ABPS Surgery of the Hand

It is The American Board of Plastic Surgery's hand surgery certifying examination, delivered in a multiple-choice format. Candidates are plastic surgeons pursuing initial hand surgery certification or diplomates completing the hand surgery recertification pathway. Eligibility, application steps, and requirements are published by the Board itself on its HSE initial certification and recertification pages, so read those before assuming you qualify.

The Board describes the HSE as a multiple-choice examination. The source page consulted does not state an item count, a time limit, or a scoring rule, so treat any specific number you hear from colleagues as unverified. Confirm the current format, length, and any section structure through the Board's Hand Surgery Exam Content and quick reference pages for candidates.

Difficulty comes from breadth, not trickery. The content spans pediatric and congenital problems, trauma, nerve and microsurgery, tendons, arthritis and arthroplasty, tumors, infection, vascular disease and replantation, and Dupuytren disease with soft-tissue coverage. Candidates who study only their daily practice patterns tend to feel unprepared in the areas they rarely treat, such as congenital anomalies and neoplasms.

Check the Board's site directly. At the time this page was prepared, the Board home page listed a Hand Surgery Examination date of August 4, 2026, which had already passed, alongside future written and oral examination dates. A listed date is not a guarantee of the next administration, so verify the current schedule and deadlines before booking travel or study leave.

The source page consulted does not publish retake limits, waiting periods, or reapplication requirements for the HSE. The Board does maintain a reapplication information page and separate HSE recertification process and requirements pages. Obtain the retake policy in writing from the Board before you rely on any assumption about how soon you may sit again.

Start with the highest-yield, highest-weight areas - trauma, nerve and tendon injury, and Dupuytren disease with soft-tissue coverage - because they recur across case-based questions. Then deliberately cover the lower-volume topics you avoid, especially congenital and pediatric conditions, neoplasms, and infection. Finish with timed mixed-topic practice so you practice switching between domains rather than rehearsing one subject at a time.

Three recur: reading one textbook cover to cover while neglecting congenital, neoplastic, and infectious topics; memorizing operative steps without the decision-making that multiple-choice stems test, such as when to image, when to observe, and when to reoperate; and never practicing under time pressure. A fourth is treating the examination as a formality and starting serious preparation too late to cover the full content outline.

The Board does not publish a recommended preparation period, so set your own timeline from the confirmed examination date and your practice workload. A practical approach is a written study plan that reaches every content domain at least once, with the final stretch reserved for timed practice and review of missed questions. Register early enough that application requirements never compress your study time.

No. This is an independent study resource written for candidates; it is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by The American Board of Plastic Surgery. All authoritative details - eligibility, application windows, fees, examination dates, scoring, and recertification rules - come from the Board. Use this material for learning and question practice, and use the Board's site for anything that determines whether you may sit.