RECERTIFICATION

ABLES requires recertification every five years. Though we try to send out reminders to people about their renewal date, it is YOUR responsibility to know when your certification expires, and it is your responsibility to recertify in a timely manner.

Qualification for Recertification

You must be current with dues and you must currently be certified by ABLES for recertification
You must meet the following case requirements over the past 5 years:
75 cases for Lower Extremity Medicine or for Lower Extremity Medicine and Surgery certification
105 cases for Lower Extremity Medicine and Comprehensive Surgery, including Rearfoot and Reconstructive Surgery certification, with at least one-third of the cases being specific to rearfoot/ankle treatment.
You must have a current License to practice medicine/podiatry in your state, a current national DEA license, a current State Pharmacy License (if required by your state)
You must NOT have any criminal indictment for any felony, under any current orders of discipline, restriction, suspension, supervision, or probation, or undergoing rehabilitation as an “impaired physician” because of habituation. You must not be behind in child support or alimony.
A check payable to ABLES for the recertification fee of $500

Recertification Package

To recertify, you will need to submit a recertification package consisting of:

Recertification Application: Please complete your recertification application and sign and date with original signature.
Download ABLES Recertification Form
Application Fee: A check payable to ABLES for your recertification fee (see Fees section.) Please note that you must be a Diplomate in good standing with your annual dues payments up to date to apply for recertification. If your certification has lapsed, you may be required to start the certification process from the beginning.
A copy of your current state license(s) to practice medicine or Podiatry
A copy of your current DEA license to prescribe medication and State Pharmacy License, if required by your state
Recertification Case Submission Form. ABLE-Recertfication Case Sumbission Form
Supporting Documentation: Pre-and Post-operative SOAP notes, Pre- and Post-operative Radiographs and other imaging studies (On a Flash Drive or CD-photo copies not accepted), Pre-operative testing and labs (EKG, Chest x-ray, etc), Operative reports, Pathology Reports, and any other necessary supporting documentation which is relevant to each case.

Please mail your recertification package to:

ABLES
American Board of Lower Extremity Surgery
6210 N. Jones Blvd
PO Box 754000
Las Vegas, NV 89136

DO NOT send any documents that require payments or signatures-they will be returned

Recertification Timeline

Your recertification package should be received at ABLES at least 60 days before your current certificate expires. For reasonable cause, you may be granted one extension only of up to 90 days at the sole discretion of the Board of Directors or Executive Director.

If we receive your recertification application after your certification has expired, it will be deemed invalid. If your certification has lapsed, you may petition for reinstatement, but you may be asked to re-certify from the beginning. Please call us at for more information about reinstatement, if necessary.

Recertification Case Submission and Documentation

You must send in case logs consisting of a variety of surgical cases you have performed over the past 5 years. Your case logs MUST REFLECT:

75 cases for Lower Extremity Medicine or for Lower Extremity Medicine and Surgery certification
105 cases for Lower Extremity Medicine and Comprehensive Surgery, including Rearfoot and Reconstructive Surgery certification, with at least one-third of the cases being specific to rearfoot/ankle treatment.

As part of the recertification process, we will ask you to use our Recertification Case Submission Form to submit cases representative of your work over the five years since your certification or most recent recertification, and to send accompanying documentation.

(For Recertification in Medicine (for those eligible), We will choose 10 cases from your case logs. The only specific requirement is that you include cases that demonstrate a variety of procedures in addition to routine procedures such as bunions. It is not acceptable to submit more than one case covering the same medical issue.
For Medicine and Surgery recertification, we will choose 10 cases from your surgical case logs. Your case mix should be roughly half osseous and half soft tissue, but again, it is important that the cases are representative of the work you have performed during the preceding five years.
For Medicine and Comprehensive Surgery, including Rearfoot and Reconstructive Surgery recertification, we will choose 15 cases from your surgical case logs. 10 of those cases must be directly related to the Rearfoot and Reconstructive discipline, with a maximum of five trauma cases. If you have not certified in Rearfoot and Reconstructive before, please contact our office for further details on additional requirements should you wish to expand your current certification.

We will notify you of which cases we have chosen for review and for your certification examination. Once we contact you, you will be required to fill out the Case Submission Forms for each case we have requested as well as the supporting documentation.

Download Recertification Case Submission Form

For each case, you will need to submit a Recertification Case Study and the following documentation:

SOAP Notes for each case indicating rationale for surgery, history, etc. Photocopies of your notes are acceptable.
Copies of pathology reports, imaging reports, pre-operative labs, consults etc.
Pre-operative and post-operative X-rays and imaging studies pertinent to the cases choses. Photocopies of X-rays and imaging studies are not acceptable.

You may send us film or use digital media (Flash drive is preferable; CD).

(If you chose the latter, you may send a CD or DVD for each patient. You may also combine all files onto a single inexpensive USB stick using filenames that indicate what the file contains and which patient it belongs to. For example, if case number 5 is Mrs. Tina Jones and the X-ray is pre-op, use a file name like Case5_Jones_Pre.jpg, so the examiner will know immediately which X-ray belongs to which case.)

Cases for your Recertification exam will be chosen from the submitted case logs.

Download Recertification Case Study Form

Please insert the documentation for each case into a separate large envelope and write the case number and patient name on the envelope OR simply separate each case using staples or paperclips to show a delineation between cases to make the evaluation process easier for our directors. Please do not fold forms, and please seal all envelopes.

Grand Rounds Exam

Upon successful completion of the case review, the board will contact you to set up your recertification examination. Your cases will form the basis for the Grand Rounds examination and for your recertification.

If you fail the Grand Rounds examination, you may retake it twice for an additional fees. If you fail the 3^rd examination, you will be required to start your verification process from the beginning with all of the required fees.

Credentials Verification

When you have successfully completed the Grand Rounds exam, ABLES will again conduct primary source verification of your credentials. We will verify your professional and drug licenses, including disciplinary actions that may have been taken since your initial certification or most recent recertification. If necessary, we have the liberty of verifying your residency qualifications, your hospital affiliations, and any other venues where you are required to maintain a level of professionalism and excellence.

Certificate

When you have successfully completed the recertification and verification processes, we will issue you a new certificate that will expire five years computed from the date that your certificate last expired.