Exam & Certification Statistics

In This Section

Certification Totals

A total of 44,049 EM physicians are board certified by ABEM, as of January 20, 2023.

Application and Exam Statistics

ABEM maintains detailed records on application certification statistics, as part of our efforts to understand and continuously improve our standards.

2021
2,519 certification applications received
Qualifying Exam: Of the 2,450 first-time takers, 2,260 (92%) passed 
Oral Certification Exam: Of the 4,470 first-time takers, 4,170 (93%) passed

Detailed ABEM Application and Exam Statistics

Subspecialty Certification

Current totals for ABEM-certified physicians who hold a subspecialty certification, as of January 2023.

  • Addiction Medicine*: 234
  • Anesthesiology Critical Care Medicine: 148
  • Clinical Informatics*: 252
  • Emergency Medical Services: 1,002
  • Hospice and Palliative Medicine: 245
  • Internal Medicine - Critical Care Medicine: 342
  • Medical Toxicology: 553
  • Neurocritical Care: 42
  • Pain Medicine: 28
  • Pediatric Emergency Medicine: 300
  • Sports Medicine: 271
  • Surgical Critical Care*: 58
  • Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine: 135
       Total = 3,630 (8.2% of all ABEM-certified physicians

Focused Practice Designation

Current totals of ABEM-certified physicians who hold a focused practice designation as of April 2022.
  • Advanced Emergency Medicine Ultrasonography: 284

* Certificates issued by other ABMS boards

Subspecialty Certification Statistics by Year