- What Is ABR-NMP-P2 Certification?
- Who Administers It and Where It Fits
- Exam Format, Timing, and Testing Conditions
- The Five Content Domains
- Eligibility and the Certification Pathway
- Fees and Upcoming Exam Dates
- Who Hires Candidates Pursuing This Credential
- Mapping Preparation to the Content Guide
- After Passing: What Comes Next
- Frequently Asked Questions
- ABR-NMP-P2 is the American Board of Radiology's Nuclear Medical Physics Part 2 Qualifying Examination only.
- The remote exam runs 130 questions across 4 hours 1 minute of answering time, plus tutorial and break allowances.
- Five domains cover safety/ethics, PET & hybrid, single-photon systems, radiation measurements, and clinical procedures.
- Part 2 costs USD 640; passing it alone does not confer board certification without Parts 1 and 3.
What Is ABR-NMP-P2 Certification?
ABR-NMP-P2 refers specifically to the Nuclear Medical Physics Part 2 Qualifying Examination administered by the American Board of Radiology (ABR). This is a component exam within ABR's broader medical physics certification structure, focused entirely on the nuclear medical physics specialty. It is not a standalone credential by itself - passing Part 2 is one required step within a multi-part pathway that also includes Part 1 and Part 3.
If you're trying to understand the basics before diving into study materials, our companion piece on What Is ABR-NMP-P2? covers the terminology in more depth, and ABR-NMP-P2 Meaning breaks down exactly what each part of the designation refers to.
Who Administers It and Where It Fits
The American Board of Radiology governs the entire process - application, registration through myABR, exam delivery, scoring, and results notification. Part 2 sits between the general/clinical Part 1 exams and the practical Part 3 exam in ABR's initial certification sequence for medical physicists specializing in nuclear medical physics.
The official content guide governing this exam was updated July 2, 2026, and the remote testing procedures come from the Medical Physics Remote Qualifying Exam Guide, 2026 edition, revised July 23, 2026. These two documents are the authoritative sources for anyone preparing - reviewed ABR materials describe the specialty and exam part without assigning any separate internal exam code beyond what's used as a site identifier here.
Exam Format, Timing, and Testing Conditions
The exam is a remotely proctored, computer-based test delivered in a single session. Format details matter because they shape how you pace your preparation and your test-day strategy.
- Question count: 130 questions total.
- Answering time: 4 hours 1 minute (the "Exam" time block reported specifically for answering).
- Tutorial/practice time: 20 minutes.
- Break allowance: 25 minutes.
- Total allotted time: 4 hours 46 minutes.
- Question style: predominantly multiple-choice, with some image-location items described under Drag and Drop, where you identify an anatomical site, equipment component, or graph region.
Because this is a remote exam, the logistics are just as important as content knowledge. You'll need a private, quiet testing space, one active monitor, and an external side-view webcam. ABR staff monitor sessions live and review recordings afterward. The exam is closed book, though an embedded calculator or ABR-approved handheld calculator is allowed, along with a compliant physical erasable whiteboard that must be wiped clean at both the start and end of the session - scratch paper and personal notes are prohibited.
Key Takeaway
Starting a break locks your responses to every previously viewed question - including unanswered and flagged ones - and any excess break time comes directly out of your answering time. Complete the Exam Readiness Check on your actual testing computer and location beforehand to avoid last-minute technical surprises.
ABR also supplies a list of constants and physical values for calculations, but the organization is explicit that this list may not contain every value you'll need - reviewing its structure ahead of time is worthwhile. Calculator familiarization exercises published by ABR, including radioactive decay and Mo-99/Tc-99m generator calculations, are practice exercises only and not actual exam questions, but they're a useful gauge of the calculation style you'll encounter.
The Five Content Domains
ABR has not published percentage weights for each domain, so no domain should be assumed more heavily tested than another. Still, each domain represents a distinct body of knowledge you need to master. For a full breakdown of each area with study-level detail, see ABR-NMP-P2 Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 5 Content Areas.
Domain 1: Radiation Protection, Safety, Professionalism and Ethics
Covers internal, fetal, and CT dosimetry, occupational and public safety, shielding calculations, and professional ethics.
- Dose calculations for occupational and public exposure scenarios
- Shielding design principles for nuclear medicine facilities
- Ethical decision-making in clinical physics practice
Domain 2: PET & Hybrid
Covers PET detectors, acquisition, reconstruction, attenuation/random/scatter corrections, quantification, PET/CT integration, and quality control including acceptance and annual testing.
- Reconstruction algorithms and correction methods
- PET/CT acceptance testing and ongoing QC protocols
Domain 3: Single Photon Imaging Systems
Covers scintillation cameras, solid state cameras, and hybrid systems - intrinsic and extrinsic performance, collimation, digital and dynamic imaging, SPECT, SPECT/CT, and quality control.
- Collimator selection and performance trade-offs
- SPECT/CT quality control routines
Domain 4: Radiation Measurements
Covers dose calibrators, well counters, survey meters, and thyroid probes, along with calibration, detector efficiency, dead time, single- and multichannel analyzers, statistical tests, error propagation, image statistics, chi-square tests, and minimum detectable activity.
- Dead time correction calculations
- Statistical methods including chi-square testing and error propagation
Domain 5: Clinical Procedures
Covers cardiac, pulmonary, tumor, bone, brain, thyroid, and lymphatic imaging procedures, along with radionuclide therapy and brachytherapy.
- Procedure-specific physics considerations across organ systems
- Radionuclide therapy planning and dosimetry basics
Eligibility and the Certification Pathway
Standard eligibility for Part 2 requires having passed both the General and Clinical sections of Part 1, plus completing - or being on track to complete - a CAMPEP-accredited residency or Doctor of Medical Physics program by August 31 of the exam year. Your residency must begin within 10 years of passing Part 1.
Board eligibility itself lasts six full calendar years from either residency completion or Part 2 approval, whichever happens first. Physicists who are already certified in another specialty have a separate additional-specialty pathway involving ABR-approved prospective, supervised clinical training while they maintain their existing certification.
Fees and Upcoming Exam Dates
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Part 2 exam fee | USD 640, due at registration |
| Initial certification application fee | USD 250 (separate pathway charge) |
| Re-examination fee (first-attempt failure) | USD 250, one-time |
| 2027 application window | First business day in February through March 31, 2027 |
| Registration invitations | May 2027 for approved applicants |
| 2027 exam date | August 11, 2027 |
All fees are nonrefundable, though prepaid exam fees following a cancellation or nonattendance are applied toward your next available exam sitting. For a complete cost picture including annual maintenance fees, see ABR-NMP-P2 Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown and ABR-NMP-P2 Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling for the full scheduling timeline.
Who Hires Candidates Pursuing This Credential
Board eligibility and certification in nuclear medical physics matter to hospital nuclear medicine departments, academic medical centers with PET/CT and SPECT/CT imaging programs, and radiopharmaceutical therapy programs that require a qualified medical physicist on staff. Employers typically look for candidates who are board-eligible or actively progressing through the ABR pathway, since many clinical and regulatory roles specifically require it.
If you're weighing whether pursuing this credential fits your career plans, Is the ABR-NMP-P2 Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 walks through the considerations, and ABR-NMP-P2 Jobs looks at the types of roles that value this pathway. For compensation context, always consult AAPM's published salary surveys directly and distinguish medical physicist roles from nuclear medicine technologist roles - see ABR-NMP-P2 Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis for a qualitative discussion rather than invented figures.
Mapping Preparation to the Content Guide
Because ABR does not publish domain weightings, the safest study approach treats all five domains as equally essential rather than betting on any single area being emphasized more. A reasonable way to structure your final weeks is to dedicate focused blocks to each domain in turn, then circle back for calculation-heavy topics like dead time correction, chi-square testing, and error propagation from Domain 4, since these tend to require repeated practice to execute quickly under timed conditions.
Safety, PET, and Single-Photon Foundations
- Work through Domain 1 shielding and dosimetry calculations
- Review PET reconstruction and correction methods from Domain 2
- Study collimation and SPECT/CT QC from Domain 3
Measurement Statistics and Clinical Procedures
- Drill dead time, calibration, and statistical tests from Domain 4
- Cover procedure-specific physics across Domain 5's organ systems
- Practice image-location and Drag and Drop style questions
Timed Practice and Remote-Exam Logistics
- Simulate the 4-hour-1-minute answering window with mixed questions
- Complete the Exam Readiness Check on your actual testing setup
- Review the ABR constants list organization, not just memorize values
For a detailed week-by-week plan, our ABR-NMP-P2 Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt goes further into sequencing, and How Hard Is the ABR-NMP-P2 Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 discusses realistic difficulty expectations across the five domains. You can also build calculation speed and format familiarity using the practice exams at our main practice test platform, which maps original questions to all five official content areas.
After Passing: What Comes Next
Results are criterion-referenced - your performance is measured against an established passing standard, not ranked against other candidates. Results normally post in myABR with an email notification approximately one month after the exam. Failing requires retaking the entire Part 2 exam; there's no partial retake by domain.
Once you're fully certified across all parts, maintenance shifts to ABR's Continuing Certification program: 75 qualifying Category 1 CME, CAMPEP-accredited CE, or Self-Directed Educational Project credits per rolling three-year period, plus one Practice Quality Improvement project or equivalent activity per rolling three-year period. Newly certified diplomates first meet these requirements starting in year four. Medical physics diplomates also participate in Online Longitudinal Assessment, answering at least 52 questions annually per maintained certificate and meeting the passing standard by year five of the cycle, with an alternative Continuing Certification Exam option in year four or five. The annual medical physics Continuing Certification fee is USD 205.
These are full-certification maintenance obligations, not a renewal requirement tied to Part 2 specifically. Understanding what score you actually need is worth reviewing separately - see ABR-NMP-P2 Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass and ABR-NMP-P2 Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows for context on how ABR reports results (note that published Part 2 pass-rate figures are all-specialty aggregates, not nuclear-specific breakdowns).
For quick-reference review closer to test day, our ABR-NMP-P2 Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts condenses the five domains into a single scannable page, and practicing with realistic question formats at the practice exam platform can help confirm your readiness before you lock in your registration.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. It's one qualifying exam within ABR's larger initial certification pathway for nuclear medical physics, which also requires passing Part 1 and Part 3 before full board certification is granted.
The exam includes 130 questions with 4 hours 1 minute of dedicated answering time, plus 20 minutes for the tutorial and 25 minutes of break allowance, totaling 4 hours 46 minutes allotted.
The Part 2 examination fee is USD 640, due at registration. This is separate from the USD 250 initial certification application fee and any potential USD 250 re-examination fee after a first-attempt failure.
No. ABR has not published percentage weightings for the five content domains, so candidates should prepare across all five areas - Radiation Protection/Safety/Ethics, PET & Hybrid, Single Photon Imaging Systems, Radiation Measurements, and Clinical Procedures - without assuming any one area is emphasized more.
You must retake the entire Part 2 examination; there is no option to retake only specific domains. A one-time USD 250 re-examination fee applies after a first-attempt failure.