ABEM board exam

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Good luck to all those taking qualifying exam this week.

I will be taking it this Thursday. 75 to stay alive.

Good Luck.
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Yup, Thursday for me as well.

Good luck to all... I will definitely be partaking in some spirits afterwards...
 
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Wednesday for me! I'm starting Peer VII now. I guess late is better than never!
 
I'm Wednesday too. You can easily get through Peer 7 between now and then, assuming you dont have anything else to do.
 
I'm taking it Friday, then celebrating Thanksgiving that night since I'll be working next week. Best of luck to all. Anyone know what the 1st time pass rate is?
 
All the numbers I've seen range from 88-94%. My brain knows that I am statistically almost guaranteed to pass, yet I just can't convince my gut of this fact. Now back to work. Good luck everybody!
 
I'm Thursday as well.

I started the PEER questions awhile ago, but have slacked. What's nice about this year is that I now read the question and think about the lady I saw in bed 18 who had whatever the question is about.

And to top it all off, I nailed an Angel Trumpet intoxication last week. My nurses think I'm a tox goddess. (I'm not) I'm just glad that he was indeed mad as a hatter and blind as a bat. Not hot as a furnace, but a little beet-like. And so incoherent I couldn't get ANY history other than "wandering per police." I even surmised that he'd probably eaten angel trumpet. When he cleared about 8 hours later, the nurses trimphantly told me I was right all along. Two leaves and a flower, to be exact.

Which reminds me, I need to review the cards meds overdoses/ingestions again. Anyone got a quick review sheet floating around?
 
I took it on Monday. I celebrated with my wife and another EP that afternoon. A friend took it today. I celebrated with her for lunch.

Since I'm sure someone on this forum will take it tomorrow, I'll celebrate with you 'virtually'.

It feels really, really good to be done with that. For some reason, I'm not as freaked about the orals next year as I was about the qualifying. Perhaps it's just because they're next year.

Good luck everyone!

Take care,
Jeff
 
Just finished the exam today. Not as bad as I was fearing. Actually seemed pretty straightforward. Hopefully I haven't jinxed myself into failure by saying that. I guess we'll find out next year if I post that I'm retaking it!

305 questions, 3h10m for each section. I think I finished in only about 1h15m for each section, and then went through and reviewed each question. Took about 15 min break between sections just to get something to drink, use the loo, and walk around outside a bit (it's a warm 65 degrees here).

Good luck to all that are taking it this year!
 
funny I went back through every single question too. the way you could choose pretty much any answer by clicking near the choices bothered me.
 
Taking it tomorrow - glad to hear it's pretty straight-forward. Funny that I wasn't the least bit nervous until today, when of course, it's too late to do anything about it.

Best wishes everyone!
 
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I thought it was hard. Much harder than expected. I scored pretty high on my last in-service and was doing pretty well on Peer. So I felt pretty confident going in. I seriously have no idea how I did and I'm usually pretty confident about tests. I had trouble with the question stems being really vague and the pictures were horrible! How long do scores take? Good luck everyone.
 
I am with you on this one, Lumberg... I thought the in-service was easier than the actual exam...:(

I guess I will find out in ~90 days...
 
I agree with EMCC and Lumberg. My test was vague and hard. it's almost like a game of guess what i'm thinking. Do u guys know how many of the 305 questions are experimental? I'm really scared!!:confused::cry: The test basically did this to me:diebanana:
 
lowaju said:
I agree with EMCC and Lumberg. My test was vague and hard. it's almost like a game of guess what i'm thinking. Do u guys know how many of the 305 questions are experimental? I'm really scared!!:confused::cry: The test basically did this to me:diebanana:
Click to expand...

Did anyone notice how awful a lot of the X-rays were? Many of them were of extremely poor quality and resolution. They were so washed out I couldn't figure out what they were getting at. One of the ultrasounds had such bad resolution that I couldn't figure out if it was heart, kidney, or liver I was looking at. I would think that ABEM should be able to get the highest quality, best images available. Most of them looked like something an intern would take off of Google images to put in a Powerpoint presentation - only worse.

Many of the questions were also vague, and expected you to make a diagnosis. Example (completely made up question not from ABEM):

8 year old with abdominal pain, no fever, and ate an orange last week. What is the most common complication of this syndrome?
 
Ha! My thoughts exactly. Many of the Xrays had me squinting, getting out of my chair, and trying to figure out what was what. Don't even get me started on that d*mn ultrasound image... grrrrrr... (oops, did I say ultrasound? I meant MRI image [can I say that?])

My favorite were the nebulous questions where they asked what should be part of the workup--even when 2-3 answers should be "standard" parts of the workup...

One thing I realized is that I am horrible at choosing antibiotic therapy (based on ABEM "recommendations"). Anyone else feel that way?

Hey Veers: I was reading one of the booklets they gave us in the mail weeks ago, and it stated we were allowed to discuss the In service exam since it is considered a teaching tool. I wonder if they changed that based on your residency...
 
GeneralVeers said:
Many of the questions were also vague, and expected you to make a diagnosis. Example (completely made up question not from ABEM):

8 year old with abdominal pain, no fever, and ate an orange last week. What is the most common complication of this syndrome?
Click to expand...

Bingo. I thought the first half wasn't too bad... and then I got a lot of those random questions in the second half - except the ones that got me were when it asked what medication I'd administer to said child who ate said orange: (again, totally made up)

a)propranolol
b)CroFab
c)ketamine
d)medrol dose pack
e)oral contraceptives

WTF?

FWIW, I though the EKGs were better than the ones on prior in-services, but the x-rays were still pretty lousy.

Glad it's over.
 
ABEM needs to release its own list of antibiotic recommendations so we can study it before the exam. On half of the questions where it asked what antibiotics I'd use, there were never the ones I would want to use. Why no Zosyn or Invanz?
 
Did any of you comment on the quality of stimulus images when you filled out the survey? I put in the comments section that the x-rays should be in a stimulus book since the resolution and color of the monitors is so poor. The x-rays were hard to make out -- they were very washed out.

The photos were worse than Googled images. They had the resolution of a photo taken off the PACS system by a cheap cell phone!

Oh well, as long as I pass I'll be ok. :)
 
Without getting into specifics, it seems like we all had the same questions more or less.

So, why, after spending $1100 does it take 90 days to get our scores to us??? I can understand a few weeks to make sure "bad" questions get thrown out, but 3 months! Come on... I need to start registering for next year! :oops:
 
EMCC said:
Without getting into specifics, it seems like we all had the same questions more or less.

So, why, after spending $1100 does it take 90 days to get our scores to us??? I can understand a few weeks to make sure "bad" questions get thrown out, but 3 months! Come on... I need to start registering for next year! :oops:
Click to expand...
For some reason I was thinking results were mailed mid-December, but guessing that's not the case. Are we really going to have to wait until February to get our results?

What months are the orals? I know spring and fall, but does anyone know the specific months?
 
Where was this survey you speak of? I dont think I saw it.

I commented on some of the images, they were horrid. Even on ones where I probably got it right, it was more "what do I expect to see" than what I saw. I adjusted that monitor to every angle on one of them and couldnt figure out what I was seeing.
 
Wait, you mean I don't get a radiology report with these images?

Oh crap...

j/k
 
So, I never got the survey. I've decided the exam knew I failed and thus did not provide me one at the end. I'm so positive and never neurotic about things like this.
 
Did any of you get this question right:

How can you best improve patient satisfaction as measured on the Press-Ganey (PG) survey?

A. Narcotics for Everyone

B. Erotic Massage

C. Free movie tickets

D. Giving antibiotics for a runny nose

E. I don't give a $&*#$#* about Press-Ganey
 
Amen to the above comments. I was just griping to the wife about the very same vague stems that expected you to make a dx. I'm glad I didn't study, because it really would not have helped. Steve PS. I commented on many of the stimuli and several question stems.
 
Still drunk from last night.

I'll be doing this next year again. studying does not help.

Got to love the pictures: Is it an arm or a penis? quality images.
 
GeneralVeers said:
How can you best improve patient satisfaction as measured on the Press-Ganey (PG) survey?

A. Narcotics for Everyone

B. Erotic Massage

C. Free movie tickets

D. Giving antibiotics for a runny nose

E. I don't give a $&*#$#* about Press-Ganey
Click to expand...

I just HATE when they ask you to choose between three options that are all standard of care!

Take care,
Jeff
 
GeneralVeers said:
Example (completely made up question not from ABEM):

8 year old with abdominal pain, no fever, and ate an orange last week. What is the most common complication of this syndrome?
Click to expand...


Or, what is the third most common complication of the second line therapy for the fourth most common complication of this syndrome, in Russian children born in Portugal on a Tuesday?

Take care,
Jeff
 
Slept on it, don't feel any better. I really feel like I failed. There is no way, with the amount of pure guessing that I did, that I scored 75%. I actually flipped off the screen a few times, especially the absolutely S--t images they ran up there. Hope ABEM has that on video. I scored 87% on my in-service and was consistently around 82-85 % on PEER, which everyone told me was easier. My partners are going to fire me.
Thanks and good luck
 
Lumberg said:
Slept on it, don't feel any better. I really feel like I failed. There is no way, with the amount of pure guessing that I did, that I scored 75%. I actually flipped off the screen a few times, especially the absolutely S--t images they ran up there. Hope ABEM has that on video. I scored 87% on my in-service and was consistently around 82-85 % on PEER, which everyone told me was easier. My partners are going to fire me.
Thanks and good luck
Click to expand...

I had 86% on in-service. I also feel like I failed. Some of the questions I don't think I would have gotten right even if I had looked them up in Tintinalli. They were just too vague.
 
GeneralVeers said:
I had 86% on in-service. I also feel like I failed. Some of the questions I don't think I would have gotten right even if I had looked them up in Tintinalli. They were just too vague.
Click to expand...

I'll say it again to all of you. Relax. How you feel you did on the test has little correlation with how you actually did. There is more correlation to your personality. I've been watching this for almost 30 years now.

I've seen really confident types fail badly. I've seen an awful lot of humble brilliant types convinced that they failed.
 
The most obscure, esoteric, inapplicable-to-the-practice-of-EM test ever created. Absolutely bizarre.
 
I slept on it and i don't feel better either. You guys are right I don't know what else i could have done. I tortured myself and looked thru that book by Aldeen, The 1000 questions in Emergency Medicine to Help You Pass the Boards and I found alot of similar questions in there. I should have done that book and ditched PEER VII. Anyway, i want to ask again, does anyone know how many of those questions are the field test questions cuz that may be my only saving grace, assuming those were the majority of the questions i got wrong. Also wondering, is it possible that only the people who took it on Thursday thought it was hard. i hope that's not the case since they're suppose to make this test fair to all takers. I feel so sad and disappointed. i'm suppose to go to work tonight. I have NO PEP in my step. What's worst is that i'll be tortured for a couple more months till the results come out. Anyway, i wish the best for ALL of us, hope we can look back on this and laugh about it, cuz i have no tears left!!
 
I hope 300 questions were test questions and the really simple straightforward questions (yes, there were a few) were the real questions...

If so, then I am sure I passed. If not, oh well...

BKN, I don't quite understand what the test was supposed to find out. Do I know ABEM obscure recommendations on work-ups? Or am I supposed to know what to do when I get a patient in the ED? blah blah blah

Not that I had a question like that...
 
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I like hypothetical questions involving things I can definitively treat or get a diagnostic study, but not both. Why?
 
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A patient presents with a large, eliptico-spherical growth lateral & posterior to the left sternocleidomastoid. The growth phonates, has trichosis, and bilateral pinnae. As you examine the growth it makes the following sound, "Hello doctor, how are you today?"

What's the diagnosis?
A second head.
 
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WilcoWorld said:
Here's another "made up" question that's astoundingly stupid:

A patient comes in with an arm that is falling off, and spurting blood Monty Python style. What is the diagnosis?

Answer: Arm Amputation

Umm, why would anyone need to diagnose an arm amputation based on a written description of it when it's completely obvious at a glance? Oh, yeah - apparently ABEM's vision is about 20/200.
Click to expand...

Maybe it was just a flesh wound
 
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Studied my a&@ off and still probably would have done better if I chose to "abacab" it and close my eyes instead of looking at the pictures (I think they were pictures)! Not sure why they make it so painful, I think the right of passage is not the test, it is the fear or the us mail for the next 90 days!

Good luck to all!:hardy:
 
WilcoWorld said:
edited for safety..
Click to expand...

I am glad you answered the same as me. I literally spent a minute trying to decide if the question was as simple as it seemed to me. I went through each answer trying to rationalize why it could be any of the other ones other than a 2nd head...
 
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BKN said:
I'll say it again to all of you. Relax. How you feel you did on the test has little correlation with how you actually did. There is more correlation to your personality. I've been watching this for almost 30 years now.

I've seen really confident types fail badly. I've seen an awful lot of humble brilliant types convinced that they failed.
Click to expand...

Thanks BKN. I know you're trying to talk us off the ledge here. My concern is that, as a group, all of us are EM attendings who have been extremely successful at the highest level. Essentially, we are all studs (studettes) when it comes to exams. I know lots of folks tend to moan about "how I failed" then get a 96, but that seems to me more a pre med/med student response than an intelligent assessment of one's performance.
Anyway, still bumming...trying to figure out what my partners are going to do above and beyond the merciless hazing that will ensue.
Oh, BTW in reference to the above "question", got it wrong evidently. I thought no way in hell they asking THAT.
 
Apollyon said:
Guys, careful. I know about which you're all talking, but you're getting close to blowing it.
Click to expand...
Seriously, if there is any hint of real questions here, those posts should be edited. ABEM is very strict about discussing questions, and I don't want SDN and all its members being investigated for disclosing questions (real or experimental).
 
I've got the policy book in front of me here and it reads:

"Discussing the specific content of the examination with one or more fellow candidates or diplomates, before, during, or after the administration of the examination"

Now, I really enjoy reading SDN, so I would not want to jeopardize the site. This is why when I wrote a hypothetical question satirizing the examination I intentionally wrote it in a style that I did not think constitutes "Discussing the specific content of the examination".

However, even though I think no court would find my post a violation of this policy, I would hate to land SDN in court. So I'll edit the post.
 
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WilcoWorld said:
I've got the policy book in front of me here and it reads:

"Discussing the specific content of the examination with one or more fellow candidates or diplomates, before, during, or after the administration of the examination"

Now, I really enjoy reading SDN, so I would not want to jeopardize the site. This is why when I wrote a hypothetical question satirizing the examination I intentionally wrote it in a style that I did not think constitutes "Discussing the specific content of the examination".

However, even though I think no court would find my post a violation of this policy, I would hate to land SDN in court. So I'll edit the post.
Click to expand...

Anything I posted was completely made up, both in content and wording. The only thing remaining consistent was the vague style with a choice of standard-of-care answers.
 
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