Official ABIM 2013 Thread

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Hi is there a correlation with the in-training exam and the abim exam? Did those of you who passed do well on your in-service? (Anc vice-versa, those who failed, did you do poorly on on the ITE?)
 
MissMedicine said:
Hi is there a correlation with the in-training exam and the abim exam? Did those of you who passed do well on your in-service? (Anc vice-versa, those who failed, did you do poorly on on the ITE?)
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I'm not sure of the stats, but I know I did poorly on my ITEs and then I failed the boards last year 🙁 This is obviously my personal experience, but in retrospect, I should have taken the results more seriously in terms of it reflecting my lack of "fund of knowledge". Since it didn't affect my day-to-day clinical skills/patient management, and I passed all the Steps without any problems, I didn't take the results seriously. Whether the ITE/boards reflect you are a good doctor may be up for debate, the fact is that both test minutiae/rare diseases, and unfortunately knowledge of such things comes from directed studying...in my case, the resident reports/noon lectures/etc weren't enough.
 
Last year it was released the first week of October. I would expect the same timeframe.
 
2010- 8 weeks for results to be posted (from last exam date)
2011- 10 weeks for results
2012- 6 weeks for results.

So I guess we should expect them sometime next week until early Nov.
 
I called last week, results are not out yet.....please don't play with people feelings like that....
 
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lilili said:
2010- 8 weeks for results to be posted (from last exam date)
2011- 10 weeks for results
2012- 6 weeks for results.

So I guess we should expect them sometime next week until early Nov.
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Kinda the same perception I had

Last year results were out first week of October
In 2011 my friend got her result a week before thanksgiving.

So, It could be starting tomorrow.....GOOD LUCK TO ALL :laugh:
 
PASSED!!!!!

By the way, really odd timing for ABIM to post results. I checked last night any nothing, but at 5:30am the results must have been up.

Will post study strategy, etc once I get my score report.
 
Saw the updates on here, so checked at the website (no email either)...and I passed!!! I'm so thankful...was so scared what my options would have been if I had failed again. I will definitely post my studying tips as well, soon!
 
intmed3 said:
PASSED!!!!!

By the way, really odd timing for ABIM to post results. I checked last night any nothing, but at 5:30am the results must have been up.

Will post study strategy, etc once I get my score report.
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Does anyone know how the score report arrives? I passed too. Didnt get any email. Congratulations to all!
 
I passed thank God. Good luck to everyone. I have been checking the website everyday. I checked at 3 am (getting baby a bottle) nothing then again about 6:30am and saw passed. The email was later than that. So I kept checking because I wanted to make sure it wasn't a glitch. I will post my journey when I get the report. Once again good luck. I have been on the other side too and there s hope. 🙂)
 
PASSED 🙂 MY heart was beating at 150/min at least,,,when I checked it..
Congrats to all who passed!.. It was a very tough and different exam of all exams I had taken!!
 
Well, just checked my status and I failed. I am in a very bad spot and want to see if anyone here can give advice.

This is the second time I took the board exam, and the second time I failed. I actually skipped one year in between the two attempts. I am a US medical grad who is in my third and final year of subspecialty fellowship. This puts me in a very, very tough situation. Without IM certification I am quite certain I will not be able to get a job in my specialty, nor would I be able to sit for the subspecialty boards. I have not had any academic probation or other difficulties in the past. As I spent an endless amount of time studying for the boards this year, the most I will ever be able to spend, I am pretty sure at this point that I would never be able to pass the exam. I went through both MKSAP and MedStudy multiple times and was consistently scoring 80+ percent on all question groups from both in all categories.

What in the world can someone without internal medicine board certification but who has completed residency actually do careerwise? I feel like I just have a couple of pieces of paper hanging on my wall that mean nothing now (degrees,etc).
 
ABIM2013 said:
I was a re-taker this year (turns out I missed by a tiny margin last year using only MKSAP for a couple of weeks in a semi-serious fashion). I went into a deep depression and questioned my career choice every time I went to work last year. I was the kind of resident that skipped meals and conferences all the time to be with patients and their family and I stayed up with them all night to stabilize them when they were really sick. This made the failing score last year even harder to accept--especially when I (albeit inappropriately) started to think of some of my peers who were barely clinically competent with general medicine and openly cared little about patients and would hide when patients were sick or leave for conferences etc. at the drop of a hat....yet still passed the ABIM certifying exam, likely because they just memorized the random things tested. The ABIM exam (and probably) the ABIM seems to care little about how diligent you are and how hard you work to remain clinically competent, and the exam is the gold standard. Like others have said, just respect it and accept that it tests 'something'--even if you do not agree or understand what that something might be.

MKSAP IMHO is not enough unless you are very good at gaming exams or are very lucky with the version of the test you get. The questions are just too different from anything you've ever taken - not like the inservice, not like the NBME or Step exams, not like med school exams. I'll let you know how I do (I took it last week on the first available date), but sad to say that I felt no different from last year. I was supposed to study with someone on this board, but he dropped the ball (you know who you are 🙂), so I flew solo.

I was more focused this year. I also was working a lot more as a hospitalist, and studying actually did improve my patient care when diagnoses were unclear. This was satisfying. I studied slowly from November 1 last year until June, and then ramped it up on June 1 a lot until the test last week. I read all of the Medstudy books, and transferred them to > 24 hours of audio which I listened to every single day running, gardening, and when I was in the car. I got sick of listening to my own voice. I then watched the Medstudy videos. I also used the Medstudy flash cards a little. I made my own notes on things I was perpetually tripped up on (different and odd presentations of RTAs, different guidelines and side effects of meds for rheum conditions, rare heme conditions, chemo regimens etc.) I did maybe 30-40% of MKSAP 15 over but did not use it as my focus and it's crap preparation IMHO. I did all of the latest medstudy board review questions, I did around 85% of Harrison's IM Board Review Questions (they were hard), and 85% of USMLEWORLD questions (they were really hard!). I also read First Aid for IM boards, and made my own notes in the margin. I did very well on the general medicine section last year, and so decided to focus on the four subjects that got me in trouble on my first attempt...I read them over, and over, and over, and listened to the MKSAP lectures and Medstudy lectures over until I was nauseated.

Oh yes...almost forgot...I also purchased iMedicine Review for my hand-held device. Save your money as it's a piece of junk. They seem to have plagiarized the EXACT format of another commercially-available IM prep course, and are getting fat from the proceeds. It is RIDDLED with typos and mistakes making me question the quality control. Don't buy it.

Overall, it was just as hard this year, and many of the question stems in my opinion are random, tricky, and seem to withhold vital info. that would be freely available in real life to make the diagnosis obvious. Lastly, I finished each section around 20-30 minutes early last year and am sure that it why I lost the few vital points that might have tipped me into the passing range with the others. This year, I slowed WAY down, and read very carefully. Give it the respect is deserves. The biggest different this year were my preparation, and my attitude toward the exam. Studying any more than I did would make not one bit of different, in my opinion...

Good luck to you all. I love internal medicine, and gave it my best this year. I wish all of you the best of success.
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I passed this year. I know first-hand how awful it is not to get through first time (I did not pass last year) and so anybody who needs some encouraging words can PM me.

I will post my strategy when I have the score report so I can confidently say (without misleading anyone) what worked for each section of the test but, in brief:

This year:
- Gave the test the respect it deserves, and ignored the ABIM conspiracy theorists. Accept that the ABIM test is assessing 'something'. I don't think studying any harder would have made a difference after this year's test which seemed to have a lot of off-the-wall, picky questions. I still don't completely agree with how they do this, but that's the game we are playing.
- Studied a little from November to July to cover everything and then spent the last month just doing questions: Medstudy (80% average), Harrison's Qbank (79% average), USMLEWORLD (80% complete, average 60% which was 78th percentile if anyone cares).
- Focused on the areas I got killed on last year (ID, GI).
- Used multiple sources to study: Medstudy CDs, Medstudy books, my own audio notes, FIRST AID IM Boards, iMedicine Review.
- Took the exam carefully and slowly (finishing right on time for each section).
- Took time to exercise, and to get my life back in order.

Last year:
- Did not respect the exam and arrogantly assumed that since I was such a strong medicine resident in one of the top programs in the U.S., I could 'wing it'. Obviously, I couldn't.
- Assumed that 3-4 weeks was enough study time.
- Assumed that MKSAP questions alone were sufficient, and that doing only questions (even though scoring well) is enough to study.
- Raced through the exam, finishing each section about 30 minutes ahead of time. People: this is where the ABIM strips points off you....I caught MANY question stems second time around with very subtle twists that changed the clinical interpretation altogether.

Congrats again to those that passed and, for those that did not, hang your head high and give yourself time to grieve. No sense starting to study for a few months until you've absorbed this blow and have a good strategy.

Parting words: MKSAP is not enough. Acing the general medicine section is not enough. Like the MCAT and the USMLE, you need to know it ALL....forwards and backwards.
 
Member07041776 said:
Well, just checked my status and I failed. I am in a very bad spot and want to see if anyone here can give advice.

This is the second time I took the board exam, and the second time I failed. I actually skipped one year in between the two attempts. I am a US medical grad who is in my third and final year of subspecialty fellowship. This puts me in a very, very tough situation. Without IM certification I am quite certain I will not be able to get a job in my specialty, nor would I be able to sit for the subspecialty boards. I have not had any academic probation or other difficulties in the past. As I spent an endless amount of time studying for the boards this year, the most I will ever be able to spend, I am pretty sure at this point that I would never be able to pass the exam. I went through both MKSAP and MedStudy multiple times and was consistently scoring 80+ percent on all question groups from both in all categories.

What in the world can someone without internal medicine board certification but who has completed residency actually do careerwise? I feel like I just have a couple of pieces of paper hanging on my wall that mean nothing now (degrees,etc).
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I am sorry. I failed this test 3 times to be exact so I understand failing the test. Give yourself some time about a month then get back up. You are in the window of 7 years to be board certified. So that is a plus. You can be a hospitalist until that window of time is up. You can study this year and pass next year then sit for your speciality boards after that. There is a way. I will post my strategy when I get my scores. It hurts today and looks bad today but maybe tomorrow or later you will have clarity. You can and will pass and you can work also so you will just be out of your speciality or a bit. YOU CAN PASS!!!
 
Goodgirl123 said:
I am sorry. I failed this test 3 times to be exact so I understand failing the test. Give yourself some time about a month then get back up. You are in the window of 7 years to be board certified. So that is a plus. You can be a hospitalist until that window of time is up. You can study this year and pass next year then sit for your speciality boards after that. There is a way. I will post my strategy when I get my scores. It hurts today and looks bad today but maybe tomorrow or later you will have clarity. You can and will pass and you can work also so you will just be out of your speciality or a bit. YOU CAN PASS!!!
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Well, I really want to believe this but for the life of me, thinking rationally, I don't see how it can be so. I recall the first time I failed, I got the score report. Aside from cards which I did very well on for some reason though I thought I would not, every other subject was in the 1st or 2nd decile for me, including the one in which I am in fellowship for. This would suggest that there is not a small group of subjects I am weak at but that there is an issue with overall test taking or test preparation. I don't get nervous over the test and have no trouble with structured studying. Time is not an issue and I finished all blocks both times with about 3-5 minutes to spare on each block. There are no crazy outside issues like substance abuse or family issues. I set my schedule up in fellowship such that I would have virtually unlimited time to study for 3 months prior to the test; in addition, I started studying 3 months prior to that in earnest. There just seems to be no way out here.
 
Passed this year, failed last year. The first time I took the exam, it was a year after I finished residency and a month before I got married. This time, I started studying way back in October right after I found out I failed. I read all of the MKSAP books, not just skimming but actually reading them. I purchased the Board Review Course from Harvard and listened to the lectures in my car (I commuted a lot for work). I also watched the videos for certain topics if the lectures were really strong (renal, cardio). I did the MKSAP practice questions until I scored >80% (I was aiming for >90% but never got there). I also did the MedStudy questions and repeated them until I got >90%.

One of my problems when I took the test previously was that I just didn't spend enough time studying. I was influenced by my fellow co-residents who all bragged that they barely studied before the exam and still passed (one person told me she actually fell asleep while taking the exam and still passed). That may be true, but I was someone who rarely went to conferences during residency. I also think the year between residency and taking the exam did not help. Having this last year to really study the material highlighted for me how little I actually knew the first time I took the exam. Without a doubt I'm better prepared now to be a physician.
 
My thoughts on this exam:

I did my residency at relatively competitive place, that was known for being tough. We got good clinical training on the bread and butter stuff, and saw a few rare things once in awhile. Because the program was clinically demanding, our formal curriculum was not well protected. Only one of my rotations had a resident report type thing, and it wasn't unusual for residents to miss this because of patient issues.

For the past couple of years, my program has a relatively high fail rate. I was advised that reading through MKSAP questions would be enough. I vaguely looked through this forum, and saw varying intensity of preparation. I thought I'd be okay because I was spending more time studying than some of my peers, and had been doing the MKSAP questions for months. Well, it wasn't enough for me, and I failed.

What I should have realized while studying the first time around---I hadn't heard of or thought about many of the diseases mentioned in MKSAP since medical school. That should have been a red flag that my fund of knowledge for what was being tested on the exam, was lacking. But I thought since I was clinically competent, that the exam would test more clinically relevant stuff. It does not. It is not a test of your regular clinical day to day knowledge---it tests rare things to make sure you'll recognize it if you see it.

After failing, I felt horrible, and realized I was lacking serious knowledge in some areas. I bought the MedStudy videos and their questions. I started re-studying slowly last November, and then more intensely starting Feb. Based on the advice I saw on this forum, I found a Skype study partner, and we did MKSAP questions together starting Feb. We would talk at least once a week, and in the beginning were studying as much as 3 times a week. Along the way, I watched the MedStudy videos. I started with the subjects I did the worst on. And then in July and August I rewatched my weak subjects. I redid the MKSAP questions in July and August after I had finished doing them with my study partner. I also went through the MedStudy questions. In August, my study partner and I would ask each other random questions.

I think I just needed to go back to my studying roots---I learn well by listening to lectures, and being able to pause them, take notes, etc. All of us made it this far, and hopefully we know what works for us when it comes to studying.

In the past year, I also learned how useful it is to study with someone else. One good thing about studying with a stranger, is that you stay focused on the study material (instead of getting distracted, like one might with friends). Btw: My study partner also passed.

Also wanted to echo what someone else wrote here: I also took my time on the exam this time around. The first time I got through it very quickly and was one of the first people done. This time, I went through it much more slowly, and was one of the last people to leave.
 
Passed !!!

I came to this forum in the month of July and got really tensed after seeing people do so much of studying for this exam.
There were some materials like medstudy, Passmachine, that I wasn't even aware of.
I just read Awesome review notes and mksap 16 ( only ques) and I passed.
Did not do Board Basics and did about 60% of mksap 15 ( ques).
I feel the more material you use, the more confused you get and we need to keep ourselves really focused in this exam.I attended awesome review twice though and read the awesome books atleast 7 times and mksap 16 ques atleast 3 times.
 
2411 said:
Passed !!!

I came to this forum in the month of July and got really tensed after seeing people do so much of studying for this exam.
There were some materials like medstudy, Passmachine, that I wasn't even aware of.
I just read Awesome review notes and mksap 16 ( only ques) and I passed.
Did not do Board Basics and did about 60% of mksap 15 ( ques).
I feel the more material you use, the more confused you get and we need to keep ourselves really focused in this exam.I attended awesome review twice though and read the awesome books atleast 7 times and mksap 16 ques atleast 3 times.
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:laugh: you act like you barely studied. Honestly, one week at awesome review with one read through of medstudy and you're prepared. I attended awesome review once read through them 3 times, and did mksap once.....man I thought I studied a lot.


I have to recheck occasionally to make sure I'm not dreaming.
 
I was confident of passing initially.
But once I came to this thread, I was really nervous.
Had never heard of medstudy, passmachine.
Was told that usmleworld was too tough for the exams and board basics is all covered in awesome review notes.
So considering the posts of other people in this forum,
I was probably underprepaired, since I just read two sources, mksap ques and awesome review notes
 
Passed!!! This was my second attempt
.
For those who didn't passed I really know what you are going though today. I am a silent reader of this forum and have been reading it almost daily for the past year since I found I didnt passed in 2012. First week I was in denial and feeling bad about myself. Then I found out that this is not end of the world and I continue with my plans (fellowship, job search, marriage and honeymoon). Of course during the whole year I regret that I didn't passed because things would be easier. But I managed to complete all the goals that I propose at the beginning of the year. For those who think that you can't find a job on your sub specialty if you are not board certified in Internal Medicine...that is not true. Once you finish residency you are board eligible for IM and once you finish your fellowship you are automatically board eligible for your sub specialty. All you need is to pass the board exam within 5 yrs that you finish your residency or fellowship. And there are plenty of jobs out there for board eligible/board certified.

So...how do you pass this exam?
First is dedication, you need to create your own schedule and follow it. In my case I knew I was getting married at the beginning of the year so I started studying after the wedding. At the begining it was a light study and then increased in intensity. I dont recommended to isolated yourself, but is important to be a little selfish and put this important exam on top of some other things in life.
Second, you need to get the best material that is out there. First time I took awesome review course and read the books one more time plus MKSAP x 2. This time I read MKSAP 15 books x 1, did MKSAP 15 x 2, read awesome review x 3 (memorizing important details), I did USMLEworld x 2 (I think that this is the best Qbank) and read BoardBasics 1-2 times.
Third, I think is very important to find a study partner. I had one for the last 2 weeks prior the exam and helped on keeping the ideas fresh in my mind for the exam.
Finally you need to trust in yourself and make sure you give all you can. The first time I knew I didn't prepared for this exam the best way possible. I started my fellowship right away and didn't have time off to study. This year I took 2 weeks vacation prior to the test and was studying at least 8-10 hrs daily for 4 weeks. The feeling I had when I got out the exam room this year was completely different as the one I felt last year. I knew I did better this year and I tried my best.
Once I receive the score I will post my study plan and both scores.
Good luck to all.
 
I had no clue about this forum. I checked the forum one week after my exam and regreted that I should have joined it before.
I had good percentile in my inservice exams but truly speaking I had not studied at all in my 3rd year of residency. I was travelling in the month of june and july as I was shifting from east coast to west.
I studied 20 days in august giving > 8 hours a day. Did MKSAP 15 qs and BB 2. Though I had attended the awesome review course never had chance to go through the notes.
During residency I had finished the MKSAP qs once. So total I did them twice. Even on second time I was scoring 70-75%. I did not do any thing else. The exam was the toughest exam, it was unlike MKSAP. After exam I was regretting of not studying the MKSAP books , as I had just done the qs.
I also did usmle world q bank once.

So in short my prep :
mksap 15 qs x 2
usmle q bank x 1
BB2

Thanks to God that I passed!
Congrats to all who passed. Good luck to people who did not pass this year. This exam is really tough and I am sure you will pass next year.
 
Unfortunately, I was not one of the people who found out they passed today. This was my second attempt. Both times I've taken this now I've had too many distractions in my life and just didn't put the proper time and energy into studying. Also, I didn't study much during residency and I think now I'm paying the price.
Regardless, I think this is proof that MKSAP is not enough by itself! I knew MKSAP 16 really well and took extensive notes on it and did all of the questions twice with scores in the 75 and up range in every category. There was a lot of stuff on the real test that just wasn't covered in MKSAP.

My plan now is to use the next few weeks to formulate a plan for next year, then I'm going on vacation, and as soon as I get back I'm going to start studying again. Hopefully I'll see an improvement in my overall score from the last time I took it to show that I've learned SOMETHING from all the studying I did.
Bummer, but I think I'll survive. Can't let the ABIM control my life.
 
So I passed. I feel that this site unnecessarily stresses people out. Yes it is a hard test and there are a number of questions that you are like really? At the end of the day I had little time to study. I did not do a chief year and went straight into fellowship. My studying consisted of doing 55% of MKSAP and I got 60-80% correct but probably averaged in the 60's. No med study only read the mksap compendium if unclear on something. If your better than the mean 50% on the in service nationally and do some review I think you will be in good shape. Granted this depends on test taking to an extent too.

As for background I went to a hyper competitive (highly ranked, research driven) med school. Did 250's on step one and 230ish on step three with next to know studying.
 
hatfielj said:
Unfortunately, I was not one of the people who found out they passed today. This was my second attempt. Both times I've taken this now I've had too many distractions in my life and just didn't put the proper time and energy into studying. Also, I didn't study much during residency and I think now I'm paying the price.
Regardless, I think this is proof that MKSAP is not enough by itself! I knew MKSAP 16 really well and took extensive notes on it and did all of the questions twice with scores in the 75 and up range in every category. There was a lot of stuff on the real test that just wasn't covered in MKSAP.

My plan now is to use the next few weeks to formulate a plan for next year, then I'm going on vacation, and as soon as I get back I'm going to start studying again. Hopefully I'll see an improvement in my overall score from the last time I took it to show that I've learned SOMETHING from all the studying I did.
Bummer, but I think I'll survive. Can't let the ABIM control my life.
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My two cents:

First, as I'm sure people realize, this test should be taken seriously. People fail every year so don't blow it off. That said, you don't need 12 sources. You'd be better off using one or 2 sources and knowing it well. I think doing questions and taking notes on them and fleshing in the details is all you really need and the best way to study. Reading MKSAP cover to cover is probably low yield but reading sections you are weak on is a good idea. I think MKSAP questions + board basics is probably plenty.

Spending extra time on rheumatology, endocrine, heme/onc and ID is not a bad idea. ABIM tests a lot of rare stuff from these subjects and these questions, especially the rheum ones, can be kinda random. The critical care, GI and cardiology questions are pretty straight forward and reasonable. If you came from a place with decent exposure to IM, you should be able to answer the GI/Cards/Critical care questions.

I know a lot of people have said MKSAP isn't enough but I disagree. I did MKSAP questions during a very busy fellowship. I think MKSAP questions were probably enough if you pay attention and take notes on it. Using something to flesh in rheum/endo/h/o/ID isn't a bad idea.

I was just going to use MKSAP but this board made me nervous and I picked up First Aid for IM and Board Basics 1 from the library the weekend before the test and skimmed it. I think BB could be good.

In the end, if you don't freak out, don't blow this off and dont waste your time on low yield stuff I think 95% of people would pass
 
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