As an Osteopathic trained physician, you may qualify to enter the ABFM Family Medicine Certification process in two ways:

  1. ACGME Family Medicine Residency and Advanced Placement Credit
  2. AOA Training Pathway 

ACGME Family Medicine Residency & Advanced Placement Credit 

If you have graduated from an American Osteopathic Association (AOA)-approved medical school in the United States, you may qualify for certification by the American Board of Family Medicine by satisfactorily completing at least 36 months of ACGME-accredited family medicine residency training. There are two pathways to accomplish this:

  1. You may apply to an ACGME-accredited Family Medicine Residency program for entry into the first post graduate year (PGY-1).
  2. If you have already satisfactorily completed an AOA-approved internship (PGY-1), you can submit documentation of this training to receive credit for any portion of that year which meets the ABFM guidelines for Advanced Placement Entry.

Resident Certification Entry Process

During your residency you will follow the Resident Certification Entry Process, which includes: 

You may begin the application process and submit payment for the examination without having completed all of your requirements.  To be able to select a test center date and location for your examination, all certification requirements must be complete.

Completion of your requirements for the Resident Certification Entry Process can be accomplished during your training, or up to a maximum of three calendar years after residency. If you are unable to fulfill the requirements within this time frame, you will need to go through the ABFM Entry process.

AOA Training Pathway

If you trained in a three-year AOA-Accredited Family Medicine Residency Training Program, or an AOA program that has received ACGME accreditation or pre-accreditation, you may be eligible to apply for Family Medicine Certification through a special AOA Training Pathway.

Qualifying candidates have a board eligibility period to gain initial certification that expires 1) seven years from January 1, 2018 if training was completed before this date or 2) seven years from the date of successful, verified completion of AOA-accredited family medicine residency training for those completed training on or after January 1, 2018.

Qualified candidates must meet the following AOA Training Pathway requirements within three calendar years of starting the process. This includes:

Candidates who initiate the process, but do not gain initial ABFM certification within three calendar years will be required to complete the Certification Entry Process to gain certification, provided they are still within their seven-year period of board eligibility. 

Candidates who do not gain initial ABFM certification by the expiration of their seven-year period of board eligibility may obtain an additional seven-year board eligibility period by completing one year of additional training in an ACGME-accredited Family Medicine residency training program (or an ABFM-approved alternative).

Note: Physicians who completed family medicine residency training programs that were dually accredited by AOA and ACGME follow the traditional pathway for initial certification and are subject to ABFM’s standard policy for board eligibility.

If you are interested in entering this pathway, please complete and submit this AOA Training Pathway Form to Erik Tousseau at [email protected] for review.

AOA Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can AOA advanced placement credit be applied for PGY-2 or PGY-3 in an ACGME family medicine residency program?

No, only the PGY-1 year may be fulfilled by an AOA-approved internship year. Residency training beyond the PGY-1 year must be completed in an ACGME-accredited Family Medicine residency program in order to comply with requirements for continuity of care in the Resident Teaching Practice.

2. Why was an AOA Training Pathway developed?

By June 30, 2020, the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) was expected to no longer accredit residency programs in the U.S., and the ACGME will become the single accreditation body for approved training programs. An agreement between the ACGME and the Osteopathic community will provide a grace period at the end of the transition period to allow any residents in AOA programs that have not received ACGME accreditation to complete their training in these programs before they are closed. In light of this change, the ABFM created the AOA Training Pathway, to provide an opportunity for all Family Medicine trainees to gain ABFM certification regardless of the status of their program in the accreditation process when the transition to the single ACGME accreditation system took place.

3. Once I am qualified and start the AOA Training Pathway, how long do I have to complete the requirements?

You will have three full calendar years after the year in which you start the AOA Training Pathway, or until expiration of your board eligibility period, whichever date comes first, to complete the requirements.

4. What happens if I attempt the ABFM Family Medicine Certification Examination and am unsuccessful?

If you complete all of the AOA Training Pathway requirements, take the initial Family Medicine Certification Examination but are unsuccessful on the examination, you will be eligible to continue attempting to gain certification for up to 7 years from January 1, 2018 (the start of the AOA Training Pathway policy) or the date of completion of AOA-accredited family medicine residency training, whichever occurs later.

5. What if I start the AOA Training Pathway but don't attempt the ABFM Certification Examination prior to expiration of my board eligibility period?

Candidates who do not gain initial ABFM certification by the expiration of their seven-year period of board eligibility may obtain an additional seven-year board eligibility period by completing one year of additional training in an ACGME-accredited Family Medicine residency training program (or an ABFM-approved alternative).