Please read the Rules and Procedures. The Application and Case List for the 2027 ABOS Part II Examination must be finalized, and the Application Fee must be submitted online by 4 pm ET on August 15, 2026. There is a late deadline of 4 pm ET on August 31, 2026, with an additional $500 late fee. Upon completion of the online Application, submit your Application online and pay the non-refundable, non-transferable Application Fee online with a credit card. After payment successfully goes through, you will be emailed a receipt. You will also receive an email that your Application has been received.
A candidate must have started practice and been granted hospital admitting and surgical privileges on or before November 1 in order to qualify for the ABOS Part II Oral Examination two calendar years later. Practice is defined as being actively engaged (seeing patients and operating) in operative orthopaedic surgery.
Complete information must be provided for all items. If an item doesn’t apply to you, leave it blank. To access the Application, log in to your ABOS Dashboard, click on the Part II tab in the orange box on the left, then click on Application.
Candidates for the 2027 ABOS Part II Oral Examination must collect and submit all consecutive surgical cases that they perform as primary surgeon from January 1, 2026, through June 30, 2026. Your case list must be finalized before you can submit your application. You must submit all six months of surgical cases. If you did not perform at least 35 surgical cases during the six-month collection period, you are not eligible for the 2027 ABOS Part II Examination.
If your application and required documents are complete when they are submitted online, you will be notified by the ABOS via email AFTER your Application and Case Lists have been processed (usually 2-3 weeks). If the Application is not complete, you will receive an email asking for you to either enter missing information or to change incorrect information. Provided we have a completed application, in April 2027 you will be notified that your application has been approved/not approved by the Credentials Committee and what your next steps are.
It is your responsibility to notify the ABOS office of any change to your address, email address, phone number, practice association, status of hospital privileges, and/or hospital affiliation (including new affiliations you may acquire) that occurs after you have submitted your application.
Prior to starting the Application, the ABOS recommends having the following items available to save time:
- PDF of your state/federal photo ID
- Medical License(s)—State/province, number, and original date obtained for all licenses held since residency
- Current hospital appointments:
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- Information for all hospitals/surgery centers where you are on the staff.
- Current (within this calendar year) verification of privileges letter from the Medical Staff Office documenting your original appointment date, type of appointment, and a statement of good standing. This documentation must be uploaded in .pdf format into this application.
- This letter cannot be an original appointment or reappointment letter.
- Name and email address for the Chief of Staff, Chief of Surgery, Chief of Orthopaedics, Chief of Anesthesiology, Chief of Emergency Department, and Head of Orthopaedic Nursing. Email addresses are required to enable the ABOS to send peer review evaluations. Please do not list their administrator’s email address.
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4. Previous hospital appointments (if applicable). You need to provide a current letter (dated within this calendar year) from each previous hospital/surgery center medical staff office indicating your inclusive dates with this facility and that you left in good standing. Do not include letters from your residency or fellowship.
5. Information on all office practice locations beginning with most current practice location first.
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- Start dates of practice at each location.
- Name and email address of partners for each practice location (12 maximum).
- Do not list yourself if you are in solo practice.
- If your practice partners are retired, or you do not have an email address, etc. do not list them. Each partner must have an email address or you will not be able to finalize and submit the application.
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6. Names of five ABOS Diplomates in your geographical practice area, not previously listed on this Application who are familiar with your work, and are not in your practice. These can be Diplomates whom you have referred patients to and/or have consulted with on any cases. They will be contacted for Peer Review through the email addresses you provide in your Application.
