What Is ABR-NMP-P2?

What Is ABR-NMP-P2, Exactly?

ABR-NMP-P2 refers to the Nuclear Medical Physics Part 2 Qualifying Examination administered by the American Board of Radiology (ABR). It is not a separate credential with its own registration code; rather, it is the site's shorthand identifier for the specialty and exam part as described in official ABR materials. This is an important distinction because several acronyms circulate online that look similar but belong to entirely different organizations and testing programs. On this site, ABR-NMP-P2 means one thing only: the ABR's Part 2 qualifying exam within the Nuclear Medical Physics specialty track.

Part 2 sits in the middle of a three-part certification sequence. Candidates must first pass both the General and Clinical sections of Part 1 before they become eligible for Part 2. Passing Part 2 does not, by itself, make someone board certified - that only happens after Part 3 is also completed. Understanding this sequencing matters when you're mapping out a multi-year study and career plan, and it's covered in more depth in our ABR-NMP-P2 Requirements guide.

The Five Domains Tested

The official Nuclear Medical Physics Part 2 Content Guide organizes exam material into five domains. ABR does not publish percentage weightings for these domains, so candidates should treat each one as a mandatory area of competence rather than trying to guess which topics carry more points.

For a deeper breakdown of each content area with study strategies specific to it, see our complete guide to all five content areas.

Exam Format, Timing, and Remote Proctoring

ABR administers Part 2 as a remotely proctored, computer-based examination taken in a single session. Registration happens through myABR. According to the 2026 remote-exam guide, Nuclear Part 2 consists of 130 questions with 4 hours 1 minute of answering time. Candidates also receive 20 minutes for tutorial/practice and 25 minutes of break allowance, bringing the total allotted time to 4 hours 46 minutes.

The question style is predominantly multiple-choice, but ABR preparation materials also describe image-location items categorized as Drag and Drop, where a candidate identifies an anatomical site, equipment component, or graph region directly on an image.

Breaks require care: starting a break locks your responses to previously viewed questions, including anything left unanswered or flagged. Taking excess break time reduces your remaining answering time, and you must keep your webcam and remote connection active throughout any break. ABR also requires completing an Exam Readiness Check on the actual computer and in the actual location you plan to test from. An embedded calculator or an ABR-approved handheld calculator is permitted, and ABR supplies a list of constants and physical values - though it explicitly does not guarantee that list covers every value a question might require, so reviewing its organization beforehand is worthwhile.

Calculator familiarization exercises published by ABR include practice problems on radioactive decay and Mo-99/Tc-99m generator calculations. These are practice exercises only, not recalled or actual exam questions, and candidates should not mistake them for secure content.

Who Can Sit for Part 2

Standard eligibility for Part 2 requires having passed both the General and Clinical sections of Part 1, and completing (or being on track to complete) a CAMPEP-accredited residency or Doctor of Medical Physics program by August 31 of the exam year. Residency must begin within 10 years of passing Part 1. Once you're board eligible, that status lasts six full calendar years from either residency completion or Part 2 approval, whichever comes first.

There's also a separate pathway for medical physicists who are already certified in another specialty and want to add Nuclear Medical Physics: this route involves ABR-approved prospective, supervised clinical training while the existing certification is maintained. Full eligibility mechanics, including timing edge cases, are detailed in our requirements and prerequisites breakdown.

Fees, Applications, and Dates

The Part 2 examination fee is USD 640, due at registration. This is separate from the standard initial medical physics certification application fee of USD 250, which is a distinct pathway charge. If a candidate fails on the 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 fees following a cancellation or nonattendance are applied toward the next available exam sitting.

For the current cycle, the Part 2 application window opens the first business day in February and runs through March 31, 2027. Approved applicants are invited to register in May 2027, and the published Part 2 exam date is August 11, 2027. A full cost breakdown, including how these fees compare to certification-maintenance costs, is available in our certification cost breakdown, and exact windows and deadlines are tracked in our exam dates guide.

How Part 2 Is Scored

Part 2 uses criterion-referenced pass/fail scoring measured against a predetermined standard - it is not graded on a curve or compared against other candidates' performance in that sitting. If you don't pass, ABR requires retaking the entire Part 2 examination; there is no option to retake only certain domains. Results are typically posted in myABR with an email notification approximately one month after the exam date.

Because ABR does not publish domain-level weighting, and because the passing standard is criterion-referenced, candidates should aim for consistent competence across all five domains rather than optimizing for a subset. Our passing score guide unpacks what "criterion-referenced" means in practice for how you should prepare, and our pass rate analysis explains why ABR's published Medical Physics Part 2 pass-rate figures are all-specialty aggregates, not numbers specific to the Nuclear Medical Physics track.

What Happens After You Pass

Passing Part 2 is a milestone, not the finish line. Board certification in medical physics requires passing Parts 1, 2, and 3 in sequence. Once you're fully certified, maintaining that certificate involves ABR Continuing Certification: professional standing through licensure or attestation, 75 qualifying Category 1 CME or CAMPEP-accredited CE credits (or eligible Self-Directed Educational Project credits) per rolling three-year period, and one Practice Quality Improvement project or equivalent activity per rolling three-year period. Newly certified diplomates first meet these education and improvement requirements in year four.

There is also an Online Longitudinal Assessment component requiring at least 52 answered questions per maintained certificate annually, with a passing standard applied in year five of a five-year cycle (or an alternative Continuing Certification Exam taken in year four or five). None of this is a renewal requirement tied specifically to passing Part 2 - it applies once someone holds full certification. If you're weighing whether the entire multi-year pathway is worth pursuing, our ROI analysis walks through the tradeoffs in more detail.

Who Hires Candidates Working Toward Part 2

Individuals pursuing or holding Nuclear Medical Physics certification typically work in hospital nuclear medicine departments, PET/CT and SPECT imaging centers, academic medical physics programs, and radiopharmaceutical therapy programs. Employers in these settings generally look for demonstrated competence across the same five domains the exam tests - radiation safety and dosimetry, PET and hybrid imaging physics, single-photon camera systems, radiation measurement instrumentation, and clinical nuclear medicine procedures including radionuclide therapy.

Because certification signals verified competence rather than guaranteeing a specific pay outcome, candidates researching compensation should look at broader medical physicist salary data rather than assuming a fixed premium. Our salary guide reviews AAPM survey data by year and population, and is careful to separate medical physicist compensation from nuclear medicine technologist roles, which are a different job category entirely. For those actively job hunting, our jobs resource and training pathway overview cover related next steps.

Mapping a Study Plan to the Content Guide

Rather than following a generic study calendar, it helps to sequence your preparation around the five domains in the order the official content guide lists them, since that structure reflects how ABR itself organizes the material.

Timed practice matters here specifically because of the exam's break-lock mechanics: once you start a break, previously viewed questions lock, so you should practice deciding when to flag versus finalize an answer under realistic time pressure. A more detailed week-by-week plan, including how to allocate review time across all five domains, is in our study guide for passing on the first attempt. For a condensed reference during final review, our one-page cheat sheet collects the must-know facts, and if you want a realistic sense of difficulty before you commit to a timeline, read our difficulty guide.

To build exam-day familiarity with the question style, timing pressure, and image-location item format described above, practicing with realistic questions on our practice test platform can help you gauge readiness before you commit to an official registration window. Working through original, domain-mapped questions on the main practice site is also a useful way to identify weak domains early, rather than discovering gaps during the actual remotely proctored session.

Frequently Asked Questions