Addiction medicine board

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shibamomm

shibamomm

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Hi all, anyone planning on trying to sit for the Addiction Medicine Board through the Practice Pathway? It’s open until 2025 and thereafter will require a fellowship. Planning to write it this year and wondering if any others have done it or plan to do so?
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@TexasPhysician that’s good to know! Were they very particular about the documentation related to the practice hour requirements? Last cycle I tried to ask the board specific questions and they shut me down pretty quickly saying the only way to truly know if something counts is to apply! (In that case, I was asking about the supervision hours I provide to a MAT NP —- she pretty much only sees suboxone patients and GA law has me signing 100% of her controlled substance notes.)
 
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shibamomm said:
@TexasPhysician that’s good to know! Were they very particular about the documentation related to the practice hour requirements? Last cycle I tried to ask the board specific questions and they shut me down pretty quickly saying the only way to truly know if something counts is to apply! (In that case, I was asking about the supervision hours I provide to a MAT NP —- she pretty much only sees suboxone patients and GA law has me signing 100% of her controlled substance notes.)
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A significant portion of your hours need to be at a place dedicated to addiction. I think it’s 75% of the hours. I would expect your hours spent in actual supervision of MAT with the NP would count. That is the actual hours spent, not all of the NP’s hours based on their scripts.
 
shibamomm said:
Were they very particular about the documentation related to the practice hour requirements?
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You can read all the requirements for the practice pathway on the website. The sense that I get is that as long as your application, on paper, meets all those requirements to a T, it will be approved. If it doesn't look right on paper and you're asking for exceptions, good luck. When you fill out the application, there is a calculator for the hours. If you are short on the calculator, I don't think you can even submit the application. If you can submit it, I doubt they will approve it short of any hours. I do full-time addiction work and I used the ASAM book and an online question bank and I passed by a wide margin, but I would not recommend taking the exam without studying.
 
SubzDoc said:
You can read all the requirements for the practice pathway on the website. The sense that I get is that as long as your application, on paper, meets all those requirements to a T, it will be approved. If it doesn't look right on paper and you're asking for exceptions, good luck. When you fill out the application, there is a calculator for the hours. If you are short on the calculator, I don't think you can even submit the application. If you can submit it, I doubt they will approve it short of any hours. I do full-time addiction work and I used the ASAM book and an online question bank and I passed by a wide margin, but I would not recommend taking the exam without studying.
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Thank you for the input. That’s the general sense I got as well regarding the hours. I planned on a similar study set up, using the ASAM best question bank and book.
 
I went to the ASAM review course and it was way more than I needed, but I did learn a lot about weird drugs of abuse like "Krokodil" which was fun.
 
I did the practice pathway and took the test in October 2023, and found out that I passed in January 2024. I think the passing score was 450 and I scored in the 700s. I studied quite a bit and put a lot of time and effort into it.

Here's what I did for studying:
1. Read and did questions from the ASAM Essentials of Addiction Medicine. I didn't actually make it through all the way with reading it, but did make it through all the questions.
2. Watched UCSF Addiction Medicine Bootcamp on Youtube. Free and highly recommended https://www.youtube.com/@ucsfaddictionpsychiatryboo5732
3. ASAM Board review questions // ASAM Board Review: BEST exam. Excellent review. Probably the most helpful thing for doing well on the exam.
4. Listened to all of the Curbsiders Addiction Medicine podcasts. https://thecurbsiders.com/addiction - More helpful for real life treatment of patients with SUDs than for board test prep, but still highly recommended.
5. I liked this for a framework for studying for a test like this: @jtebach twitter threat
https://twitter.com/jtrebach/status/1598019169806872576

I also paid for the ACAAM Addiction Medicine Board prep Question Bank. I did not think this was nearly as helpful as the ASAM board review BEST exam.
 
St. Nicks said:
I did the practice pathway and took the test in October 2023, and found out that I passed in January 2024. I think the passing score was 450 and I scored in the 700s. I studied quite a bit and put a lot of time and effort into it.

Here's what I did for studying:
1. Read and did questions from the ASAM Essentials of Addiction Medicine. I didn't actually make it through all the way with reading it, but did make it through all the questions.
2. Watched UCSF Addiction Medicine Bootcamp on Youtube. Free and highly recommended https://www.youtube.com/@ucsfaddictionpsychiatryboo5732
3. ASAM Board review questions // ASAM Board Review: BEST exam. Excellent review. Probably the most helpful thing for doing well on the exam.
4. Listened to all of the Curbsiders Addiction Medicine podcasts. https://thecurbsiders.com/addiction - More helpful for real life treatment of patients with SUDs than for board test prep, but still highly recommended.
5. I liked this for a framework for studying for a test like this: @jtebach twitter threat
https://twitter.com/jtrebach/status/1598019169806872576

I also paid for the ACAAM Addiction Medicine Board prep Question Bank. I did not think this was nearly as helpful as the ASAM board review BEST exam.
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Thank you so much for the detailed response and resources. Much appreciated!!
 
Do you guys think it makes any sense to be dual boarded in addiction psych and medicine?
 
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Hi, is anyone interested in studying with me for the addiction medicine boards ? I am planning to take them this upcoming october.
 
TexasPhysician said:
No, you wouldn’t come close to qualifying.
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I have Board Vitals qbank, but debating whether I should purchase the BEST qbank from ASAM and skip Board vitals. I am also planning to register for the upcoming review course. any recommendations from those who took the test?
 
Are there any other psychiatry fellowships that one can be certified in through work experience ?
 
I think Obesity Medicine is one that's still in study/test mode, that will likely find its way to ABMS recognition.
 
Approved to sit for exam via Practice Pathway. I have not done any formal studying as of yet. A bit short of 3 months until the latest exam date. If i started hitting the Q-banks hard would that be enough time? FWIW average test taker. Any tips? Appreciate you all!
 
Dharma said:
Approved to sit for exam via Practice Pathway. I have not done any formal studying as of yet. A bit short of 3 months until the latest exam date. If i started hitting the Q-banks hard would that be enough time? FWIW average test taker. Any tips? Appreciate you all!
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Plenty. I barely did any studying
 
I am someone who studied and did well on the exam. I suspect I likely could have passed without studying, but I like to take these opportunities to motivate myself to study in a way I never would otherwise. I did genuinely learn quite a bit from those months of studying.

I used Beat the Boards. The most important part, I think, was doing the entire question bank and then re-taking any questions I missed. When you miss questions, leave them to circle back to after you have finished the full question set rather than immediately correcting them. This will shore up your weakest points leading right into test day.

I also listened to the lectures audio-only while out on walks. Basically BTB was my audiobook for a few months.

I think if you do the Qbank and lectures from BTB you will be very well-positioned to pass, presuming you came into it with a good knowledge base to begin with.
 
Bartelby said:
I am someone who studied and did well on the exam. I suspect I likely could have passed without studying, but I like to take these opportunities to motivate myself to study in a way I never would otherwise. I did genuinely learn quite a bit from those months of studying.

I used Beat the Boards. The most important part, I think, was doing the entire question bank and then re-taking any questions I missed. When you miss questions, leave them to circle back to after you have finished the full question set rather than immediately correcting them. This will shore up your weakest points leading right into test day.

I also listened to the lectures audio-only while out on walks. Basically BTB was my audiobook for a few months.

I think if you do the Qbank and lectures from BTB you will be very well-positioned to pass, presuming you came into it with a good knowledge base to begin with.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the detailed response and the tips! Having a goal to work towards should open the opportunity to fuel some additional learning over the next few months.

How many months do you think you spent studying?
 
Took the exam this week. Weird test to say the least and I would say the worst written of all the board exams I have taken thus far. (Maybe I am being unfair because I am still salty from the experience).

I admit there is likely reporting bias at play however a few things come to mind:

  • Easy in regards to time. Had a plenty of time to review every question at least twice over and still finish early.
  • I personally did not find it to accurately assess one's proficiency in addiction medicine but what do I know. Very heavy on research methodology, screening modalities, ethics, terminology (felt like a definition test from grade school at times), and esoteric trivia.
  • One question about AA despite hearing rumors that it was AA 12-step heavy.
  • Certain very specific topics- that I would have considered low yield going in- appeared in repetition at different intervals (ie easily overrepresented) so not knowing that one topic could cost a number of points.
  • Clinical questions were mostly straight forward and rudimentary to be honest however these represented what felt to be an oddly low percentage of questions (at least lower than I anticipated).

BACKGROUND/PREP:
  • Practice Pathway easily meeting hours working/teaching in dual-diagnosis inpatient plus C/L and emergency psychiatry in academic center.
  • Completed ASAM Q-bank with note taking of explanations followed by thorough review of notes x 2, redoing any wrong or bookmarked questions until knowing them cold.
  • ASAM BEST exam scoring 98%. (Basically same questions on Q-bank so not a real gauge per se).
  • Read part of ASAM Essentials however read every conclusion/summary in the book and finished all of the questions while also taking notes that were added to Q-bank notes for review.
  • Watched a few but not all of USCF boot camp videos. (Those I watched were excellent btw).

I cannot say whether I passed, failed, aced it, bombed it, fell in the middle of the pack, just barely passed or hardly snuck by. From what I have read they have quite the long wait period for results so it's time to forget about it until the 2025 email rolls through. Interested in hearing how it went for some of the others who took this exam in 2024 though.
 
Dharma said:
Took the exam this week. Weird test to say the least and I would say the worst written of all the board exams I have taken thus far. (Maybe I am being unfair because I am still salty from the experience).

I admit there is likely reporting bias at play however a few things come to mind:

  • Easy in regards to time. Had a plenty of time to review every question at least twice over and still finish early.
  • I personally did not find it to accurately assess one's proficiency in addiction medicine but what do I know. Very heavy on research methodology, screening modalities, ethics, terminology (felt like a definition test from grade school at times), and esoteric trivia.
  • One question about AA despite hearing rumors that it was AA 12-step heavy.
  • Certain very specific topics- that I would have considered low yield going in- appeared in repetition at different intervals (ie easily overrepresented) so not knowing that one topic could cost a number of points.
  • Clinical questions were mostly straight forward and rudimentary to be honest however these represented what felt to be an oddly low percentage of questions (at least lower than I anticipated).

BACKGROUND/PREP:
  • Practice Pathway easily meeting hours working/teaching in dual-diagnosis inpatient plus C/L and emergency psychiatry in academic center.
  • Completed ASAM Q-bank with note taking of explanations followed by thorough review of notes x 2, redoing any wrong or bookmarked questions until knowing them cold.
  • ASAM BEST exam scoring 98%. (Basically same questions on Q-bank so not a real gauge per se).
  • Read part of ASAM Essentials however read every conclusion/summary in the book and finished all of the questions while also taking notes that were added to Q-bank notes for review.
  • Watched a few but not all of USCF boot camp videos. (Those I watched were excellent btw).

I cannot say whether I passed, failed, aced it, bombed it, fell in the middle of the pack, just barely passed or hardly snuck by. From what I have read they have quite the long wait period for results so it's time to forget about it until the 2025 email rolls through. Interested in hearing how it went for some of the others who took this exam in 2024 though.
Click to expand...
This is 100% accurate. I have no idea how I did. I scared ro find out how I did honestly. Hardest exam of my medical career. There were questions I couldn’t even find the answers to once I left the exam so 🤷‍♂️
 
Dharma said:
Took the exam this week. Weird test to say the least and I would say the worst written of all the board exams I have taken thus far. (Maybe I am being unfair because I am still salty from the experience).

I admit there is likely reporting bias at play however a few things come to mind:

  • Easy in regards to time. Had a plenty of time to review every question at least twice over and still finish early.
  • I personally did not find it to accurately assess one's proficiency in addiction medicine but what do I know. Very heavy on research methodology, screening modalities, ethics, terminology (felt like a definition test from grade school at times), and esoteric trivia.
  • One question about AA despite hearing rumors that it was AA 12-step heavy.
  • Certain very specific topics- that I would have considered low yield going in- appeared in repetition at different intervals (ie easily overrepresented) so not knowing that one topic could cost a number of points.
  • Clinical questions were mostly straight forward and rudimentary to be honest however these represented what felt to be an oddly low percentage of questions (at least lower than I anticipated).

BACKGROUND/PREP:
  • Practice Pathway easily meeting hours working/teaching in dual-diagnosis inpatient plus C/L and emergency psychiatry in academic center.
  • Completed ASAM Q-bank with note taking of explanations followed by thorough review of notes x 2, redoing any wrong or bookmarked questions until knowing them cold.
  • ASAM BEST exam scoring 98%. (Basically same questions on Q-bank so not a real gauge per se).
  • Read part of ASAM Essentials however read every conclusion/summary in the book and finished all of the questions while also taking notes that were added to Q-bank notes for review.
  • Watched a few but not all of USCF boot camp videos. (Those I watched were excellent btw).

I cannot say whether I passed, failed, aced it, bombed it, fell in the middle of the pack, just barely passed or hardly snuck by. From what I have read they have quite the long wait period for results so it's time to forget about it until the 2025 email rolls through. Interested in hearing how it went for some of the others who took this exam in 2024 though.
Click to expand...
ASAM Q-bank for the win!

Results came in and I'm relieve to say that I passed with more than enough wiggle room. For me, the key was finishing the Q-bank, reviewing the answers in details, taking notes, and reviewing notes and wrong/bookmarked answers.

I should add that my study period was about 2.5 months, here and there after work (but certainly not everyday) with a few weekend days (albeit not even close to full days) sprinkled in. I attacked the Q-banked in sets of 10 questions (ie take 10 untimed, review the answers with some note taking, move on to next set of 10). This made it easy to mix in a couple rounds even when time was tight.

I think with enough clinical experience and decent test-taking skills, the ASAM Q-bank should suffice for most, assuming you complete it and review well. YMMV. Good luck to the next season of examinees.
 
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