The American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ABMGG) recognizes that its diplomates will transition and retire from their professional career responsibilities. Certification by ABMGG is a significant achievement, and we acknowledge that those who have maintained the board certification status throughout their professional practice years and are now retired, may wish to be recognized with a Retired status designation.
Retired status designation allows those diplomates who have actively maintained their board certification to:
- Convey to the public, including patients, medical institutions, employers, credentialing agencies, and others, that they are no longer clinically practicing in medical genetics and genomics.
- Retire from the ABMGG Continuing Certification Program, although there is the opportunity to participate in longitudinal assessment.
- Help the ABMGG keep accurate records of current and retired diplomates in each specialty.
In accordance with the ABMS, the Retired status designation refers to a diplomate who at the time of retirement:
- Is not performing any functions for which board certification is required.
- Is not involved in any intermittent, part-time, or full time in direct, indirect, and/or consultative clinical care, overseeing medical laboratories, supervising in a medical field, or any function for which ABMGG certification is required.
Requirements for diplomates who wish to change their certification status to Retired:
- All applicable continuing certification program requirements (including fees) must be current at the time of retirement.
- Retirement status cannot be used in lieu of revocation of board certification or any other disciplinary action.
- If a clinical geneticist with an active clinical license, that license should be clear of any ongoing or pending disciplinary action.
- Retired status cannot be in lieu of an expired or of a being clinically inactive*.
- The diplomate must notify the ABMGG of the change in status to retired by submission of the Diplomate Request for Retired Status form linked below or available by contacting the administrative office at abmgg@abmgg.org.
Notification of change in status to retired at the ABMGG will result in the following:
- Change in status to Retired for all ABMGG specialty and/or subspecialty certifications, which will be reflected in ABMGG records and publicly at ABMS Certification Matters.
- Removal from routine emails from ABMGG sent to current diplomates, unless otherwise requested.
- The opportunity to participate in Continuing Certification activities via longitudinal assessment program (CertLink) at a discounted rate, if desired.
To change status from Retired to Certified:
If an individual wishes to change their status from retired and reinstated to either clinically active or clinically inactive, they must fulfill all requirements in the ABMGG reinstatement policy.
Approved by the ABMGG Board of Directors, Feb. 2023; revised March 2025.