Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery

Overview

The American Osteopathic Board of Surgery (AOBS) is pleased to announce a collaboration with the American Board of Surgery (ABS). Osteopathic surgeons now have the opportunity to sit for the written examination toward a Certificate of Added Qualifications (CAQ) in Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. AOBS recognizes the many osteopathic surgeons with expertise in this specialty and the need for this valuable recognition opportunity.

The purpose of the CAQ is to provide transparent information to those patients with obesity who seek to undergo bariatric surgery or bariatric endoscopy for the treatment of obesity and metabolic diseases by recognizing surgeons who have additional surgical expertise and who also continuously dedicate a significant percentage of their practice to the comprehensive care of these patients including primary and revisional bariatric surgery, management of bariatric complications and endoscopy.

Registration will open on Nov. 13, 2025, and close on March 31, 2025.

Written Exam

Eligibility

• Certification/continuous certification: Candidates must be currently certified in General Surgery by the AOBS and in compliance with the AOBS OCC process, (OCC Components 1-4) for General Surgery. View OCC requirements.
• Training: Candidates must have completed three years of clinical experience in metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS), which may include experience gained during fellowship training.
• MBS experience: Must have current privileges and clinical activity in MBS, with a minimum of three years of clinical practice experience with a focus in MBS (Diplomates who have completed 12 months in an MBS fellowship training program may count the length of their fellowship program towards the focused practice requirement).
  • Diplomates must have 100 lifetime stapling cases (75 may come from an accredited fellowship and at least 25 stapling cases must occur after fellowship) and 50 of the 100 lifetime stapling procedures must be anastomotic or must include an anastomosis.
  • Diplomates must have performed an average of 25 MBSAQIP-approved stapling cases annually, averaged over the previous three years.
• Medical license: Candidates must have a currently registered full and unrestricted license to practice medicine in the U.S. or Canada. Applicants are required to immediately inform the AOBS of any conditions or restrictions in force on any active medical license they hold.
• Professional activity: Be actively engaged in the practice of MBS as indicated by holding full surgical privileges in this discipline at a Metabolic Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP) accredited center. Additionally, eligible candidates must also actively participate in the MBSAQIP registry.
• Be capable of performing independently the entire scope of MBS practice without accommodation or with reasonable accommodation.

Requirements

Once training requirements for eligibility are met, candidates must submit the following:

• A completed application.
• Submission of letter of good standing from a bariatric medical director.
• Required fees for the application of $550 (does not include the examination registration fee).
• For candidates that are a MBSAQIP Director: The AOA/AOBS will confirm this status with the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.
• For Candidates that are a MBSAQIP Verified Surgeon: A confirmation email must be sent from the hospital coordinator to [email protected].

Application and Exam Fees

The total exam price is $1,300. An application fee of $550 will be paid to the AOA at the time of application submission. Once approved, the candidate will pay a fee of the remaining balance, $750, to the American Board of Surgery to register. No application will be considered complete until all fees have been paid. Once finalized, the candidate will be provided with instructions to secure their testing site/seat time with Pearson VUE from the American Board of Surgery.

All cancellations must be made in writing and emailed to the AOBS at [email protected]. Exam cancellations received 30 days or more prior to the first day of the exam administration date will be refunded less a $250 cancellation fee. No refunds will be issued for any cancellations that are received less than 30 days before the first day of the exam administration date.

Exam Dates and Deadlines

The written exam will be offered between March 24 and April 14, 2025. The exam will be hosted by Pearson VUE, the vendor contracted through ABS. The exam will be offered Monday through Saturday; there are no Sunday testing opportunities. Exams will be offered annually thereafter (dates to be determined and will be posted as appropriate).

Exam Overview and Scoring

The exam consists of about 150 multiple-choice questions designed to evaluate a surgeon’s knowledge of MBS principles and applied science.

This is a one-day exam lasting approximately four to five hours and is held at computer-testing facilities through the ABS’s vendor, Pearson VUE. The exam is administered within two 120-minute sessions, with an optional 10-minute break after the first session. Once a session has concluded, candidates will not be able to revisit any portion of the exam.

In collaboration with ABS, results will be provided to AOBS. The AOBS will notify the osteopathic candidates of their score results. The notification will come approximately four to eight weeks after the exam. Certificates will subsequently be issued from AOBS to candidates.

The exam’s contents are copyrighted by the American Board of Surgery and may not be reproduced or disclosed in any manner.

Exam Failure

Should a candidate fail the exam, they may apply for the next administration.  Each candidate will have three (3) attempts to pass the examination. An application, application fee and examination fee are required per attempt. Should a candidate fail on the third attempt, they must appeal to AOBS for further instructions.

Final Fees

Rescoring Examinations

The exam is hosted by the American Board of Surgery, whose psychometric and assessment teams work closely to complete an independent score, completed twice.  No requests for further rescoring are allowed, nor are candidates allowed to review specific items on the examination. Scoring results are shared with AOBS psychometric and assessment staff in collaboration with onward collaboration activities.

Right to Appeal

If the candidate believes that the action of the Board constitutes unequal application of regulations and requirements or standards, unwarranted discrimination, prejudice, unfairness or improper conduct of all or any part of an examination conducted by the Board, the candidate has the right to appeal to the Appeal Committee of the Board.

View the full AOBS appeal policy.

Compliance with Federal Regulations

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

• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): The AOBS 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 AOBS 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 AOBS 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.

Questions

For questions related to the application process, please email [email protected]. Once your application is deemed complete, you will receive communications from ABS regarding the exam process customer service information.