ABFM 2021

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Back 5

Back 5

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I didn’t see a thread posted, so figured I’d make on.

I’m going to sit for the ABFM 2021 tomorrow. Finishing up FM residency this July. Prep was ABFM review course videos and power points. Looked at the old ITE exams. I “passed” the ITE my three years of residency. My program director has their own passing metric, which is why I passed in quotes, but regardless I scored average or above.

Hoping that was enough prep for boards!

Best of luck everyone. I’m anticipating feeling like garbage after the test as I always do. Fingers crossed I can get a prelim-pass in a week.
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Back 5 said:
I didn’t see a thread posted, so figured I’d make on.

I’m going to sit for the ABFM 2021 tomorrow. Finishing up FM residency this July. Prep was ABFM review course videos and power points. Looked at the old ITE exams. I “passed” the ITE my three years of residency. My program director has their own passing metric, which is why I passed in quotes, but regardless I scored average or above.

Hoping that was enough prep for boards!

Best of luck everyone. I’m anticipating feeling like garbage after the test as I always do. Fingers crossed I can get a prelim-pass in a week.
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You will pass comfortably. The ABFM is written so that most pass. If you pass your ITEs you will completely fine. I felt like crap after my exam, it is normal but I passed and did very well! You got this!
 
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Back 5 said:
The test was so frustratingly random. Whether I passed or failed, more preparation would have made me feel like I wasted my time.
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I’m in the same situation as you. I haven’t completed all the questions from aafp or abfm app but kinda want to take it early, as In this Friday so I can enjoy my weekends again since I feel like questions are redundant now. Any advise?
 
Exam results button is active, but no preliminary results available yet.
 
Where are you all able to see the exam results page? I took it Wednesday so hoping for prelim results this week
 
pallgal said:
Where are you all able to see the exam results page? I took it Wednesday so hoping for prelim results this week
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It should be on the ABFM login, Physician portfolio, certification exam results tab. I still didn't get an email regarding results today. I took my test last Tuesday, had anybody gotten their results yet?
 
Back 5 said:
The test was so frustratingly random. Whether I passed or failed, more preparation would have made me feel like I wasted my time.
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I have passed all my ITEs and never had concerns with exams. I felt the EXACT same way you did when I walked out of my exam Thursday. I am so nervous since there were so many easy ones I know I got wrong amongst my frustration. It was hard to determine exactly what some of the questions were asking about. I know I tried my best and there is nothing more I could of done to prepare for this thing. Good luck guys!
 
Pending review, womp womp. Will have to wait till June.
 
Back 5 said:
Pending review, womp womp. Will have to wait till June.
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Did you get an email that said your results were available? Still haven't gotten an email and I checked on the website and there's still no
 
Both. Showed up on the website and an emailed followed.
 
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FPmo said:
I’m in the same situation as you. I haven’t completed all the questions from aafp or abfm app but kinda want to take it early, as In this Friday so I can enjoy my weekends again since I feel like questions are redundant now. Any advise?
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If you have been scoring well on your ITEs and feel confident about your knowledge base, then I would consider sitting for the exam. The application process has closed for the spring exams though.
 
Kb373 said:
Did you get an email that said your results were available? Still haven't gotten an email and I checked on the website and there's still no
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I also took my exam last week. Did you get your results yet? And if so, did you have to check the ABFM site or did you get an email or both?
 
I also recently took my exam. I am not sure if I am checking the right place on the ABFM exam for the results. I went to Portfolio and I clicked on certification examination then this comes up [see image]. Nothing about examination results. Any ideas? Thanks

Screen Shot 2021-04-14 at 9.03.48 AM.png
 
That is the right page. A tab for exam results will appear in a few days.
 
Am I the only one out there who thought this exam was random/different. I felt like I made educated guesses by eliminating choices I knew wrong for like half the exam!?! I feel so bad right now, praying that I did enough to pass. Thoughts/experiences?
 
Popcorn101 said:
Am I the only one out there who thought this exam was random/different. I felt like I made educated guesses by eliminating choices I knew wrong for like half the exam!?! I feel so bad right now, praying that I did enough to pass. Thoughts/experiences?
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Felt the same way. A lot of my questions felt like ABFM Jeopardy.
 
I felt the same way. I took my test last Tuesday and I'm still waiting for my results, super anxious.
 
Thank you for sharing. Super anxious as well. Hoping I answered enough or guessed enough that I passed. Good luck everyone.
 
Popcorn101 said:
Am I the only one out there who thought this exam was random/different. I felt like I made educated guesses by eliminating choices I knew wrong for like half the exam!?! I feel so bad right now, praying that I did enough to pass. Thoughts/experiences?
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I had a not-so-positive experience as well. I thought the exam was extra random compared to ITEs. I could never nail down the single best answer. I felt really terrible during and after the exam as well. I was asking around and everybody else thought the same. There were definitely some questions that I knew for sure but there were very few of those compared to the ones that I had to randomly guess on. I was always down to 3 answer choices and picking one made me feel uneasy because it did not seem like the right answer but the other choices seemed way more wrong. Been feeling lousy about this exam, which is not a good feeling because I did not feel this way on ITEs.
 
Back 5 said:
Felt the same way. A lot of my questions felt like ABFM Jeopardy.
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I hated taking the test in general (in 19’) bc it felt like trivia rather than can you practice safely/ reason your way through a clinic scenario.
Literally felt like when I clicked on the next question someone was saying “for 100 points... this risk factor is associated with” or “the category is social bs that you will never need: this country uses this device to ward off evil spirits from pneumonia”.
I hope y’all passed and they pass the CME rule so we never have to take that useless board exam again.
 
I passed! I took my exam last week 4/8. I found out shortly after lunch yesterday. This exam was so random that I did not think I would pass. To those who are doubting themselves before/after exam, it will be okay. There are fair questions as well. Not sure how it is graded. I think the most important aspect is being in the right mindset. I had ER block prior to my exam and barely had time to study, I took 3 days off before my exam and tried to cram in as much as I could of the details I usually forget. If you are taking this as a PGY3 I think ensuring good rest, positive attitude, good nutrition paired with stamina will help with this exam. The rando stuff is a guessing game at times. I wish everyone the best of luck. For those pending review, I had several friends in that boat last year and they ended up all passing 😊

493716A4-8B4B-47EF-8651-23D3785D4DB6.png
 
thesavagemd said:
I passed! I took my exam last week 4/8. I found out shortly after lunch yesterday. This exam was so random that I did not think I would pass. To those who are doubting themselves before/after exam, it will be okay. There are fair questions as well. Not sure how it is graded. I think the most important aspect is being in the right mindset. I had ER block prior to my exam and barely had time to study, I took 3 days off before my exam and tried to cram in as much as I could of the details I usually forget. If you are taking this as a PGY3 I think ensuring good rest, positive attitude, good nutrition paired with stamina will help with this exam. The rando stuff is a guessing game at times. I wish everyone the best of luck. For those pending review, I had several friends in that boat last year and they ended up all passing 😊

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Congrats! Just found out I passed as well! So happy and glad.
 
Hi Everyone! Congrats to everyone for making it this far! Residency is a challenging time for all of us and a single test most definitely doesn't define the quality of physician we are or our scope of medical knowledge.

I am looking for recommendations on where to directly focus my attention. I made a 380 and 400 on the ITE, but overall, standardize exams aren't where I shine and perform. I have been working from AAFP, old ITE, ABFM App questions and online, and the ABFM CKSA, but from the comments, I am worried that I am not truly studying what I need to at this time; especially 6 days out. I take my exam April 22!

Thanks so much in advance for taking a moment to share not only for myself but for others as well. I also plan to return after my exam and give insight for others for this testing season and in the future!
Best of Luck in all of your career endeavors!
 
Fatalis said:
I hated taking the test in general (in 19’) bc it felt like trivia rather than can you practice safely/ reason your way through a clinic scenario.
Literally felt like when I clicked on the next question someone was saying “for 100 points... this risk factor is associated with” or “the category is social bs that you will never need: this country uses this device to ward off evil spirits from pneumonia”.
I hope y’all passed and they pass the CME rule so we never have to take that useless board exam again.
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The quarterly questions don't look too bad. That's my plan in 2 years if its still an option, and it seems popular enough that I bet it will be.
 
Anybody know if they release the preliminary results at a specific time during the day or is it just random? I took the exam this past Monday 4/12 and my stomach is constantly doing hula hoops from the anxiety of waiting.
 
Two of the residents that I work with took it and got results in exactly in 1 week with the preliminary pass, so my guess is a 1 week turnaround time.
 
I took my test last Tuesday like OP but still don't have my results, so no idea with when the preliminary results come out. I wish it was standardized the time the prelim results get released.
 
I got a pending review result. Have to wait until June. Got the result 7 business days after I took the exam.
 
Aw man. Well, keep your chin up. Everything I’ve read points to the mast majority of people who were “pending” end up passing. It is a 98.5% passing rate for first-time takers - the overwhelming odds is that you did just fine.
 
King1111 said:
Hi Everyone! Congrats to everyone for making it this far! Residency is a challenging time for all of us and a single test most definitely doesn't define the quality of physician we are or our scope of medical knowledge.

I am looking for recommendations on where to directly focus my attention. I made a 380 and 400 on the ITE, but overall, standardize exams aren't where I shine and perform. I have been working from AAFP, old ITE, ABFM App questions and online, and the ABFM CKSA, but from the comments, I am worried that I am not truly studying what I need to at this time; especially 6 days out. I take my exam April 22!

Thanks so much in advance for taking a moment to share not only for myself but for others as well. I also plan to return after my exam and give insight for others for this testing season and in the future!
Best of Luck in all of your career endeavors!
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Given that you're less than 1 week out, I would probably focus on the old ITEs, ABFM CKSA, and AAFP questions. Look through your old ITEs and see which questions you got wrong. Read through the answers and try to understand why you got those questions wrong. This will help you learn concepts/topics that you may not have understood too well at the time you took your ITE. Then try to do at least 20-40 AAFP questions a day. Some of them are repeats from ITEs. After a while, you'll start to see the same content over and over again. At this point, make sure you really understand the concept/topic. If you keep getting the questions wrong for the same concept, try to read about that topic and understand it fully before moving on. I'm a terrible test taker and this is what I had to do to get through all of the tests in residency. Good luck to you!
 
fammedley said:
Given that you're less than 1 week out, I would probably focus on the old ITEs, ABFM CKSA, and AAFP questions. Look through your old ITEs and see which questions you got wrong. Read through the answers and try to understand why you got those questions wrong. This will help you learn concepts/topics that you may not have understood too well at the time you took your ITE. Then try to do at least 20-40 AAFP questions a day. Some of them are repeats from ITEs. After a while, you'll start to see the same content over and over again. At this point, make sure you really understand the concept/topic. If you keep getting the questions wrong for the same concept, try to read about that topic and understand it fully before moving on. I'm a terrible test taker and this is what I had to do to get through all of the tests in residency. Good luck to you!
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Thank you very much for the reply! I have reviewed the 2020, 2019, 2018 and 2017 ITE and I figured out that doing the AAFP questions, they are actually the ITE questions. The set beginning @ #37 in the last group of questions starts to correlate with the 2018 ITE! Sounds like I am right on target with your recommendations!
 
King1111 said:
Thank you very much for the reply! I have reviewed the 2020, 2019, 2018 and 2017 ITE and I figured out that doing the AAFP questions, they are actually the ITE questions. The set beginning @ #37 in the last group of questions starts to correlate with the 2018 ITE! Sounds like I am right on target with your recommendations!
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You're on the right track and will do well!
 
King1111 said:
Thank you very much for the reply! I have reviewed the 2020, 2019, 2018 and 2017 ITE and I figured out that doing the AAFP questions, they are actually the ITE questions. The set beginning @ #37 in the last group of questions starts to correlate with the 2018 ITE! Sounds like I am right on target with your recommendations!
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If you have access to the AAFP review course, the ortho lectures were very helpful. I got several questions right because of it.
 
I_Cant_tell_you said:
If you have access to the AAFP review course, the ortho lectures were very helpful. I got several questions right because of it.
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Yes! I will be sure to review that lecture. Can anyone comment on specifics to review for cardiology, peds/newborn, womens health?
 
King1111 said:
Yes! I will be sure to review that lecture. Can anyone comment on specifics to review for cardiology, peds/newborn, womens health?
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Hard to say because there's a little bit of everything on the exam. It's just too random to say what you would see on the exam. However, if you do enough of the ITE and AAFP board review questions, you'll see a lot of the same concepts pop up.
 
Just took the exam 4/20. *twiddles thumbs impatiently*
 
Took it today. I thought it was pretty fair. Very broad. Some questions were, in my opinion, poorly written lol
I left feeling like I bombed though. We shall see.
 
fammedley said:
If you have been scoring well on your ITEs and feel confident about your knowledge base, then I would consider sitting for the exam. The application process has closed for the spring exams though.
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Thank you! I decided to do it and worked out well!
 
Erhmahgerd said:
Anybody know if they release the preliminary results at a specific time during the day or is it just random? I took the exam this past Monday 4/12 and my stomach is constantly doing hula hoops from the anxiety of waiting.
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I can’t find where I read it, but I thought someone somewhere said they’re posted 4pm or later. Might have been on the 2020 board thread. I am anxiously awaiting my prelim result. Reeeeeally hope it happens Friday and not Mon or Tues 🥲
 
Congrats to everyone that passed and good luck to all who still have to take it!!! I took it on April 17 and got a preliminary pass yesterday. I did previous ITEs, AAFP study package, and UWorld.
 
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