ABOS Surgery of the Hand
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ExploreAbout this exam
The American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS) offers a subspecialty certification in Surgery of the Hand, listed on the ABOS website alongside its other subspecialty area, Orthopaedic Sports Medicine. It is intended for orthopaedic surgeons who have completed the applicable training and certification prerequisites and who wish to document subspecialty knowledge in hand and upper-extremity surgery. The ABOS site organizes its Surgery of the Hand material into a dedicated section containing rules and procedures, application instructions, examination registration, fees, a calendar, case list instructions, a sample scribe sheet, videos, an FAQ, an exam tutorial, examination statistics, CPT codes, accommodations information, and examination timing information. This independent study resource is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by ABOS, and it is not an official ABOS product. The question sets here are original and are organized to mirror the broad clinical domains tested in hand surgery: trauma, pediatric and congenital conditions, arthritis and Dupuytren disease, nerve compression and microsurgery, and tumors, infection, and miscellaneous conditions. Preparation should combine a structured review of those domains with timed practice under exam-style conditions, then targeted remediation of weak areas. Candidates should confirm all eligibility, scheduling, fee, and scoring details directly with ABOS, because those specifics live on the official pages and can change between cycles. No numeric pass score, item count, or time limit is asserted here.
What you'll study
About ABOS Surgery of the Hand preparation
What exactly is the ABOS Surgery of the Hand credential?
It is a subspecialty certification offered by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery for surgeons who want to demonstrate added knowledge in hand and upper-extremity surgery. ABOS maintains a dedicated section for it on its website covering rules, application instructions, registration, fees, the calendar, case list instructions, exam tutorial, and statistics. Confirm current requirements on the official pages.
What question format should I expect?
The exam is described in this profile as multiple choice. ABOS publishes an exam tutorial, examination timing information, and examination statistics for Surgery of the Hand, which are the authoritative places to learn how the exam behaves on test day. Practice with single-best-answer, clinically stemmed questions rather than simple recall items.
How difficult is the exam, and what score do I need to pass?
This resource does not state a passing score or a difficulty rating, because those figures are not established in the source material and change between cycles. ABOS publishes examination statistics for Surgery of the Hand; consult that page for the current reported data. Treat any third-party claim of a specific pass mark as unverified until you confirm it officially.
What happens if I do not pass - is there a retake policy?
Retake eligibility, waiting periods, and any limits on attempts are governed by ABOS rules and procedures for Surgery of the Hand. That document, not a study guide, is the controlling source. Review the rules and procedures page and the calendar before you plan a repeat attempt, and budget for fees that may apply again.
Where do I find fees, deadlines, and registration steps?
ABOS maintains separate pages for examination registration, fees, and the calendar within its Surgery of the Hand section. Those pages are the only reliable place for current amounts and dates, and they can change annually. Confirm your window early, since application and registration deadlines often fall months before the test date.
What study order works best across the five domains?
Start with the domain you find least familiar rather than the one you enjoy, so the weakest area gets the most repetitions. Rotate through trauma, pediatric and congenital conditions, arthritis and Dupuytren disease, nerve compression and microsurgery, and tumors and infection in short cycles, then shift to full-length mixed timed sets in the final weeks to build stamina and decision speed.
What are the most common failure modes?
Three recur: over-reading one favorite topic while neglecting pediatric and tumor material, answering from pattern recognition instead of reading the whole stem, and never practicing under time pressure. A fourth is skipping the exam tutorial and timing information, so candidates meet an unfamiliar interface cold. Track accuracy by domain after every block to catch drift early.
How should I use practice questions without wasting them?
Answer before reading the explanation, then write one line on why each wrong option fails. Revisit missed items after a delay of several days rather than immediately, which tests retention instead of short-term recall. Reserve a portion of unseen questions for the final two weeks so your timed simulation remains a genuine test of performance.
Does the application involve a case list?
ABOS lists case list instructions and a sample scribe sheet among the Surgery of the Hand application materials, so plan for that documentation and read the instructions carefully before submitting. The exact content and format requirements are defined only by those official documents. Collect your operative records as you go rather than reconstructing them at the deadline.