Hospice and Palliative Medicine

Announcement: As the field of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (HPM) continues to grow, ABIM will begin offering the Certification Exam in this discipline annually starting in 2024.

Read the ABIM announcement

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Palliative care physicians focus on improving a patient’s quality of life by managing pain and other distressing symptoms of a serious illness. Palliative care is often provided along with other medical treatments. Hospice is palliative care for patients in their last year of life.

ABEM- and American Osteopathic Board of Emergency Medicine (AOBEM)-certified physicians attain subspecialty certification in Hospice and Palliative Medicine by meeting the eligibility criteria, fulfilling specific credential requirements, and passing the Hospice and Palliative Medicine Certification Examination.

ABEM, along with nine other American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) Member Boards, offer subspecialty certification in Hospice and Palliative Medicine. The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) administers the subspecialty certification examination, and each Member Board is responsible for credentialing its respective candidates and notifying them of their examination results.

Eligibility

Emergency physicians seeking Hospice and Palliative Medicine certification must:

1. Be certified ABEM or the AOBEM.
2. Successfully complete an ACGME-accredited Hospice and Palliative Medicine fellowship of at least one year as specified in the eligibility criteria.
3. Actively participating in ABEM's continuing certification process or the AOBEM Osteopathic Continuing Certification (OCC) Program.
4. Complete and submit an application to ABEM.
5. Fulfill the ABEM Policy on Medical Licensure.
6. Comply with the ABEM Policy on Board Eligibility for Subspecialty Certification.

Exam Process

The Hospice and Palliative Medicine Certification Examination will be offered every year starting in 2024. 

Apply

Physicians must sign into their ABEM Portal and select the green Hospice and Palliative Medicine link. Application and examination fees are due at the time of submission. Application fees are non-refundable, however, approved applications are valid for seven years. 

Timing Considerations:
Physicians can submit their application before their HPM training is completed. However, all steps of the application, including verification of the successful completion of training, must be completed before scores will be released. 

Physicians can sit for subspecialty exams before obtaining Emergency Medicine certification. However, they are not considered certified in a subspecialty until they become certified in Emergency Medicine.

If a physician chooses to take a subspecialty exam before becoming certified in Emergency Medicine, they will be asked to sign a form acknowledging the following:

• If the results of the Oral Exam are a pass, in which case the physician is certified in Emergency Medicine and will meet the eligibility criteria for certification in the subspecialty, the application for certification in the subspecialty will be approved and scores will be released.
• If the physician does not pass the Oral Exam, they are not certified in Emergency Medicine and will not meet the eligibility criteria for certification in a subspecialty; the subspecialty examination results will be held for 12 months. If the physician does not pass the Oral Exam and become certified within that time, the subspecialty scores are nullified and the examination fees are not refunded. Scores will not be released.

Scheduling Your Exam Appointment

Once your application is submitted and reviewed, ABEM will forward your examination authorization to the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM).  The ABIM will contact you with instructions on registering and scheduling your exam appointment through the ABIM platform.
Exam Content Specifications
An exam tutorial is available on the ABIM website. The blueprint and an exam-day schedule for the Hospice and Palliative Medicine Certification Examination is available on the ABIM website.

Results

Score release dates are set by the ABIM.  ABEM notifies physicians when examination results are available through their ABEM Portal.