Certification | Maintenance of Certification | Subspecialties

  Home | ABOG Bulletin Board | Contact Us | Find | FAQs

THE ORAL EXAMINATION

Limitations

Duration of Active Candidate status is limited. Candidates must pass the oral examination within six (6) years of passing the written examination and may take the oral examination only three (3) times.

Time spent in Board-approved fellowship training is excluded from this six (6)-year limitation.

If a candidate fails the oral examination three (3) times, or fails to pass the oral examination within six (6) years, the candidate becomes ineligible to repeat the oral examination at that time. The candidate must repeat and pass the written examination to become admissible to the oral examination again.

There is no limit to the number of times the written examination and the six (6) year cycle to pass the oral examination can be repeated.

Determination of Qualifications

The Board will require, usually by hospital inquiry, documented evidence concerning a candidate's professional reputation, moral and ethical character and in-hospital practice privileges from administrative officers of organizations and institutions to whom the candidate and their conduct of practice is known.

Time spent as a resident in excess of that necessary to fulfill the requirements to take the written examination is not acceptable.

Time spent in a teaching or research appointment, which does not involve appointment to the staff of an approved hospital with unrestricted privileges to practice as an obstetrician and gynecologist, will not be sufficient evidence of responsibility for patient care, i.e., acceptable to fulfill the requirement of "independent practice."

Each candidate will be required to furnish the Board with certain prescribed information to the extent permitted by the requirements and limitations of the HIPAA Privacy Rule, concerning performance in practice (e.g., maternal mortality rate, perinatal mortality rate, cesarean delivery rate, etc.).

If a candidate is involved in litigation or investigation regarding ethical or moral issues, the individual will not be scheduled for examination, and the application will be re-examined. The Board usually will defer such a decision for one year to gain further information.

Falsification of data (including case lists) or evidence of other egregious ethical, moral or professional misbehavior* may result in deferral of a candidate's application for at least three years. The candidate must then meet all requirements in effect at the end of the deferred period.

With the exception of information required to be removed in order to "de-identify" the patient case list (HIPAA Privacy Rule), patient case lists which fail to provide the required information, or have not been prepared in the required format, or have insufficient numbers of patients, or are inadequately or incompletely prepared, or fail to provide sufficient breadth and depth of clinical problems MAY DISQUALIFY THE CANDIDATE FROM ADMISSION TO THE ORAL EXAMINATION.

* See REVOCATION OF DIPLOMA OR CERTIFICATE

Next: Application for Oral Examination in 2004

Back to the Top

Resources for:

  Candidates | Diplomates | The Public | Medical Organizations