What does the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology certify?
The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology is the member board of the American Board of Medical Specialties responsible for certifying physicians in psychiatry, in neurology, and in neurology with special qualification in child neurology, along with a long list of subspecialties that includes child and adolescent psychiatry, addiction psychiatry, geriatric psychiatry, forensic psychiatry, consultation-liaison psychiatry, clinical neurophysiology, epilepsy, vascular neurology, neuromuscular medicine, brain injury medicine, neurocritical care, sleep medicine, pain medicine and hospice and palliative medicine. Eligibility for primary certification requires a medical degree, an unrestricted licence to practise medicine and completion of an accredited residency in the relevant specialty, with the programme director attesting to competence. Certification examinations are computer-based and delivered at commercial test centres. Subspecialty certification requires primary certification plus accredited fellowship training and a further examination. Diplomates then maintain certification continuously, and the board offers more than one pathway for the assessment component, including an article-based route completed over time as an alternative to a periodic examination.
- ABPN certifies psychiatry, neurology and child neurology as separate primary certificates plus many subspecialties.
- Eligibility requires a medical degree, an unrestricted licence and completion of an accredited residency.
- The assessment component of continuing certification offers an article-based pathway as an alternative to an examination.
- Subspecialty certificates require fellowship training and often determine which referrals a physician receives.
ABPN Board at a glance
| Cost | Certification, subspecialty and continuing certification fees are set by the board and revised periodically — consult its current fee schedule |
| Duration | An accredited residency, then a computer-based certifying examination; subspecialties add fellowship training and a further examination |
| Issued by | American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) |
| Format | Computer-based certifying examinations at commercial test centres, with continuing certification available through more than one assessment pathway |
| Expiry | Maintained continuously through the board's continuing certification requirements rather than by a single renewal event |
| Who needs it | Psychiatrists, neurologists, child neurologists and physicians practising the board's subspecialties |
| Primary certificates | Psychiatry, neurology, and neurology with special qualification in child neurology |
| Assessment choice | Diplomates may satisfy the assessment component through an article-based pathway or a periodic examination |
Sources: American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology · ABPN — continuing certification. Reviewed August 2026 by the GlobalCybers team.
Eligibility, Subspecialty Structure and Assessment Pathways
Two specialties, one board
Psychiatry and neurology are certified by the same board for historical reasons — both grew from the study of the nervous system — but they are separate certificates with separate residencies and separate examinations. Child neurology is certified as neurology with special qualification, following its own training pathway. All routes require a medical degree, an unrestricted licence and completion of an accredited residency, and there is no practice-experience alternative for physicians who trained elsewhere.
Continuing certification components
What board certification means in psychiatry and neurology
Psychiatrists and neurologists are separately counted physician occupations in federal wage data, and certification is not what creates either — residency and licensure do. Certification determines institutional access instead: hospital privileging, health plan participation, forensic and expert work, and academic appointment all commonly assume it, and subspecialty certificates increasingly define which referrals reach a physician.
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What ABPN Certification Covers, Across Two Specialties
Neurological Localisation
The discipline that defines clinical neurology: reasoning from the examination to where the lesion must be before deciding what it is likely to be.
Psychopharmacology
Mechanism, interaction, adverse effect monitoring, treatment resistance and the sequencing decisions that dominate psychiatric practice.
Epilepsy & Neurophysiology
Seizure classification, electroencephalography interpretation, status epilepticus management and the subspecialty pathways that build on them.
Psychotherapy
Indications and evidence for the major modalities, the therapeutic frame, and the integration of psychotherapy with pharmacological treatment.
Law & Ethics
Capacity assessment, civil commitment, confidentiality limits, duty to protect and forensic evaluation — examined in both specialties, and the basis of a subspecialty in one.
Acute Presentations
Acute stroke pathways, status epilepticus, delirium, acute agitation and suicide risk assessment — the emergencies where both specialties are called and time governs outcome.
How do you become board certified in psychiatry or neurology, step by step?
Complete the accredited residency for the specialty you want
Psychiatry, neurology and child neurology follow distinct accredited training pathways, and the certificate follows the training rather than the practice. Physicians who intend to practise at the boundary of both specialties still choose one primary certificate and may add a subspecialty later.
Hold and keep an unrestricted licence
An unrestricted medical licence is required for certification and remains a continuing requirement thereafter. Because professional standing is an ongoing component, licence action taken later can affect certification status as well as practice.
Sit the certifying examination
The examination is computer-based and covers the specialty broadly. Candidates commonly under-prepare the areas their residency emphasised least — community and forensic content in psychiatry, or general neurology topics for trainees from heavily subspecialised programmes.
Choose a continuing certification pathway and, if applicable, subspecialise
Diplomates maintain certification through professional standing, lifelong learning, an assessment component and practice improvement. The assessment component offers a choice between an article-based pathway completed over time and a periodic examination — decide early, because the article-based route requires steady engagement rather than a burst of preparation.
Certification Is Not a Licence — But Try Practising Without It
State medical licensure permits practice; board certification does not. In psychiatry and neurology, however, certification is a practical requirement for hospital privileging, for health plan network participation, and particularly for forensic and expert witness work, where opposing counsel will make certification status an issue. Subspecialty certificates additionally function as a referral filter, so the credential shapes the practice a physician actually ends up with.
ABPN Board, Frequently Asked Questions
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