Initial Certification for Radiation Oncology

Studying for the Exam

Last verified on March 8, 2024
ABR exams are developed by volunteers from a wide range of practice settings and reflect the breadth of information a candidate is expected to know by the time of an exam. While we offer study guides on our website, each candidate should decide what type of resources he or she should use for our exams. Candidates who use test preparation materials developed by other organizations or commercial entities should not expect an ABR exam to completely align with these materials regarding the scope or item types on ABR exams.
To understand how exam questions are written and learn more about different types of exam questions, please see the ABR Item Writers’ Guide. For a look at the extensive QA process that each question goes through, please see the Illustrated Life Cycle of an ABR Exam Item.
See the following page for a detailed study guide for the oral Certifying Exam.
In addition, an oral exam reenactment has been created to provide guidance to candidates as to how cases are presented and scored. You can view the video here.

American Joint Commission on Cancer (AJCC) Staging

In all instances where questions relate to disease staging of contemporaneous cases or hypothetical situations, the correct staging system will be the most current as published by the AJCC (at this time, Ed. 8, dated 10/2016). In instances where questions refer to previously reported clinical trials, staging will relate to the system in place at the time of the specific report.

Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE)

In all instances where questions relate to toxicity of contemporaneous cases or hypothetical situations, the correct classification system will be the most current as published by the National Cancer Institute (at this time, V 5.0, dated 11/2017). In instances where questions refer to previously reported clinical trials, toxicity classification will relate to the system in place at the time of the specific report.