The American Board of Radiology conducts initial qualifying and final oral examinations to ascertain the qualification of those who have studied radiology. A board-certified radiologist is one who has demonstrated requisite standard of knowledge, skill and understanding essential to the practice of Diagnostic Radiology.

There are several reasons that certification is important:

As you go through your residency and as you finish, you take examinations that afford you your first certification, which will be in diagnostic radiology. If you have chosen to subspecialize, you can also take exams to qualify for certificates of added qualification (subspecialties). Those certificates can be in neuroradiology, nuclear radiology, pediatric radiology, or vascular and interventional radiology.

Your certificate is time-limited; it is good for ten years. Over those ten years, you are expected to continue learning and improving your skills in a personalized program (see ABR-MOC). Then, before the end of the tenth year (any time within the last 3 years of the cycle), you take a maintenance of certification exam. This is a practice profiled, computer case-based, single answer, multiple choice examination. The examination is distinctly different from the current Oral Exam. When you have completed all that is required for the MOC cycle, you are issued a new certificate.

NOTE: Beginning in 2009, candidates will have a 10 year period after completion of training and within which to obtain initial certification. A candidate who does not obtain initial certification as of the ninth year after completion of training should contact the American Board of Radiology to obtain further information. Candidates who completed their training prior to 2009 and who have not yet obtained initial certification should also contact the American Board of Radiology for further information.