EM shelf - Do I need to study or can I get by with my existing knowledge?

[sarahlindner]

So I'm a upcoming MS4, going into my emergency medicine rotation required by my school. At the end there's a NBME shelf exam, and information online about it seems to be surprisingly rare.

Gonna be honest boys... after the burnout of 3rd year, and having just taken step 2, I have little to no motivation to study. Realistically can I get a passing grade on this shelf using my accumulated medical school knowledge from other specialties (ie trauma surg, internal med, etc). Or do I actually need to put my ass in gear and study hard for the EM shelf to pass?

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[Redpancreas]

Pre-Test is what I'm seeing from a quick search...The unanimous opinion seems to be the questions are representative, the topics covered are well, and that it will be a solid book to help you pass

Official Emergency Medicine Shelf Exam Thread
Best book for EM shelf
Emergency Medicine "Shelf" exams & Away Rotations

 

[ewax]

The EM shelf is so fking random. I thought it was the hardest of the shelves ...pre-test is probably the best resource though.

 

[Donald Juan]

So, I had already matched when I took it. Didn't study a single minute. Made like 20th percentile or something, which guaranteed me a P. I figured worst case scenario, I fail the exam and have to retake it a month later, either way I get a P.

You only get one M4 year. It's up to you how you want to live it.

 

[Promethean]

Do you only care to pass an exam? Sure, you can probably phone it in. What's the worst that can happen, beyond having to take it again? But that seems like a poor use of a learning opportunity, and if it were me, I'd take a day or two off to regroup and then get back to studying.

Whatever you do... if you are using your real name as your SDN name, I strongly recommend that you change that with the quickness. It could be problematic if someone in your future happened to stumble across a post where it looks like you are trying to avoid studying. (i.e. PD, patient, patient's lawyer, etc)