The APPLIED Exam

Establishing your mastery of clinical practice management and patient care

The APPLIED Exam includes the traditional Standardized Oral Examination (SOE) and the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) component.

Physicians take this exam after passing the ADVANCED Exam.

Please review our FAQs for more information regarding our COVID vaccination policy for the APPLIED Exam.

Safety Protocols

Exam FAQs

The Traditional Standardized Oral Examination (SOE)

The SOE is based on guided questions that include a patient’s brief clinical history and emphasize the scientific rationale underlying clinical management decisions. You’ll participate in two 35-minute exam sessions that assess your judgment, adaptability to unexpected clinical changes, organization and presentation of information.

Note: If you completed residency training June 30 – Sept. 30, 2016, you would only take the SOE component.

The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE)

The OSCEs assess communication and professionalism, and technical skills related to patient care. You’ll participate in seven eight-minute stations with four-minute breaks in between to review the next scenario. The sessions will be recorded for grading purposes.

Note: If you completed residency training on or after Oct. 1, 2016, you will take both the SOE and the OSCE components.

Registering for the APPLIED Exam

You can register for the APPLIED Exam in your ABA GO portal as soon as you pass the ADVANCED Exam. Exam weeks are filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Two months prior to the exam week, we’ll email you your specific exam date and time.

If you have not been assigned an exam date, time and location, you may request to change your APPLIED Exam week within the same calendar year, subject to availability. However, we cannot guarantee that a change will be made.

Requesting an alternate exam week

To request a change within the same calendar year, email us at appliedexam@theaba.org to gain access to the “Exam Change” request form on your portal. You will then be able to submit: