Neurocritical Care Subspecialty Application Now Available for Qualified Surgical Critical Care Diplomates
Feb. 26, 2021
Update March 9, 2021
As previously announced, ABS has partnered with the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) to provide a pathway to certification in neurocritical care (NCC) for ABS diplomates currently certified in surgical critical care (SCC). ABA has generously agreed to provide access to this certificate, and once certification is achieved through one of the available pathways, SCC candidates will be holders of an ABA certificate. As such, all polices around exam eligibility and maintaining certification will be made by the ABA. Please see the ABA website for their current policies regarding this examination, which will be administered every odd-numbered year.
Original post:
The American Board of Surgery (ABS) is pleased to announce that the application process for the neurocritical care subspecialty certification exam is now available. Applications must be submitted by April 1, 2021, and the exam will be available this fall from Oct. 4-8, 2021. Recognizing that this is a short timeline, please be assured that the available pathways will remain in effect for the next five years as well.
As announced in February 2020, this certificate is offered in conjunction with the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, the American Board of Anesthesiology, the American Board of Emergency Medicine and the American Board of Neurological Surgery. Eligible candidates are surgical critical care diplomates who are primarily engaged in the practice of neurocritical care.
Interested surgical critical care diplomates who meet the requirements for this certification may submit their initial application materials through the ABS online application process, and will then take the exam through the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA). If successful on the exam, they will be deemed certified in neurocritical care by the ABA, and must participate in the ABA MOCA 2.0® program to maintain their certificate.
To be eligible for this exam, applicants must:
- Be currently certified by the ABS in surgical critical care and in compliance with the ABS Continuous Certification Program.
- Attest to current privileges and clinical activity in neurocritical care.
- Have a currently registered full and unrestricted license to practice medicine in the U.S. or Canada.
- Be actively and primarily engaged in the practice of neurocritical care.
- Be capable of performing independently the entire scope of the neurocritical care practice.
During a six-year "legacy" or practice pathway period, eligible SCC diplomates may qualify to take the exam if they are certified in neurocritical care by the UCNS or CAST, have completed a fellowship in neurocritical care, or have documented a certain amount of post-training clinical practice specifically related to neurocritical care.
After this six-year period is over, all candidates who register for the neurocritical care exam must have completed an approved training program and must meet the exam registration requirements then in effect.
Please see Subspecialty Certification in Neurocritical Care for additional information and instructions on how to gain access to the application.
