- The 2026 Initial-Certification Date: November 5
- How ABP Subspecialty Exam Dates Work
- Which Content Outline Applies to a November 2026 Sitting
- Eligibility Timing: What Must Be True Before You Register
- Fees, Prometric Scheduling, and Budget Timing
- Exam Format and What Is Still Unverified
- Working Backward from November 5: Domain-by-Domain Calendar
- If You Miss the Window, and What Comes After
- Frequently Asked Questions
- The upcoming Pediatric Pulmonology initial-certification examination is dated November 5, 2026, per the ABP subspecialty exam dates page.
- The new 19-domain content outline takes effect November 1, 2026, so it governs that sitting; the October 2025 approval date does not.
- The regular fee is $2,992, which includes a $750 processing component; confirm current amounts with the ABP before paying.
- The exam is delivered through Prometric, has about 200 multiple-choice questions, and passes at a scaled score of 180 on a 1-300 scale.
The 2026 Initial-Certification Date: November 5
If you are searching for Pediatric Pulmonology exam dates for 2026, the anchor fact is straightforward: the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) lists the upcoming initial-certification examination in Pediatric Pulmonology for November 5, 2026. This article is about the ABP subspecialty certification in Pediatric Pulmonology and nothing else, so every date, fee, and rule below refers to that credential and its published ABP materials.
The authoritative source is the ABP's own listing at abp.org/exams/exam-dates-and-fees-subspecialties. Dates, registration windows, and fee schedules are administrative details that the Board can revise, so treat any third-party summary, including this one, as a planning aid and verify against the ABP page before you commit to a study timeline or pay a fee.
How ABP Subspecialty Exam Dates Work
Pediatric subspecialty certification examinations are administered by the ABP rather than by a hospital, a fellowship program, or a professional society. Delivery is through Prometric testing centers, which means that once you are approved to sit, you schedule a seat in the Prometric system rather than reporting to a single national venue.
What the published date tells you
- It identifies the initial-certification administration for the cycle you are targeting.
- It anchors the content outline version that will be tested (see the next section).
- It sets the practical upper bound for finishing fellowship-related documentation.
What it does not tell you
A listed examination date does not by itself guarantee that your personal eligibility is complete, that a seat is available at your preferred Prometric site, or that the rules governing breaks, calculators, or reference materials match what you assume. Those items are separate, and some remain unverified for the initial exam (covered below).
For a broader picture of how the credential fits together, see our overview of Pediatric Pulmonology certification and the explainer on what Pediatric Pulmonology certification is.
Which Content Outline Applies to a November 2026 Sitting
This is the single most common source of confusion for candidates planning around the 2026 date. The current ABP Pediatric Pulmonology initial-certification content outline is effective November 1, 2026, and it applies to the November 5, 2026 initial-certification examination. The outline was approved by the subboard in October 2025, but that approval date is not the effective date. If you study from materials keyed to an older outline, or assume the outline governs from the approval date, you may prepare against the wrong weighting.
The outline organizes the exam into 19 domains with approximate published weights totaling 100%. Published versions can vary slightly, so always pull the PDF directly: the official Pediatric Pulmonology content outline and the ABP version directory are the places to confirm.
| Domain | Approx. Weight |
|---|---|
| Asthma | 9% |
| Common Signs and Symptoms | 8% |
| Core Principles of Pulmonary Diagnosis and Monitoring Techniques | 8% |
| Lung Development and Physiology | 6% |
| Respiratory Infections | 6% |
| Cystic Fibrosis (CF) | 6% |
| Respiratory Disorders of the Neonate and Infant | 5% |
| Congenital and Acquired Malformations of the Airways and Lungs | 5% |
| Restrictive Disease | 5% |
| Respiratory Failure | 5% |
| Interstitial Lung Disease | 5% |
| Other Disorders of the Respiratory System | 5% |
| Non-CF Bronchiectasis | 4% |
| Sleep-Disordered Breathing and Control of Breathing Disorders | 4% |
| Pulmonary Vascular and Lymphatic Diseases | 4% |
| Lung Disease Associated with Systemic Disorders | 4% |
| Environmental Injuries and Exposures (Acute and Chronic) | 4% |
| Core Knowledge in Scholarly Activities and Health Equity | 4% |
| Respiratory System Under Stress | 3% |
For a domain-by-domain walkthrough of what each area covers, see Pediatric Pulmonology Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 19 Content Areas.
Eligibility Timing: What Must Be True Before You Register
The traditional pathway requires a medical or osteopathic degree, certification in general pediatrics, completion of a three-year subspecialty fellowship, and satisfaction of the scholarly requirements. Because these elements must be documented, they function as de facto deadlines: your fellowship program director and the ABP must be able to confirm them before you are cleared to sit.
Two caveats deserve emphasis:
- License and attestation details: Current licensure and attestation requirements require ABP confirmation. Do not assume that what applied in a prior cycle is unchanged.
- The announced new training model: Whether and how the announced new training model applies to you is something to confirm directly with the ABP, particularly if your fellowship straddles a transition.
If you are still working out whether you qualify, start with Pediatric Pulmonology Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify and the background piece on Pediatric Pulmonology training.
Key Takeaway
Confirm eligibility status with your program director and the ABP well before registration opens. A scholarly-requirements or documentation gap is the kind of problem that is easy to fix months ahead and very hard to fix the week of the deadline.
Fees, Prometric Scheduling, and Budget Timing
The official indexed regular fee for the Pediatric Pulmonology examination is $2,992, which includes a $750 processing component. Fee schedules can distinguish between regular and other registration periods, so check the ABP page for the exact amount that applies on the day you register. Our full breakdown lives in Pediatric Pulmonology Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
A sensible sequence
- Verify the November 5, 2026 date and the registration window on the ABP page.
- Confirm your eligibility documentation is complete and on file.
- Register and pay the applicable fee (regular fee indexed at $2,992).
- Receive authorization and schedule your seat through Prometric.
- Choose a testing center you can reach without stress, and consider travel the day before if the nearest site is far.
Because Prometric seats are finite, schedule promptly once you are authorized. Waiting leaves you with fewer site and time options, which matters if you want a morning slot or a short commute.
Exam Format and What Is Still Unverified
The initial examination is a computer-based test of approximately 200 multiple-choice questions. Scoring is on a scaled range of 1-300 with a passing scaled score of 180. That is a scaled score, not a raw percentage, so you cannot convert it into a fixed number of questions to get right. For the mechanics, see Pediatric Pulmonology Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass.
The latest verified first-time national pass rate is 73% in 2024, up from 68% in 2022, as reported in a 2026 primary paper citing ABP data. Treat these as descriptive context rather than a prediction for your own sitting; our write-up on the Pediatric Pulmonology pass rate goes into the data, and How Hard Is the Pediatric Pulmonology Exam? addresses perceived difficulty.
What the question style demands
With domains such as Core Principles of Pulmonary Diagnosis and Monitoring Techniques (8%), expect items that test interpretation rather than recall alone: reading pulmonary function patterns, matching imaging or bronchoscopic findings to a diagnosis, and choosing a next step in a clinical vignette. Domain 19, Core Knowledge in Scholarly Activities and Health Equity (4%), means study design, interpretation of evidence, and equity-focused content are fair game, not afterthoughts.
Working Backward from November 5: Domain-by-Domain Calendar
Generic study advice is plentiful; what is useful here is mapping your time to the published weights and to the logic of the content. The plan below is a sketch for roughly the last eight weeks, ordered so that foundations come before the applied domains that depend on them. Adjust it to your own gaps.
Foundations and diagnostics
- Lung Development and Physiology (6%) first, because later domains assume it.
- Core Principles of Pulmonary Diagnosis and Monitoring Techniques (8%): spirometry, lung volumes, diffusion, imaging, bronchoscopy.
- Common Signs and Symptoms (8%): cough, wheeze, stridor, chronic symptom algorithms.
The high-weight clinical core
- Asthma (9%): the largest domain, so revisit it twice in the plan.
- Cystic Fibrosis (6%) paired with Non-CF Bronchiectasis (4%) to contrast mechanisms and management.
- Respiratory Infections (6%).
Structural, neonatal, and chronic disease
- Respiratory Disorders of the Neonate and Infant (5%) and Congenital and Acquired Malformations (5%).
- Restrictive Disease (5%), Interstitial Lung Disease (5%), Pulmonary Vascular and Lymphatic Diseases (4%).
- Sleep-Disordered Breathing and Control of Breathing Disorders (4%).
Acute, systemic, and cleanup
- Respiratory Failure (5%), Respiratory System Under Stress (3%), Environmental Injuries and Exposures (4%).
- Lung Disease Associated with Systemic Disorders (4%), Other Disorders of the Respiratory System (5%).
- Scholarly Activities and Health Equity (4%), then a second pass over Asthma and your weakest domain.
Why Asthma gets a second pass
At 9%, Asthma is the single largest published domain, so incremental gains here move your score more than almost any other area.
- Severity classification and stepwise management logic.
- Biologic and controller selection, and when to question the diagnosis.
- Differentiating asthma from mimics that appear under Common Signs and Symptoms.
For a fuller strategy, see the Pediatric Pulmonology Study Guide 2026, and keep the one-page cheat sheet handy for last-week review. When you are ready to test yourself under realistic conditions, use the Pediatric Pulmonology practice tests to find which domains still cost you points.
If You Miss the Window, and What Comes After
If registration deadlines pass or circumstances prevent you from sitting on November 5, 2026, the practical consequence is waiting for the next published administration. Check the ABP page for the following date rather than assuming a fixed cadence, and confirm whether any eligibility timing limits apply to you.
Once certified, maintenance follows a five-year continuing certification cycle, with either MOCA-Peds or an examination pathway. That cycle is a separate system from the initial exam, so do not apply its convenience features to your first attempt.
If you are weighing the investment, our analyses of whether the certification is worth it, earnings, and Pediatric Pulmonology jobs cover the career side. Most positions are in children's hospitals, academic medical centers, and pediatric pulmonary or CF programs, where board certification is typically expected.
The ABP lists the upcoming initial-certification examination for November 5, 2026. Always confirm on the official ABP exam dates page, since administrative details can change.
The 19-domain outline effective November 1, 2026 applies to the November 5, 2026 initial-certification examination. The October 2025 subboard approval date is not the effective date.
The official indexed regular fee is $2,992, including a $750 processing component. The exam is delivered through Prometric; verify the current fee for your registration period on the ABP site.
There are approximately 200 multiple-choice questions. The passing scaled score is 180 on a 1-300 scale, which is not a raw percentage of questions answered correctly.
Open-book, calculator, remote, and break rules for the initial exam are unverified here. Check the ABP candidate instructions for your administration before test day and do not assume continuing-certification rules apply.