloadable pdf file.

For a brief description of the subspecialties for which the Board currently issues certificates please click on the subspecialty:

ABPN Recognition of Subspecialties
by Stephen C. Scheiber, MD, Executive Vice President of the ABPN and Edgar J. Kenton, III, M.D., Emeritus Director

ABPN Subspecialty Certificates
For more than 30 years, the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology offered certificates for one subspecialty—child and adolescent psychiatry. Beginning in 1991, the Board has approved the addition of certification in 10 additional fields:

*Certificates were issued prior to 1972 when ABMS recognition procedures were established.

The ABPN policy has always been that the Board will be responsive to the field in reviewing requests for new subspecialty recognition. The criteria for requests have been minimally revised in the last decade. The current criteria include:

1. ABPN reviews applications from recognized specialty organizations widely representing psychiatry or neurology or from subspecialty organizations comprised primarily of members certified by ABPN.

2. Evidence must be given that this subspecialty will not dilute the general fields of neurology or psychiatry and that the function cannot be equally met by members certified in the general specialty.

3. The minimum number of physicians practicing in the subspecialty should be no fewer than 100 for neurology and no fewer than 500 for psychiatry.

4. Those programs that currently exist should be distributed in all geographic regions.

5. The number of physicians practicing in the subspecialty must have continually increased over the last ten-year period.

6. There must be at least one national society for the subspecialty.

7. Academic degrees required must be identified.

8. Training sequence and program essentials must be specified. Minimum length of training must be one year.

9. The subspecialty must be practiced by physicians.

10. The absolute minimum number of programs can be no fewer than 25 in neurology and psychiatry.

11. The absolute minimum number of training positions can be no fewer than 15 in neurology and 25 in psychiatry.

12. The absolute minimum number of trainees completing training each year can be no fewer than 10 in neurology and 20 in psychiatry.

13. There must be documentation of the need based on objective data.

14. If only the minimum numbers of programs exist, there must be objective evidence from institutions documenting their intent to develop additional educational programs.

15. Faculty engaged in training must participate in research as well as clinical activities

Typically, one of the four current nominating societies (the American Academy of Neurology, the American Medical Association, the American Neurological Association, and the American Psychiatric Association) and most often either the APA or the AAN, take the lead in endorsing subspecialty certification and send a recommendation to the ABPN.