Concert Exam

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emergentmd

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My boards expires in 2022 and on the website it states this

"You can take the ConCert™ Examination, during the testing window, in any of the last five years of your certification. If you pass the exam early, you will still retain your certification until the expiration date on your current certificate. If you take the exam early and do not pass, you still retain your certification and additional opportunities to pass it."

Does this mean if I pass it today, my boards would expire next in 2032 or 2029?

I usually wait til the last testing period so I can get the full 10 yrs but if it doesn't matter, I would take it earlier.
 
2032.

It's a nice buffer, you can take it a year or two early, without preparing, knowing that if you totally bomb it, you have years to try again and actually put in effort. I took it one year early last year, didn't study a second for it, zero practice questions, and took it hungover after a crazy golf outing the day before. I did great.
 
Thanks.... My last recert was during a 3 month old newborn. Amazing what lack of sleep and board questions can do to any form of insomnia. I think it took me a good week to go through 10 questions.
 
gamerEMdoc said:
2032.

It's a nice buffer, you can take it a year or two early, without preparing, knowing that if you totally bomb it, you have years to try again and actually put in effort. I took it one year early last year, didn't study a second for it, zero practice questions, and took it hungover after a crazy golf outing the day before. I did great.
Click to expand...

You're also a program director of a residency who is constantly attending lectures and actively involved in education. You probably also are in a high volume ER.

I wouldn't recommend your approach to someone in the boondocks.

I was tempted to take your approach, and quite frankly, I would probably pass just by my involvement with our residency. However, I felt it would be embarrassing to report to the residents that I failed my ConCert exam and I'm too cheap to spend another $1850!
 
southerndoc said:
You're also a program director of a residency who is constantly attending lectures and actively involved in education. You probably also are in a high volume ER.

I wouldn't recommend your approach to someone in the boondocks.

I was tempted to take your approach, and quite frankly, I would probably pass just by my involvement with our residency. However, I felt it would be embarrassing to report to the residents that I failed my ConCert exam and I'm too cheap to spend another $1850!
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Oh yeah, no doubt, being involved in a residency means you stay up on your knowledge base. But still, I think that strategy holds merit regardless. The cost of taking that test is 1 shift worked. I'd look at it as, is it worth working one more shift not to study at all if you do fail? Because if you fail, all you are out is the money that you can make up by working one shift. Going to a 2-3 day review course, or spending free time studying for weeks, amounts to far more time burned than working a shift if you fail, which you probably won't fail anyways.

I think from a time/money lost standpoint, you are far more likely to spend way too much time preparing for the exam and passing than you are to have to waste time working one day to pay to take the exam again.
 
Im a gambler. Signed up, took it, and passed. To me, esp during the newborn period, it was well worth risking it to see how much more I needed to study.

If I barely failed, I would just brush up on Derm, optho, rashes which are my weakness. If I bombed it, I would be off to a review course.
 
gamerEMdoc said:
2032.

It's a nice buffer, you can take it a year or two early, without preparing, knowing that if you totally bomb it, you have years to try again and actually put in effort. I took it one year early last year, didn't study a second for it, zero practice questions, and took it hungover after a crazy golf outing the day before. I did great.
Click to expand...

Your dedication to not preparing is enviable.

I recert Friday. I intended to take your approach, but when I was given a used copy of PEER IX I couldn't resist at least doing a few questions. Talking to my dad (a retired doc) about this the other day he said, "Yeah, I think just about anyone who made it through medical school is congenitally incapable of not studying for a test like that."

That said, I will argue that almost every practice question I've gotten wrong was a stupid effing question.
 
WilcoWorld said:
Talking to my dad (a retired doc) about this the other day he said, "Yeah, I think just about anyone who made it through medical school is congenitally incapable of not studying for a test like that
Click to expand...

Absolutely, we are all hard wired to be high achievers. Believe me, if there wasn't a second chance thanks to taking it early, I'm sure I would have studied unnecessarily.
 
Just took it today. Easier than Peer IX, though some of the questions were very similar...

Hopefully my results in 90 days mean I don't have to register for the September offering!
 
emergentmd said:
My boards expires in 2022 and on the website it states this

"You can take the ConCert™ Examination, during the testing window, in any of the last five years of your certification. If you pass the exam early, you will still retain your certification until the expiration date on your current certificate. If you take the exam early and do not pass, you still retain your certification and additional opportunities to pass it."

Does this mean if I pass it today, my boards would expire next in 2032 or 2029?

I usually wait til the last testing period so I can get the full 10 yrs but if it doesn't matter, I would take it earlier.
Click to expand...

Why would you not do MyEMCert instead? MyEMCert will be completely phased in by the time you're due to re-cert. You can take it as early as 2020.
 
Groove said:
Why would you not do MyEMCert instead? MyEMCert will be completely phased in by the time you're due to re-cert. You can take it as early as 2020.
Click to expand...

I’m definitely going to switch over to the new system once it becomes available. Driving 2 hours to take a test for half a day is a major annoyance, and I’d much rather take a short test every year from my own home that you don’t have to study for because they provide for margin of error with multiple retakes. The only thing that would make me choose the original recert route would be if the new system is just wildly expensive.
 
Groove said:
Why would you not do MyEMCert instead? MyEMCert will be completely phased in by the time you're due to re-cert. You can take it as early as 2020.
Click to expand...

Maybe his certification expires in 2019? Mine does. I'm taking the ConCert exam next week. September if I have to do a repeat.
 
Groove said:
Yeah, that's a bummer as it won't be phased in soon enough for you. OP said his expired in 2022 though so he should have time.
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My daughter was just diagnosed with the flu and now my throat is getting sore, body aches, etc. Should make for a fun test day!
 
Groove said:
Why would you not do MyEMCert instead? MyEMCert will be completely phased in by the time you're due to re-cert. You can take it as early as 2020.
Click to expand...
Never heard of MyEMCert. Ill look into it b/c mine expires 2022. Great to know. I assume I still need to do all of the LLSA exams?
 
emergentmd said:
Never heard of MyEMCert. Ill look into it b/c mine expires 2022. Great to know. I assume I still need to do all of the LLSA exams?
Click to expand...

I thought that the LLSA and yearly short recert exams were going to be combined into one. But I could be wrong on that.
 
See attached photo comparing the concert track to myemcert track. Myemcert does away with llsa, you do four 30-50 question tests in a five year period, and at the end there is no concert exam. Its basically a combo of llsa and concert thats broken into yearly installments.

This is a really paoitive development in my opinion.
 

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Oh sorry. Nevermind. I thought they only offered it once a year. Took mine 9/24 and got results 11/5.
My bad.
 
Don't have my score yet, but when I logged into ABEM's website today, I had to sign an attestation to be compliant with policies and such. My personal page now has my "Pass the ConCert Examination" section as "Met 3/12/2019". 🙂

Not sure when actual score will get posted.
 
Looking at the two different paths for recert, is there any reason to no go MyEMCert route? Looks like this avoids having to pass an exam.
 
southerndoc said:
Don't have my score yet, but when I logged into ABEM's website today, I had to sign an attestation to be compliant with policies and such. My personal page now has my "Pass the ConCert Examination" section as "Met 3/12/2019". 🙂

Not sure when actual score will get posted.
Click to expand...

Me too!

I remember getting a similar tip on SDN & finding out early that I passed my boards the first time around. Now that I think about it, I think it may have come from you?
 
Scores were posted. Did quite well. 🙂

@emergentmd re: MyEMCert - I think most will choose it unless it's cost prohibitive. The MyEMCert will not only replace the ConCert exam requirement, but also the LLSA requirement as well. It will be all inclusive. Someone had mentioned the possibility of the MyEMCert exams requiring a specific program that would videotape you while you used the program (using your webcam). This is to ensure that you don't collaborate with others while taking the test. I find it hard to believe it could be implemented, but I think one of the subspecialties is already doing this (GI maybe?). I overheard someone talking about it once, but can't remember the specialty.
 
I contacted ABEM, and after the fall testing session, they will start sending updated certification notifications. The website may not be updated until 1/1/2020, since technically our certification is until midnight 12/31/2019...
 
gamerEMdoc said:
2032.

It's a nice buffer, you can take it a year or two early, without preparing, knowing that if you totally bomb it, you have years to try again and actually put in effort. I took it one year early last year, didn't study a second for it, zero practice questions, and took it hungover after a crazy golf outing the day before. I did great.
Click to expand...

Spirit Animal
 
Do these tests still question whether we should do things that are NEVER done anymore, like DPL and other things that are simply not done anymore.

I remember a test question for my board certification. It read something like

"An elderly man presents to the ED with urinary retention. What is the next best step?"

A. foley catheter
B. ultrasound
C. <can't remember but was not an answer>
D. <can't remember but was not an answer>

What kind of question is that? It was literally that terse. No other history, answers were similarly terse.

I think I answered B.

I remember a pt I had in residency who was 60, said he couldn't pee. So we put a foley in and 100 cc urine returned. Turned out he had renal colic.
 
southerndoc said:
Now that I have the ConCert out of the way, time to study for EMS boards. 40% fail rate!
Click to expand...

Just why??? I don't understand these exams that fail a bunch of people. Shouldn't they just make exams to make sure you are clinically competent? The ConCert for example should pass 99% of people. I work with a ton of slow doctors, and inefficient doctors but the actually clinically incompetent doc is relatively rare.
 
GeneralVeers said:
Just why??? I don't understand these exams that fail a bunch of people. Shouldn't they just make exams to make sure you are clinically competent? The ConCert for example should pass 99% of people. I work with a ton of slow doctors, and inefficient doctors but the actually clinically incompetent doc is relatively rare.
Click to expand...
Well, the pass rate for people who did a fellowship is nowhere near that bad. They're basically proving to the grandfatherers that you really need to know specific laws, or at least look them up. There are a lot of terrible EMS medical directors out there who haven't adapted in decades. They shouldn't be board certified simply because they've been doing it. I approve of the test.
 
@gamerEMdoc - I just recerted. It's supposed to be good for 10 years. Theoretically (and this is what gen surg did, but I think EM is perhaps more corrupt) we shouldn't have to start doing MyEMCert until the ten years are up. I doubt this will happen, sadly. Do you know what the plan is?
 
No @miacomet , you will need to do 10 years worth of MyEMCert (I think you have to do 8 in 10 years if memory serves me correctly). So if you wait until the 10th year, you'll have to do 8 years worth in your last year. UNLESS, if you choose, you can do your LLSA articles and other "traditional" recert techniques. If you do the MyEMCert, it replaces the LLSA's.
 
southerndoc said:
No @miacomet , you will need to do 10 years worth of MyEMCert (I think you have to do 8 in 10 years if memory serves me correctly). So if you wait until the 10th year, you'll have to do 8 years worth in your last year. UNLESS, if you choose, you can do your LLSA articles and other "traditional" recert techniques. If you do the MyEMCert, it replaces the LLSA's.
Click to expand...

Lame money grab. It should start 10 years after recert, like it does in Gen Surg.
 
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