IP Board Eligibility Criteria

IP BOARD ELIGIBILITY - navigate to:
Track: Accredited AABIP/AIPPD IP Fellowship
Track: Recertification Requirements 
Track: Eligibility for Clinical Practice Pathway
Go To: Application Portal
Go To: IP BOARD Exam Attempts and Fees 

Track: Accredited IP Fellowship Training

  1. Applicants applying for the Initial IP Board Certification must have successfully completed an IP fellowship training from an “accredited” IP fellowship program.
  2. Applicants who graduated from a “non-accredited” IP fellowship program are still eligible to apply for the Initial IP Board Certification if:
    1. The IP fellowship program was accredited at the time of their fellowship match day and the date of graduation is no later than 6/30/2025
    2. The IP fellowship program gained accreditation after the applicant has started their fellowship training and before their graduation
  3. Applicants who graduated from IP fellowship programs on “probation” at the time of their training are still eligible to apply for the Initial IP Board Certification.
  4. Applicants are expected to take the Initial IP Board Certification exam within 7 years of completing their IP fellowship training.
  5. Application must be accompanied by an attestation letter with the IP Fellowship Program Director’s endorsement for eligibility and a copy of IP fellowship training certificate.
  6. Procedure logs are NOT required.
NOTES:
  • IP fellowship accreditation committee is a joint responsibility of the AABIP and AIPPD.
  • The recognized IP Fellowship “Accreditation” are: ACGME accreditation and AABIP-AIPPD accreditation.
  • No credit will be granted toward certification for training that is not recognized by the AABIP.
  • The AABIP reserves the right to audit any applications. The AABIP expressly reserves the right to amend the eligibility criteria
  • The AABIP specifically reserves the right to revoke or suspend any certificate obtained by fraud, any material misrepresentation in the application, for failure to maintain an active and unrestricted license to practice medicine, etc.
Date of amended version: 04/03/2025
Track: Recertification Requirements 

Those initially certified in 2014 and 2015 are eligible to apply for recertification for the 2023 testing window (view list of IP Certified Physicians)

1.  Procedural Requirement for AABIP Board Recertification:
Applicants must submit a Form Attesting Interventional Pulmonology Practice (no procedure log required), verifying the performance as the primary operator, co-operator, or supervisor of 100 acceptable interventional pulmonary procedures (see below table) as a combination of airway and pleural procedures during the two-year documentation period (that is two years prior to the date of the Attestation). Specifically:
  • For AIRWAY procedures dominant practice, at least 30 acceptable PLEURAL procedures must have been performed in the 2 years prior to the attestation date.
  • For PLEURAL procedures dominant practice, at least 30 acceptable AIRWAY procedures must have been performed in the 2 years prior to the attestation date.

If applicants are unable to meet the above requirements, they must complete the Procedural Log which would allow them attest to 25 consecutive procedures, including outcomes, completed as the primary operator as a pathway to completing MOC procedural attestation requirement.

Acceptable Procedures

Unacceptable Procedures *

Rigid bronchoscopy

Bronchoscopic Navigation

Endobronchial stenting

Image-guided or non-guided chest tube placement

Bronchoscopy with balloon dilatation

Endobronchial Ultrasound

Endobronchial ablative techniques (Laser, Electrocautery, Argon Plasma Coagulation, Cryotherapy, Cryo-recanalization, Photodynamic Therapy, or Brachytherapy)

Bronchoscopic biopsies including cryo-biopsies

Endobronchial valve placement

Tunneled pleural catheter placement

Percutaneous tracheotomy

Thoracoscopy

 
 *considered unacceptable procedures because they are commonly performed by non-interventional pulmonologists or are not mandatory according to the current Interventional Pulmonology Fellowship Accreditation Standards (Mullon et al. CHEST 2017; 151(5):1114-1121)
Posted: 4/11/2023
Track: Eligibility for Clinical Practice Pathway

This pathway will be re-opened for only 2 years (2023 and 2024)

As of 12/31/2024, the Clinical Practice Pathway is closed.

  • Only individuals with an MD/DO or equivalent degree are eligible for the Interventional Pulmonology Board Certification examinations.
  • Applicants should have completed training in Pulmonary Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, or Thoracic Surgery from an accredited program in the United States or Canada and should have completed fellowship by the end of 2016. This includes Interventional Pulmonology Fellowship graduates who completed training by the end of 2016 who chose not to take the Interventional Pulmonology Board Examination.
  • Applicants must hold a current, active, license to practice medicine in at least one jurisdiction in the United States, its territories, or Canada.
  • Licenses that have been revoked, suspended, surrendered, or not renewed in order to terminate or settle disciplinary proceedings do not qualify as meeting the requirements for medical licensure, and all such licenses must be reported for review and consideration.
  • All Applicants must have an attestation signed by themselves AND another individual that can attest to their clinical competence, procedural competence, professionalism, moral and ethical practices.  The verifying individual needs to be an MD/DO or equivalent, but does not have to be practicing interventional pulmonology (it could be a colleague, mentor, section chief, division chief, or department chair).  The attestation should also confirm that a substantial component (33% or more) of the applicant’s professional activity both now and prior to 2016, whether clinical, educational, research, or administrative, takes place within the field of IP. For the attestation of IP practice prior to 2016, a separate letter of attestation from a prior verifying individual is required if the applicant’s practice setting has changed since 2016.
  • A procedure log must be submitted by all clinical practice pathway applicants.  The minimum procedure requirements are listed in Table 1. These procedures must have occurred within the two years prior to the date of the Attestation.
  • Applicants must submit descriptions, including pictures if available, of at least 10 therapeutic rigid or flexible bronchoscopy cases to relieve central airway obstruction (e.g., stent, cryotherapy, cryocanalization, balloon dilatation, laser, argon plasma coagulation, electrocautery, photodynamic therapy, or brachytherapy)  from the past 2 years prior to the date of the attestation.
  • Applicants will be required to meet procedural requirements in at least 2 of the 3 core procedure groups (Table 1): Core procedure groups are: Complex large airway disease; Advanced diagnostic bronchoscopy; and Pleural disease management). 

Posted: 10/22/2023

 
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