Recently, the ABD received the results of the 2025 CertLink survey, and 95% of certified dermatologists who responded said that, overall, they are satisfied with CertLink.
Survey results may be of particular interest to our Diplomates this year. In January 2026, Continuing Certification activities based primarily on CertLink participation became required for continuing certification. For those who haven’t participated in CertLink before now, the positive survey results from many of your colleagues should be reassuring.
Every diplomate who participates in CertLink is invited to fill out the survey in the fourth quarter each year. We encourage all of you to complete the survey because your responses provide ABD a clearer picture of your experience with CertLink. As it stands, between 15% and 21% of users who were invited to take the survey responded. While we would love to have all diplomates complete the brief (about 3 minutes) survey, we believe the essence of the responses is valid and the comments are useful.
The survey has been offered since 2022. The graphic below gives details about the responses to the major categories of inquiry.
These high satisfaction percentages reassure us that CertLink is doing what it is supposed to do -- effectively support physician learning and have a positive impact on the care and treatment of their patients.
The surveys also give us useful suggestions about how we can improve this activity. We read your comments and use them to guide our continuing efforts to improve the activity. (Look for the email invitation to complete your CertLink satisfaction survey in the final quarter of each calendar year.)
For example, when diplomates commented that they would like to read more articles on the curated list of top articles posted in CertLink even if they don’t select them to be part of their CertLink questions, we worked with journal leaders and redesigned our ABD CertLink article library to provide you now with access to all articles. The library is available when you open the CertLink platform. On the far left side of the CertLink dashboard, click “RESOURCES” and then select the ABD Article Library. Choose any of the subspecialty areas for a list of articles.
You do not have to wait until the end of the year to contact us. Please reach out immediately if you are concerned about a specific CertLink question. We especially want to know if you believe the answer listed as correct may be incorrect or not the only right answer listed. For any CertLink question, you can raise your concern by clicking on the Provide Feedback link in Question History. We carefully review the feedback we receive in the context of the question.
ABD is sensitive to the time diplomates spend answering CertLink questions. Most questions are answered in less than 2 minutes. More than half (62%) of respondents say they do not study in advance of completing their quarterly CertLink assessment. Many (20%) report studying an hour or less.
You may use online or textbook resources during CertLink, just as you would use available evidence-based resources during the care of your patients. Less than half (42%) of respondents report they use such resources sometimes, 12% said they never use them, and around 7% say they always use them to answer CertLink questions.
ABD remains very interested in the continuous improvement of all that we do. Your feedback is particularly important to our efforts to improve Continuing Certification. Please share your suggestions through the various feedback links, collaboration hub, and survey invitations as you complete your requirements. Or contact us directly at Communications@ABDerm.org.
*About the Author
Dr. Stratman is the ABD’s Associate Executive Director for Continuous Program Improvement and Research. He also practices dermatology for the Marshfield Clinic - Sanford Health in Marshfield, WI. He is chairman of Dermatology, Dermatology
These high satisfaction percentages reassure us that CertLink is doing what it is supposed to do -- effectively support physician learning and have a positive impact on the care and treatment of their patients.
