The Certified Health Physicist Examination is professionally certified by the American Board of Health Physics. It tests professional knowledge across five domains, including measurements and instrumentation, standards and requirements, hazards analysis and controls, operations and procedures, and fundamentals and education to ensure safety and competence for all health physics professionals seeking this credential.
Health physicists and radiation safety professionals seeking professional certification. Candidates should prepare for an evaluation covering instrumentation, regulatory compliance, hazard controls, operational procedures, and fundamental health physics education to demonstrate their expertise in the field.
Successful candidates spend considerable time studying for the certification examination. Review health physics fundamentals and applied aspects across all specialty areas. Joining a formal or informal study group helps maintain a systematic review schedule. Candidates should utilize official practice materials and textbooks to reinforce their understanding of radiation safety principles and regulatory frameworks before attempting the final assessment.
This domain covers measurements and instrumentation, focusing on the selection and use of measuring instruments, data quality objectives, quality control, calibration, maintenance, and performance testing of instrumentation used in radiation protection settings.
This domain covers standards and requirements, addressing guidelines from established groups like ICRP, NCRP, ANSI, and ASTM, alongside the specific requirements of regulatory agencies such as NRC, DOE, EPA, DOT, OSHA, and FEMA.
This domain covers hazards analysis and controls, focusing on hazard identification, engineered controls, potential failures of protective control systems, and evaluating potential radiological consequences to ensure safety in diverse work environments.
This domain covers operations and procedures, incorporating radiation protection considerations into an operating program, standard operating practices, and effective emergency response measures to maintain safety during all routine and non-routine facility activities.
This domain covers fundamentals and education, including the content of training the health physicist receives and the educational programs prepared, reviewed, and presented to staff members within the radiation protection department.
Part I testing centers provide a computer-based calculator program. Calculators are allowed for the Part II exam. No recording or transmitting devices are permitted during the 540 minutes of testing.
The exam structure is detailed in official guidelines provided by the organization. Candidates should review the complete exam blueprint directly from the official American Board of Health Physics website to understand the exact format of the testing parts.
The passing score for Part I requires at least 95 questions correctly answered. For Part II, the passing score is 67.0 percent or better, which corresponds to 469 points out of a total possible 700 points.
Candidates are given a total of 540 minutes during the testing process for certification. This duration accommodates the thorough evaluation required to assess professional knowledge and competencies in health physics standards.
The exam covers five domains: Measurements and Instrumentation at 25.0 percent, Standards and Requirements at 20.0 percent, Hazards Analysis and Controls at 20.0 percent, Operations and Procedures at 20.0 percent, and Fundamentals and Education at 15.0 percent.
Verified 2026-09-13
This overview is built using official American Board of Health Physics documentation, domains of practice, and published exam structure details to ensure accuracy for candidates.