NBE critical care echo exam 2024

[Avi S.]

Hi all,

Took the exam today. Glad to be done with it. I felt reasonably well prepared, but there were definitely some tricky questions in addition to several poorly designed questions that I thought had more than one correct answer. I emailed the NBE about these after the exam. Does anyone know if the NBE uses test questions on this exam?

Image quality was decent; for some questions it was very poor and the contrast adjustment feature doesn’t help much. I felt I had plenty of time and had some time leftover after each block to review the questions. Some of the abdominal / lung / trauma stuff was tricky. Actually it had a lot more trauma than I anticipated. LOTS of pericardial disease! Know this stuff cold if you’re going to take it.

My prep: started prepping in earnest in mid October 2023. Disclaimer: I am a full time pulm/CC physician in a community setting and have been in practice for 7 years. I do echo’s routinely in the ICU, probably 3-5 per shift.
- SCCM echo board review course (offered annually in November in Rosemont, IL) - attended in person, listened to all the recorded lectures 4x and did their 167 practice question twice
- read the Otto textbook of clinical echo (minus chapters on stress echo, 3D echo, intracardiac echo, etc and anything else not relevant to the exam).
- clinical echo self-assessment tool by Asher and Klein - 1000+ questions - did all the questions twice (minus irrelevant chapters) and took detailed notes. This was my main study source. Representative page from my handwritten notes below. This horrified my wife. Happy to create a PDF and share with anyone who wants it.
- read Edelman’s understanding ultrasound physics but did not do his practice questions
- critical care echo review by Chang, et al. - 1200+ questions - did them twice and incorporated some notes into the notes i took for Asher and klein
- U of Utah perioperative echo online lectures (free)

Per the NBE results will be available in 10-12 weeks.

Curious what everyone else’s experience was, and good luck to all.

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[joooul]

Hi! Congratulations!
Did you go through the process of certification, and which path did you choose or plan on choosing?

 

[Avi S.]

I haven't gone through certification yet. I am currently accruing my 150 cases. I will be going through the practice experience pathway. I was told that we have until December 2026 to do this.

 

[CallMeDoctorLov]

took it as well.


The questions were overall WAAAY easier than I thought, but covered much more territory than I anticipated. I may have failed it because I focused my studying a little too much on US physics and memorizing formulas which was a teeeeeny part of the exam.

There were questions about the heartmate III which were very peripherally related to US at all.

I came from an EM background so most/all of the non cardiac stuff was covered in my residency training.
As for my studying, I used emedicalacademy (which was absolute garbage and a waste of money) and sccm questions which there were only 167 Qs.


part of the problem with this test is the complete lack of study materials. If anyone else is interested, i think it would be cool if someone knows how to build an app/website, we could team up on SDN and just create a Qbank, charge 10 dollars per person or whatever just to cover whatever expenses, and donate any extra money to some charity


If anyone is interested, let me know. (Assuming I passed, which is a big if)

 

[Avi S.]

took it as well.


The questions were overall WAAAY easier than I thought, but covered much more territory than I anticipated. I may have failed it because I focused my studying a little too much on US physics and memorizing formulas which was a teeeeeny part of the exam.

There were questions about the heartmate III which were very peripherally related to US at all.

I came from an EM background so most/all of the non cardiac stuff was covered in my residency training.
As for my studying, I used emedicalacademy (which was absolute garbage and a waste of money) and sccm questions which there were only 167 Qs.


part of the problem with this test is the complete lack of study materials. If anyone else is interested, i think it would be cool if someone knows how to build an app/website, we could team up on SDN and just create a Qbank, charge 10 dollars per person or whatever just to cover whatever expenses, and donate any extra money to some charity


If anyone is interested, let me know. (Assuming I passed, which is a big if)

Congrats on completing the exam. I don't know how to build an app or website, but I would definitely be game for contributing to your Qbank idea. I thought the critical care echo review book by chang et al. with 1200+ questions was the closest thing to the exam questions, but a lot of it is overkill.

 

[popnull]

Congrats on completing the exam. I don't know how to build an app or website, but I would definitely be game for contributing to your Qbank idea. I thought the critical care echo review book by chang et al. with 1200+ questions was the closest thing to the exam questions, but a lot of it is overkill.

I think the sccm online course + the 1200 question book is enough. But I did the basic tee exam before so I am familiar with a lot of the concepts and equations from that.

I bet everyone here passed too!

 

[Avi S.]

Passed!

 

[critcare-enthusiast]

I was told that there are a few other ways to get certified for Echo. Is anyone aware of any

I haven't gone through certification yet. I am currently accruing my 150 cases. I will be going through the practice experience pathway. I was told that we have until December 2026 to do this.

what pathway is that? I think someone else told me about doing some exam and then getting some echo images and submitting that to the board!! Can you share some details about it? Thanks

 

[psychbender]

I was told that there are a few other ways to get certified for Echo. Is anyone aware of any

what pathway is that? I think someone else told me about doing some exam and then getting some echo images and submitting that to the board!! Can you share some details about it? Thanks

It's the same exam. You just either accumulate the 150 echoes on your own after training (practice pathway) or during fellowship (training pathway). You don't submit any actual echoes, just a case log and a letter from someone with NBE certification attesting to them.

 

[critcare-enthusiast]

It's the same exam. You just either accumulate the 150 echoes on your own after training (practice pathway) or during fellowship (training pathway). You don't submit any actual echoes, just a case log and a letter from someone with NBE certification attesting to them.

Could you please share the link to the exam?

 

[psychbender]

CCEeXAM® Examination of Special Competence in Critical Care Echocardiography - National Board of Echocardiography, Inc.

The CCEeXAM® promotes continued excellence in performance and interpretation of cardiac ultrasound. This computer-based exam is administered one day a year at Pearson VUE Professional Centers. To locate a test center click here. Fees and Deadlines  Early Registration Fee Ends: 11:59 PM EST on...

www.echoboards.org

 

[critcare-enthusiast]

CCEeXAM® Examination of Special Competence in Critical Care Echocardiography - National Board of Echocardiography, Inc.

The CCEeXAM® promotes continued excellence in performance and interpretation of cardiac ultrasound. This computer-based exam is administered one day a year at Pearson VUE Professional Centers. To locate a test center click here. Fees and Deadlines  Early Registration Fee Ends: 11:59 PM EST on...

www.echoboards.org

Thanks

 

[McPoyle]

I like the content and how testing may reinforce that. However, what is the motivation for us to go through the hoops and paying the money to get the actual certification? Does it allow you to bill differently? Are your jobs requiring it?

 

[psychbender]

I like the content and how testing may reinforce that. However, what is the motivation for us to go through the hoops and paying the money to get the actual certification? Does it allow you to bill differently? Are your jobs requiring it?

Nope. It's a merit badge. One could probably flash the certificate around to try to get hired at some academic place, and carve a niche as the echo guy. However, having passed the test and demonstrated knowledge seems to work just fine for that use case, as well.