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Official ABIM 2012 Thread
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I'm calculating about 5 questions per decile. I think the difference between top half and failing is about 18-19 questions. Abra Cadabra. What a test.
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Judging by prior posts, it seems that one would need to answer--on average--70% correct to pass. I am intrigued that the easier questions are "weighted" more and that it is possible to pass or fail if one's score falls right at that 70% correct mark (plus or minus a percentage point).
Does this still hold true?
Does this still hold true?
Got my score: 587
LAST YEAR: FAILED 2011 ABIM
- Score: 320 (lowest score in this forum), 1st decile.
- Highest in Endocrinology: 94% correct
- Lowest in General Medicine: 49% then Oncolology 59%
- Other subjects 65-80%
- Failed because of general medicine.
- Got 136-138/205 correct, but got lowest score (questions weighted differently)
2012 ABIM: AIM TO PASS ONLY, AND IN ORDER TO PASS, I JUST NEED: TO RAISE GENERAL MEDICINE AND ONLOCOLY TO 70% CORRECT, and to keep same scores in other fields.
IT MEANSTHAT I NEED 12 MORE CORRECT QUESTIONS TO SECURE A "PASS" RESULT.
2012 ABIM RESULT:
- Score 587
- Highest in Cardiology: 92%
- Most subjects are 84-88%
- Lowest in General medicine: 76%
- Oncology: 86%
Look, I still got the lowest score in general medicine (76%) but this is more than enough (goal to reach 70% only) and passed with relatively good score.
FOR THOSE WHOSE FAILED: I am pretty sure that you got low scores in General Medicine. Last year I failed and I met lots of ABIM losers in Awesome reviews course, and all of them got lowest scores in general medicine. so Please pay attention to General Medicine: Screening, women health, sport medicine, epidemiology, psychiatry, preventive medicine, dermatology, opthalmology, social and ethical issues..
LAST YEAR: FAILED 2011 ABIM
- Score: 320 (lowest score in this forum), 1st decile.
- Highest in Endocrinology: 94% correct
- Lowest in General Medicine: 49% then Oncolology 59%
- Other subjects 65-80%
- Failed because of general medicine.
- Got 136-138/205 correct, but got lowest score (questions weighted differently)
2012 ABIM: AIM TO PASS ONLY, AND IN ORDER TO PASS, I JUST NEED: TO RAISE GENERAL MEDICINE AND ONLOCOLY TO 70% CORRECT, and to keep same scores in other fields.
IT MEANSTHAT I NEED 12 MORE CORRECT QUESTIONS TO SECURE A "PASS" RESULT.
2012 ABIM RESULT:
- Score 587
- Highest in Cardiology: 92%
- Most subjects are 84-88%
- Lowest in General medicine: 76%
- Oncology: 86%
Look, I still got the lowest score in general medicine (76%) but this is more than enough (goal to reach 70% only) and passed with relatively good score.
FOR THOSE WHOSE FAILED: I am pretty sure that you got low scores in General Medicine. Last year I failed and I met lots of ABIM losers in Awesome reviews course, and all of them got lowest scores in general medicine. so Please pay attention to General Medicine: Screening, women health, sport medicine, epidemiology, psychiatry, preventive medicine, dermatology, opthalmology, social and ethical issues..
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Congrats!
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You can study with a partner via Skype for free no matter where they live. It's great.
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Last year I "failed" at least one section and still passed (although not with flying colors by any stretch). It helps if you fail a less highly weighted section. The P/F score is based on the entire exam. I imagine if you failed cards or Gen Med or possibly hem/onc you'd be in a world of hurt. But failing the Endo or Rheum sections probably aren't going to make a big difference assuming you do well in the rest of it.
I scored lower than 70% on four sections and passed. (I ranged between 71% and 83% on the remaining sections.)
Wow, that's a dramatic and inspirational turnaround! Congrats!
I scored in the 80th percentile in general medicine and failed this year by a very slim margin. What I learned the day the score report came in: questions are weighed differently, so know it all like we did for Step 1.
I agree with that you have to know everything. Respect the test. I am starting on a clean page.
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I am out of town so I am unable to receive my score report in the mail and I will not return for one week. I am curious to know what is the pass rate for first time test takers as well as for repeat test takers and other stats like standard deviation, etc. Could someone please post this info?
There were 7,303 first-takers with 85% passing. (2011 it was 84%)
There were 2,177 repeaters with 36% passing.
(Combined total group 9,480 with 74% passing.)
Regarding the standardized score scale. The overall exam performance is reported on a standardized score scale range of 200 to 800.
Mean for first-time takers is 500.
Standard deviation is 100.
To pass, the standardized score must equal or exceed the standardized passing score of 370.
There is a decile breakdown that reflects the overall standardized score:
Decile / Overall Standardized Score
1 / 200 - 344
2 / 345 - 386
3 / 387 - 416
4 / 417 - 443
5 / 444 - 467
6 / 468 - 492
7 / 493 - 519
8 / 520 - 550
9 / 551 - 595
10 / 596 - 800
Scores above 596 are associated with the 10th decile and rank among the top 10% of exam takers. A decile of 1 indicates that a score ranks in the bottom 10%.
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First, obtain the number of questions you got correct.
Take your percent correct for each of the medical content areas and multiply it to the number of questions in each area.
For example, if you got 50% correct in the cardiovascular disease section, multiply 50% x 29 (this is how many questions there were) = 14.5 (approx. 14 - 15 correct)
Add up all the correct items. If one is at or close to 70% correct (plus or minus 1-2%), this should be a "pass." (Roughly 139 to 141 correct out of the total 205 questions that count, depending on the "weight" of the questions answered correctly).
As mentioned previously, questions are weighted differently, so it's possible to pass this exam with a little less than 70% correct and I suppose it's also possible to fail the exam if one scores at or a little above the 70% correct (please correct me if this is not true).
Nevertheless, there are some great posts from those who had the strategy to focus on the weaker areas and strive to answer just a few more questions correct the next time around and this made a huge difference in their score. One person went from the 1st decile (scoring in the bottom 10% last year and failing) to essentially "acing" this exam and scoring in the 10th decile (i.e. top 10%) this year!
This is a phenomenal forum filled with supportive, humble, and dedicated doctors who have struggled and triumphed over this exam.
Stay strong!
Hi ABIM2013,
can you give us specific strategies inorder to increase your scores in gen, medicine, oncology and other subjects?
Thanks,
Doctordr
[email protected]
Sorry to hear your story, I failed last year but aced ABIM exam this year. I made mistakes when I first took ABIM exam but then I corrected them and passed. I list some so you can have a plan for your study.
My mistakes:
1. I was so overconfident because I got good USMLE and ITE scores.
2012 ABIM: I respected the exam and try to get as many correct questions as possible.
2. I assumed that I would pass ABIM because I never failed any standard exam.
2012 ABIM: I assumed that I would fail again because the pass rate for re-takers is only 35-36%.
3. I underestimated the ABIM exam.
2012 ABIM: I considered it as the hardest exam in my life.
4. I did not pay attention to general medicine, I thought that this field is easiest.
2012 ABIM: I concentrated on my weak areas including general medicine, oncology, and nephrology, although I read all subjects.
2012 ABIM: passed all subjects, lowest in general medicine (76%) and Pulmonology (80%).
5. I was so fast during my first exam, I finished my exam early (at least 30 min for each block).
2012 ABIM: I was careful and slow, I finished my exam on time. Even I knew the answers for sure, I still looked at other options in order to exclude them. I did this way for all questions.
6. I used MKSAP books and questions only.
2012 ABIM: I used MKSAP 15, MedStudy, Awesome, Kaplan qbank
7. I did not take time off for the boards. I worked from 07/05/2011.
2012 ABIM: I worked full time during the year but took 1 month off before the exam, and sit for the exam on the first available day to avoid anxiety.
PS:Are you working for MemorialCare IPA in Long Beach? I was asked for an interview there but already signed a new contract.
thanks for sharing the mistakes and strategies you have made. One question did you read Medstudy and awesome for each subject lecture and did question banks using Kaplan Qbank,MKSAP,Medstudy quuestions right?
Definitely we will be able to learn from your experiences and strategies🙂 Thanks you for sharing!!!
My mistakes:
1. I was so overconfident because I got good USMLE and ITE scores.
2012 ABIM: I respected the exam and try to get as many correct questions as possible.
2. I assumed that I would pass ABIM because I never failed any standard exam.
2012 ABIM: I assumed that I would fail again because the pass rate for re-takers is only 35-36%.
3. I underestimated the ABIM exam.
2012 ABIM: I considered it as the hardest exam in my life.
4. I did not pay attention to general medicine, I thought that this field is easiest.
2012 ABIM: I concentrated on my weak areas including general medicine, oncology, and nephrology, although I read all subjects.
2012 ABIM: passed all subjects, lowest in general medicine (76%) and Pulmonology (80%).
5. I was so fast during my first exam, I finished my exam early (at least 30 min for each block).
2012 ABIM: I was careful and slow, I finished my exam on time. Even I knew the answers for sure, I still looked at other options in order to exclude them. I did this way for all questions.
6. I used MKSAP books and questions only.
2012 ABIM: I used MKSAP 15, MedStudy, Awesome, Kaplan qbank
7. I did not take time off for the boards. I worked from 07/05/2011.
2012 ABIM: I worked full time during the year but took 1 month off before the exam, and sit for the exam on the first available day to avoid anxiety.
PS:Are you working for MemorialCare IPA in Long Beach? I was asked for an interview there but already signed a new contract.[/QUOTE]
Definitely we will be able to learn from your experiences and strategies🙂 Thanks you for sharing!!!
My mistakes:
1. I was so overconfident because I got good USMLE and ITE scores.
2012 ABIM: I respected the exam and try to get as many correct questions as possible.
2. I assumed that I would pass ABIM because I never failed any standard exam.
2012 ABIM: I assumed that I would fail again because the pass rate for re-takers is only 35-36%.
3. I underestimated the ABIM exam.
2012 ABIM: I considered it as the hardest exam in my life.
4. I did not pay attention to general medicine, I thought that this field is easiest.
2012 ABIM: I concentrated on my weak areas including general medicine, oncology, and nephrology, although I read all subjects.
2012 ABIM: passed all subjects, lowest in general medicine (76%) and Pulmonology (80%).
5. I was so fast during my first exam, I finished my exam early (at least 30 min for each block).
2012 ABIM: I was careful and slow, I finished my exam on time. Even I knew the answers for sure, I still looked at other options in order to exclude them. I did this way for all questions.
6. I used MKSAP books and questions only.
2012 ABIM: I used MKSAP 15, MedStudy, Awesome, Kaplan qbank
7. I did not take time off for the boards. I worked from 07/05/2011.
2012 ABIM: I worked full time during the year but took 1 month off before the exam, and sit for the exam on the first available day to avoid anxiety.
PS:Are you working for MemorialCare IPA in Long Beach? I was asked for an interview there but already signed a new contract.[/QUOTE]
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How many total questions did you get right? I think you probably needed 142 or so. I know they are weighted differently.
[/QUOTE]
Yes, I did MKSAP 15 + Medstudy qbank by subjects and reviewed all questions including the ones I did correctly.
Kaplan qbank: I used it as simulation exam ( timed, mixed and random), reviewed questions I did not get the correct answers only, scored totally 65%. Awesome review get lots of questions
from Kaplan qbank. Kaplan qbank is good and very similar to the real ABIM exam.
Likely only 3-4 more questions answered correctly to pass.
As mentioned in previous posts, the questions are weighted differently. Probably need to answer at least 142 questions correctly to pass.
The score report doesn't explicitly list how many questions one answers correctly.
It lists the "Number of Questions" for each "Medical Content Area" (e.g. Cardiovascular Disease = 29 questions, Endocrine/Diabetes/Metabolism = 17 questions, GI = 19 questions, Hematology = 12 questions, etc.), "Your Percent Correct" for each area, and "Your Decile."
To calculate how many questions you answered correctly:
Multiply the number of questions from each Medical Content Area to "Your Percent Correct" to calculate the number of questions you answered correctly for each section.
For example, if "Your Percent Correct" was 70% for the Cardiovascular Disease section, you got 20 questions correct out of the 29 Cardio questions. (i.e. 29 Cardio questions x 70% correct = 20 total questions answered correctly)
Continue with this calculation for each content area (there are 10 total Medical Content Areas comprising 205 items) and add up all the numbers to find out how many questions you answered correctly.
I think one would need to correctly answer at least 141-142 questions out of the 205 total items on the exam to pass.
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Which section is Gen Med? Does the category labeled "Other Medical Specialty Areas/Miscellaneous" encompass gen med (along with neuro, optho, derm)?
Yes, the "Other Medical Specialty Areas/Miscellaneous" section includes the Gen Med questions (from the ABIM blueprint):
Allergy/Immunology
Psychiatry
Neurology
Dermatology
Obstetrics/Gynecology
Ophthalmology
Otorhinolaryngology
Miscellaneous
Plus Cross-Content subjects:
Critical Care Medicine
Geriatric Medicine
Prevention
Women's Health
Clinical Epidemiology
Ethics
Nutrition
Palliative/End-of-Life Care
Adolescent Medicine
Occupational Medicine
Patient Safety
Substance Abuse
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Thank you SO much for that info! Can't express how helpful this forum has been for me.
Does anyone have any opinion on whether they think it's worth it to get the 14th (newest) edition of MedStudy if I already have the former version? I'm using the 13th edition now and used it last year so I have notes left over from my initial studying and did not want to overwhelm myself by starting fresh with a new set of books when a lot of the content is almost the same.
Does anyone have any opinion on whether they think it's worth it to get the 14th (newest) edition of MedStudy if I already have the former version? I'm using the 13th edition now and used it last year so I have notes left over from my initial studying and did not want to overwhelm myself by starting fresh with a new set of books when a lot of the content is almost the same.
I think your MedStudy 13th edition will be an adequate resource since you have already reviewed it and notated the books. Indeed, the content is essentially the same (I bought the 14th edition and also had the 13th edition).
Of course, I, and others, would also highly recommend supplementing your studies with other high-yield materials such as Board Basics, participating in a review course (e.g. Awesome Review, Pass Machine), working with a reliable and motivated study partner (some GREAT posts about this from "Thinker123" on Oct 14-15th), and doing as many questions as possible (e.g. MKSAP, MedStudy, etc.) geared first towards your weakest areas and then the highly tested content areas such as Gen Med/Misc (46 items on the ABIM exam), Cardio (29 items), Pulm (21 items), GI (19 items), ID (19 items), Endocrine (17 items), and on from there.
Best of luck and stay strong!
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Passed by the skin of my teeth 🙂
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The pass rate for second time test takers is dismal (35%)!
Why is this number so low? And how are we supposed to pass this test the second time around with such a low pass rate? I'm getting unmotivated :-(
Why is this number so low? And how are we supposed to pass this test the second time around with such a low pass rate? I'm getting unmotivated :-(
Don't get unmotivated. I personally believe that is exactly what they want. Anyone who thinks that someone is not a good doctor because you have not passed one exam is not living in the real world. How many doctors do you know who are board certified and you wonder how in the world such a person could have even gotten into medical school? I bet more than one...
How many of your patients are "standardized", like the test?
I know it is hard to go through this and very easy to feel ashamed, but this exam does not make anyone a better physician, much less a better person.
Many times I ask myself if the examiners are doing it on purpose to the repeat test takers in order to prove (to themselves) that if you fail once it is because you are not good and do not have knowledge. In that case they have to give you harder questions and maybe you get the same score as someone else, that person passes and you don't...Just my thought.
Please do not let this get you discouraged. You are better than this. If you find that you are depressed and need help, go get it! There is NOTHING wrong with it. We are used to go through so much without even accepting that certain situations are hard, much less willing to ask for help when we need to. Again, there is nothing wrong with it. There are a lot of people in this forum who are in a similar situation to yours. Use this forum to your advantage and get as many study tips as you can in order to make it happen.
I hope you find a way of putting this year's exam behind you and use it as a learning experience to succeed next time. Best!
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Got my score, 725. I got 100 in 4 subjects and most 87-90. only Oncology in 70s.
Wow, that's a phenomenal score - congrats on your success! What was your study strategy?
Congratulations!!!
Please share your study strategy.
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Thank you for the words of encouragement...I'm usually a very motivated person. But now I'm not motivated at all right now..I hope to get my motivation back soon..gotta start studying!
Quick question: has anyone used the medstudy flashcards? Are they helpful?
I used the MedStudy IM Core Scripts flashcards and did find them useful and helpful. If anything they helped me quickly (and more accurately) identify a diagnosis. Since many exam questions on the boards will require second-order reasoning it behooves one to quickly formulate the diagnosis then spend the majority of the time ruling in/ruling out each of the answer choices.
If you decide to use them, I recommend ordering the new one that's coming out in January. The ones I have are blank on the back (each card has "Diagnosis is ____________") which I had to write in. There's an answer book provided, but no other explanations...just the diagnoses. The new cards not only already have the answers printed on the back of each card but also provide more detailed explanations regarding diagnosis and treatment PLUS the reference to the pages in the Core Curriculum books. Very cool!
Are you making a study schedule?
I failed the test twice, although the second time I left the exam room with full confidence that I will pass but unfortunately never happened.I will continue using the awesome review as the main source but I am planning to do MKSAp 15 question at least three times and med study q bank also for three times. I am planning to use Kaplan q book (have 5 sessions with 80 random questionseach) to test myself. Hope this will be enough to win the ABIM in 2013.
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Well, I had said in an earlier post that I would write about my thoughts after seeing full score
report. I have had it for about a week now which has been enough to collect my thoughts. I am
one of many who failed 1st attempt in 2011 and passed in 2012 so I want to help those who failed because I know how much it hurts. Keep in mind though different things work for different people but I can say what worked in my case.
2011 results
Failed by a thin margin.
Got 368
Need 370 to pass
Was in 2nd decile
Got 142 of 205 questions right
2012 results
Passed
514
About one standard deviation above mean and was in top of 7th decile (almost 8th decile)
Basically top one third this year
Got 163 of 205 questions correct
Did all MKSAP 15 once in July after doing it twice in 2011 without other sources that year
Did MedStudy questions twice and read chapters twice
Went through MedStudy questions 3rd time only from incorrect responses of 2nd go through
Did MedStudy cards and made my own cards from explanations to MedStudy ?'s
Attended Awesome Review
Had about 5.5 straight weeks completely off just prior to exam
In terms of weak and strong areas, I found very little consistency between ITE results, the real test 2011, and the real test 2012. In many areas, if I was weak in something one year, I would be strong the next year and vice versa. Only had a few consistent areas. These tests must have huge standard deviations with small numbers of questions making huge differences.
Walking out of exam 2nd time, I still thought it was insanely hard and questions were ridiculous and came from none of the sources I used or anything I had experienced in real life practice. Felt very few came from Awesome Review (because I was expecting 30-40 questions at least from there). Was at least 80% sure I would fail again.
Was delighted and shocked at the result and more shocked that I passed by such a high margin.
A senior faculty member at my old residency program who never worked with me directly and who was not a cardiologist told me I was not qualified to become a cardiologist and that maybe internal medicine was not right for me. She told me these things near the end of my 3 years instead of intern year. I actually got 100% cardiology questions correct and didn't miss a single one. Did great on gen med/misc as well which i did poorly on in 2011. On top if that, have been very successful as a Hospitalist. I wish I could ask her what she got on her cardiology section, show her my report, and then tell her to suck it!!
This has been the ultimate redemption and I wish the same feeling for all those who must retake this exam. Never give up and always believe in your own ability rather than what the playa haters have to say about you.
report. I have had it for about a week now which has been enough to collect my thoughts. I am
one of many who failed 1st attempt in 2011 and passed in 2012 so I want to help those who failed because I know how much it hurts. Keep in mind though different things work for different people but I can say what worked in my case.
2011 results
Failed by a thin margin.
Got 368
Need 370 to pass
Was in 2nd decile
Got 142 of 205 questions right
2012 results
Passed
514
About one standard deviation above mean and was in top of 7th decile (almost 8th decile)
Basically top one third this year
Got 163 of 205 questions correct
Did all MKSAP 15 once in July after doing it twice in 2011 without other sources that year
Did MedStudy questions twice and read chapters twice
Went through MedStudy questions 3rd time only from incorrect responses of 2nd go through
Did MedStudy cards and made my own cards from explanations to MedStudy ?'s
Attended Awesome Review
Had about 5.5 straight weeks completely off just prior to exam
In terms of weak and strong areas, I found very little consistency between ITE results, the real test 2011, and the real test 2012. In many areas, if I was weak in something one year, I would be strong the next year and vice versa. Only had a few consistent areas. These tests must have huge standard deviations with small numbers of questions making huge differences.
Walking out of exam 2nd time, I still thought it was insanely hard and questions were ridiculous and came from none of the sources I used or anything I had experienced in real life practice. Felt very few came from Awesome Review (because I was expecting 30-40 questions at least from there). Was at least 80% sure I would fail again.
Was delighted and shocked at the result and more shocked that I passed by such a high margin.
A senior faculty member at my old residency program who never worked with me directly and who was not a cardiologist told me I was not qualified to become a cardiologist and that maybe internal medicine was not right for me. She told me these things near the end of my 3 years instead of intern year. I actually got 100% cardiology questions correct and didn't miss a single one. Did great on gen med/misc as well which i did poorly on in 2011. On top if that, have been very successful as a Hospitalist. I wish I could ask her what she got on her cardiology section, show her my report, and then tell her to suck it!!
This has been the ultimate redemption and I wish the same feeling for all those who must retake this exam. Never give up and always believe in your own ability rather than what the playa haters have to say about you.
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I am considering going to the Awesome board review course this year. Would you recommend this course? Did you attend this course in 2011? I went to the acp class and I still failed.
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I definitely feel for you. You invested a lot of your time and money on the ACP course. I have heard some not such good things about that course from most people and only a few people who say it is good.
I personally would recommend Awesome Review. Dr. Rahman is a teaching genius and presents stuff in a concise way. His books are easily reviewable in a short amount of time in the weeks before the exam. He also speaks to the ways in which the test makers try to plant trap answers, etc. He helps you get inside the mind of the testmaker.
I definitely picked up questions that I would not have other wise figured out because of his test. I must say that it felt like very few questions actually came from his review materials though. I think he helped me to get the right mind set. Even after taking the test this year, I still walked out thinking I had failed but his class must have made at least some difference. I would say don't rely exclusively on one source though others may tell you know just one source extremely well.
It is tough for me to say what will work well in your case since I don't know you personally.
I don't think there is such a thing as a guarunteed source that will make you pass. Certainly, there are people who did Awesome Review multiple times and failed multiple times. I think that if your learning style is suited to his course, it may help you.
I personally would recommend Awesome Review. Dr. Rahman is a teaching genius and presents stuff in a concise way. His books are easily reviewable in a short amount of time in the weeks before the exam. He also speaks to the ways in which the test makers try to plant trap answers, etc. He helps you get inside the mind of the testmaker.
I definitely picked up questions that I would not have other wise figured out because of his test. I must say that it felt like very few questions actually came from his review materials though. I think he helped me to get the right mind set. Even after taking the test this year, I still walked out thinking I had failed but his class must have made at least some difference. I would say don't rely exclusively on one source though others may tell you know just one source extremely well.
It is tough for me to say what will work well in your case since I don't know you personally.
I don't think there is such a thing as a guarunteed source that will make you pass. Certainly, there are people who did Awesome Review multiple times and failed multiple times. I think that if your learning style is suited to his course, it may help you.
Great points. I absolutely agree with this. The Awesome Review (AR) course covers thousands of pertinent facts--most in the form of orange-color highlighted Q & A--that are presented in ways that you won't find in any other review book or question bank.
I think the ABIM exam is so challenging because while there are only so many ways to read about, repeatedly review, memorize, and understand something fundamental like diabetes management or diagnosing a patient with joint pain, the board exam questions just seem to be asked in ways that are not very straight-forward (like the MKSAP questions) or test concepts that you might not have even thought about (like the extremely difficult new UWorld questions).
The AR course asks questions that one might never have thought to ask about the material we all have read/reviewed/memorized/conceptualized/mastered throughout med school and residency. Granted, you might not see many (or any) AR questions on the actual exam. However, going over the AR questions might stimulate a different approach in thinking about and conceptualizing familiar material. I think the AR course did this for me and probably helped me pass (barely) more than I realize.
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