What if you fail AP or CP part of AP/CP boards?

[Nilf]

Do you have to retake BOTH AP and CP?

The ABP website states: "Passing one part (AP or CP) of the AP/CP examinations does not confer certification in that area."

My only interpretation of this statement is that if you are taking AP/CP, and let's say you fail the CP part, and try again later, you still have to retake AP again. Am I correct?

Also, are the sample questions on ABP website representative of the difficulty level of the test?

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[LADoc00]

Do you have to retake BOTH AP and CP? NO

The ABP website states: "Passing one part (AP or CP) of the AP/CP examinations does not confer certification in that area."

My only interpretation of this statement is that if you are taking AP/CP, and let's say you fail the CP part, and try again later, you still have to retake AP again. Am I correct?

Also, are the sample questions on ABP website representative of the difficulty level of the test?

10 characters

 

[Nilf]

10 characters

Do not worry?

 

[yaah]

What I believe that means is that if you take both and fail one, you cannot get certified in either until you pass the part that you failed. You do not have to take the one you passed over again. The exception to that is quoted below from abpath.org - you can apply specially to just have the one certification.

Scenario:

I take AP/CP boards in spring 2009.
I pass CP, fail AP. I do not get a certificate for passing CP, they tell me to retake AP. Then I have two options:

1) I then take only the AP exam in spring 2010 or whever, and pass it. Then I get certified in AP and CP.
2) I decide I do not want to take the AP exam at all, and I apply to the boards to get my CP certificate and not attempt AP again.

Make sense?

http://www.abpath.org/BICandQualComb.htm

Candidates Qualified for Combined Certification Who Are Successful in Only One of the Examinations
Candidates who are qualified for combined anatomic pathology and clinical pathology must pass both examinations to receive a combined certificate.

Candidates successful in only one of the primary examinations have the option to request that the ABP award a single certificate in the primary area in which they were successful. This option must be requested within 2 years of expiration of the period of qualification in which the examination was successfully completed. This option is available only within this time frame.

To exercise this option, candidates must submit the appropriate fee and complete the application for single certification, which is available on the ABP Web site. Original applications and any subsequent training will be evaluated with reference to single certificate requirements. All of the requirements for certification in anatomic pathology or clinical pathology must be satisfied as listed in the current Booklet of Information. In addition, the candidate's practice must be in the area in which certification is requested. Candidates must state, in writing, that they are relinquishing qualification in APCP and must request consideration for primary certification in the area in which they were successful (AP or CP).

Training used to satisfy the requirements for a single certificate may not be used subsequently to obtain additional certification. Candidates will be expected to satisfy existing requirements for the other primary certificate at the time of application.

Candidates who are qualified for combined primary and subspecialty certification must pass both examinations to receive a combined certificate. Candidates successful in the primary examination (AP or CP) but not in the subspecialty examination may apply for the awarding of a single primary certificate using the procedure previously described. Candidates successful in the subspecialty examination but not in the primary examination are not eligible for the awarding of a subspecialty certificate. Those candidates must not identify themselves as having subspecialty certification.

Applications for single certification are evaluated in May and in November. Applications received by March 1 will be evaluated in May. Applications received by October 1 will be evaluated in November.

 

[mcfaddens]

Also, are the sample questions on ABP website representative of the difficulty level of the test?

Oh, life would be awesome right now if that were true! Its kinda like the USMLE sample CD
"A nurse (in the hospital that JCHAO and everyone else forgot) gets a rash that extends to her wrist everytime she goes to work and changes her gloves, what is the possible diagnosis?
A. Hand cancer 👍
B. Herpes (well you never know)
C. Latex allergy
D. Manual bowel decompaction syndrome
E. munchausen syndrome by proxy


Thinking about it now I would probably choose answer D

 

[LADoc00]

What I believe that means is that if you take both and fail one, you cannot get certified in either until you pass the part that you failed. You do not have to take the one you passed over again.
http://www.abpath.org/BICandQualComb.htm

YES, what he said.

 

[tardieu]

Do you have to retake BOTH AP and CP?

The ABP website states: "Passing one part (AP or CP) of the AP/CP examinations does not confer certification in that area."

My only interpretation of this statement is that if you are taking AP/CP, and let's say you fail the CP part, and try again later, you still have to retake AP again. Am I correct?

Also, are the sample questions on ABP website representative of the difficulty level of the test?

If you are accepted as a candidate for combined AP/CP certification, and pass one exam and fail the other, you have 3 options:

1. Do nothing, and remain certified in nothing.

2. Retake the failed exam (only). If you pass it, you are granted combined AP/CP certification. If you fail it again, go back to the top.

3. Apply for "Single Certification." This entails, essentially, amending your original combined AP/CP application to an application for single certification only in the area for which you passed the exam. Your credentials are then re-evaluated in the context of that application, and if you meet the ABP requirements for the respective single certification, you are certified in that area only. In this scenario, you DO NOT retake any exam.

A few things worth noting:

1. If you exercise option 3, you are choosing to apply (at least) 3 years of your training towards your single certification. If you later want to apply for certification in the area you missed, you'll have to meet the requirements for single certification in that area. This is to say that, assuming you did a standard 4 year combined AP/CP residency, you'll have to do more training.

2. The fee for exercising option 2 is the full single examination fee, currently $1800.

3. The fee for exercising option 3 is the full single examination fee, currently $1800 -- even though you are not retaking an exam; you're just asking the ABP to apply the score of an exam you have already paid for and passed to an amended application.

I am curious to hear people's opinions about that last one.

 

[raggedredfiber]

obviously the abp needs to make money. here are my observations/conspiracy theory:

1) costs $1800 to take one and $2200 to take both...chances are you'll pass one at a time, so if you apply for one you'll most likely pass and the abp will make only $1800 but $3600 for both. chances are more likely you will fail one part if you take both together. so, $2200 for first try, then $1800 for retake = $4000. as you can see only $400 separates the two.

2) costs $1800 to switch to single certification because the abp will lose you as a repeat customer.

3) they do nothing post-certification to aid us in any way whatsoever.

everything comes down to money. if they really, truly wanted to test a pathologist's competence. they would test relevant everyday pathologic conundrums (is this reactive atypia or cancer?, etc.) - not identify which fly carries onchocerca. 😡😡😡😡😡

 

[djmd]

3. The fee for exercising option 3 is the full single examination fee, currently $1800 -- even though you are not retaking an exam; you're just asking the ABP to apply the score of an exam you have already paid for and passed to an amended application.

Wow I was not aware of that... that seem kind of lame.

They have you in a vice, so they extract more money.

 

[LADoc00]

Ive been saying the ABP is corrupt since the late 90s...

Im mean seriously just look at their offices in some high rent tower in Tampa next to the hotel and mall...anyone's path office on SDN look anything even remotely like that?

 

[listeriaismfb]

The view from my office is spectacular, as a matter of fact. The mother ship has very well manicured grounds... 😀

LADoc is right, it's a freaking racket and what they do to residents amounts to extortion. They started charging more in the late 90s and justified it by saying that it costs money to administer the exam in 3 sites, but when they got rid of the other 2 sites the fee never went down again. Go figure...

Did you know that they are going to charge us $50 per year (beginning 3 years after certification) just to maintain electronic records of our CME for the MOC BS? I recognize that $50 won't kill anyone, but haven't they gotten enough already?

 

[yaah]

1) costs $1800 to take one and $2200 to take both...chances are you'll pass one at a time, so if you apply for one you'll most likely pass and the abp will make only $1800 but $3600 for both. chances are more likely you will fail one part if you take both together. so, $2200 for first try, then $1800 for retake = $4000. as you can see only $400 separates the two.

True, except most people who take both at once pass both. I am not entirely sure why they structure the fees to encourage taking both at the same time. I am certainly glad I took both at the same time.

I agree that testing minutae like Oncocherca is not really clinically relevant, but at the same time testing true clinically relevant info is very hard. Hard to write questions on these things because a lot of clinical calls are made based on judgment and threshold, which is individual.

 

[star23]

Does anyone know how the timing works out if you fail both or one part of the boards? For example, say you take AP/CP in June/July and pass AP but fail CP. Can you retake CP in the October testing period (can you re-register that quickly?) If you take the boards in October when do you get your scores?

 

[green mantis]

Does anyone know how the timing works out if you fail both or one part of the boards? For example, say you take AP/CP in June/July and pass AP but fail CP. Can you retake CP in the October testing period (can you re-register that quickly?) If you take the boards in October when do you get your scores?

The timing works out just fine. ABP extends the application deadline for the fall AP/CP exam for those that fail in the spring. How much time do you need if you decide to retake the exam? All you have to do is send in $1800 & a small amount of paperwork. All the documents you sent in the 1st time around is still good.

It always takes the same amount of time to get your results, 6-8 weeks after the last administration.


----- Antony