The ABPS Oral Examination: Current Format, Case Reports, and a Practical Preparation Strategy

Official public format

Three sessions test two different kinds of readiness

Plastic surgery candidates must be able to solve unfamiliar clinical problems and defend the care they actually delivered. The current format intentionally examines both.

The Case Report Session examines the record, the decision, and the outcome

ABPS reviews the submitted nine-month case list for diversity, complexity, and volume, then selects five cases for formal case reports. During the 45-minute Case Report Session, the candidate should be prepared to discuss evaluation and workup, choice and execution of the operation, alternative plans, outcome, and relevant ethical or economic issues.

The practical implication is demanding: every submitted case needs reliable contemporaneous documentation and every selected case needs a concise, internally consistent narrative. The strongest answers neither sanitize a complication nor become defensive. They state what happened, what was recognized, what was done, and what was learned.

Theory and Practice rewards a clear initial plan with a credible lifeboat

ABPS publicly advises candidates to answer with their own approach, commit to a single initial management plan, explain the choice, and be prepared with a backup plan if the original choice fails. A list of every possible option is not a substitute for clinical judgment.

A complete response identifies the dominant problem, clarifies patient and defect variables, chooses a safe plan, describes critical execution, and anticipates both early and late complications. The examiner may move quickly; the candidate should not interpret a transition as confirmation or disapproval.

1. 01

   Define the problem and immediate threat

   State the diagnosis or reconstructive problem, the stability of the patient, the functional or aesthetic objective, and anything that must be addressed before definitive surgery.

2. 02

   Clarify the variables that change the plan

   Request only information that influences candidacy, timing, tissue choice, approach, anesthesia, oncologic safety, functional outcome, or complication risk.

3. 03

   Commit to one safe initial approach

   Name the operation or management path you would choose now, justify it, and distinguish it from alternatives you would reserve for different anatomy or goals.

4. 04

   Protect the result with a backup plan

   State how you prevent, recognize, and treat the complication most likely to threaten life, tissue, function, or the reconstructive objective.

Separate the current examination date from the next case-list cycle

The ABPS overview currently lists the 2026 examination, while the 2026–2027 Booklet publishes the active collection and deadline sequence for the 2027 cycle. The candidate portal and direct Board communication remain controlling.

The public scoring framework is unusually useful for preparation

ABPS publishes separate evaluation domains for Theory and Practice and Case Report sessions, along with four performance levels. Theory and Practice can assess Diagnosis/Planning, Management/Treatment, Intraoperative or Early Postoperative Complications, and Late Complications.

Case Report evaluation can assess Diagnosis/Planning, Management/Treatment, Complications/Outcome, Safety, Ethics/Professionalism, and Case Report Preparation/Organization. These published domains should shape deliberate practice, but only ABPS determines the official result using its examination data and psychometric process.

Prepare in four overlapping tracks

1. 01

   Case-list integrity and documentation

   Maintain complete entries, consent, photographs, accurate coding, outcome documentation, and follow-up throughout the collection period.

2. 02

   Broad Theory and Practice reasoning

   Cycle through all major domains and practice patient selection, one initial plan, technical execution, early rescue, late revision, and ethics.

3. 03

   Personal-case rehearsal

   Use fully de-identified case packets to practice exact facts, alternatives, complication ownership, and concise presentation without modifying the clinical record.

4. 04

   Full three-session simulation

   Train 45-minute endurance, transitions between examiner teams, recovery after a difficult case, and consistency across all three sessions.