Written Exam

Eligibility

To be eligible for certification in Obstetrics and Gynecology, candidates must meet the criteria below:

• Be a graduate of a COCA-accredited college of osteopathic medicine or an LCME accredited medical school in the U.S. or Canada.
  • Physicians who graduated from a medical school outside of the U.S. or Canada are also eligible if they hold a valid certificate, without expired examination dates, from the ECFMG.
• Have graduated from, or be in the third or fourth year of, an AOA-approved or ACGME accredited residency in obstetrics and gynecology.
• Adhere to the AOA Code of Ethics.

Note: Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS) is not a prerequisite for certification in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Requirements

At the time of application, you must submit the following to the AOBOG:

• Completed application and fees.
• Copy of your certificate of residency completion or, if applying during residency, a letter of verification of residency status from your program director.

Exam Fees

An exam fee of $1,175 must accompany your completed application. No application will be considered complete until all fees have been paid. Beginning with the Spring 2020 administration, applications submitted after the first deadline must include an additional 30% late fee ($352.50), or $1,527.50 total. Examination fees must be made by credit card within the application portal. No other forms of payment may be accepted.

Exam Dates and Deadlines

The Obstetrics and Gynecology Primary Written Exam is offered once per year via remote proctoring, generally every April/May.

The first application deadline will be approximately two months prior to the first date of the exam administration window. The final deadline will be approximately one month prior to the exam administration window.

All candidates requesting exam accommodations must submit their requests at the time of application and a minimum of 45 days prior to the exam window.

For a list of currently scheduled exam dates, please visit our Important Dates page. For more information on what to expect on exam day, please visit our Remote Proctored Examination information page.

Exam Content Outline

The written exam is a four-hour exam consisting of 225 multiple-choice questions which may include the following topics:

The AOBOG does not endorse, recommend, or provide any information about review or preparation courses for this examination. However, the AOBOG has prepared a list of major references for the Written Exam.

Exam Scoring

Scoring Criteria

AOA reports candidates’ certification results using standardized scaled scores. Scaled scores are more valid and reliable compared to raw scores and make scores comparable across different forms of the exam. The AOA reports scores on a 200 to 800-point scale with a scaled score of 500 or higher required to pass.

• A scaled score of 500 represents the minimum level of knowledge and skill necessary to pass the exam as established by AOA Certifying Boards.
• The highest possible scaled score is 800.
• The lowest possible scaled score is 200.
• Overall scores are based on the total number of items answered correctly, regardless of content area.

Results by Content Area

• When possible, a breakdown of exam scores by content area is provided to help you identify your areas of strength and areas that may need more development.
• The number of items for each content area indicates the relative amount of test questions on the exam for that content area.
• Content area scores are not weighted to calculate your overall score; each content area is scored separately after the overall analysis is complete.

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