How the ABOG Maternal-Fetal Medicine exam is built

How the ABOG Maternal-Fetal Medicine exam is built

Sitting the MFM boards? Start with ABOG's subspecialty bulletin, not a review book. This article walks through how the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG) builds its Maternal-Fetal Medicine certification, what each step looks like on the day, and which details you should read in ABOG's own documents before you plan your study time.

This article is about the exam and how to prepare for it. It teaches no clinical content. Facts below were checked in October 2026 against the sources listed at the end.

What are the two steps of MFM certification?

ABOG certifies Maternal-Fetal Medicine as a subspecialty in two steps. According to ABOG's 2024-25 MFM Program Director Presentation, the first step is the Qualifying Exam, which ABOG calls the written exam. The second is the Certifying Exam, which ABOG calls the oral exam. The same presentation lists "Develop Qualifying and Certifying Exams" among the responsibilities of ABOG's MFM Division, so both exams come from the same group of people.

The order matters for planning. You sit the written exam first, and you prepare for the oral exam only once the written step is behind you. Treat them as two separate projects with two sets of paperwork.

How is the Qualifying Exam delivered?

The written exam is a computer-based test taken at a testing center. ABOG's presentation lists "Reserve Seat at Pearson VUE" as one of the deadlines in the Qualifying Exam calendar, which tells you that you book your own seat with the testing vendor after ABOG accepts your application.

ABOG's Pearson VUE page describes how the day runs for ABOG exams in general:

  • You create a Pearson account to schedule.
  • You bring two forms of identification. The primary one must show your photograph and signature, and the secondary one must carry your signature.
  • Pearson VUE says you receive "an erasable note board and marker for the duration of the examination" and that no scratch paper is offered or permitted.
  • You are asked to arrive 30 minutes before your appointment.
  • Results are not given at the test center. ABOG provides them to you afterward.

Practice with a note board before test day if you usually work on paper. It is a small change, and rehearsing it takes it off your list of day-of surprises.

How is the Certifying Exam built?

The oral exam is a different kind of test. In the 2024-25 ABOG presentation, the Certifying Exam is held at an ABOG testing center, and the ABOG slides place that center in Dallas. A candidate is notified to submit a case list, a photo and a fee, and the presentation lists separate deadlines for each.

The presentation also describes a change. Instead of a 30-minute thesis defense during the exam, the 2025 exam used five structured cases. Two focus on evidence-based medicine and study design, and three focus on clinical care. Because this is a description of the 2025 exam, confirm in the current bulletin whether it still applies to your year.

A peer-reviewed description from AJOG Global Reports (November 2022) covers the long-standing ABOG oral format. It describes three one-hour sessions, each with two examiners, built on structured cases and the candidate's own case list, held in Dallas. It also records that ABOG gave the exam remotely during 2021 and 2022 and that the authors recommended a return to in-person testing in 2023. That is history, not a current rule, so use it to understand how the format developed and take the present format from ABOG.

What does ABOG expect before you can apply?

The ABOG presentation lists what a fellowship program director attests for a finishing fellow. These include 36 months of graduate medical education in the subspecialty fellowship program, completion of the program's requirements, and completion and defense of a thesis that meets ABOG standards. The same presentation says ABOG planned to move the thesis defense form to an eligibility criterion for the 2026 Qualifying Exam.

That is a plan reported in a 2025 slide deck. Eligibility rules are the kind of detail that changes between cycles, so read the current eligibility page on abog.org before you assume anything about your own timeline. If you are a fellow, ask your program director and program manager which of these items they handle through the ABOG portal, and which are yours.

Which details should you take from the bulletin?

Several details that shape your study plan could not be confirmed from pages open to the public, so they are left out here rather than guessed: the length of the Qualifying Exam, the number of questions, the exact question format, the content outline with its percentages, the current fees, and the current dates. ABOG publishes these in its bulletin for each year and in its exam blueprints. Those documents are the exam's authority. A review book, a forum post or an older class's memory is not.

Build a one-page sheet from the bulletin before you open any question bank:

  1. The exam year and the application window, with the late-fee date marked.
  2. The exam length and the number and format of questions.
  3. The content areas and the weight ABOG gives each.
  4. The date you must reserve your Pearson VUE seat by.
  5. The eligibility items your program must attest to.

Keep the sheet next to your calendar. When a date or a rule changes, you update one page.

How do you use this structure to prepare?

Once you have the sheet, let it set your plan.

  • Work backward from the seat deadline. The date you reserve your seat is the date your preparation becomes real. Count the weeks from there to the exam date, and give each content area on the blueprint a block of those weeks.
  • Match your practice to the format. If the exam is computer-based, take timed sets on a screen, and use an erasable board for any working, as the test center does.
  • Track what you miss by topic. After each practice set, sort the missed questions by the content area ABOG names for them, so your weak areas are visible against the blueprint instead of in your memory.
  • Keep the second step in view. The oral exam needs a case list and a defended thesis. Start the paperwork early so it does not compete with your written exam preparation.

Exam dates, fees and rules change. Confirm the current details with the official exam body before you act on them.

Sources

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