Frequently Asked Questions

The American Board of Public Health (ABPH) was founded to promote education, training, and credentialing for physicians in the field of public health. ABPH aims to improve the public health workforce and strengthen the public health capacity.

Public health focuses on prevention rather than treatment and focuses on populations rather than individuals. ABPH offers board certifications in established and emerging fields of medicine related to public health.

Certifications from ABPH are all built upon foundational public health disciplines of epidemiology, biostatistics, environmental health, health behavior, and health policy and administration. Core public health concepts such as social determinants of health and influencers of health also shape and inform the ABPH certifications.

More physicians are needed who can navigate public health issues effectively. Such physician specialists can shape the wellness of populations through prevention by developing and implementing evidence-based public health interventions.

Physicians with ABPH certifications can advance their careers with expert specialty credentials. They can serve as physician experts in their organizations and communities. They can further their education and training with additional subspecialties.

ABPH offers public health opportunities for physicians across specialties by leveraging technology for a more modern application and exam process. ABPH enables rapid development and offering of credentials for emerging fields in public health.

The American Board of Public Health (ABPH) remains an independent board and complements other boards such as the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP), and the American Board of Preventive Medicine (ABPM) among others.

The American Board of Public Health (ABPH) ultimately aims to become a member board of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) in the future.

The American Board of Public Health (ABPH) offers board certifications in established and emerging fields of medicine related to public health. ABPH currently offers board certification in pandemic medicine, culinary medicine, and diversity medicine. Two additional board certifications coming soon include precision medicine and medical epidemiology.

Physician specialists remain crucial in ensuring health and safety during pandemics. Pandemics related to infectious diseases only constitute a subset of all pandemics. Chronic conditions can also result in pandemics such as those observed with obesity and opioid use disorder. Preparedness in public health applies to pandemics as well as other disasters.

You can advance your career with expert specialty credentials. You can serve as a physician expert in your organization and community. You can offer physician specialist consulting to businesses. You can further your education and training with additional subspecialties.

Physicians board certified in pandemic medicine can navigate the challenges more effectively whether working as individual practitioners or working in large systems. As individual practitioners pandemic medicine physicians can manage and treat individual patient conditions while offering guidance and counseling. As organizational and community experts pandemic medicine physicians can lead with evidence-based medicine at the population level.

The American College of Public Health (ACPH) has published a free Study Guide online for the Pandemic Medicine Exam on their website at theacph.org.

Physicians can influence health behaviors related to diet, nutrition, and physical activity. By empowering patients with culinary knowledge and skills physicians can facilitate improved health behaviors. Culinary medicine encompasses traditional dietary and nutritional concepts as well as behavioral interventions to modify poor habits, learn better skills, and establish new patterns.

You can advance your career with expert specialty credentials. You can serve as a physician expert in your organization and community. You can offer physician specialist consulting to businesses. You can further your education and training with additional subspecialties.

Physicians board certified in culinary medicine can help patients maintain healthy weight and reduce risk for chronic disease. Patients can enjoy fulfilling experiences as they achieve outcomes through sustained health behaviors. Culinary medicine physicians can partner with various community stakeholders spanning school dietitians, local chefs, event caterers, weight loss companies, and more.

The American College of Public Health (ACPH) has published a free Study Guide online for the Culinary Medicine Exam on their website at theacph.org.

The social determinants of health and influencers of health represent foundational principles of public health. Diversity medicine expands upon these public health foundations to understand, appreciate, and implement solutions in healthcare. Unique risk factors impact segments of the population differently, and vulnerable populations often suffer from inferior health outcomes.

This board certification is ideally suited for a physician aiming to become Chief Diversity Officer of an organization. You can advance your career with expert specialty credentials. You can serve as a physician expert in your organization and community. You can offer physician specialist consulting to businesses. You can further your education and training with additional subspecialties.

Physicians board certified in diversity medicine can more effectively serve the unique needs of various populations. Better health outcomes can be acheived through awareness, sensitivity, and incorporation of attributes such as age, race, color, national origin, religion, language, culture, sex, gender, sexual orientation, pregnancy, disability, etc. Tailored approaches to diverse characteristics also allow for enhanced shared decision-making between patients and physicians.

The American College of Public Health (ACPH) has published a free Study Guide online for the Diversity Medicine Exam on their website at theacph.org.

Requirements for board certifications include active medical license in a state in the United States, completion of an ACGME-accredited residency, ABMS primary specialty board certification, CME: 25 hours related to the specialty area, CV/resume, personal statement of relevant experience, and letter of reference from a physician who is certified by one of the ABMS member boards.

Create an applicant account by logging into your dashboard and completing your profile. Submit your materials online to apply, and you can become board certified in less than one month. Your application will be reviewed within two weeks. After review if you are deemed board eligible, you will be able to take your exam immediately.

You must upload files for your CV/resume, personal statement of relevant experience, and letter of reference from a physician who is certified by one of the ABMS member boards. You must enter in and attest to your information for active medical license in a state in the United States, completion of an ACGME-accredited residency, ABMS primary specialty board certification, and CME: 25 hours related to the specialty area. Your medical license, residency, and ABMS certification will be verified from primary sources without any action needed from you.

This statement represents your opportunity to describe your interest, commitment, and perspective on the board certification specialty. You should also convey your knowledge, skills, experience, and expertise in the specialty.

You must obtain the file and upload yourself to submit the letter of reference from a physician who is certified by one of the ABMS member boards.

All CME must be AMA PRA Category 1 Credits as recognized by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) and the American Medical Association (AMA). At this time the American Board of Public Health (ABPH) will defer to your judgment to determine if the content is related to the specialty area.

The American Board of Public Health (ABPH) follows audit procedures similar to most state medical boards. If you are selected for an audit, you will need to provide your CME certificates or other evidence of completion.

The American Board of Public Health (ABPH) maintains online descriptions of the contents of all board certification exams. The best way to prepare is to research and study the concepts and areas outlined. The American College of Public Health (ACPH) has published free Study Guides online for the Pandemic Medicine Exam, the Culinary Medicine Exam, and the Diversity Medicine Exam on their website at theacph.org.

The American Board of Public Health (ABPH) is working with partners to create prep materials for all ABPH board certification specialties. The best way to prepare is to research and study the concepts and areas outlined. The American College of Public Health (ACPH) has published free Study Guides online for the Pandemic Medicine Exam, the Culinary Medicine Exam, and the Diversity Medicine Exam on their website at theacph.org.

After application review if you are deemed board eligible, you will be able to take your exam immediately. In light of COVID-19 the board exams are offered anywhere and anytime. You will access the exam securely through your device. Your device must have a camera, and a computer is recommended rather than a phone or tablet.

ABPH leverages modern technology for physicians to complete board exams anywhere and anytime with applications reviewed on a rolling basis.

The board certification exam consists of 100 multiple-choice questions over two hours and fifteen minutes with breaks.

You will learn your pass/fail result minutes after you complete your exam.

For each specialty certification the one-time application fee will be $495, the one-time exam fee will be $1995, and the annual MOC fee will be $175 paid every year after the initial certification year.

After you complete the relevant step, you will be prompted to pay the appropriate fee.

You will pay the fees securely through the website by credit card.