Physician CEPS Exam Eligibility Policy

The purpose of this policy is to articulate and define the standard eligibility requirement held by IBHRE in order to qualify for the examination and the documentation required from candidates in order to prove eligibility.

This examination is NOT available to American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) eligible candidates. Physicians who have had all of their training in the United States and are eligible to sit for the ABIM Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Medicine, and Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology Board Exams should utilize that pathway to achieve Board Certification.

Criteria:

1. Each applicant for the in Cardiac Electrophysiology Examination for the Physician must be a licensed physician with active involvement in the clinical management and care of adult or pediatric patients. Physicians may apply to sit for one of the Cardiac Electrophysiology examination:

           a. Adult Electrophysiology

           b. Pediatric Electrophysiology

2. Physicians applying for the IBHRE Board Certification Examination in Cardiac Electrophysiology must also have completed training equivalent to:

Track 1

• Graduation from an accredited medical school
• Successful completion of an internal medicine or general pediatric residency program
• Successful completion of an adult or pediatric cardiovascular medicine fellowship program
• Successful completion of a minimum of 2 years of cardiac electrophysiology training in either an adult or pediatric clinical cardiac electrophysiology fellowship program.
  NOTE: If a full 2 years of clinical training is not available in the candidate's training program, candidates may satisfy the training requirement by completing 1 year of cardiac electrophysiology training (adult or pediatric) plus at least one year of clinical practice, mentored by a more senior electrophysiologist who has current certification in cardiac electrophysiology in their country of practice.

 OR

Track 2

• Adult EP applicants completing training prior to the availability of authorized electrophysiology training programs (generally prior to 1995) may qualify either by satisfying Track 1 requirements, or by demonstrating a minimum level of cardiac electrophysiology practice experience consisting of at least 5 years of active clinical electrophysiology involvement in the management and care of adult electrophysiology patients.

OR

Track 3

• Pediatric EP applicants completing training prior to July 1, 2005 may qualify either by satisfying Track 1 requirements above, or by demonstrating a minimum level of practice experience consisting of at least 5 years of active pediatric electrophysiology experience. The candidate must be actively involved in the management and care of pediatric arrhythmia patients.

Effective October 31, 2021, the waiver for applicants who completed training prior to 1995 and July 1, 2005 will be discontinued.

IBHRE recognizes that training pathways and practice patterns differ greatly around the world. Applicants whose training and experience do not fit into the above criteria, but who nonetheless feel that they are qualified to take the examination, may notify IBHRE via email at [email protected] explaining their training and experience. Such applications will be formally reviewed by IBHRE leadership.

Required Documentation:

Upon submitting an application for the Certification Examination for Competency in Cardiac Electrophysiology for the Physician, all candidates must provide appropriate documentation as evidence of the candidate’s eligibility:

• Physicians must include a copy of their current medical license from the state, province or country where they currently practice with their application.
• Physicians must include a certificate/diploma of completion of their respective medical school and residency programs and the dates of completion on their applications. 
• Physicians must include a copy of their certificate of completion of the necessary fellowship training program or attestation from a supervisor or colleague verifying direct involvement in managing device therapy patients for a minimum of one year (refer to IBHRE's eligibility policy).
• All candidates who have completed an adult or pediatric electrophysiology training program or have substantial clinical involvement in the management and care of EP patients will be required to support their application by submission of total numbers of ablations performed, and pacemakers/ICDs implanted.
• Fellowship programs should be accredited or otherwise deem acceptable by IBHRE for the adult candidate.
• Pediatric fellowship programs should be associated with an accredited Pediatric Cardiology training program, or otherwise deem acceptable by IBHRE for the pediatric candidate.

In review of the applicant’s documentation of clinical experience, along with the IBHRE Review & Appeals Committee, IBHRE will defer to the following documents (or their updated versions as they become available) to cite appropriateness of a given training experience, and/or relevant exposure and involvement in the practice of heart rhythm management:

• ACC/HRS Recommendations for Training in Adult Cardiovascular Medicine, Task Force 6 guidelines: Training in Specialized Electrophysiology, Cardiac Pacing and Arrhythmia Management, Journal of the American College of Cardiology (J Am Coll 2008, 51:374-80, January 2008
• Walsh et al. Recommendations for Advanced Fellowship Training in Clinical Pediatric and Congenital Electrophysiology, Heart Rhythm, Vol 10, No 5, May 2013, Heart Rhythm Society

IBHRE reserves the right to independently verify the licenses, credentials and employment status of all examination candidates. The candidate’s signature on his or her examination application duly authorizes IBHRE to conduct such independent verification.