IR/DR Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling

What "IR/DR Exam Dates" Actually Means

Searching for IR/DR exam dates can be frustrating, because the credential is not a single sitting on a single day. Interventional Radiology/Diagnostic Radiology (IR/DR) certification through the American Board of Radiology (ABR) requires the Qualifying (Core) Exam and the Certifying Exam, and the Certifying Exam currently has both a computer-based component and an oral component. Each piece has its own logistics, its own fee, and its own scheduling rules.

This article focuses on what is verifiable: how each exam is structured in time, how scheduling mechanics work through ABR's myABR registration system, what the fee and cancellation rules mean for your calendar, and how the announced 2029 process change affects planning. Rather than guess at calendar dates that ABR publishes and revises on its own schedule, treat ABR's current exam-dates pages and the 2026 exam guides as the authority for specific testing windows, and use this article to understand what you are scheduling around.

The Three-Stage Sequence and Where Dates Fit

Think of the credential as a sequence with a hard order. You cannot sit the Certifying Exam without first passing Core, verified training, medical licensure, and professional standing. The practical flow looks like this:

1. Qualifying (Core) Exam, a three-day remote exam taken during or near the end of residency.
2. Certifying Exam, computer-based component, a single remote session, unless you are exempt (see below).
3. Certifying Exam, oral component, a remote examiner-led session of four case periods.

Each stage has a separate application and fee step, which means three separate sets of dates to track. If you are still mapping the overall path, the IR/DR requirements guide explains the integrated pathway (a clinical year plus a five-year accredited IR residency) and the independent pathway (DR residency followed by two years of IR training, potentially one year with approved ESIR).

The application fee is separate: $640 in general, or $2,000 for international medical graduates. For the full financial picture, see the IR/DR certification cost breakdown.

Qualifying (Core) Exam: Remote Schedule Mechanics

Per ABR's 2026 Remote Qualifying (Core) Exam Guide (revised July 23, 2026), the Core exam spans three days and 615 questions. The total allotted time is 15 hours 44 minutes, but that figure includes tutorials, breaks, and intermissions. The six published answering periods sum to 11 hours 9 minutes of active question time, a figure calculated from the official schedule table. The guide does not specify how the 615 questions divide between scored and unscored items.

Delivery is remote, with ABR-run exam delivery and monitoring and registration through myABR. The current guides do not establish a Pearson VUE or PSI testing-center arrangement, so be skeptical of third-party pages that claim otherwise. If you are comparing sources, note that some commercial sites list testing-center delivery and different fees; those claims are not supported by ABR's own documents.

For a sense of how demanding this three-day format is, read how hard the IR/DR exam is, which separates the difficulty of the Core stage from the certifying stages.

Certifying Computer-Based Component: Session Timing

The computer-based certifying component is a single remote session described in ABR's 2026 Remote Computer-based Certifying Exam Guide (revised July 23, 2026). The schedule on page 10 specifies:

• 178 questions
• 3 hours 13 minutes of answering time
• 20 minutes of tutorial and practice
• 20 minutes of break time
• A maximum allotted session of 3 hours 53 minutes

That works out to roughly one minute of answering time per question on average, which is a useful pacing anchor when you rehearse. Multiple-choice questions predominate, though ABR also describes image-location and drag-and-drop formats. The exam is closed book, uses one monitor and a side-view webcam, and is subject to live or recorded monitoring. A software calculator is supplied, and personal calculators are prohibited. Questions you have already viewed are locked after a break, so you cannot return to them once the break begins.

What the session covers

The content maps to the Essentials of Diagnostic Radiology module plus five preparation headings from ABR's computer-based study guide. None of these carry published percentage weights, so do not trust any source that assigns them.

The IR/DR exam domains guide walks through all ten content areas and explains why the count of ten is a counting convention across components rather than an ABR claim of ten unified weighted domains.

Oral Component: Four Periods in One Sitting

The oral component is the most scheduling-sensitive part of the credential, because it is live and examiner-led. According to ABR's 2026 Remote Oral Certifying Exam Guide (revised July 9, 2026), the exam consists of four separate 30-minute case periods. Active assessment is 2 hours, and the guide states the full sitting can run up to 3 hours 10 minutes including check-in and breaks. ABR does not disclose a fixed number of oral cases or questions.

The format is closed book with remote webcam monitoring and no personal calculator. Candidates are assessed on image interpretation, image-guided procedures, and periprocedural management. The four categories mirror the oral study guide:

Because the oral exam is scored as a whole and there is no conditional pass for the IR oral, a weak period cannot be shelved for a later partial retake. That raises the stakes on scheduling: choose a sitting when you can prepare across all four categories rather than hoping to compensate in strong areas. The IR/DR passing score guide explains the criterion-referenced scoring approach, and the IR/DR pass rate analysis puts ABR's reported oral rates in context (88% first-time among 219 examinees in 2026, and 88% among 190 in 2025, which are component-level cohort figures, not an overall credential pass rate).

Deadlines, Fees, and Rescheduling Credits

Scheduling is not free of financial consequence. ABR fees are nonrefundable, and published rescheduling-credit rules apply. The numbers that bear directly on your calendar:

The $400 late oral cancellation fee applies under ABR's stated deadline rules, so read those deadlines in your myABR account before you register rather than after a conflict arises. ABR publishes no member versus nonmember split, so the figures above apply to everyone.

The Six-Year Eligibility Window

One of the most commonly misunderstood dates is the eligibility window. ABR states that certification eligibility lasts six full calendar years after training. That is the period during which you can pursue certification, and it is not the length of time your certification stays valid once earned. Candidates who run out the clock face a separate set of published rules, so if you have had gaps, leaves, or failed attempts, count your calendar years carefully.

Once you are certified, validity works differently: certification is continuous and subject to ABR Continuing Certification rather than a fixed five- or ten-year certificate. You must hold unrestricted medical licensure, earn at least 75 Category 1 CME credits per rolling three years, meet the five-year assessment requirement through OLA or a Continuing Certification exam, and complete one PQI project or qualifying activity per rolling three years. Newly certified diplomates first meet the CME and PQI requirements in year four. The annual IR/DR Continuing Certification fee is $340.

For a broader view of what certification represents and what it unlocks, see IR/DR certification and whether it is worth it.

DR-Certified Candidates and the Exemption

Existing DR certification exempts a candidate from the computer-based certifying component. If you already hold ABR diagnostic radiology certification, you skip that session and your remaining scheduled step is the oral component. This changes your timeline meaningfully: one fewer exam to schedule, one fewer fee ($640 saved), and one fewer preparation block.

That said, exemption from the computer-based component does not mean the Essentials content is irrelevant to your oral performance. Image interpretation is one of the three assessed skills in the oral exam, so DR-certified candidates still benefit from keeping their diagnostic foundation sharp while they focus preparation on the four oral categories.

The 2029 Process Change and Your Timeline

ABR's IR/DR Certifying Exam Process Update announces that the current IR/DR computer-based component ends after 2028, with a DR Oral plus IR Oral process beginning in 2029. This is important for anyone whose eligibility window straddles the change. The update was published in sections dated March 10 and December 12, 2025, and the later section changes timing discussed in the earlier one, so read both together rather than relying on the first announcement alone.

Backward-Planning Your Preparation by Domain

Because the two certifying components test different skills, schedule your preparation around the component you are actually sitting. Here is one way to work backward from a computer-based or oral date, tied to the specific domains rather than generic habits:

If you hold DR certification and are exempt from the computer-based component, compress the first half and spend the saved time on oral rehearsal. For a fuller study framework, the IR/DR study guide expands on resources and sequencing, and the IR/DR cheat sheet condenses the must-know facts for final review.

When you want timed, exam-style repetition for the computer-based format, the IR/DR practice test is built for exactly that kind of paced question practice. You can also return to the main practice site in the final weeks to check pacing against the roughly one-minute-per-question benchmark.

Frequently Asked Questions

For a plain-language overview of the credential itself, start with what IR/DR certification is, and keep the IR/DR exam dates page bookmarked as ABR updates its calendar.