As a specialty board of the AOA, AOBFP has the authority to stipulate additional CME credit hour requirements for diplomates certified in family medicine. The AOBFP requires 120 credits. At least 60 of those must be in category 1 and 30 must be in category 1-A.
One certificate confirming certification, osteopathic continuous certification (recertification) or CAQ status is forwarded to the diplomate at no charge within four months of the notice from the AOA awarding certification by the AOA’s Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists. Family practice certification certificates issued prior to Match 1997 are not time-dated. Certificates dated March 1997 and thereafter expire eight years from the issuance date.
CAQ certificates in addiction medicine and sports-medicine are time-limited for 10 years. The CAQ certificate in Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine and the CAQ certificate in Geriatric Medicine are time-dated for ten years if issued after Dec. 1, 1995.
Reissued certificates may be ordered directly on the Physician Portal with your AOA user name and password. Certificates cost $50 each and the processing time is 8-12 weeks.
Contact the AOA Customer Resource Center at (312) 202-8000 to verify your status. In order to request an official physician profile, which provides primary source verification of your certification status, education and AOA membership, send an email to credentials@AOAprofiles.org.
All exams are scored using the Rasch model (an Item Response Theory model).
Osteopathic Continuous Certification (OCC) consists of four Components that need to be fulfilled throughout a current certificate cycle. For specific information regarding your requirements, please contact our office at aobfp@osteopathic.org or 312-202-8477.
You are able to view all of your OCC information in your AOA Physician Portal.
If you have successfully completed a three-year AOA-approved or ACGME-accredited Family Medicine residency program and have verification of residency ‘complete and approved’ status by the AOA, please submit your request to sit for AOBFP exams to: aobfp@osteopathic.org.
If you are currently certified by ABFM, please submit your request to sit for AOBFP exams to: aobfp@osteopathic.org.
Find more information in the Longitudinal Cognitive Assessment FAQ section.