Quarterly News & Notes: Spring
2026
In this edition of News and Notes …
- ABIM report details workforce size, certification trends and growing diversity among board certified physicians
- Important certification and MOC dates
- Revisions to Initial Certification blueprints
- The Longitudinal Knowledge Assessment: Enrollment still open; new focused assessments available
- Report outlines how physicians met the ABIM MOC assessment requirement in 2025
ABIM subspecialty reports detail workforce size, certification trends and diversity among board certified physicians
ABIM has published new Annual Diplomate Reports in each specialty offering a detailed look at the board certified physician population, including demographics, certification status and how the community has changed over time.
The number of ABIM certificates earned by physicians has grown alongside broader changes in healthcare demand and training pathways. When compared to overall U.S. population growth, the relative proportion of board certified physicians has also shifted, raising important considerations about the available workforce relative to national healthcare needs.
In terms of composition, the reports delineate the workforce by medical school background (U.S. versus international medical graduates), gender, race/ethnicity and age. The reports also include trends in initial certification exam pass rates and show what percentage of diplomates met the Maintenance of Certification (MOC) assessment requirement, as well as which assessment option physicians are choosing to meet the requirement.
Together, these data provide a clearer view of the internal medicine physician workforce and its ongoing evolution. Read the full reports for more information.
Important certification and MOC dates
Enrollment and Registration
Enrollment for all assessments is currently open.
August 15, 2026: Enrollment closes for the fall 2025 traditional, 10-year MOC exam. The last day to request a special accommodation for the fall 2025 traditional, 10-year MOC exam*.
December 1, 2026: Enrollment opens for all 2026 assessments
LKA-Related
June 30, 2026: The last day to answer questions in the second quarter.
July 1, 2026: Third-quarter LKA questions are available.
September 30, 2026: The last day to answer questions in the third quarter.
October 1, 2026: Fourth-quarter LKA questions are available.
November 15, 2026: Last day to enroll in the LKA
December 31, 2026: The last day to answer questions in the fourth quarter.
*These dates are only offered to candidates who have a documented disability requiring a special testing schedule, as provided under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Please see the ABIM policy on Testing Accommodations for Exam Takers with Disabilities.
Revisions to initial certification blueprints
Following an extensive review process—including detailed feedback from more than 25,000 board certified physicians in these disciplines and evaluation by the respective ABIM Specialty Boards and Approval Committees—the initial certification exam blueprints for Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology, Critical Care Medicine, Gastroenterology, Medical Oncology and Transplant Hepatology have been updated to better reflect what physicians see in practice today.
The new blueprints will go into effect for the fall 2026 administrations of the initial certification exams.
In addition, the blueprints have received a visual redesign that features a heatmap showing relevance ratings for second-level blueprint topics. Those who want additional information can also access a more detailed expanded version that lays out deeper layers of content within each topic area.
Blueprints play a vital role in certification: they outline the key content areas, define the relative weighting of topics and give physicians a clear understanding of what to expect on an assessment.
Updated assessment blueprints will be available in other disciplines according to the following schedule. All physicians in these disciplines will be invited to provide feedback on the blueprint and ABIM strongly encourages you to participate in the process to ensure assessment content is reflective of what you are seeing in practice.
The Longitudinal Knowledge Assessment: Enrollment still open; new focused assessments available
Since it launched in 2022, more than 92,000 physicians have chosen to maintain over 112,000 certificates through ABIM’s Longitudinal Knowledge Assessment (LKA®). In fact, each year a greater number of physicians are choosing the LKA as they become eligible to enroll.
Nearly 20,000 physicians have enrolled in the LKA in 2026 alone, with 85% of those due for assessment choosing it over the traditional, 10-year Maintenance of Certification (MOC) exam. You can compare the assessment options for yourself and learn how your peers made their decision.
While it is primarily an assessment of medical knowledge and judgment, physicians also say they appreciate the educational value of the LKA. In a study published last year in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, 95% of respondents reported learning from answering LKA questions and 73% said the LKA led to changes or intended changes in patient care.
As participation in the LKA increases, ABIM has introduced additional options based on physician feedback to better reflect what they encounter in daily practice, particularly subspecialists who practice primarily in highly focused areas. This year, ABIM introduced five new focused LKA options:
- Hematology LKA
- Gastroenterology LKA
- Medical Oncology LKA
These focused assessments cover the same core blueprint as the general specialty exams but include a greater proportion of questions in the selected focus area.
This year only: Physicians currently enrolled in the general Hematology, Gastroenterology or Medical Oncology LKAs can switch now to one of these new focused assessments without any change to their current five-year cycle. Both the general and focused versions of the LKA maintain your certification in the overall specialty (meaning the certification itself does not switch to a focus area). You can switch to one of the focused assessments as long as enrollment remains open this year.
The LKA is available to any physician due for an assessment in any of 17 specialties, and to physicians holding time-unlimited certificates issued before 1990. Additionally, physicians with a lapsed certification can use the LKA to regain certification after successfully completing a five-year LKA cycle. The deadline to enroll in the LKA has been extended to November 15.
Enrollment for all ABIM assessments is now open, available through your ABIM Physician Portal.
Report outlines how physicians met the ABIM MOC assessment requirement in 2025
ABIM has published a new report, “Certificates Meeting the Assessment Requirement,” that offers insight into how physicians participating in Maintenance of Certification (MOC) met their 2025 assessment requirement by assessment format and specialty.
The report also features a visual guide to how the MOC program works, including assessment options and the one-year grace period. As a reminder, no physician loses certification for a single failed assessment attempt.
Other key takeaways:
- About 95,000 certificates were due for an assessment in 2025, with more than half of those in Internal Medicine.
- Ninety-nine percent of certificates met their assessment requirement across all specialties.
- The vast majority—more than 84,000—met the assessment requirement through the Longitudinal Knowledge Assessment (LKA®)
ABIM has long published initial certification pass rates. With the introduction of the LKA and a summative pass/fail decision made at the conclusion of a five-year cycle, reporting certificates annually meeting their assessment requirement is a more accurate reflection of physician participation in the MOC program.
