How to Recertify

Recertification

Recertification demonstrates a commitment to maintaining the standard of ethical and competent practice set by the profession, and is significant for licensing, professional advancement, hospital credentialing and privileging and insurance reimbursement. ABGC implemented a mandatory recertification requirement for any Diplomate certified in 1996 or later.

Diplomates may recertify by examination or by participation in appropriate continuing education activities. If a Diplomate chooses to recertify by examination, they should follow the application guidelines and eligibility requirements included in the Recertification Handbook.

Recertify Now

Each Diplomate is responsible for:

  • Applying for recertification within the allotted time frame
  • Creating and updating the contact information within the ABGC portal 
  • Keeping current with ABGC updates, information, policy, rules and regulations 

Newly certified Diplomates can start earning CEUs towards recertification as soon as the month after they have successfully completed the examination. To check your current recertification cycle eligibility period, log into the ABGC portal and click on “Recertify” in the upper right.

Retired Professional Activity Credits (PACS)

As part of evaluating the continuing education activities used for recertification, the ABGC Board of Directors issued Standards and Guidelines for CEUs and CEU providers. As a continuation of this activity, the Board reviewed the approved Professional Activity Credits (PACs) to ensure that what is accepted by ABGC falls within these new guidelines.

As part of this analysis, it was determined that graduate coursework and case conference/peer supervision groups (now retired PAC activities) would qualify as a Category 2 CEU. Additional information about these retired PACs is noted in the Retired PAC Table. 

For more information on the PACs that will continue to be accepted for recertification, please see the Approved PAC Table. More information on the PACs that have been retired can be found in the Retired PAC Table.

CEU Requirements for Recertification

Diplomates recertifying through continuing education must collect the required number of Continuing Education Units (CEUs) during their certification period. Those in a five-year cycle must collect 12.5 CEUs/PACs.

The following resources will also be helpful as you track the required CEUs  for recertification: 

To determine when your current cycle begins and ends, and to record and track your CEUs/PACs, please log in to the online recertification system at the ABGC Portal.

A new certificate will be effective from January 1 of the year following current certification expiration. For example, a Diplomate with a time-limited certification expiring December 31, 2018, who has met all of the recertification requirements in 2018, will receive a new certificate effective January 1, 2019 and expiring five years later on December 31, 2024.