Are You Ready for the ABEM Qualifying Exam?

The ABEM Qualifying Exam is fast approaching and will be administered November 3-12, 2025. This comprehensive initial board certification exam contains 305 single-best-answer multiple-choice questions and covers the full scope of the 2022 EM Model. The Qualifying Exam is administered at Pearson VUE centers across the United States each year.

The exam blueprint is outlined by ABEM as:

• 1.0 Signs, Symptoms and Presentations: 10%
• 2.0 Abdominal and Gastrointestinal Disorders: 7%
• 3.0 Cardiovascular Disorders: 10%
• 4.0 Cutaneous Disorders: 3%
• 5.0 Endocrine, Metabolic, and Nutritional Disorders: 5%
• 6.0 Environmental Disorders: 2%
• 7.0 Head, Ear, Eye, Nose, and Throat Disorders: 4%
• 8.0 Hematologic Disorders: 3%
• 9.0 Immune System Disorders: 2%
• 10.0 Systemic Infectious Disorders: 7%
• 11.0 Musculoskeletal Disorders (Nontraumatic): 3%
• 12.0 Nervous System Disorders: 6%
• 13.0 Obstetrics and Gynecology: 3%
• 14.0 Psychobehavioral Disorders: 2%
• 15.0 Renal and Urogenital Disorders: 3%
• 16.0 Thoracic-Respiratory Disorders: 7%
• 17.0 Toxicologic Disorders: 4%
• 18.0 Traumatic Disorders: 9%
• 19.0 Procedures and Skills: 8%
• 20.0 Other Components: 2%

The exam also contains:

• Critical Acuity: 30%
• Emergent Acuity: 40%
• Lower Acuity: 21%
• No Acuity: 9%
• Pediatrics: 8%
• Geriatrics: 6%

In addition, ABEM has updated the style and scope of its board questions, including those on the Qualifying Exam. PEER mirrors the latest writing standards, which is why you’ll find that PEER questions are the closest to the real ABEM board exams.

ACEP currently offers multiple ways to prepare for the Qualifying Exam:

• EM residents with access to PEERprep for Programs can self-launch the PEERprep Mock EM Qualifying Exam With Review from the My Institution tab within the ACEP Online Learning Center if their program director has requested it be made available for self-study;
• Graduating residents can purchase PEERprep for Physicians to take advantage of the full 3,300+ board-quality questions in the bank as well as the Simulated Qualifying Exam that is integrated into the product; or
• New attendings can purchase the PEERprep Mock EM Qualifying Exam With Review as a stand-alone exam from the ACEP Online Learning Center and complete it as a self-test and study module, if they no longer have access to PEERprep for Programs through their residency program or want a simple way to cram in the weeks before the exam.

In addition, program directors who subscribe their residency programs to PEERprep for Programs can assign the PEERprep Mock EM Qualifying Exam to those residents who need to prepare. Just choose the exam from the drop-down menu and add all preselected questions to an assignment. Residents’ performance can then be tracked via the new analytics dashboard.

If your program does not have access to PEERprep for Programs, contact us today to get started with a 30-day free trial.

Good luck on the Qualifying Exam!