New Oral Exam Will Change Pedagogy in DR Residencies
By Desiree E. Morgan, MD, ABR Governor; Kate Maturen, MD, MS, ABR Trustee; and Michelle Miller-Thomas, MD, future ABR Trustee
2025;18(4):4
Since the 2023 announcement that the current Diagnostic Radiology (DR) Certifying Exam would be transitioning from a computer-based exam focused on subspecialization to an oral exam in general diagnostic radiology beginning in 2028, the radiology community has been focused on the effects of this change on trainees, faculty, and programs.
Educators across the U.S. have rightly pointed out that the change in format will require alterations in radiology training programs to effectively equip candidates for the new DR Oral Exam. These changes will involve faculty, education teams, department leadership, and academic institutions.1 The transition to the oral board format offers an opportunity to enhance radiology education by reinforcing the importance of clinical reasoning and communication skills.2 Implementation of programmatic modifications will also augment the significance of radiologists as indispensable members of multidisciplinary teams.1 Concrete suggestions include re-envisioning and revamping case reviews,3 encouraging resident participation in multidisciplinary conferences, and changing daily resident checkouts.4 Indeed, having the resident approach each clinical case in a structured way, as if it were a board exam case, may help cultivate critical skills necessary for effective clinical practice and successful exam performance.2 Finally, DR faculty can lean on interventional radiology, medical physics, and radiation oncology faculty, who have been continuously preparing their trainees for oral exams, because the certifying exams for those ABR disciplines never changed from an oral format.
Following the announcement of the new exam, the ABR pledged to continue engaging with interested parties throughout the implementation process.5 The ABR website offers frequently asked questions, video enactment of the new exam format, articles, updates, and, most recently, sample cases across the seven categories that make up the exam, so that candidates and faculty alike can keep abreast of the latest information as they plan changes to their educational programs. ABR leadership has presented information at national meetings and engaged with educational leaders in settings ranging from ABR-led town halls to roundtable discussions of the Association of Program Directors in Radiology (APDR) in efforts to help smooth the transition to the new exam format.
The transition requires infrastructure development, committee and blueprint reorganization, and recruitment of a volunteer pool comprising both item (case) writing committee members and oral examiners. Currently, the Board of Trustees is assembling DR Oral Certifying Exam item-writing committee members, who will be invited and onboarded this fall and start work in early 2026. Potential oral examiners from academia and private practice are encouraged to sign up now and offer details on their areas of expertise to enable optimal matching to DR categories. To apply to be an ABR volunteer, log in to myABR and click on the volunteer tab.
- Sheng M, Ritchie, B, Ramaiy N, and Mohamed I. Rewinding the clock: Preparing the next generation of radiology residents for oral boards. Acad Radiol 2024 Nov;31(11):4715-4722. doi: 10.1016/j.acra.2024.06.016. Epub 2024 Jun 29.
- Belfi LM, Bartolotta RJ, Catanzano T, et al. The “new” diagnostic radiology oral boards: Strategies for success J Am Coll Radiol. 2025 Jun 9:S1546-1440(25)00309-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jacr.2025.06.003.
- Made AA, and Mathur M. Level up your radiology case conferences: Preparing residents for success in oral board examinations using gamification. Curr Probl Diagn Radiol. 2025 Apr 17:S0363-0188(25)00078-7. doi: 10.1067/j.cpradiol.2025.04.006. Online ahead of print].
- Deitte LA, Huang JJ, Morgan DE, and Peterson RB. Welcome back! How the new oral examination will change radiology education. J Am Coll Radiol. 2024 Nov;21(11):1813-1815. doi: 10.1016/j.jacr.2024.06.001. Epub 2024 Jun 13.
- Larson DB, Flemming DJ, Barr RM, Canon CL, and Morgan DE. Redesign of the American Board of Radiology Diagnostic Radiology Certifying Examination. Am J Roentgenol. 2023 Nov;221(5):687-693. doi: 10.2214/AJR.23.29585. Epub 2023 Jun 7.
