ABR-NMP-P2 Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown

What You're Actually Paying For

Anyone researching the Nuclear Medical Physics Part 2 Qualifying Examination quickly runs into a confusing mix of numbers: an application fee, an exam fee, a possible re-exam fee, and eventually an annual maintenance fee. These are not interchangeable, and they don't all apply to every candidate at every stage. Before you budget for the Nuclear Medical Physics Part 2 Qualifying Examination (referred to on this site by the identifier ABR-NMP-P2), it helps to separate the charges by when they hit your wallet: at application, at registration, after a failed attempt, and after full certification is achieved.

This breakdown uses only the fee structure published by the American Board of Radiology for the ABR Nuclear Medical Physics Part 2 exam. If you're still mapping out eligibility before you get to the cost question, start with our ABR-NMP-P2 requirements and eligibility guide, since fee timing is tied directly to when you apply and register.

The Part 2 Examination Fee

The core cost of sitting the Nuclear Medical Physics Part 2 exam is USD 640, due at the time of registration through myABR. This is the fee tied specifically to the exam session itself - the remotely proctored, computer-based test covering the five official content domains: Radiation Protection, Safety, Professionalism and Ethics; PET & Hybrid; Single Photon Imaging Systems; Radiation Measurements; and Clinical Procedures.

Registration and payment happen after ABR approves your application, so the USD 640 is not the first money you spend in the pathway - it comes after the separate application fee described below. Because the fee is nonrefundable, candidates who are not fully prepared should think carefully about timing rather than registering "to see how it goes." For a realistic read on what the exam actually demands before you commit the fee, see our difficulty guide to the ABR-NMP-P2 exam.

The Certification Application Fee

Before you ever pay the exam fee, there's a separate charge: the standard initial medical physics certification application fee, listed at USD 250. This is a pathway charge tied to entering the ABR certification process itself, not to a specific exam sitting. Candidates pursuing Part 2 as part of the standard initial-certification pathway (having already passed both the General and Clinical sections of Part 1) will encounter this fee as part of establishing or maintaining eligibility within the broader ABR system, separate from the USD 640 charged when you actually register for the Part 2 exam.

It's worth internalizing that these two fees serve different purposes: the application fee relates to your standing in the certification pathway, while the exam fee is what unlocks a specific test date. Candidates should not assume one covers the other. If you're unclear on how Part 2 fits into the larger three-part certification sequence, our overview of ABR-NMP-P2 certification lays out how Parts 1, 2, and 3 connect.

Re-Examination Costs After a First-Attempt Failure

Passing criteria for Part 2 are criterion-referenced: your performance is measured against an established standard, not ranked against other candidates. If you don't clear that standard, ABR requires retaking the entire Part 2 examination - there's no partial retest of weak domains only.

Financially, ABR lists a one-time USD 250 re-examination fee that applies after a first-attempt failure on Part 1 and/or Part 2. This is in addition to paying the USD 640 exam fee again to register for the retake sitting. In other words, a failed first attempt effectively adds the re-exam fee on top of a second full exam fee, plus the additional months of preparation and any renewed indirect costs (study time, materials, and possibly wage impact from scheduling around test prep).

Because all exam-related fees are nonrefundable, and because failing requires a full retake rather than a targeted retest, first-attempt preparation quality matters more here than in credentials that allow section-by-section retakes. If you want a candid look at what "well-prepared" actually looks like for this exam, review what the pass-rate data shows for ABR-NMP-P2 before you set your registration date.

Total Cost of the Full Certification Pathway

Passing Part 2 alone does not confer board certification. The initial-certification pathway requires passing Parts 1, 2, and 3 in sequence, so the true multi-year cost of becoming ABR board certified in medical physics extends well beyond the Part 2 line item. The table below isolates only the fees that CERT FACTS confirm apply directly to the Part 2 stage and its immediate surrounding pathway costs.

Note that the re-examination fee and annual maintenance fee are conditional - they only apply if you fail on your first attempt, or once you've achieved full certification, respectively. A candidate who passes Part 2 on the first try pays the application fee once and the exam fee once for that stage of the pathway.

Ongoing Costs After You're Fully Certified

It's easy to conflate "passing Part 2" with "being done paying ABR." They are not the same event. Passing Part 2 is one stage within initial certification; full board certification requires all three Parts, and only once that's achieved does ABR Continuing Certification maintenance begin.

Once fully certified, diplomates pay an annual medical physics Continuing Certification fee of USD 205. Maintenance also requires professional standing through licensure or attestation, 75 qualifying Category 1 CME, CAMPEP-accredited CE, or Self-Directed Educational Project credits per rolling three-year period, and one Practice Quality Improvement project or qualifying participatory activity per rolling three-year period. Newly certified diplomates first meet the education and improvement requirements in year four, not immediately upon certification. Separately, the Online Longitudinal Assessment track requires answering at least 52 questions per maintained certificate annually and meeting the passing standard by year five of the five-year cycle - or passing a Continuing Certification Exam in year four or five instead.

None of this is a "Part 2 renewal fee." It's full-certification maintenance that only becomes relevant once you've cleared Parts 1, 2, and 3. Candidates budgeting specifically for Part 2 should not fold the USD 205 annual fee into their near-term cost estimate unless they're already fully certified in another capacity.

Registration Windows and Payment Timing

Fee timing is tied to ABR's application cycle. For the current cycle referenced on the ABR certification page, the Part 2 application window runs from the first business day in February through March 31, 2027. Approved applicants are then invited to register in May 2027, with the Part 2 examination date published as August 11, 2027. Registration - and the USD 640 payment - happens during that May registration window, after your application has already been reviewed and approved (and after the USD 250 application fee has already been handled).

Missing a window, or registering without being fully prepared, carries real cost consequences: fees are nonrefundable, though prepaid exam fees following cancellation or nonattendance are applied toward your next available exam rather than lost outright. Still, that means a rescheduled attempt doesn't free up cash - it just defers when you sit for the same fee you already paid. For exact dates and how the eligibility clock works alongside them, see our ABR-NMP-P2 exam dates and scheduling guide.

Indirect Costs Candidates Often Forget

The published ABR fees are only part of the real cost of pursuing this credential. Several indirect costs are specific to how the Nuclear Medical Physics Part 2 exam is administered:

• Remote-testing setup: the exam requires a private, quiet testing space, one active monitor, and an external side-view webcam configured for live monitoring - some candidates need to purchase or borrow equipment to meet this specification before completing the required Exam Readiness Check.
• Study materials: original practice questions, worked calculations, and domain-mapped review resources (such as those built around all five official content areas) represent a real cost separate from ABR's own fees. Our ABR-NMP-P2 study guide and the practice sets on the main practice test platform are examples of the preparation investment candidates typically make alongside ABR's fees.
• Time away from clinical duties: preparing for a 130-question, single-session exam across five domains - radiation safety, PET & Hybrid, single-photon imaging, radiation measurements, and clinical procedures - takes sustained study time, which has an opportunity cost even if it doesn't appear on an invoice.
• Retake exposure: as covered above, a failed attempt effectively doubles your exam-fee exposure and adds the one-time re-exam charge, making thorough first-attempt preparation a real cost-avoidance strategy, not just an academic goal.

Budgeting Study Time Against Your Investment

Because a failed attempt means repaying the full USD 640 exam fee plus the USD 250 re-examination fee, it's worth treating your study schedule as part of your financial plan, not a separate concern. A simple way to do this: block dedicated weeks against each domain in rough proportion to its calculation and instrumentation depth, then run timed practice under the same closed-book, whiteboard-only conditions you'll face on exam day.

For a domain-by-domain breakdown of what each of these five areas actually tests, our complete guide to all five ABR-NMP-P2 content areas goes deeper than the summary above, and pairs well with timed practice runs on the practice exam platform.

Weighing Cost Against the Credential's Value

A few hundred dollars in application fees and a few hundred more in exam fees are modest relative to a career, but the real question most candidates want answered is whether the time, retake risk, and ongoing maintenance commitment are worth it against career outcomes. That's a separate analysis from pure pricing, and it depends on factors like your employer's expectations, your specialty focus, and regional hiring patterns for nuclear medical physicists. We cover that in detail in our ROI analysis of ABR-NMP-P2 certification, and if you're specifically weighing earnings potential, see our salary guide, which draws on AAPM survey data rather than invented figures.

What the cost breakdown above should make clear is that the financial commitment is front-loaded (application and exam fees) and then largely dormant until full certification triggers the annual maintenance fee. Passing Part 2 itself doesn't create a new recurring cost - it's a milestone within a longer, three-part pathway.

Frequently Asked Questions