Diplomates certified through the American Board of Surgery
The American Board of Surgery (ABS), in partnership with the American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS), has transitioned from a sponsoring board to a qualifying board in hand surgery. Beginning in January 2025, all ABS diplomates who currently hold a hand surgery certificate will transition to the ABPS for future maintenance of the certificate. From this point forward, the ABPS will coordinate initial Hand Surgery and Hand Recertification for all ABS and ABPS diplomates.
Welcome to the ABPS – we look forward to working with you all!
The ABPS is dedicated to making this a smooth transition for ABS diplomates. If also certified in general surgery by the ABS, diplomates can participate in ABS Continuous Certification and remain certified by ABS in general surgery, if they choose to do so. Diplomates are not required to maintain their primary certification in general surgery with the ABS to maintain their hand surgery certification with the ABPS. To remain certified in hand surgery following the transition to ABPS, diplomates will participate in ABPS’s Continuous Certification Program for hand surgery.
Each ABS and ABPS diplomate will complete the requirements for ABPS Hand Surgery Continuous Certification:
- Annual CC Fee: $410 annually
- CME per 5-year cycle: 125 Category 1 in hand surgery topics, with 25 in patient safety
- Practice Improvement: registry participation, data from 10 cases, practice improvement project, or publication
- Self-Assessment Activity: 30 questions annually
- ABPS Continuous Certification form: professionalism requirements and certificate renewal fee, required once within the CC cycle
In a reciprocal arrangement, ABS diplomates will be able to submit CME and practice improvement requirements they complete as part of ABS Continuous Certification requirements to meet ABPS Continuous Certification requirements if the surgeon is certified by both the ABS and the ABPS.
The ABPS is in the midst of incorporating diplomate data and creating accounts for all ABS diplomates with your specific requirements based on subspecialty certification cycle. A Booklet of Information in Hand Surgery and more information will be posted to the website within the next few weeks and an email notification will be sent once your online accounts and individual tracking pages are ready.
No action is required at this time. The first Continuous Certification activity required will be the Self-Assessment Activity, which consists of 30 questions administered online from April 1 – May 16, 2025. Hand Surgery certificate holders will complete the Hand module, made up of 24 hand surgery questions and 6 “core” questions common to all modules, focused on patient safety or core surgery topics. You will receive another email notification when the administration window opens, with reminder emails throughout that time.
If you have any questions in the meantime, please don’t hesitate to contact the ABPS at hand@abplasticsurgery.org or 215-587-9322. The ABPS is still working closely with the ABS to gather all admissibility and certification data, so historical records will also transfer over. The ABPS is committed to making this a smooth transition for all.