Board Certification Data
The American Board of Ophthalmology welcomes new diplomates after the administration of each Oral Examination. Diplomates are certified for a 10-year period, and may be recertified for an additional 10 years upon completion of Continuing Certification. The table below reflects the number of diplomates certified and recertified each year.
| Year Ending December 31 |
New Diplomates Awarded Certification |
Diplomates Completing 10-Year Recertification |
| 2022 |
494 |
1,203
|
| 2021 |
576 |
783
|
| 2020 |
470 |
931
|
| 2019 |
528
|
1,088 |
| 2018 |
571 |
658* |
*Approximately 200 additional diplomates received a temporary extension in order to transition to the Quarterly Questions program for Continuing Certification.
Certification Exams
Statistics from the previous five years of board certification examination administrations are listed below. Since 1916, the ABO has held 245 initial certification examinations and certified 33,703 ophthalmologists.
Written Qualifying Examination (Past Five Years)
| Year |
Total Candidates |
1st Time Takers |
1st Time Takers
Passed |
Repeat Takers |
Repeat Takers
Passed |
Overall Passed |
Overall Failed |
| 2023 |
625 |
498 |
428 (85.9%) |
127 |
76 (59.8%) |
504 (80.6%) |
121 (19.4%) |
| 2022 |
611 |
497 |
419 (84.3%) |
114 |
60 (52.6%) |
479 (78.4%) |
132 (21.6%) |
| 2021 |
642 |
538 |
452 (84.0%) |
104 |
59 (56.7%) |
511 (79.6%) |
131 (20.4%) |
| 2020 |
584 |
528 |
456 (86.4%) |
56 |
16 (28.6%) |
472 (80.8%) |
112 (19.2%) |
| 2019B |
498 |
419 |
405 (96.7%) |
79 |
31 (39.2%) |
436 (87.6%) |
62 (12.4%) |
| 2019A |
538 |
465 |
460 (98.9%) |
73 |
25 (34.2%) |
485 (90.1%) |
53 (9.9%) |
Oral Examination (Past Five Years)
| Year |
Total Candidates |
1st Time Takers |
1st Time Takers
Passed |
Repeat Takers |
Repeat Takers
Passed |
Overall Passed |
Overall Failed |
| 2023F |
297 |
216 |
180 (83.3%) |
81 |
57 (70.4%) |
237 (79.8%) |
60 (20.2%) |
| 2023S |
332 |
291 |
241 (82.8%) |
41 |
23 (56.1%) |
264 (79.5%) |
68 (20.5%) |
| 2022F |
291 |
225 |
188 (83.6%) |
66 |
51 (77.3%) |
239 (82.1%) |
52 (17.9%) |
| 2022S |
314 |
269 |
221 (82.2%) |
45 |
34 (75.6%) |
255 (81.2%) |
59 (18.8%) |
| 2021F |
328 |
273 |
229 (83.9%) |
55 |
38 (69.1%) |
267 (81.4%) |
61 (18.6%) |
| 2021S |
353 |
235 |
206 (87.7%) |
118 |
103 (87.3%) |
309 (87.5%) |
44 (12.5%) |
| 2020D |
180 |
156 |
113 (72.4%) |
24 |
13 (54.2%) |
126 (70%) |
54 (30%) |
| 2020C |
186 |
147 |
109 (74.2%) |
39 |
27 (69.2%) |
136 (73.1%) |
50 (26.9%) |
| 2020B |
171 |
143 |
110 (76.9% ) |
28 |
19 (67.9%) |
129 (75.4%) |
42 (24.6%) |
| 2020A |
102 |
87 |
68 (78.2%) |
15 |
11 (73.3%) |
79 (77.5%) |
23 (22.6%) |
| 2019F |
379 |
336 |
263 (78.3%) |
43 |
33 (76.7%) |
296 (78.1%) |
83 (21.9%) |
| 2019S |
282 |
226 |
194 (85.8%) |
56 |
38 (67.9%) |
232 (82.3%) |
50 (17.7%) |
Quarterly Questions (Past Five Years)
| Year |
Passing Standard* |
Diplomates Who Completed All 40 Qs** |
Pass Rate*** |
| 2018 |
60% |
2,485 |
99.1% |
| 2019 |
65% |
4,090 |
99.7% |
| 2020 |
65% |
4,664 |
99.2% |
| 2021 |
67.5% |
5,028 |
95.3% |
| 2022 |
65% |
3,838 |
99.0% |
*The passing standard is the minimum knowledge question score needed to pass that year’s version of the activity.
**These data reflect the number of diplomates who attempted all 40 knowledge-based questions between January 1 and December 31 of the same calendar year in which the activity was launched.
***These data indicate the percentage of diplomates who met or exceeded the passing standard. Because passing Quarterly Questions over several years is required for maintaining certification, this information is not equivalent to the overall pass rate for the activity as a whole.