CertLink FAQs

CertLink® is a longitudinal assessment program, developed for American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) Member Boards. The program will periodically deliver nuclear medicine questions with detailed explanations and references directly to ABNM diplomates as an alternative to the Continuing Certification (CC) exam.

Based on adult learning theory, CertLink questions and explanations provide repeated exposure to relevant information as a way to test and expand knowledge. The process helps individuals fill knowledge gaps and demonstrate proficiency. The questions will be image rich and high quality with practice-relevant content.

The ABNM CertLink pilot was launched in January 2018 and concluded in 2021. It was made a permanent part of the ABNM’s Continuing Certification Program in 2021.

• Enrollment is now open for all eligible diplomates:
• Diplomates with time-limited certificates expiring in 2018 – 2026 must already be enrolled in CertLink to obtain Continuing Certification credit.
• Diplomates with time-limited certificates expiring after 2026 have no specific enrollment deadline yet but are encouraged to begin participating as soon as possible. The enrollment deadline for these diplomates will be announced during 2021.
• Diplomates with lifetime certificates may enroll at any time.

The enrollment form is available on the ABNM website at https://www.abnm.org/index.php/certlinktm/. Make sure your contact information on the enrollment form corresponds to the information in “My Profile” on the ABNM website (www.abnm.org). You may update “My Profile” by logging onto the website anytime. ABNM will reply with a message confirming your enrollment.

Diplomates will be asked to complete surveys prior to, during, and immediately following participation each year. Each of the surveys will take 5-10 minutes to complete.

All diplomates with unexpired, time-limited certificates or with lifetime certificates are eligible to participate if they have not been subject to any ABNM disciplinary actions (probation, suspension, or revocation of certification) in the past 10 years. Diplomates must be current with CC requirements, including Part 2 (Lifelong learning and self-assessment) and Part 4 (Improvement in Medical Practice). The ABNM has made it easier for diplomates to fulfill the requirements, and has added a checkbox to the My Profile page on the ABNM website that allows diplomates to attest they meet the requirements. Diplomates with expired certificates must first pass the CC exam if their certificate expired within the previous 5 years. Diplomates with certificates expired longer than 5 years must first pass the Certification exam.

You will receive 1 hour of CC self-assessment module (SAM) credit for each 6 questions attempted (including new questions and “clones”), which will help fulfill the CC Part II annual SAM requirement. AMA Category 1 continuing medical education (CME) credit is unavailable. Once you recertify using CertLink, you are eligible for 60 AMA PRA Category 1 CreditsTM. You may apply for the AMA PRA Category 1 CreditsTM by completing the online application directly through the AMA Ed Hub at https://edhub.ama-assn.org.

There is no difference in cost between participating in CertLink versus taking the CC exam for diplomates who are currently participating in CC. To participate in CertLink, diplomates must be current with annual CC dues, and pay the same fee paid by diplomates who will take the CC exam in the current year. Diplomates who continue to participate in CertLink will only have to pay the annual CC dues, which is currently $500.

CertLink is being offered as an alternative to the CC exam. You may take the CC exam instead of participating in CertLink.

If you start participating in CertLink and take the CC exam, you must pass the CC exam to continue to participate in CertLink. If you pass the CC exam, you will receive a new time-limited certificate.

You will always have a lifetime certificate, and your participation in CertLink is voluntary, but you may choose to participate in CertLink for the educational benefits as well as to fulfill the requirements of CC.

Diplomates with lifetime certificate who participate in CertLink and meet all CC standards, will be designated as “Participating in CC” on the ABMS public website, www.certificationmatters.org.

Diplomates who meet the CertLink passing standard will get a new time-limited certificate when their current certificate expires.

To ensure that you receive the ABNM CertLink emails, please add the following addresses to your spam or quarantine safe sender lists: [email protected] and [email protected].

The browser-based CertLink platform is optimized for PC and Mac computers. Using a cell phone or tablet is not recommended, because it may be difficult to view images on a small device, particularly for questions with multiple images.

Any browser that is up to date. Your browser of choice may already be set up to update automatically.

Both wired and wireless networks are supported. Testing requires a stable connection and wireless networks can introduce reliability and performance issues. The software allows test takers to easily reconnect when an error occurs, but an unreliable connection can impact testing. We recommend that before answering questions you click the Readiness option on the upper right menu to evaluate your network speed and connectivity.

At a minimum you should have the following:

• Latency/Ping: < 25ms
• Download Speed: > 15 Mbps
• Upload Speed: > 2 Mbps
• Packet Loss: 0%

If your internet connection does not meet these requirements, we recommend that you use a different network or device. If you are using a wireless network, you can try a wired connection.

If your internet connection does not meet these requirements, we recommend that you use a different network or device. If you are using a wireless network, you can try a wired connection.

Your device should be checked to verify it is properly configured for testing. Please click the Readiness option on the upper right menu. Once the Readiness check is complete, please review the results. Please contact support if you have any questions or issues. For best results, run the Readiness check prior to answering questions.

Check with your IT department to ask about the presence of a proxy server. While the presence of a proxy server is usually not a cause for concern, if you plan to answer questions in a workplace environment, you may also want to consider answering questions on a non-work network or computer to help ensure an optimal user experience.
If you encounter any technical issues, please go to the Readiness option on the upper right menu to run a system check. Contact support if you have any questions or need further assistance.

Pop-up blockers may prevent external articles from opening. Additionally, the Readiness check in the upper right menu creates a pop-up window that runs a sample test. This window may be blocked by a pop-up blocker and cause an error in the system check. By configuring pop-up blockers to only allow pop-ups from the testing site, the security of the pop-up blocker software is not compromised. Simply add *.starttest.com to your pop-up blocker’s list of allowed sites.

The privacy of examinees, their personal information, and the test materials are extremely important. Session cookies are used to track the current test each examinee is taking. A session cookie is a special type of cookie that is only stored in memory, and is automatically deleted when the user closes the browser. Session cookies are used to track a user’s current state during their visit, and require that session cookies be enabled to use the site. These cookies are automatically removed when the browser is closed. We do not use or support cookies that in any way are used to track an individual’s Internet usage outside of our own web site.

You can request support in the platform by clicking “Support” in the upper right menu or send an email to [email protected]. If needed, an ABNM CertLink® support agent will follow-up with you as soon as possible. ABNM office hours are Monday thru Friday, 7:30 am – 4:30 pm Central Time.

No. The software will explicitly detect and block the starting of tests on virtual machines.

Your username is the email address that you provided ABNM when registering for CertLink and your password will be sent in an email message with instructions. If you have set your password but have forgotten it, you can request a reset link by clicking “Reset Password” on the login page.

What’s on my dashboard?

The Dashboard provides real-time assessment performance and progress information.

• Community Comparison: The comparison of your performance (percent of the questions answered correctly) to peers who have answered the same questions. Because other diplomates answer questions at different times, you may see these numbers fluctuate.
• Your Performance: Your individual assessment performance, represented by the percent of the questions answered correctly.

Note about scoring: To promote learning and retention, you will sometimes see a question that’s similar to one from a previous quarter, particularly if you answered the question incorrectly (this is the concept of using clone questions in spaced repetition). For scoring purposes, we count these two questions as a single question, with the score of the most recently answered question included in the “Your Performance” calculation. For example, if you answered the first question incorrectly, and the clone question correctly, these are counted as one question answered correctly. As a result, you may see a small discrepancy between “Your Performance” and the actual percentage calculated from your correct and incorrect answers.

• Progress: The number of remaining questions to answer and by when, plus the percentage of questions you’ve answered for the current quarter, e.g. 40% complete.
• Your Assessment Overview: The timeline which displays each quarter of the assessment period, past, current and future.

You will receive 9 new questions each quarter and up to 4 additional questions that are identical or very similar to questions you previously answered (called “clones”).

You will receive 4 new questions in each of the 9 major exam categories (Basic Science, Cardiovascular, Endocrine, Gastrointestinal, Genitourinary, Musculoskeletal, Neurology, Oncology, and Pulmonary). All questions will be multiple-choice, and many will have images.

Questions will be presented in a random order unless you choose to group questions together by category to focus your learning and self-assessment in specific areas.

You will be able to access all questions for one quarter at the beginning of that quarter. You will receive an email or text with a link to the questions at the beginning of the quarter, and you must answer all questions by the quarter’s end. You may choose the rate at which you progress through each quarter’s questions. For example, you may answer one question a week, all of the questions at one time, or any frequency in between.

Yes, diplomates may use other types of educational resources as needed as long as the question is answered in the allotted time. However, the time allotted for a question will typically not provide time for extensive review of educational resources.

No, assessment is considered an individual activity. You may not use “recalled” questions or answers, or any type of information provided by other diplomates.

You will receive immediate feedback for each answer you submit. CertLink will also display your cumulative performance over time, as well as a dashboard to show your areas of strength and weakness in each question category.

After answering each question, you will receive a “critique” which indicates the correct answer, key learning point, and a brief review of the topic, including an explanation of why the options were correct or incorrect. At least one reference will also be provided.

You may receive the same question, or a very similar question (clone), typically in the next quarter. If you answer a question correctly on the second presentation, this will count for your final score (replaces your incorrect response on the initial presentation). You may also receive the same question or clone a second time if you answered a question correctly with low confidence (“guess”). Spaced repetition of questions reinforces learning.

You must answer all new questions (9 per quarter and 36 per year) in order to fulfill the requirements of meaningful participation, which is defined as answering distributed questions within the specified time frame for each year of the pilot program. Answering up to an additional 16 repeated questions or clones per year is optional for meaningful participation, but may be necessary to achieve a passing score.

A psychometrically validated passing score will be determined each year. The percentage correct required to pass will typically be 50-60%, but will vary depending on the difficulty of the questions.

If you don’t achieve a passing score at the end of the fourth year of your participation, you will receive a warning and be given the option of taking the CC exam. You may continue to participate in CertLink, but if you still do not achieve a passing score by the fifth year of participation, will need to pass the CC exam before your certificate expires in order to re-certify.

CertLink can accommodate special needs as currently provided by the CC exam (for example, extra time for those who qualify). You must submit the same documentation required for the CC exam in order to receive appropriate accommodation for special needs.

CertLink can accommodate special needs as currently provided by the CC exam (for example, extra time for those who qualify). You must submit the same documentation required for the CC exam in order to receive appropriate accommodation for special needs.

CertLink is designed with flexibility for emergencies and qualifying life events, with appropriate documentation. Requests should be submitted in advance by email to [email protected].

You will be able to provide feedback on each question after you submit your answer and read the critique. The ABNM will also survey all participating diplomates at least once a year to improve CertLink.

“Page not found” errors can result from a number of different problems. Use the following checklist to try to resolve this problem.

• Try clicking the Refresh button on your browser to reload the page.
• Check to see if you can access other sites to make sure that your internet connection is functioning properly.
• Check to make sure that your web browser and internet connection meet the minimum system requirements listed in Technical Requirements.
• Check to make sure that your anti-virus, firewall, proxy and content filter systems are configured to allow inbound and outbound traffic from the starttest.com sites (you may need assistance from your IT department to check these settings).

If you have checked all of these possible issues, and you still receive the “Page not found” error, you will need to contact Support for further assistance.

If you have anti-virus or firewall software installed on your machine, it may be interfering with question delivery. This software may be a stand-alone application such as Norton or may be part of your browser. Most of these packages allow you to configure them to allow access to sites you approve as safe. Please refer to the help component of your anti-virus or firewall software for further assistance.

Click Readiness on the upper right menu to run a system check. If you have a fast internet connection and questions are taking more than five seconds to load, verify that you do not have performance problems connecting to other sites. If you believe it is a problem with the testing site, please contact Support.

You can request support by clicking “Support” on the login page or within the platform and submitting a ticket. You can also send an email to [email protected]. An ABNM CertLink® support agent will follow-up with you within the ABNM office hours of Monday thru Friday, 7:30 am – 4:30 pm Central Time.

FAQs, Support, and Readiness system check available on both the login page and in the platform, on the upper right menu.

You are presented with any unread notifications upon logging in. These messages can be viewed at any time by going to the Messages icon on the upper right menu.

Updated cards on your dashboard separate your performance (the percentage of questions answered correctly) and your progress through the assessment (percentage of questions that have been answered).

You can now edit your email from your profile page.

You can specify your time zone. On the last day of a segment, the end time of 11:59 pm EST will display according to your time zone.

Improved user experience when answering questions:

• A button by every option and a new strike out icon make answer selection more intuitive.
• If an option is selected but you don’t submit your answer before the time runs out, the selected option will be automatically submitted as your answer.
• Highlighting is now automatic when you select text in the question.