Focus on IR/DR: Board Taking Stakeholder Input into Account for IR Oral Exam Timing
By ABR President-elect John A. Kaufman, MD, MS; ABR Associate Executive Director for Interventional Radiology James B. Spies, MD, MPH; and ABR Executive Director Brent Wagner, MD, MBA
June 2026;19(3)6
Over the past three years, the ABR exam model has evolved significantly for diagnostic radiology (DR) and interventional radiology/diagnostic radiology (IR/DR). In 2023, we announced the return to an oral exam for DR certification in 2028. The last time a DR oral exam was administered was in 2012. Subsequently, we were asked by IR stakeholders to revise the requirements for certification in IR/DR to include the DR oral exam in addition to the IR oral exam. Associated with that change, we adjusted the timing of the DR oral exam, beginning in 2028, to the end of the R4 year for candidates in either pathway. We also adjusted the timing of the Qualifying (Core) Exam, moving it to the beginning of the R4 year for all candidates, also starting in 2028.
Each of these modifications in timing and exam requirements were made with extensive input from and discussion with hundreds of external stakeholders. The changes are part of our ongoing process to enhance the reliability and relevance of the exams as valid indicators of knowledge and skill in the field, while minimizing inconvenience or disruption for candidates and training programs.
Late last year, ABR board members and other volunteers suggested that the ABR formally consider moving the IR oral exam, currently offered in the calendar year after completion of residency training, to the end of the R5 year (i.e., during the closing months of the residency). In response, the ABR sought input from the leadership of several IR organizations, beginning with multiple videoconferences and culminating in three in-person discussions at the Society of Interventional Radiology meeting in April.
The discussions were consistently thoughtful and respectful and considered the balance of benefits and risks to training programs, candidates, and the credibility of the certification process. Unsurprisingly, opinions were mixed and included a range of options that had positive and negative consequences. Although a quantitative tally was not formally taken, the overall response was evenly split between keeping things as they are and moving the exam into the residency.
As the cumulative discussions progressed with no clear dominant response, ABR staff and board members reflected on one of the suggestions voiced by IR stakeholders: that given the lack of overwhelming support to alter the current timing as well as the uncertainty of the impact of the new certification model, the profession would be best served by a thoughtful reanalysis a few years from now, after the substantive changes described above have been put in place.
After considering all the feedback and input, the ABR Board of Governors has decided not to change the timing of the IR oral exam, and to reevaluate a change in timing after the new IR and DR oral exams are underway. The Board of Governors is grateful for the many opinions and inputs of leaders at multiple levels who generously gave their time, effort, and thoughtful consideration to this question. The engagement of these stakeholders was critically important to the ABR’s decision-making process.
