Choosing Your Activity Requirements

Current requirements for CC activities for Board certified physicians within the CC process — in particular Part IV: Improvement in Medical Practice (PIP) — have been the subject of increased discussion recently by physicians and medical societies.

The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) – which ABPN works with as one of 24 Member Boards – serves the medical profession by setting overall standards for Board Certification and Continuing Certification (CC) processes. These standards help physicians ensure that the Board Certification credential is and remains relevant and meaningful to the profession and to the day-to-day practices of diplomates. ABPN has always advocated vigorously within the ABMS for CC Standards that are as reasonable and flexible as possible. By permitting our diplomates to choose the products they complete for Self-Assessment, CME, and PIP activities, ABPN has tried to make our CC requirements relevant and meaningful.

ABPN has worked to develop a clear CC program that will enable diplomates to demonstrate their competence throughout a certificate cycle. As part of that program, diplomates are required to fulfill activities to satisfy components of Continuing Certification.

Guidelines to Keep in Mind

See the CC Program page for specific amounts of CME, Self-Assessment, Patient Safety and Improvement in Medical Practice activities that are required for your certification timing. You can also view the ABPN Guide to CC for more information.

Diplomates are required to complete only one set of requirements, regardless of the number of certifications he/she has. The activities can be in either the general specialty and/or subspecialty(ies). See the CC Program details for specific quantity of CME, Self-Assessment, and Improvement in Medical Practice (PIP) activities that are required for your certification timeline.

For Continuing Medical Education: Diplomates choose their own CME activities. CME activities do not need to be ABPN approved.
For Self-Assessment (SA) Activities: Diplomates choose their own ABPN-Approved SA Activities. These activities must be relevant to either their specialty and/or subspecialty.
For Patient Safety Activities: Diplomates should see their Physician Portal account to learn if this requirement applies to them.
For Improvement in Medical Practice (PIP) Activities: Diplomates choose their own ABPN-Approved PIP activities. These activities must be relevant to either their specialty and/or subspecialty.
- Diplomates choose ONE Clinical Module OR Feedback Module to complete the PIP Activity.

- Continuing Certification