NBPAS Certification Criteria

NBPAS certification is $189 for a two year certification, and renewed every two years thereafter.
*Discounts are available for fellows and military.

NBPAS requires all physicians to meet the following criteria:

1  Initial Certification through an ABMS/AOA Member Board

Candidates must have been previously certified by an American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) or American Osteopathic Association (AOA) member board in the specialties being applied for through NBPAS. We only certify ABMS/AOA diplomates and can not make exceptions.

2  Valid Medical License

Candidates must have an active, valid, unrestricted license to practice medicine in at least one U.S. state or territory.  Restrictions may include but are not limited to conditions, contingencies, probation, limitations and stipulated agreements. Candidates practicing outside of the U.S. must provide evidence of an active, valid, unrestricted license from a valid non-U.S. licensing body.

3  Submission of CME Credits

New applicants:  Candidates must submit a minimum of 50 hours of ACCME-accredited, Category 1 CME within the past 24 months.  Candidates with lapsed ABMS or AOA certification at the time of application must submit 100 hours of ACCME-accredited, Category 1 CME within the past 24 months. Candidates in or within two years of training (fellowship or residency) are exempt from CME requirements but must provide evidence of training.

Renewing applicants:  Renewals must submit a minimum of 50 hours of ACCME-accredited, Category 1 CME within the past 24 months or from previous certification date. If NBPAS certification has lapsed more than 6 months and initial board certification has also lapsed, renewals must submit 100 hours of ACCME-accredited, Category 1 CME within the past 24 months from renewal application date.

Acceptable CME documentation:

• AMA Category 1 credits, or AOA Category 1A/2A credits only
• Official certificate or transcript from ACCME-accredited CME provider
• PDF or JPEG, TIF, PNG (i.e. photo from iPhone) formats only (no Word, Excel, or self-maintained documents)
• Clearly state name of applicant, name of ACCME-accredited provider, date of completion, number & type of CME hours earned
• CME must be related to one or more of the specialties being applied for.
• Please note: Maintenance of Certification (MOC) points will not be accepted, as MOC points are not always equivalent on a 1:1 basis for CME credits.

4  Active Hospital Privileges

For some specialties, candidates must have active privileges to practice that specialty in at least one U.S. hospital or outpatient facility licensed by a nationally recognized credentialing organization with deeming authority from CMS (i.e. Joint Commission, HFAP, DNV). These specialties include:

Note: Candidates who practice but are no longer surgically active (due to reasons including no hospital privileges, research, academic administration, etc.) can apply using the “Non-Operative Pathway”. Candidates will be required on their application to attest to no longer holding active hospital privileges. All other NBPAS certification requirements will still need to be met. A status of “Non-Operative Pathway” would then be included with NBPAS certification.

5  Medical Staff Appointment/Membership

Candidates who have had their medical staff appointment/membership or clinical privileges involuntarily revoked must have subsequently maintained medical staff appointment/membership or clinical privileges for at least 24 months in another U.S. hospital or outpatient facility licensed by a nationally recognized credentialing organization with deeming authority from CMS (i.e. Joint Commission, HFAP, DNV). If medical staff appointment/privileges were lost solely due to not participating in MOC, this will be verified with the medical staff office and candidates may still qualify for NBPAS recertification.