AOBS Surgery

The AOBS site describes a certification process with required exams and eligibility criteria, and lists both a Qualifying Examination and an Oral Examination. The Spring Qualifying Examination is remote proctored, while the Oral Examination is held in person. Review the board's certification process pages for the exact sequence and eligibility rules for your specialty.

The AOBS important-dates listing shows the Spring Qualifying Examination on May 1-3, 2027, delivered as a remote proctored exam. Plan your study timeline backward from that window, and confirm application and scheduling details through the board's certification portal, since registration mechanics are handled there rather than published as a single date.

The Oral Examination is listed for Oct. 20, 2027, in person in Orlando, Florida, held in conjunction with the ACOS Annual Clinical Assembly. Registration opens April 20, 2027. Because it is a single-day, in-person event tied to a larger meeting, arrange travel and registration early rather than assuming a later sitting will be available.

Each subspecialty runs its own registration window with a final deadline. The Neurocritical Care Subspecialty Exam (Dec. 4-6, 2026) has registration open June 4 - Nov. 4, 2026, final deadline. The Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery Examination (April 12-17, 2027) has registration open Oct. 12, 2026 - March 12, 2027, final deadline. Missing the final deadline means waiting for the next cycle.

Component 3 is the longitudinal assessment within Osteopathic Continuous Certification. For 2027, registration opens Nov. 17, 2026, and diplomates have access to the assessment Jan. 26 - Nov. 17, 2027. Diplomates needing to retake the 2026 assessment or in remediation have a limited window of Dec. 2, 2026 - June 30, 2027.

The board does not publish pass rates or difficulty ratings, so treat any specific figure you hear as unverified. The most common practical failure modes are logistical rather than intellectual: missing a final registration deadline, underestimating remote proctoring setup for the qualifying exam, and preparing only in a single narrow subspecialty lane when the exam spans your full scope of practice.

Start with your declared specialty's core content, then layer in the adjacent areas the board certifies, since the exam blueprint spans multiple surgical domains. Build timed practice around case-based decision-making rather than pure recall. Finish with a logistics pass: verify your registration window, test your remote proctoring equipment, and rehearse oral-style case presentations if you are sitting the in-person examination.

No. This is an independent study resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the American Osteopathic Board of Surgery or the American Osteopathic Association. Always confirm dates, fees, eligibility, and policies directly with the board, since official schedules and requirements can change between publication and your exam date.