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Quoted: Failed ABIM Boards

Quote:

Need help. I have read these past threads in here from ABIM. I am a recent IM residency grad that failed the IM boards twice. I went to Awesome review for the 2010 exam and for the 2011 exam. I have been a poor test taker ever since Med school, but excelled in College. I always know that I had to put in more time than other individuals in my field for these exams but given that I had personal matters in 2010 and in 2011 including starting a fellowship right before my first sitting for my ABIM boards in 2010 plus a wedding in that month prior and a failed engagement plus having started a job right before my second sitting for my boards in 2011, which did not 100% honor my request for time off prior to my exam and even requested that I work two days prior to my board, heavily destroyed my studying time.

Now I feel that I have an inferiority complex in front of my collegues and feel that my boss at my current job will possibly ask me to leave my job given the lack of board certification, all the while I am trying to study for the exam again. This is too bad as I feel like it is a dream job but the feeling of studying for the boards again robs the positive feeling that I get from my job. I feel like I should have postponed the exam for two years and taken a low key part time job nearby but that affects medical knowledge negatively anyway. All of this needlessly adds to the anxiety.

I plan on getting Medstudy books/flashcards/questions. I already have awesome review books and will start using awesome review once I finish Board Basics 2. My plan is to get through awesome review 4 times and do all of MKSAP 15 three times. Sounds herculean but I have to get this done. All free weekends and days off are spent studying. Will put my social life on hold again until August (after the test).

Need advice.

I doubt I'm going to tell you anything you didn't already know.

You need to prioritize passing the boards.
You can be fired for not passing them.
You should make certain you have enough time to study.
This may involve taking a leave of absence from your work. You might lose your salary during this LOA. That's life.
You should make sure that you do nothing but study for the month of July (assuming that you can study intensely)
You need to find out what study method works for you.

APD puts it politely by saying you need to prioritise passing your boards. I would put it less politely by saying that you need to learn to be selfish. Put yourself and your own interests first in life and work. (That doesn't preclude marriage, as long as you find someone who will put your interests first in return for you putting their interests first.)

Putting your own interests first includes saying no to your boss. Even if it was a new, dream job, you should still have said no to that request for you to work additional time in the run up to your exams. You are a business asset to him, and one he will sweat if he can. A serious part of your job, on a par with turning up to work and being professional while you are there, is not to let him sweat you past what you have agreed in your contract. Particularly in the run-up to your boards, you should be working the minimum time you have contracted for. If that still doesn't allow you as much time for studying as you are comfortable with, leave.

If you pass your boards, there will be lots of jobs for you out there. With 30 to 40 working years ahead, you will have plenty of time to find a good one. If your boss continues to ride roughshod over you, either on exam study time or anything else, it will be in your interests to leave. But if you start standing up to him, the problem may very probably go away.

My first job out of residency gave 5 years on staff to get board certified, or my privileges would be revoked and I would have been discharged. This is somewhat of a standard in less-desperate areas (that is, more desperate places might not require BC).

Did you pass this year? I can relate...I just found i out I failed...for the second time. I am distraught. I used MKSAP the first year (2011) and came out of that exam thinking I was taking a completely different exam. SO this time around, I spent 1200 on a prep course with thousands of questions, also did a 500 question bank from MED STUDY, was sure I passed this time, and just found out I failed...AGAIN!! What gets me is I feel like it makes no sense, I put in so much time, I am devastated, afraid I am going to get fired. I don't know what more I can do. My question is, did you pass this year? And if so, what did you use?

Passing the boards

I took ABIM boards five times over 10 years before I passed. Part of the problem was me: I wasn't selfish, I was a single mom with two toddlers, I worked 50 hours a week, and I didn't know how to study. I also worked only in ER, which I loved.
The Cure was growing up, wanting it more, and Dr Dhalla's course "Unique Board Review Course" in Secaucous, NJ. He does not teach you medicine. He teaches you exactly what you need to pass the boards.
It is ten years later. I am recertifying again. I could not help but take the course again. Equally wonderful. My boards are next week. I will post if I pass. But if I do, it is because of him. I work solely in Emergency Medicine which I love. But IM is my heart and soul, the reason I practice medicine, the core behind it all.
Check it out.
Have heart.
With Dr Dhalla, you WILL pass.:)