The Medical Toxicology Subboard

• ABEM is responsible for examination development, administration, scoring, and analysis.

• Each sponsoring board is responsible for credentialing its respective candidates and notifying them of their examination results. 

• Each sponsoring board appoints members to the jointly sponsored Medical Toxicology Subboard.

• There are four members from ABEM, two members from ABP, and two members from ABPM. 

• The primary functions of the subboard are to:– 1. Develop examinations in Medical Toxicology– 2. Credential individual applicants at the request of individual

sponsoring boards.

ABEM Website

Certification Examination Description

The Med Tox certification exam is a criterion-referenced exam.

All candidates achieving a final score of 72 or greater will pass.  

All test questions are developed and reviewed by the Med Tox Subboard. 

The Med Tox cert exam is a comprehensive examination covering the breadth of the field of Medical Toxicology.  

Each examination appointment is approximately 8 hours in length, ~ 6.5 hours devoted to actual testing time. 

The exam contains 300 single-best answer multiple-choice questions.  

Between 10% and 15% of the questions have a pictorial stimulus.  

ABEM Website

Cognitive Expertise Examination

The Medical Toxicology cognitive expertise examination is a criterion-referenced examination.

All candidates achieving a final score of 66 or greater will pass the examination. 

Each examination appointment is approximately 8 hours in length, with approximately 6.5 hours devoted to actual testing time. 

The examination contains 300 single-best answer multiple-choice questions. 

Between 10% and 15% of the questions have a pictorial stimulus. 

Certification• A candidate who has met the eligibility criteria

and who passes the subspecialty examination is recognized as being certified in the subspecialty of Medical Toxicology.

• Certification is for a period of ten years.

• To renew certification a physician must fulfill the requirements of the Medical Toxicology Maintenance of Certification program.

• Effective January 1, 2006, ABEM does not require physicians to maintain Emergency Medicine certification in order to maintain Medical Toxicology certification if the physician is participating in the Medical Toxicology Maintenance of Certification program.

ABEM Website

Examination Blueprint:% Distribution of Test Items by Core Content

Area 1.0 Principles of Toxicology 8-10%

2.0 Toxins and Toxicants 55-60%2.1 Drugs 29-31%2.2 Industrial, Household, Environmental Toxicants 19-

21%2.3 Natural Products 4-5%2.4 Warfare, Terrorism, and Other 3%

3.0 Therapeutics 10-12%

4.0 Assessment and Population Health 12-15%

5.0 Analytical and Forensic Toxicology 8-10%ABEM Website

Good Luck!