APPLYING FOR THE EXAM

To sit for the exam, candidates must first request an application. Upon receipt of your request for an exam application, your application request will be processed and you will receive your exam application by email. The email will come from contact@abucm.org so please check your spam or junk folder if you haven’t received the email.

Completing and Submitting the Application

Be sure to complete all sections of the application. If there are any incomplete areas the application will be returned to you to be completed. Included in your application file is a checklist of the items that need to be included with your application. You may send any items for your application at any time, and, if your references arrive before you have submitted your application and/or supporting documentation, we will start a file for you.

When the ABUCM receives your application, or any of the supplementary materials, you will receive a confirmation email from the Certification Coordinator to let you know that the application has been received. If there are any items pending, the email will include a checklist of items that need to be submitted. The ABUCM maintains pending applications for 12 months from the date it has been received by the ABUCM. If you do not submit all required application materials within 12 months of our receipt of your application, your application will be purged from our files; all application and exam fees will be retained by the ABUCM.

Once your application and all documentation has been received by the ABUCM you will receive an email from the Certification Coordinator to acknowledge that the ABUCM has received the necessary documents to complete your application. Your credentials will then be primary-source verified, then, once verification is completed, your application will be presented to the Board of Directors for their evaluation. Verification and review can take up to two months. When verification and review are completed you will receive a letter in the mail informing you that you have been approved to sit for the exam. Instructions for scheduling your exam appointment are included in the acceptance letter.

Once accepted as an exam candidate, the Certification Coordinator will work with the examinee to select a testing facility and schedule an appointment to take the exam. The exam is offered during four exam windows throughout the year: March, June, September and December at thousands of testing centers both nationally and internationally. Although there is no deadline for submitting an application for any of the exam windows, applicants should allow enough time for their application to be processed, which can take up to two months. The ABUCM sends examination result notifications within 14 days after the close of an exam window. 

Taking the Exam

You are allotted four hours and 15 minutes to complete your exam. The exam is comprised of 225 multiple-choice questions. It is comprised on seven general categories: General Medicine, Pediatrics, Surgery, Pharmacology, Public Health, Risk Management, and Occupational Medicine. These categories are then further broken down into more specific knowledge areas. Please see About the Exam or the ABUCM brochure for a detailed breakdown of these topics.

Preparing for the Exam

To help you prepare for the exam, the ABUCM has partnered with Exam Master to develop an online study and review program. Access to this resource is $279 for 12 months of access, enabling you to review hundreds of questions, create practice exams, and review detailed explanations. The questions in the review are similar to the type of questions on the exam itself. Many previous exam candidates have stated that the Exam Master review was very helpful in preparing for the exam. Go to Exam Review to access this resource.

After the Exam

After the exam window closes, the ABUCM collects the exam scores for all the candidates who completed the exam that month. Candidates who successfully pass the exam will receive a certificate designating them as a Diplomate of the American Board of Urgent Care Medicine. Failing candidates will receive a report showing subject area weakness(es). Certificates or notification letters are typically mailed within the first week after the close of an exam window. 

Retaking the Exam

Failing candidates will receive a report showing subject area weakness(es) within 60 days of the exam date. Candidates are permitted to repeat the examination twice during the next two administrations of the exam. If a candidate does not succeed in passing the exam after three attempts, he/she will be required to show proof of cause or seminars, taken to remedy deficiencies. An administrative fee of $250 must be submitted each time the examination is retaken. 

After Certification

Diplomates of the ABUCM may designate their ABUCM Urgent Care Medicine Board Certification using "DABUCM". 

Certification Management Fee

ABUCM Diplomates are required to remit the Certification Management Fee of $800 after the first year of certification. The Certification Management Fee is a one-time charge that covers the full eight-year certification. The ABUCM will send an invoice by mail on the one-year anniversary of certification.  

 Recertification

Recertification is required every eight years. The recertification process is internet-based, allowing Diplomates the opportunity to take the exam from any computer with internet access. The ABUCM will notify Diplomates by mail approximately 60 days prior to their expiration date with details and instructions for completing the recertification exam.

Refund Policy
If a physician makes application for the certification exam and is not approved, submits an incomplete application, or chooses not to sit for the exam after an application has been submitted, all application and exam fees will be retained by the ABUCM. The ABUCM maintains pending applications for twelve months from the date of receipt. If the candidate does not submit all required application materials within 12 months of receipt of the application, the application will be purged from the ABUCM Certification Department’s files and all application and exam fees will be retained by the ABUCM. If an application is submitted and approved, but the candidate does not schedule an exam appointment within 12 months of approval to take the exam, the application will be purged from the ABUCM Certification Department’s files and all application and exam fees will be retained by the ABUCM.

If the candidate has scheduled an appointment to take the exam, and the candidate does not notify the ABUCM Certification Department that he/she will not be taking the exam during his/her scheduled appointment, the candidate will be considered a “no show.” All fees will be retained by the ABUCM; there will be no refund. The application will become invalid and the candidate will be required to re-apply to be considered to take the exam.

Two reschedules of the exam appointment are permitted. If the candidate has scheduled an appointment to take the exam, but cannot take the exam when scheduled, he/she may request a deferment without incurring a deferment penalty. The candidate must contact the ABUCM no less than 72 hours prior to an exam appointment day/time to reschedule; any appointment rescheduled less than 72 hours prior to an exam appointment will incur a $200 last-minute rescheduling fee. There is no fee to reschedule the exam appointment the first time as long as the reschedule occurs more than 72 hours prior to the appointment date. If a second reschedule is requested, a $200 deferment penalty will be incurred. This will be the final reschedule permitted. No additional reschedules will be permitted.