ABP Exam Thread 2018

[futuredoctor10]

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Who all is taking the ABP (Initial Certification) exam this week?

Let's share our experiences on this thread! Best of luck, everyone!!!

 

[futuredoctor10]

Anyone else took the test today? Thoughts?

 

[Johhny5Alive]

Took it yesterday.
My thoughts....the room was very cold...

 

[Mmmdonutz79]

Took it this afternoon. Feel like I bombed it. Question were vague. Lots of clinical minutiae...looks like it’s back to the drawing board for me :-(

 

[AztecTurtle]

So what happens if you fail apart from taking it again? Is it ever reported anywhere (fellowships, jobs, etc)?

 

[mvenus929]

So what happens if you fail apart from taking it again? Is it ever reported anywhere (fellowships, jobs, etc)?

I mean, it’s not exactly reported, but people will be able to tell as of December whether or not you are board certified. If you have time between residency and fellowship, the fellowship PDs will likely wonder why you aren’t certified. And if you have a job, you risk losing it if you don’t pass it.

 

[AztecTurtle]

I mean, it’s not exactly reported, but people will be able to tell as of December whether or not you are board certified. If you have time between residency and fellowship, the fellowship PDs will likely wonder why you aren’t certified. And if you have a job, you risk losing it if you don’t pass it.

But once you pass, I assume the fail becomes a non-issue? It's not like failing a Step where people expect a score report and will see the previous failure.

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

I mean, it’s not exactly reported, but people will be able to tell as of December whether or not you are board certified. If you have time between residency and fellowship, the fellowship PDs will likely wonder why you aren’t certified. And if you have a job, you risk losing it if you don’t pass it.

Kind of but most jobs (so I've heard) will give you at least a couple tries to pass it before they start showing you the door. The biggest problem seems to be when you're getting to the end of your "board eligibility".

And most fellowship seem like they'll just let you retake it again, presumably would be easiest during the 3rd year when you have less clinical time. Theres even some peds subspecialists who aren't even gen peds board certified anymore (I know a couple ID docs at our institution that were like that).

 

[SurfingDoctor]

Kind of but most jobs (so I've heard) will give you at least a couple tries to pass it before they start showing you the door. The biggest problem seems to be when you're getting to the end of your "board eligibility".

And most fellowship seem like they'll just let you retake it again, presumably would be easiest during the 3rd year when you have less clinical time. Theres even some peds subspecialists who aren't even gen peds board certified anymore (I know a couple ID docs at our institution that were like that).

You have 7 years to be board eligible. I thought it used to be three tries, but maybe it’s indefinite in the allotted time. Fellowship can’t stop you from retaking it. You can let your general board expire if you only practice in your subspecialty, but that is institute dependent.

 

[mvenus929]

But once you pass, I assume the fail becomes a non-issue? It's not like failing a Step where people expect a score report and will see the previous failure.

That is accurate. They really only care about your active eligibility/certification status. Except insurances may stop reimbursing you if you're running out of eligibility status....

Kind of but most jobs (so I've heard) will give you at least a couple tries to pass it before they start showing you the door. The biggest problem seems to be when you're getting to the end of your "board eligibility".

And most fellowship seem like they'll just let you retake it again, presumably would be easiest during the 3rd year when you have less clinical time. Theres even some peds subspecialists who aren't even gen peds board certified anymore (I know a couple ID docs at our institution that were like that).

Most jobs will let you retake it. I know one person, though, who had a job as a general pediatrician, who had two failures and almost lost their job because they weren't certified within the first year of employment (after they had already failed once). They were able to convince the employer to give another chance and passed on the third attempt.

As far as the second point, you need to be board certified in general pediatrics before you can sit for your subspecialty boards. So fellowship directors have motivation to get you to pass your gen peds boards.

You have 7 years to be board eligible. I thought it used to be three tries, but maybe it’s indefinite in the allotted time. Fellowship can’t stop you from retaking it. You can let your general board expire if you only practice in your subspecialty, but that is institute dependent.

You can take it as many times as you want within those 7 years, but after 7 years, you have to have 6 months of residency-like time again, and then your clock is reset. We had someone do the mini-residency when I was a resident (BTW, super awkward to be a senior resident for someone who was a practicing general pediatrician 2 months before, especially when they make some questionable choices...), and then failed when he retook the boards for like the 5th time following re-eligibility status. He finally passed last year.

 

[coldplay]

I realized after walking out that I got at least 12-15 super easy questions wrong because of fatigue.
I marked at least 20-22 qs each block 🙁
Wondering if anyone else made silly mistakes on easy questions and still managed to pass. The wait is torture.

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

I realized after walking out that I got at least 12-15 super easy questions wrong because of fatigue.
I marked at least 20-22 qs each block 🙁
Wondering if anyone else made silly mistakes on easy questions and still managed to pass. The wait is torture.

15 questions out of 330 isn't that many...I'm sure it's fine.
Remember you probably won't miss all the questions you mark. If you could narrow it down to two answers, you at least have a 50/50 shot at them.

 

[TheNightDoctor]

Took it this afternoon. Feel like I bombed it. Question were vague. Lots of clinical minutiae...looks like it’s back to the drawing board for me :-(

I feel the exact same way! ...I think I failed as well 🙁..really praying hard!

 

[rolen05]

Taking it next year...can you all share resources you used, and whether they seemed helpful or not after you took the test? thanks!

 

[Mmmdonutz79]

Taking it next year...can you all share resources you used, and whether they seemed helpful or not after you took the test? thanks!

I used MedStudy. Started studying April/May time frame. I read most of the MedStudy books with emphasis on high yield board topics (i.e growth and development, adolescent, ID etc. ) Did MedStudy question bank twice reading all explanations in detail irrespective of weather I got the questions right or wrong. Felt pretty confident going into the exam, but got blindsided by questions. Lots of poorly written vingnettes that were unnecessarily vague, and missing basic information you would obtain in a history. Very disheartening. I really feel like I could’ve studied another 2-3 months and still done poorly.

 

[futuredoctor10]

Any speculation on when scores will release? I assume mid-December (around 2 months from date of exam)?

 

[mvenus929]

Any speculation on when scores will release? I assume mid-December (around 2 months from date of exam)?

Last year it was Dec 6 or 7 (I have a FB post from the 7th, but I think I waited to post), which was ~7 weeks after the exam.

 

[FastMD]

Hi everyone! Should we ecpexp the results to come out this week? I'm dying to know, this plus fellowship match is driving me nuts!

 

[Pedimommy]

Almost dying with anxiety!!! Hope they are released this week!

 

[chuboy]

Results are out!

 

[MEN2C]

Congrats to everyone who passed!