ABPath Hematopathology

It is a one-day, computer-based exam with combined Written/Practical sections and Virtual Microscopy sections. All 265 items are multiple-choice, one-best-answer. The Written/Practical section has 220 questions in 4 hours 25 minutes; Virtual Microscopy has 45 questions in 2 hours 39 minutes. There are no glass slides.

The published subject areas are methodology; hematopoiesis; erythrocyte, leukocyte, lymphoid, platelet, and hemostatic/thrombotic disorders; blood, bone marrow, and related disorders; and patient-care decision making and consultation. The list is explicitly not exhaustive. Practical material includes blood and marrow smears, imprints, body fluids, and tissue sections.

You need familiarity with both the 2022 International Consensus Classification and the 5th Edition of the WHO Classification. Do not study only one system. Build comparison tables for myeloid, lymphoid, and histiocytic entities, and note where names, diagnostic criteria, and reporting categories differ, because exam items may use either framework.

No. ABPath states there are no glass slides, only virtual microscopy. Prepare by reviewing whole-slide images and multi-field cases on a screen, not just glass or static single images. Practice integrating smear, imprint, body fluid, and tissue morphology with the laboratory and clinical data needed to reach one best answer.

Use a two-pass plan. First cover the nine published content areas and both classifications; then shift to timed mixed sets that alternate Written/Practical and virtual microscopy. Reserve the final phase for weak areas and pacing. The sections are separately timed, so rehearse 220-item and 45-item blocks rather than one long untimed session.

The ABPath pages provided here do not state the passing score, retake policy, fee, or certification validity period. Do not rely on secondhand figures. Confirm current rules in the ABPath Booklet of Information and the PATHway application system before you apply or plan a retake.

The source does not assign a difficulty rating or publish a pass rate. Objectively, it is a one-day subspecialty exam with 265 one-best-answer items covering nine content areas and two classification systems. Difficulty is therefore better judged by your own timed practice accuracy across both sections than by anecdote.

A common avoidable error is preparing from only one classification system, despite the explicit requirement to know both. Another is practicing almost exclusively on glass slides when the exam is virtual microscopy only. A third is untimed reading: with 220 items in 4 hours 25 minutes, pacing must be rehearsed.