A path to ABA certification for outstanding international anesthesiologists
How this works
The AEP program provides a pathway for outstanding international medical program graduates and certified anesthesiologists to pursue ABA certification. Candidates for the AEP program should demonstrate documented achievement in teaching and/or scholarship rather than the potential for future success, which is required for acceptance into the AEP program.
AEP program participants will spend four years in an academic anesthesiology training program as fellows, researchers or faculty members. Participants are expected to actively participate in departmental educational activities and to otherwise retain or gain basic anesthesiology knowledge and experience that would help them earn ABA certification. Participants approved for the AEP program will take the staged exams for primary certification.
When the anesthesiology department enrolls the international medical graduate in the AEP program through either the clinician educator pathway or the research and fellowship pathway described below, the department must have an anesthesiology residency or fellowship training program with “continued full” ACGME accreditation status. Anesthesiology departments may have as many as eight international medical graduates enrolled in the AEP program at one time. A letter of justification from the department chair is required and will be reviewed for approval for any amount over four (effective Jan. 1, 2024).
Clinician Educator Pathway
This pathway provides a certification pathway for outstanding internationally trained and certified anesthesiologists who are working as faculty clinicians in the United States.
Candidates must have the following:
- 4+ years of post-graduate medical education, with at least three of those years being anesthesiology-specific training
- A letter of support from the sponsoring program’s chair and program director
- Board certification in anesthesiology from an ABA-approved certifying body
- These countries have existing training and certification systems that are currently acceptable for entry into the AEP program: Australia & New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, Singapore, South Africa, United Kingdom, Europe (other than UK and Ireland)
- Applications for candidates trained and certified in other countries will be considered on a case-by-case basis
- An active clinical appointment for a minimum period of four years after enrolling in the AEP program
- An academic appointment in a department of anesthesiology with an ACGME-approved residency and should be an outstanding clinician educator in the field of anesthesiology
- A four-year mentoring plan for future academic development as a clinician educator, from the sponsoring program’s department chair and program director, co-signed by the physician
- Our Credentialing Committee will review this for approval
- We must receive the four-year plan no later than four months before the department enrolls the internationally certified anesthesiologist in the AEP program and the four-year period of continuous experience commences
- A record of excellence in teaching and clinical anesthesiology during the four-year period specifically designed and identified for the physician
Research and Fellowship Pathway
The Research & Fellowship Pathway allows internationally trained and certified anesthesiologists to qualify for entrance into our exam system for primary certification in anesthesiology following four years of engaging in departmental educational activities.
Candidates must have:
- International training and certification as an anesthesiologist, practicing in the U.S.
- 4+ years (at least three years of anesthesiology-specific training) of international post-graduate medical education
- A pre-existing track record of high-quality ongoing scholarship as represented by the scholarship of discovery, dissemination and application is critical to acceptance
- Discovery: Obtaining peer-reviewed funding or by publication of original research in peer-reviewed journals
- Dissemination: Publication of review articles in peer-reviewed journals or chapters in textbooks
- Application: Publication of case reports or clinical series at local, regional, or national professional and scientific society meetings
- An active clinical appointment for a minimum period of four years after enrolling in the AEP program
- A four-year plan submitted by the chair of the anesthesiology department that sponsors them and co-signed by the physician for prospective approval by our Credentialing Committee
- We must receive the four-year plan no later than four months before the department enrolls the physician in the AEP program and the four-year period of continuous experience commences
- Proof of discovery of new knowledge in the specialty, excellence in teaching and excellence in clinical anesthesiology during the four-year period specifically designed and identified for the physician
AEP Fast Track Eligibility Requirements (effective Jan. 1, 2024)
The new fast-track pathway will allow AEP program participants who perform exceptionally well on the In-Training Examination (ITE) to enter the ABA’s staged examination system for initial certification sooner. Once AEP program participants achieve an ITE score of 46 or higher they will be immediately eligible to take the BASIC Exam during its next administration. AEP participants must pass each examination element (i.e., BASIC, ADVANCED, SOE and OSCE) on their first attempt to remain on the fast track pathway. This new pathway is intended to give exceptionally well qualified AEP candidates the opportunity to complete the ABA’s staged examination system along an accelerated timeline.
Fast Track Program Details:
- All AEP candidates must take the ITE each year they are in the AEP program until they receive a score at or above 46 for the fast track pathway.
- Once an AEP candidate scores at or above 46 on the ITE they become eligible to take the BASIC Exam during its next administration; they will no longer be required to take the ITE, although they may take it if they would like.
- If a candidate passes the BASIC Exam on their first attempt, they become eligible to take the ADVANCED Exam during its next administration. AEP candidates who fail the BASIC Exam on their first attempt will no longer be on the “fast track.”
- If a candidate passes the ADVANCED Exam on their first attempt, they become eligible to take the APPLIED Exam during its next available administration. AEP candidates who fail the ADVANCED Exam on their first attempt will no longer be on the “fast track.”
- Once an AEP candidate passes both components of the APPLIED Exam, their certification will be deferred.
- The chair of the anesthesiology department must submit a request on institutional letterhead to the ABA to modify the timeframe of the AEP training program based on the candidate’s progress and passing the exams. The request must be signed, dated and include specific details about the completion of the fast track pathway guidelines, successful completion of goals and objectives approved during the original 4-year plan, and tangible results achieved while in the program.
- After the request is received from the chair of the anesthesiology department, the Credentialing Committee will review the candidate’s progress toward the requirements included in their AEP academic and training plan. The Credentialing Committee will determine what, if any, remaining academic or training requirements need to be fulfilled before ABA certification will be conferred. The review process may take up to six weeks.