2017 CCM exam

[vector2]

Probably not a lot of other folks out there taking the test, but I'd like to see what others are using to study. And feel free to chime in if you took the exam in the last few years. I bought both (holy $$$$$) the chest seek bank and SCCM self assessment review book and the seek is totally kicking my ass. Probably have never done so badly in a qbank (likely cause it seems very heavily medical vs surgical weighted), but hopefully it's high yield. SCCM seems more standard with straightforward questions.

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[Ezekiel2517]

Probably not a lot of other folks out there taking the test, but I'd like to see what others are using to study. And feel free to chime in if you took the exam in the last few years. I bought both (holy $$$$$) the chest seek bank and SCCM self assessment review book and the seek is totally kicking my ass. Probably have never done so badly in a qbank (likely cause it seems very heavily medical vs surgical weighted), but hopefully it's high yield. SCCM seems more standard with straightforward questions.

Took it a few years ago. Primarily used both the SCCM orange review book and also their question book. Try to get your hands on as many questions you can, from other fellows or recent grads. Other question sources I had were SEEK and the ACCP questions. I think if you know that orange book, you'll be fine. There are other review books but everyone I know who used that orange book, passed. The exam I took was very medicine heavy. Don't take it too lightly, I know some very smart people who failed.

 

[deleted171991]

Probably not a lot of other folks out there taking the test, but I'd like to see what others are using to study. And feel free to chime in if you took the exam in the last few years. I bought both (holy $$$$$) the chest seek bank and SCCM self assessment review book and the seek is totally kicking my ass. Probably have never done so badly in a qbank (likely cause it seems very heavily medical vs surgical weighted), but hopefully it's high yield. SCCM seems more standard with straightforward questions.

I would err towards SEEK (not that I remember using it beyond the sample questions - it was expensive). It's not an easy exam, much harder than the MCCKAP, meaning by extension that SCCM materials are probably too weak for board prep.

I used the "Critical Care Study Guide: Text and Review" (free PDF if your institution has Springerlink) plus the Civetta "Manual" ($20-30 from highly-rated Amazon marketplace sellers), both of them pretty big and full of info. I felt like I got my butt kicked big time, and that was at almost 80th percentile. It's not a fellow-level exam, it's an attending-level one. The questions are not "nice". If you know the answer the moment you read the question, the qbank is too easy. Imagine the best intensivist you have ever met asking you difficult questions, the kind where you think "Who the heck knows CCM at that level of detail?". (Hint: not even a board-certified intensivist. 🙂)

 

[vector2]

I would err towards SEEK (not that I remember using it beyond the sample questions - it was expensive). It's not an easy exam, much harder than the MCCKAP, meaning by extension that SCCM materials are probably too weak for board prep.

I used the "Critical Care Study Guide: Text and Review" (free PDF if your institution has Springerlink) plus the Civetta "Manual" ($20-30 from highly-rated Amazon marketplace sellers), both of them pretty big and full of info. I felt like I got my butt kicked big time, and that was at almost 80th percentile. It's not a fellow-level exam, it's an attending-level one. The questions are not "nice". If you know the answer the moment you read the question, the qbank is too easy. Imagine the best intensivist you have ever met asking you difficult questions, the kind where you think "Who the heck knows CCM at that level of detail?". (Hint: not even a board-certified intensivist. 🙂)

God, kill me now.

 

[bigdan]

FFP speaks the truth.

I literally felt like I sat for the incorrect exam. Somewhere around 0% of an ACCM fellowship was reflected in my test. Took it in 2015. Sucked.

I remember folks telling me the TEE exam was "the hardest exam you'll ever take". It wasn't.

Would highly recommend focusing on medicine side of critical care.

 

[G-Man82]

I never plasmapheresed as many patients or looked at so many horrifying rashes as I did on that exam. It was a bit ridiculous really.

For prep, I used the SCCM online review course, which was the recorded lectures from the live course the year before. A lot of the lectures are actually pretty good and high yield and help tie things together as you do questions.

For questions, I did the SCCM ones that came with the course in an orange book. I also did the Chest SEEK questions through their app, the non-CME ones that I bought in blocks of 10 questions. Those were tough, but I could do them in my spare time etc.

The test is very medical, but then again, CCM is acute medicine on both medical and surgical patients. If your fellowship focused primarily on surgical and cardiothoracic patients, I recommend the course just to bring you up to speed on things like Onc emergencies, rheum disasters, vasculitis, RASHES, transplants etc. There were lots of questions focused on various types of transplants and rejection, too.

If it makes you feel better, everyone I spoke to, including some pulm and surgical folks, felt they sat for the wrong test.


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[vector2]

I feel like I just got hit by a semi. Even though I went through SEEK twice, SCCM q's 1.5 times, and tried to brush up on my medicine, it really felt like 40-50% of the questions were freaking impossible unless you had just read a journal article on the topic. That, and another third of the questions had what looked like 2 def right answers. Usually I have kind of a nervous energy after taking an exam cause I think there's at least a decent chance I passed. I just feel straight up depressed after this clusterfck.

 

[deleted171991]

I feel like I just got hit by a semi. Even though I went through SEEK twice, SCCM q's 1.5 times, and tried to brush up on my medicine, it really felt like 40-50% of the questions were freaking impossible unless you had just read a journal article on the topic. That, and another third of the questions had what looked like 2 def right answers. Usually I have kind of a nervous energy after taking an exam cause I usually think there's at least a decent chance I passed. I just feel straight up depressed after this clusterfck.

This/you too shall pass.

 

[vector2]

This/you too shall pass.

Yep, you called it. 🙂 Feels great to know I don't have to take an exam (rePTE) for another 10 years