Right to Appeal

• Appealable issues
  Candidates may appeal to the AOBOS to raise concerns relative to the examination’s administration (i.e., alleged bias/prejudice of a member of an examination team or failure to follow established examination procedures).
• Non-appealable issues
  The AOBOS will not consider appeals based on examination content, sufficiency or accuracy of answers given to examination questions, scoring of the examination, scoring of answers to individual questions and/or the determination of the minimum passing score.
• Appeals must be submitted in writing to the AOBOS via the AOBOS Appeal Submission Form.
• Appeal deadlines
  • Written examinations: Appeals must be submitted within three (3) business days of completion of the examination.
  • Clinical examinations: Appeals must be submitted on or before the published due date for examiner score submission for the appellant’s exam cycle.
  • Late appeals: Appeal requests submitted after the deadlines noted above will be denied.
• Following submission of an appeal to the AOBOS, the candidate’s examination will not be scored or recorded. When the appeal is submitted, the examination will be considered null and will not be scored regardless of whether the appeal is accepted or denied by the AOBOS Board.
• Accepted appeals
  • A candidate whose appeal is accepted will have the right to a new examination at the next scheduled examination date at no additional application or examination fee. All other fees incurred are the responsibility of the candidate.
• If the accepted appeal pertains to a clinical examination, different examiners will be assigned to the candidate and the candidate’s original surgical log may be used for the new clinical examination administration.
• Denied appeals
  • A candidate whose appeal is denied will have the right to retake the examination at a future administration and will be responsible for the applicable examination fees.
  • If an appeal is denied by the AOBOS, the candidate will have the right to request an appeal to the AOA Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists (BOS) by contacting the BOS Secretary at [email protected]. As required in the Handbook of the BOS, the request for an appeal and supporting documentation must be submitted electronically within sixty (60) days of the date of the decision letter.

Compliance With Federal Regulations

The AOBOS complies with all applicable federal and state regulations, including:

• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): The AOBOS complies with requirements prohibiting discrimination and ensuring equal opportunity for persons with disabilities in employment, state and local government services, public accommodations, commercial facilities, and transportation, as well as regulations for Title II and Title III (and all subsequent regulations) as printed in the federal register.
• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA): In compliance with the HIPAA Act of 1996 and any subsequent modifications, the AOBOS ensures that individuals’ health information is properly protected, while allowing the flow of health information to provide and promote high quality health care. All medical records submitted for review by candidates for AOBOS certification will be de-identified by the candidate prior to submission, such that the remaining information cannot be used to identify an individual patient.

Code of Conduct: Irregular or Improper Behavior

Because of the AOA’s commitment to the high level of confidentiality and integrity of our certifying board examinations, board examination results and questions of improper conduct are reviewed by board members. Improper behavior, including but not limited to, giving, receiving, or otherwise obtaining unauthorized information or assistance, looking at or utilizing the test material of others, taking notes, failing to comply with computer site staff instructions, talking with other candidates or other disruptive behavior will be considered cause for review of conduct and a possible violation of the certification process. Candidates must not discuss the examination while the session is in progress. Candidates must not disclose the contents of the examination to others or reproduce the examination or any portion of the examination in any manner, including without limitation reconstruction through memorization, electronic means, or dictation. All AOA examinations are copyrighted and protected by federal law. The above policies apply to all examinations administered by any AOA specialty certifying board.

It is a criminal offense to copy or reproduce any portion of the certifying examinations. Each board will monitor examinations for irregular or improper behavior by direct observation, statistical analysis, and by other means. Irregular or improper behavior will constitute grounds for invalidation of the candidate’s examination and each board reserves the right to invoke other sanctions, such as exclusion from future examinations, revocation of board certification, and reporting misconduct to censing bodies or law enforcement agencies.