Written Exam
Eligibility
Fellowship Pathway
To be eligible for certification in Pain Medicine through the Fellowship Pathway, candidates must meet the criteria below:
- Be a graduate of a COCA-accredited college of osteopathic medicine.
- Satisfactorily complete a one-year AOA- or ACGME-approved fellowship training in pain medicine, as evidenced by a copy of a pain medicine certificate and letter of recommendation from the program director. You will be eligible for certification examination for six years beginning on the date you complete fellowship training.
- Hold a valid and current AOA board certification from one of the primary specialty boards that make up the conjoint:
- Hold an unrestricted license to practice in a state or territory.
- Adhere to the AOA Code of Ethics.
- Adhere to CME guidelines if applicable.
Exam Fees
An application fee of $1,300 must accompany your completed application. This includes a non-refundable $100 application fee and $1,200 exam fee. No application will be considered complete until all fees have been paid. Applications submitted after the first deadline, but before the final deadline, will be charged a $100 late fee.
Exam Dates and Deadlines
The Pain Medicine Written Exam is offered once a year, generally in the fall.
Exam Content Outline
The Pain Medicine Written Exam consists of 200 scored items and up to 25 non-scored items. Non-scored items are inserted throughout the examination to obtain data relating to the performance of the items. The items may be selected for use as scored items in future examinations.
| Subspecialty Certification | |
|---|---|
| CATEGORY | PERCENT |
| Comprehensive Osteopathic Assessment of Pain | 23-27% |
| Osteopathic Manipulation | 3-7% |
| Therapeutic Measures /Modalities | 28-32% |
| Regional Pain | 20-24% |
| Diffuse Pain Syndromes | 5-9% |
| Special Populations | 9-13% |
You can download the complete exam table of specifications below.
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.