- What Is MHP Certification?
- Who Administers the Exam
- Eligibility and Pathway to Sit
- Exam Format, Duration, and Question Types
- The Nine Part II Blueprint Domains
- Registration and Fee Mechanics
- Pass Rates and Passing Standard
- Who Hires MHP-Certified Physicists
- Building an MHP-Specific Prep Plan
- Maintaining Certification
- Frequently Asked Questions
- MHP Certification refers to the American Board of Medical Physics (ABMP) Part II Medical Health Physics specialty exam.
- Five domains - Standards and Regulations, Structural Shielding, Radiation Oncology, Diagnostic Imaging, and Nuclear Medicine - each carry 15%, or 75% of the...
- The 2026 Part II fee is $690 by check or $715 through PayPal, for a four-hour, on-site ExamSoft exam.
- Recent pass rates were 44% (2023), 60% (2024), and 57% (2025), calculated across all candidates for that sitting.
What Is MHP Certification?
MHP Certification refers specifically to the Medical Health Physics credential issued through the American Board of Medical Physics (ABMP) - a distinct board with its own testing sequence, blueprint, and eligibility rules. This article focuses on the Part II written Medical Health Physics specialty examination, which is the exam most candidates mean when they ask about "the MHP exam," as opposed to the Part I General Medical Physics exam or the Part III oral examination that follows later in the sequence.
If you're just getting oriented, related primers like What Is MHP?, MHP Meaning, and What Does MHP Stand For? cover the terminology in more depth. This piece goes further into the mechanics of certification itself: who administers it, what it costs, how it's scored, and what a candidate actually needs to know to pass.
Who Administers the Exam
The American Board of Medical Physics (ABMP) develops and administers the Part II Medical Health Physics examination. ABMP delivers the exam on-site through ExamSoft software, which candidates run on their own compatible computer at a designated testing venue rather than at a third-party testing center. This delivery model is worth planning around: candidates are responsible for confirming their device meets ExamSoft's technical requirements well ahead of test day.
ABMP publishes an official information booklet (most recently revised May 2025) along with an online blueprint that lists the nine weighted content areas. For a full breakdown of what's inside that document, see MHP Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 9 Content Areas.
Eligibility and Pathway to Sit
Before a candidate can register for Part II, ABMP requires several pieces to be in place:
- A relevant graduate degree in medical physics or a closely related field
- Supervised clinical experience, with the required duration varying by degree type and whether a residency was completed
- An endorsement from a board-certified physicist
- An endorsement from a board-certified physician
- A completed MHP Training and Education Form documenting the above
The typical certification sequence runs through Part I credit (or an approved waiver), followed by Part II, followed by Part III oral examination. There is also a separate direct-to-oral pathway available to qualified Certified Health Physicists who meet ABMP's alternate criteria. Because eligibility rules are degree- and experience-dependent, candidates should review the specifics carefully rather than assume a one-size-fits-all timeline - a full walkthrough is available in MHP Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Key Takeaway
Don't wait until exam registration to start collecting endorsements. The physician and physicist sign-offs, plus the Training and Education Form, typically take longer to assemble than candidates expect.
Exam Format, Duration, and Question Types
The Part II Medical Health Physics exam runs four hours and uses a mix of question formats designed to test both recall and applied judgment:
- Single-answer multiple choice - the most common format, testing direct factual and conceptual knowledge
- Matching - pairing terms, regulations, or values across two lists
- Choose-all-that-apply - requiring candidates to identify every correct option, not just one
- Shared-stem Type S questions - a scenario or dataset followed by multiple related questions, common in clinical shielding and dosimetry contexts
Nonprogrammable scientific calculators and scratch paper supplied by the proctor are permitted; candidates should confirm their calculator model qualifies well before test day. Because format variety changes how you should study - matching and shared-stem items reward pattern recognition across a topic, not just memorized single facts - it's worth reviewing sample-style breakdowns in MHP Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt before building a study plan.
The Nine Part II Blueprint Domains
The current online blueprint organizes Part II content into nine weighted areas. Five of them - each worth 15% - make up 75% of the entire exam:
| Domain | Weight |
|---|---|
| Standards and Regulations | 15% |
| Structural Shielding | 15% |
| Radiation Oncology | 15% |
| Diagnostic Imaging | 15% |
| Nuclear Medicine (molecular imaging) | 15% |
| Instrumentation | 10% |
| Laboratory Design | 5% |
| Radiation Biology | 5% |
| Non-ionizing Radiation | 5% |
The math is straightforward but important: those five 15%-weighted domains together account for three-quarters of your score. Any study plan that doesn't front-load time on Standards and Regulations, Structural Shielding, Radiation Oncology, Diagnostic Imaging, and Nuclear Medicine is misallocating effort.
Structural Shielding
Candidates need fluency with shielding calculations for different room types (therapy vaults, diagnostic imaging rooms, nuclear medicine hot labs) and the variables that drive them.
- Workload, use factor, and occupancy factor relationships
- Primary versus secondary barrier requirements
- How room function changes shielding assumptions
Standards and Regulations
This domain draws on regulatory frameworks governing radiation safety programs, dose limits, and facility licensing.
- Occupational and public dose limit concepts
- ALARA program requirements
- Recordkeeping and reporting obligations
Radiation Oncology, Diagnostic Imaging, and Nuclear Medicine
These three clinical domains, each also weighted 15%, test the applied side of health physics: how radiation safety principles play out in real departments.
- Treatment room and equipment-specific safety controls in oncology
- Imaging modality-specific dose and shielding considerations
- Radiopharmaceutical handling and molecular imaging safety practices
The remaining four domains - Instrumentation, Laboratory Design, Radiation Biology, and Non-ionizing Radiation - carry smaller individual weights but still require solid command, since choose-all-that-apply and matching formats can penalize partial knowledge. For a domain-by-domain study sequence, see MHP Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 9 Content Areas, and for a distilled reference during final review, MHP Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts can help consolidate key numbers and definitions.
Registration and Fee Mechanics
For 2026, the Part II examination fee is $690 if paid by check or $715 if paid through PayPal. That fee difference reflects payment processing costs rather than any change in exam content or scoring. Candidates should factor exam fees alongside any preparation materials and travel to the designated testing venue when budgeting for certification. A full cost breakdown, including how fees fit into the broader certification timeline, is available in MHP Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
Scheduling logistics - including when to submit eligibility documentation relative to a target testing window - are covered in MHP Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling.
Pass Rates and Passing Standard
ABMP sets its passing standard using a Modified Angoff process, a method where subject-matter experts estimate the difficulty of each item to establish a defensible cut score rather than using a fixed percentage like 70%. This means the passing score can shift slightly from year to year based on the specific item set, not on quotas.
Official Part II pass rates, calculated as candidates passing divided by all candidates taking that sitting (not a first-time-only rate), were:
- 44% in 2023
- 60% in 2024
- 57% in 2025
These figures suggest meaningful year-to-year variation, which is worth understanding before you assume any single number represents your odds. A deeper look at what's driving that variation is in MHP Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows, and for context on how the Modified Angoff standard translates into an actual score target, see MHP Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass. If you're weighing how demanding the exam is relative to your background, How Hard Is the MHP Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 unpacks the format and content factors that make it challenging.
Who Hires MHP-Certified Physicists
Medical health physicists with this certification typically work in hospital radiation oncology departments, diagnostic imaging and radiology departments, nuclear medicine and molecular imaging programs, and academic medical centers that require dedicated radiation safety oversight. Given that Radiation Oncology, Diagnostic Imaging, and Nuclear Medicine collectively make up 45% of the exam blueprint, it's not surprising that these are also the clinical settings where MHP-certified professionals are most commonly employed as radiation safety officers, medical physicists, or compliance leads.
If you're evaluating whether pursuing this credential fits your career goals, MHP Jobs outlines the kinds of roles that typically require or prefer certification, while MHP Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis and Is the MHP Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 address the return-on-investment question in more depth.
Building an MHP-Specific Prep Plan
Generic study techniques only help when they're mapped onto the actual blueprint weighting. A practical approach is to sequence review blocks around the five 15%-weighted domains first, then layer in the smaller domains as reinforcement rather than as an afterthought.
Structural Shielding and Standards and Regulations
- Work through shielding calculation problems across room types
- Review regulatory dose limits and ALARA program requirements
Radiation Oncology, Diagnostic Imaging, Nuclear Medicine
- Study equipment-specific safety controls for each clinical setting
- Practice shared-stem Type S scenarios that combine these domains
Instrumentation, Lab Design, Radiation Biology, Non-ionizing Radiation
- Cover smaller-weighted domains without neglecting depth
- Use matching and choose-all-that-apply practice items to test breadth
Integration and Review
- Full-length timed practice under four-hour conditions
- Confirm ExamSoft device compatibility and calculator eligibility
Spacing your review this way - heavy domains early and often, lighter domains layered in without being skipped - tends to work better than an even split across all nine areas regardless of weight. For a more detailed week-by-week structure and question-practice strategy, see MHP Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt. You can also build applied practice into your routine using timed question sets on our practice test platform, which mirrors the format variety you'll encounter on exam day.
Maintaining Certification
MHP Certification is not permanent - it renews on a five-year cycle. To maintain active status, certificants must accumulate 125 continuing education (CE) credits over that period, including at least 65 Category 1 credits, with no more than 60 Category 2 credits counted toward the total. This structure ensures certified physicists keep pace with evolving regulations, equipment, and clinical practice standards rather than relying solely on their original exam knowledge.
Planning CE activity early in the five-year window, rather than scrambling near the deadline, makes it easier to hit the Category 1 minimum comfortably.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. This article refers exclusively to the American Board of Medical Physics (ABMP) Medical Health Physics Part II examination. Other fields use "MHP" for unrelated credentials, so always confirm the certifying body before comparing facts, fees, or pass rates.
The exam runs four hours and is delivered on-site through ExamSoft on the candidate's own compatible computer. Nonprogrammable scientific calculators and proctor-supplied scratch paper are permitted.
Standards and Regulations, Structural Shielding, Radiation Oncology, Diagnostic Imaging, and Nuclear Medicine each carry 15% of the blueprint, together making up 75% of the exam. These five domains deserve the majority of your preparation time.
The 2026 fee is $690 if paid by check or $715 if paid via PayPal. This covers the Part II written examination only, not Part I or Part III.
You need a relevant graduate degree, degree- and residency-dependent supervised clinical experience, an endorsement from a board-certified physicist, an endorsement from a board-certified physician, and a completed MHP Training and Education Form.