Easing the Path to Board Certification With Exam Fee Support

As physicians complete residency training and prepare for their first board certification exam, many are also navigating major life transitions and financial pressures, including relocation, starting families, repaying educational debt and supporting loved ones. ABIM’s Needs-Based Certification Exam Fee Assistance Pilot Program aims to ease some of those pressures, helping make certification more accessible for eligible candidates.

Candidates planning to take the 2027 Internal Medicine Certification Exam can apply for a 50% fee credit through the program—which confers $715 in savings—from September 1 through October 16, 2026. Launched in 2025, the five-year pilot program is open to eligible first-time candidates for the exam (including U.S. medical graduates, international medical graduates and osteopathic graduates), regardless of medical training background.

Apply for the Needs-Based Certification Exam Fee Assistance Pilot Program

“ABIM recognizes the ongoing financial demands that many early career physicians face as they complete training and begin their careers,” said Erica N. Johnson, MD, FACP, FIDSA, Senior Vice President for Academic and Medical Affairs. “When we launched this pilot last year, we received a tremendous response from candidates, program directors and the broader graduate medical education community about how meaningful and helpful it was to physicians at this stage in their careers. That feedback is why we plan to continue the pilot and support more physicians on their path to ABIM certification and ultimately delivering care for patients.”

More than 850 physicians from over 250 residency programs received a 50% fee credit on their 2026 certification exam fee. The program represents an investment of more than $600,000 in early career physicians. Among the stories they shared about why this support matters at this time in their careers:

• International medical graduates noted the financial burdens of relocating, including moving costs, visa renewals and rent.  
• Residents who became parents while training shared the pressures they were feeling in not only completing their program but also managing the added stress of paying for childcare, food and many other costs associated with having small children.
• Physicians shared the challenges of being in single-income households supporting larger families, including older relatives. They also conveyed that the financial stress of completing residency and looking for a job at a new institution is not talked about often enough.

Candidates who receive a fee credit must still register separately for the 2027 Internal Medicine Certification Exam during the registration period, which opens on December 1, 2026, and must meet all initial certification requirements. Decisions about fee credit recipients will be communicated by mid-November. The 50% fee credit will automatically be applied when candidates register and pay for the exam.

Learn more about eligibility requirements and program details. If you have additional questions, please contact AcademicAffairs@ABIM.org.