Topics and References

The Hand Surgery Continuous Certification Assessment, introduced in 2021, focuses on the latest and most important developments in practice to assist diplomates in staying up to date. Hand surgery diplomates will be presented with 40 questions that address important topics in hand surgery. Topic areas will evolve based on changes in the field of hand surgery, in addition to feedback from diplomates and surgical societies. The hand surgery assessment is not modular.

New reference lists are posted on the ABS website each year prior to the start of the assessment window. See our Assessment Reference Archive to find a catalog of all reference lists used in previous years.

Please click on the link below to access the reference list for the 2023 Hand Surgery Continuous Certification Assessment.

• Hand Surgery Assessment References (pdf)

Preparing for the Assessment

While taking the assessment, question rationales and reference citations are displayed every time an answer is submitted. Completing the assessment and reading the rationales is an educational experience which may not require any preparation.

You will have up to two weeks to complete the assessment once you begin, with the opportunity to save your progress and continue at a later time during this two-week period. The last day to begin the assessment to ensure that you have the full two weeks is Monday, Oct. 23, 2023.

If you are taking more than one assessment, you will have the ability to begin each assessment at a different time.

Please note: Your personal two-week time limit will start the moment you click the “Begin” button on the ABS portal – do not click it until you are absolutely sure that you are ready to begin your assessment.

Hand Surgery Assessment References

The ABS provides a list of topics to allow diplomates to hone in on the areas that they should be aware of for the assessment. References are provided for transparency about the sources that support the development of the assessment. The references reflect that the assessment primarily focuses on important evidence-based recent updates to Hand Surgery practice. Diplomates are neither required nor expected to read all of these references before or during the completion of the assessment.

The reference lists that the ABS provides include all references used with a single key reference for each topic, including those which explain why the wrong answers are incorrect. References that are available open-source are indicated. Diplomates may choose to refer to these lists either before or during the assessment.

New reference lists are posted on the ABS website each year prior to the start of the assessment window. See our Assessment Reference Archive to find a catalog of all reference lists used in previous years.

• Hand Surgery Assessment References

Navigating the Assessment and Testing Strategies

Please keep the following in mind during the assessment:

• The 40 questions will be presented in a random order.
• One question is displayed at a time, which must be answered to proceed. It is not possible to navigate backwards to previously answered questions.
• Due to the forward-only navigation, it is recommended that the rationale be read in full before moving on to the next question.
• Every time an answer is submitted for scoring, progress is saved. If the assessment is continued on a different computer or technical difficulties are experienced, previous work will not be lost.
• Participants should track the number of correct and incorrect answers themselves. Participants must get at least 16 questions correct on the first attempt in order to be given access to the questions for a second attempt. If a participant is not on track to get 16 correct, it would be worthwhile to change the approach proactively.
• Correctly answering 80% (32 questions) is required to pass, with two chances to answer. A score of at least 40% (16 questions) must be achieved on the first attempt to qualify for a second attempt in the same testing administration. Participants are encouraged to do their best on all assessment attempts.
• If presented with a difficult question, reviewing the references provided for that topic on the ABS website can facilitate a focused literature review. It may not be not necessary to use the specific references cited in order to determine the correct answer.