Patient Information
Your case lists must include all patients admitted to all hospitals and cared for at all surgical centers where you held admitting and/or surgical privileges between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022.
- The lists must include a minimum of 20 obstetrical and 20 gynecological admissions, but all patients must be listed. This includes all admitted, as well as all short-stay and outpatient surgical patients, even if not officially admitted to a hospital.
- The case lists must demonstrate sufficient number, sufficient breadth, and sufficient depth of clinical experience.
- All patients listed must have been cared for primarily by you. You may not list patients for whom you have only provided a consultation.
The candidate must list 40 patients.
- Do not list more than two patients in any one category;
- Patients seen in the emergency room or triage area of labor and delivery can be listed on the office practice list.
- It is not necessary to include a patient in every category
- Do not include any patient that appears as an admitted patient on the Obstetrics or Gynecology lists
- Do not include any patients that had procedures performed in any location except the office.
The patients listed must be only those for whom you have had personal responsibility for professional management and care.
- In the case of a partnership or group practice, the patients listed should be only those you managed. If some portion of the care was provided by a partner, that care should be indicated on the case list.
- If you are back-up for a midwifery group, a midwife delivery may not be listed unless you actually performed the delivery.
- If you're a faculty member for residents, you should list all cesarean deliveries for which you had responsibility even if the resident performed the actual delivery.
Case lists are submitted electronically with obstetric, gynecologic, and office practice patients. You can't reuse any case or case list from a previous exam.
If you don't perform obstetrical procedures, or if you don't perform gynecologic procedures, or if you can't meet the minimum number of cases from your current practice, the minimum number and types of gynecological and obstetrical cases must be obtained from the additional sources listed below. Regardless of the candidate's current practice or training, the exam will cover all three areas. Candidates who limit their practice to outpatient care only will not be eligible for OB GYN certification.
Candidates who have been in practice for one year or more
- If you've been in practice for one year or more and can't meet the minimum number of cases between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022, you have two choices: You can submit a complete 18-month case list beginning January 1, 2021, and ending June 30, 2022, or you can submit a 12-month case list and use cases from your senior year of residency to reach the minimums. If residency cases are used, it is only necessary to add a sufficient number of residency cases to meet the minimum numbers.
- Cases from your senior year of residency can also be used to meet minimum numbers in either Obstetrics or Gynecology, but you cannot use senior residency cases in both case lists.
If you believe you can't meet the minimum number of cases in one area after using an 18-month case list and/or using residency cases, you should email the Associate Executive Director in charge of examinations. You must describe the reasons why you cannot meet the minimum number of requirements. The ABOG ad hoc committee will then review the circumstances for the deficiency. The decision of the committee concerning your eligibility will be final and can't be appealed.
Candidates currently in fellowship training
If you're currently in an ACGME-approved fellowship in a field related to obstetrics and gynecology, you can collect cases during your fellowship for the Certifying Exam.
- Cases that are part of your fellowship may be used if you were responsible for a major portion of the case.
- Moonlighting cases may be collected during fellowship and may be listed as collected during fellowship under the appropriate category.
- You must collect cases from the collection period of July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2022. If the minimum required numbers cannot be met during the standard 12-month collection period, additional cases from any time in fellowship up until the final date of case collection can be used.
- Cases from your senior year of residency can also be used to meet minimum numbers in either Obstetrics or Gynecology, but you cannot use senior residency cases in both case lists.
If you're currently in a fellowship that is not ACGME-accredited but is in a field related to obstetrics and gynecology, you may collect cases during fellowship but must have full and unrestricted privileges to practice in the hospital from which you are collecting cases. The collection time can span over the entire fellowship to meet the minimum required numbers. You should indicate the dates of collection on the case list but should only list them as fellowship cases.
Candidates who have completed fellowship training
Candidates who have completed fellowship training should use cases from their practice. A 12- or 18-month case list may be submitted. If their fellowship training was in a field related to Obstetrics and Gynecology, they may use cases from their fellowship training if they cannot meet the minimum number of required cases from their practice. Fellowship cases earlier than July 1, 2014, may not be used. . Additionally, they may use cases from their senior year of residency training if needed.
Candidates who may need to use residency cases
If you're entering fellowship or for other reasons are concerned that you may need to use residency cases, you're encouraged to collect information on your patients from residency as early in the process as possible. In some cases, it has been difficult for candidates to obtain the needed information after leaving the hospital where they did their residency.
The following information is needed on residency cases in order to use these patients later:
Gynecology Cases:
- History and physical exam
- Preoperative test results and preoperative diagnosis
- Operative report
- Pathology report including uterine weight, if appropriate
- Postoperative diagnosis
- Postoperative course including number of days of hospitalization • Postoperative complications
Obstetrics Cases
- History and physical exam
- Maternal information (gravidity, parity, age)
- Antepartum Complications
- Delivery/Postpartum Complications
- Information on the infant to include perinatal death, birthweight, days in the hospital, Apgar score at 1 & 5 minutes, complications, and if admitted to the NICU
If you're having difficult getting information from your residency hospital's medical records department, you're encouraged to contact your residency program director for assistance. If the residency program director is unable to help, please contact the ABOG Exams department at exams@abog.org.