ABO initial certification examination: official announcement of criteria.

In March 2005, when the American Board of Orthodontics (ABO) announced the change in the board-certification process, the specific criteria for the new Initial Certification Examination intended for recent graduates of orthodontic programs were not delineated. The board’s ultimate goals were to engage as many young orthodontists as possible in the certification process and to subsequently maintain and improve the quality of their expertise via periodic recertifications. The ABO directors believed that the results of the then-ongoing Orthodontic Resident Clinical Outcomes Study (the pilot study), combined with the opinions of current and previous ABO directors, ABO examiners, and orthodontic educators, should play significant roles in the formulation of a fair and equitable clinical examination by using cases treated during the resident’s graduate program. Consequently, the ABO obtained educators’ opinions in a survey and hosted an Educators’ Symposium in St Louis to seek input from the nation’s orthodontic teaching professionals. Former ABO directors and examiners were asked to suggest modifications of the Initial Certification Examination process after the 2006 Clinical Examination. The pilot study (PS) was completed in February 2006. Input from these diverse sources completed the information acquired by the board for final determination of the criteria for the Initial Certification Examination. This article will delineate the information that the ABO used to make