- What the ABR-NMP-P2 Actually Is
- Where It Sits in the ABR Certification Pathway
- Exam Format, Timing, and Administration
- The Five Content Domains
- Registration Windows and Fees
- Who Is Eligible to Sit for It
- Who Hires Candidates Who Pass It
- A Domain-Aware Approach to Preparation
- Frequently Asked Questions
- ABR-NMP-P2 refers to the American Board of Radiology's Nuclear Medical Physics Part 2 Qualifying Examination, not a separate acronym-holding credential.
- The exam covers five domains: radiation safety/ethics, PET & hybrid, single-photon imaging systems, radiation measurements, and clinical procedures.
- The remotely proctored exam runs 130 questions over 4 hours 1 minute of answering time, with 4 hours 46 minutes allotted total.
- Part 2 examination fees are USD 640, separate from the USD 250 initial application fee.
What the ABR-NMP-P2 Actually Is
ABR-NMP-P2 is the shorthand this site uses for the American Board of Radiology's Nuclear Medical Physics Part 2 Qualifying Examination. It is important to be precise here: several credentials in adjacent fields share similar-looking abbreviations, but on this site, and in this article, ABR-NMP-P2 refers exclusively to the ABR's Nuclear Medical Physics Part 2 exam within its medical physics certification track. Reviewed ABR materials identify the specialty (Nuclear Medical Physics) and the exam part (Part 2) directly, without assigning a separate marketing-style exam code - "ABR-NMP-P2" is simply the identifier used here for clarity and search purposes.
The exam is administered by the American Board of Radiology itself, not by a third-party testing vendor or a separate nuclear medicine society. It is one of the qualifying steps a medical physicist must clear on the way toward full board certification in medical physics with a nuclear medicine specialty focus. For a plain-language breakdown of the name itself, see ABR-NMP-P2 Meaning and What Does ABR-NMP-P2 Stand For?.
Where It Sits in the ABR Certification Pathway
The ABR's standard medical physics certification sequence moves through three qualifying stages: Part 1 (general and clinical sections), Part 2 (specialty-specific, including Nuclear Medical Physics), and Part 3 (final clinical certification). Passing Part 2 by itself does not make someone board certified - it is a required milestone, but full initial certification requires successfully completing all three parts.
To sit for Part 2 under the standard pathway, a candidate must have already passed both the General and Clinical sections of Part 1, and must have completed - or be on track to complete by August 31 of the exam year - a CAMPEP-accredited residency or Doctor of Medical Physics program. There is also an additional-specialty pathway for physicists who are already certified in another area and want to add Nuclear Medical Physics through ABR-approved prospective, supervised clinical training. A detailed walkthrough of these conditions lives in ABR-NMP-P2 Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Exam Format, Timing, and Administration
The Nuclear Medical Physics Part 2 exam is a remotely proctored, computer-based examination completed in a single session, with registration handled through myABR. According to the Medical Physics Remote Qualifying Exam Guide, the exam includes:
- 130 questions, predominantly multiple-choice, with some image-location items (Drag and Drop) involving an anatomical site, equipment component, or graph region.
- 4 hours 1 minute of answering time.
- An additional 20 minutes of tutorial/practice time and 25 minutes of break allowance, for a total allotted time of 4 hours 46 minutes.
The exam is closed book. Candidates need a private, quiet testing space, one active monitor, and an external side-view webcam; ABR staff monitor sessions live and review recordings afterward. A compliant physical erasable whiteboard is allowed (it must be wiped clean at the start and end of the session), along with an embedded calculator or an ABR-approved handheld calculator. Scratch paper and outside notes are prohibited. Starting a break locks responses to previously viewed questions - including unanswered and flagged ones - and using extra break time eats into your answering time, so pacing decisions matter well before the exam starts. Candidates should also complete the Exam Readiness Check on the actual computer and location they intend to use on exam day.
Key Takeaway
Because breaks lock your responses to already-viewed questions, plan your break timing around domain transitions rather than mid-topic, so you are not forced to abandon a half-finished calculation.
ABR also publishes a list of constants and physical values for calculation-based questions, but explicitly does not guarantee it contains every value you might need - reviewing how that list is organized ahead of time is worth doing. ABR's calculator familiarization exercises reference radioactive decay and Mo-99/Tc-99m generator calculations as practice exercises, not as actual exam content, which gives a useful hint about the calculation style you should expect on the real exam.
The Five Content Domains
ABR has not published domain percentage weights for Nuclear Medical Physics Part 2, so no domain should be assumed "worth more" than another in raw question count. What is published is the domain structure itself, drawn from the official Content Guide. A full breakdown of each area is available in ABR-NMP-P2 Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 5 Content Areas; the summary below is meant to orient a first-time reader.
Domain 1: Radiation Protection, Safety, Professionalism and Ethics
Covers internal, fetal, and CT dosimetry, occupational and public radiation safety, shielding design, and professional/ethical obligations.
- Dose calculations for internal emitters and pregnant patients
- Shielding and public/occupational exposure limits
Domain 2: PET & Hybrid
Covers PET detector physics, acquisition, reconstruction, correction methods, and combined PET/CT systems.
- Attenuation, random, and scatter correction techniques
- Quantification, quality control, and acceptance/annual testing for PET/CT
Domain 3: Single Photon Imaging Systems
Covers scintillation cameras, solid-state cameras, and hybrid systems.
- Intrinsic and extrinsic performance testing, collimation
- Digital and dynamic imaging, SPECT and SPECT/CT quality control
Domain 4: Radiation Measurements
Covers dose calibrators, well counters, survey meters, and thyroid probes.
- Detector efficiency, dead time, and calibration methods
- Statistical tests, error propagation, chi-square analysis, and minimum detectable activity
Domain 5: Clinical Procedures
Covers physics as applied to specific clinical imaging and therapy procedures.
- Cardiac, pulmonary, tumor, bone, brain, and thyroid imaging procedures
- Lymphatic studies, radionuclide therapy, and brachytherapy applications
Registration Windows and Fees
For the 2027 cycle, the Part 2 application window opens on the first business day in February and closes March 31, 2027. Approved applicants are invited to register in May 2027, with the published Part 2 examination date set for August 11, 2027. Because these dates can shift slightly between cycles, it's worth checking the current window before you build a study calendar - see ABR-NMP-P2 Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling for the latest specifics.
On fees, the Part 2 examination itself costs USD 640, due at registration. That is separate from the standard initial medical physics certification application fee of USD 250, which is a pathway charge rather than an exam charge. If a candidate fails on a first attempt, ABR lists a one-time USD 250 re-examination fee for Part 1 and/or Part 2. All fees are nonrefundable, though prepaid exam fees tied to a cancellation or nonattendance carry forward to the next available exam. A full cost breakdown, including how these fees stack across the certification pathway, is covered in ABR-NMP-P2 Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
| Aspect | ABR Nuclear Medical Physics Part 2 | ABSNM Certification |
|---|---|---|
| Governing body | American Board of Radiology | Separate credentialing organization (absnm.org) |
| Pathway structure | One qualifying step within ABR's Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 sequence | Independently administered credentialing pathway |
| Scope of this article | Primary subject | Referenced only to distinguish it from ABR-NMP-P2, not compared in depth |
Who Is Eligible to Sit for It
Under the standard route, eligibility requires having passed both the General and Clinical sections of Part 1, and completing (or being on track to complete by August 31 of the exam year) a CAMPEP-accredited residency or Doctor of Medical Physics program. The residency must begin within 10 years of passing Part 1. Board eligibility itself lasts six full calendar years from the completion of residency or Part 2 approval, whichever comes first, so timing your Part 2 attempt matters for staying within that window.
Physicists who are already certified in another specialty have a separate additional-specialty route that involves ABR-approved, prospective, supervised clinical training while keeping their existing certification active. Neither route treats passing Part 2 as certification on its own - it's one required piece of the larger initial-certification process that also includes Part 1 and Part 3. See ABR-NMP-P2 Requirements 2026 for the full eligibility checklist.
Who Hires Candidates Who Pass It
Nuclear Medical Physics Part 2 sits within the broader ABR medical physics certification track, and the physicists pursuing it are typically working toward, or already working in, clinical nuclear medicine physics roles - supporting PET, SPECT, hybrid imaging, radiopharmaceutical dosimetry, and radionuclide therapy programs in hospital and academic settings. Because passing Part 2 is a step toward full certification rather than a standalone credential, hiring conversations generally focus on where a candidate stands in the full Part 1-Part 2-Part 3 sequence, along with residency training and board-eligibility status. For a broader look at where these roles show up and how the credential is discussed in job postings, see ABR-NMP-P2 Jobs and ABR-NMP-P2 Training. If you're evaluating compensation questions, ABR-NMP-P2 Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis works from AAPM survey data rather than invented figures, and distinguishes medical physicist compensation from nuclear medicine technologist compensation - two very different roles that are easy to conflate.
A Domain-Aware Approach to Preparation
Because ABR has not published domain weightings, a reasonable study strategy is to allocate time by how conceptually dense a domain is for you personally, rather than assuming equal question counts per domain. A short, domain-anchored timeline can help structure the final stretch before exam day:
Radiation Protection, Safety, Professionalism and Ethics + Radiation Measurements
- Rework internal/fetal/CT dosimetry problems and shielding calculations
- Drill dose calibrator, well counter, and survey meter calibration scenarios, including dead-time and MDA calculations
PET & Hybrid + Single Photon Imaging Systems
- Practice attenuation/scatter/random correction problems and PET/CT QC scenarios
- Review SPECT and SPECT/CT quality control, collimator selection, and camera performance testing
Clinical Procedures + Mixed Review
- Work through cardiac, pulmonary, thyroid, bone, and brain imaging procedure questions
- Mix in radionuclide therapy and brachytherapy scenarios alongside earlier domains for retention
This is a scheduling framework, not a substitute for a full study plan. A more detailed week-by-week plan, including how to sequence calculation-heavy topics against image-interpretation practice, is laid out in ABR-NMP-P2 Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt. If you're still calibrating how demanding this exam is relative to your background, How Hard Is the ABR-NMP-P2 Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 walks through the format-driven difficulty factors - remote proctoring, closed-book conditions, and the 130-question, single-session structure - in more depth.
For candidates deciding whether to pursue the credential at all, weighing time investment against career direction, and comparing it honestly against alternative paths, Is the ABR-NMP-P2 Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 lays out the considerations without inflating the numbers. And once you're ready to test your recall of core facts, formulas, and domain boundaries, our practice test platform and the companion ABR-NMP-P2 Cheat Sheet 2026 are built specifically around these five domains rather than generic physics review.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Passing Part 2 is one required step in ABR's medical physics certification pathway. Full initial certification requires passing Parts 1, 2, and 3.
The Nuclear Medical Physics Part 2 exam has 130 questions with 4 hours 1 minute of answering time. Including tutorial time and break allowance, the total time allotted is 4 hours 46 minutes.
The Part 2 examination fee is USD 640, due at registration, separate from the USD 250 initial certification application fee. A one-time USD 250 re-examination fee applies after a first-attempt failure.
No. They are distinct certification pathways administered by different organizations. This site covers the ABR Nuclear Medical Physics Part 2 Qualifying Examination specifically.
No. ABR has not published percentage weights for the five domains on Nuclear Medical Physics Part 2, so preparation should cover all five domains thoroughly rather than prioritizing by assumed weight.