Acceptable Procedures **	Unacceptable Procedures
Rigid bronchoscopy	Bronchoscopic Navigation
Endobronchial stenting	Image-guided or non-guided chest tube placement
Bronchoscopy with balloon dilatation	Endobronchial Ultrasound
Endobronchial ablative techniques (Laser, Electrocautery, Argon Plasma Coagulation, Cryotherapy, Cryo-recanalization, Photodynamic Therapy, or Brachytherapy)	Bronchoscopic biopsies including cryo-biopsies
	Endobronchial valve placement
Tunneled pleural catheter placement	Percutaneous tracheotomy
Thoracoscopy

 **Each CPT code counts as one procedure, even if performed in the same setting. 

INTERVENTIONAL PULMONOLOGY BOARD PRACTICE PATHWAY

2.  The AABIP will re-open a Practice Pathway for Board Certification for a select group of physicians who were eligible prior to closure of the previous practice pathway on December 31, 2016 (see below criteria). Based on concerns from AABIP members who missed the original Practice Pathway window which closed after 2016, this pathway will be re-opened for only 2 years (2023 and 2024). To maintain consistency in certification processes, the same certification criteria will be used from the original Practice Pathway with minor modification to reflect new date requirements. 

Application portal for the practice pathway will open by late March 2023.

Eligibility for Clinical Practice Pathway

• Only individuals with an MD/DO or equivalent degree are eligible for the Interventional Pulmonology Board Certification examinations.
• Applicants should have completed training in Pulmonary Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, or Thoracic Surgery from an accredited program in the United States or Canada and should have completed fellowship by the end of 2016. This includes Interventional Pulmonology Fellowship graduates who completed training by the end of 2016 who chose not to take the Interventional Pulmonology Board Examination.
• Applicants must hold a current, active, license to practice medicine in at least one jurisdiction in the United States, its territories, or Canada.
• Licenses that have been revoked, suspended, surrendered, or not renewed in order to terminate or settle disciplinary proceedings do not qualify as meeting the requirements for medical licensure, and all such licenses must be reported for review and consideration.
• All Applicants must have an attestation signed by themselves AND another individual that can attest to their clinical competence, procedural competence, professionalism, moral and ethical practices.  The verifying individual needs to be an MD/DO or equivalent, but does not have to be practicing interventional pulmonology (it could be a colleague, mentor, section chief, division chief, or department chair).  The attestation should also confirm that a substantial component (33% or more) of the applicant’s professional activity both now and prior to 2016, whether clinical, educational, research, or administrative, takes place within the field of IP. For the attestation of IP practice prior to 2016, a separate letter of attestation from a prior verifying individual is required if the applicant’s practice setting has changed since 2016.
• A procedure log must be submitted by all clinical practice pathway applicants.  The minimum procedure requirements are listed in Table 1. These procedures must have occurred within the two years prior to the date of the Attestation.
• Applicants must submit descriptions, including pictures if available, of at least 10 therapeutic bronchoscopy cases from the past 2 years prior to the date of the attestation
• Applicants will be required to meet procedural requirements in at least 2 of the 3 core procedure groups (Table 1): Core procedure groups are: Complex large airway disease; Advanced diagnostic bronchoscopy; and Pleural disease management). 

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Rigid or Flexible Airway interventions - benign and malignant                          

• Any combination of Mechanical debulking, Laster, APC, Electrocautery, Cryotherapy, Stents (hybrid/silicone) or other endoscopic modality, Brachytherapy, PDT or emerging technologies

Other flexible or rigid interventions not easily classified elsewhere, e.g. valves, blockers, thermoplasty, etc.

Peripheral Lung Lesions and mediastinal assessment. Any combination of navigation, radial probe EBUS or virtual bronchoscopy guided transbronchial sampling, Convex Probe EBUS and other emerging technologies.

With or without thoracoscopy. Any combination of minimally invasive diagnostic and therapeutic procedures including thoracic ultrasound, thoracentesis, tube thoracostomy, indwelling pleural catheter, closed pleural biopsies and thoracoscopy.

Any combination of inpatient and outpatient encounters.

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS

A process will be available for candidates of unusual circumstances. It is expected that these will be exceptions to policy and will be decided on a case by case basis without the implied establishment of precedent.

• If all procedural requirements are not satisfied, applicants may make an appeal though a formal appeal process with a written explanation to the board.
• Individuals who have made substantial contributions prior to December 31, 2016 toward scholarship in Bronchology and Interventional Pulmonology based upon research, publications, and presentations/chairmanships at National/International meetings may be eligible to sit for the IP Board Certification Examination at the sole discretion of the AABIP Certification Committee and approved by the AABIP Board of Directors.

Non-appealable circumstances:

1. Graduates of fellowship in Pulmonary Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, or Thoracic Surgery after December 31, 2016.
2. Applicants who are not board certified or board eligible in Pulmonary Medicine or Thoracic Surgery.
3. Three prior failures on the AABIP board examination

Posted: 1/18/2023