Transplant Hepatology Certification FAQs
ABIM is currently conducting a blueprint review for Transplant Hepatology. As part of this effort, ABIM is also working to develop a more unified assessment that addresses the needs of both adult and pediatric transplant hepatologists.
How is the assessment changing for Transplant Hepatology?
ABIM is working to create a more integrated assessment that balances the needs of pediatric and adult transplant hepatologists. The assessment will not have questions that apply solely to pediatric transplant hepatology and will continue to include scenarios that apply to both adult and pediatric transplant hepatologists.
As part of the process, an exam blueprint review of Transplant Hepatology is currently underway. The process includes seeking feedback from practicing pediatric and adult transplant hepatologists about what they see most frequently in practice and what they believe are the most important things for transplant hepatologists to know.
The results of the surveys and discussions with societies, medical program directors and members of the ABIM Specialty Board and Approval Committee will help inform the frequency of topics and their level of importance in an assessment.
Why is ABIM creating a unified exam?
ABIM uses psychometric principles to ensure that all assessments are fair, valid, and reliable. To achieve this, a large enough sample size is needed to accurately calibrate the assessment and evaluate item performance. A minimum number of test-takers is necessary to allow ABIM to set passing standards and maintain exam comparability across test forms and years. As a highly specialized field, there are not currently enough pediatric transplant hepatologists taking the assessment to accurately complete this process with a distinct pediatric component.
To ensure a fair and valid examination for all physicians, a unified exam covering the topics most commonly seen in the discipline will be created.
When will this change take place?
In January 2026, the new blueprint will be updated and in the fall of 2026, the exam will reflect the changes in the new blueprint.
What is an exam blueprint review and how can I participate?
Periodically, ABIM reviews exam content topics to ensure the exam accurately represents what is commonly seen in medical practice and to adapt content in areas that have changed over time. The review process includes soliciting feedback from practicing physicians through a survey asking what they see most frequently in practice and what they consider important topics for specialists to know.
The results are analyzed and used to create the percentage of questions on each topic that appear on an exam.
If you are eligible to participate in the survey, you will receive an email from ABIM. Eligible physicians have at least two years of experience in the field, must spend at least 50% of professional time performing clinical activities, and cannot be a trainee in a residency or fellowship program.
What will change in this more unified assessment for Transplant Hepatology?
When the exam blueprint review is complete, you may see a change in the topic areas that are covered in the assessment or a difference in the percentage of questions on a topic included in the assessment.
In addition, there will no longer be questions that focus on content only seen in pediatric cases. Instead, the items will apply to the work done by both pediatric and adult transplant hepatologists.
When the transition is complete, the transplant hepatology assessment options in your Physician Portal will change from being called “Pediatric Transplant Hepatology” to simply "Transplant Hepatology". Please note that your current certification will not change.
Does this change impact the assessments for both initial certification and Maintenance of Certification (MOC)?
Yes, any changes to the exam blueprint will impact both the initial certification and MOC assessments.
I am a pediatrician, will I have to answer questions that only internists would see in their daily practice?
You may see some questions that apply to those working with adults, but the topics should be applicable to all transplant hepatologists regardless of the age of their patient.
If I am a pediatrician, will this new assessment make it more difficult for me to receive a passing score?
Traditionally, the majority of the transplant hepatology assessment focused on adult patients. While you may not see questions that focus solely on pediatric transplant hepatology in the revised assessment, the assessment will include topics that apply to transplant hepatology as a whole. What will be removed are items specific only to pediatric patients.
As part of the exam blueprint review process, a survey is being sent to eligible practicing pediatric hepatologists and feedback has been provided by the American Board of Pediatrics. The new exam blueprint will take into consideration all feedback and the assessment will reflect the needs of the transplant hepatology community as a whole.
What does this mean for internists taking the assessments?
As ABIM completes the exam blueprint review process, you may see a change in the topics covered or the percentage of questions covered on the assessment.
Do I now have to study anything different to certify and maintain certification in Transplant Hepatology?
The exam blueprint, which will be published in January 2026, will provide a detailed breakdown of what the assessment will focus on.