I don't think anybody is going to have that info. I believe once we get our test scores, the pass rate will be outlined in the letter they send us.
Official ABIM 2014 thread
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I don't think anybody is going to have that info. I believe once we get our test scores, the pass rate will be outlined in the letter they send us.
I guess you are right Pishicat. I just wish I would have known about this silly IRT scoring and mind games the ABIM plays. I mean, come on. I flew though an Ivy league college, med school, large university residency, ABIM initial cert, 10 years of practice. And now, with a full time job, kids, I had to prove myself again, only to find out some BS questions enable them to read my mind more than others? This is all crap.
Should I have done more? maybe. But I'm not single, 24 and living next door to med school library anymore. All I can say is that I'll see this round through. I'll do this again October if need be, but after that screw them. My kids soccer games matter more now than memorizing what causes saddle nose deformity which I can look up in 5 seconds on my phone while at their soccer game. Meanwhile I just got a letter from a patient thanking me for saving their life and being there with them every moment of their hospitalization. But the ABIM cares more if I can tell the difference between a keratocanthoma and a kaposi sarcoma. I hope they all keel over and are 90 minutes and 1 second away from a cath lab with a contraindication for thrombolytics.
Should I have done more? maybe. But I'm not single, 24 and living next door to med school library anymore. All I can say is that I'll see this round through. I'll do this again October if need be, but after that screw them. My kids soccer games matter more now than memorizing what causes saddle nose deformity which I can look up in 5 seconds on my phone while at their soccer game. Meanwhile I just got a letter from a patient thanking me for saving their life and being there with them every moment of their hospitalization. But the ABIM cares more if I can tell the difference between a keratocanthoma and a kaposi sarcoma. I hope they all keel over and are 90 minutes and 1 second away from a cath lab with a contraindication for thrombolytics.
I did the MKSAP 16 questions including derm and neuro, and looked through board basics, but not religiously. Scored mostly in the mid/high 60's on the MKSAPs which I thought used to be good. I recently got a CD of the ACP board review course from a friend who gives one of the GIM lectures. In all honesty it is very basic. Most of the questions from their review are 3rd yr student level.
The good news is, despite the fact the the ABIM thinks I'm an idiot I actually remember the vast majority of the questions, and even if not the exact question, the subject matter it covered, so my plan for the fall is a thorough reading of board basics, and then looking up the subjects of the questions in MKSAP/Up To Date, which I have already started. Sure, the thyroid question won't be exactly the same, but at least I know the area that needs to be reviewed. Considering getting Kaplan just for another question bank (been told med study is too easy) so we will see. Just don't have a ton of time for all this.
And who knows? maybe some questions will be exactly the same. Truth is, after about 5 questions and realizing one was a trick, one had info that threw me off, I got really flustered, lost my composure (first exam in 10 years) started thinking every simple question had some trick and got knocked off my usual orbit. That won't happen again.
What did you use? any suggestions?
The good news is, despite the fact the the ABIM thinks I'm an idiot I actually remember the vast majority of the questions, and even if not the exact question, the subject matter it covered, so my plan for the fall is a thorough reading of board basics, and then looking up the subjects of the questions in MKSAP/Up To Date, which I have already started. Sure, the thyroid question won't be exactly the same, but at least I know the area that needs to be reviewed. Considering getting Kaplan just for another question bank (been told med study is too easy) so we will see. Just don't have a ton of time for all this.
And who knows? maybe some questions will be exactly the same. Truth is, after about 5 questions and realizing one was a trick, one had info that threw me off, I got really flustered, lost my composure (first exam in 10 years) started thinking every simple question had some trick and got knocked off my usual orbit. That won't happen again.
What did you use? any suggestions?
IF ....and that is a big IF ..you have to study for this again, I would add in the blogs from Knowmedge. ....if you have twitter, they have daily questions on there that helped me a lot. I believe I was able to answer several questions from each section on the Recert just by recalling some of their Mneumonics pages.
I didn't do any of the MedStudy Questions...............but I read all the books....they helped me as well.
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Interesting. I actually had 2 statistics questions. Neither was difficult, but they were there. Also didn't have much where I would think mneumonics would have been helpful. My first 5 questions literally had info that was just a huge red herring or a major trick and I just then read too much into every other question. Plus some seemed like 2 answers could easily been right and some where nothing made sense, including the question. Very bizarre exam.
Not on twitter, but will look at the blog. Thanks for the advice.
And I'm pretty sure I'll be doing it again. I remember a lot of them and so far batting about 68-70%. Problem is that I blew some easy ones, which b/c of IRT scoring will cost me big time.
Not on twitter, but will look at the blog. Thanks for the advice.
And I'm pretty sure I'll be doing it again. I remember a lot of them and so far batting about 68-70%. Problem is that I blew some easy ones, which b/c of IRT scoring will cost me big time.
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Click on the username in the left side of the window. In the popup window click on "Start a Conversation".
I'm not so sure. Of the questions I remember I'm in the upper 60% range. I missed some easy ones, which b/c of IRT scoring system is really bad. I think the days of just needing 2/3 to pass are long gone. So unless they start accepting 2 answers for questions or throw out a bunch that I got wrong, I'm pretty sure I'm screwed this go around.
Thank you
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thank you
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The conversation is only visible to the person you send it to. But they can CC other people when replying. Lock conversation is just a one time message without reply.
thank you very much.
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Would appreciate forum input... done w/ mksap questions & contemplating usmle world questions.
I have failed x 2. , near misses, get alot of test anxiety!
I have heard that the usmle qb may complicate the picture, and lead to more test anxiety.
Any feedback appreciated !
I have failed x 2. , near misses, get alot of test anxiety!
I have heard that the usmle qb may complicate the picture, and lead to more test anxiety.
Any feedback appreciated !
I agree with you usmle question bank creates a lot of anxiety. Attended dr rahmans course and trying to go over his notes he summarizes whats in mksap and the general outline of the curriculum. He goes over facts and tells you how to remember them. It's worth it to attend his course.
follow http://www.aapsonline.org for updates on anti-MOC movement. Together we can stop this nonsense.
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What mistakes are in BB3?
I will tell you that the CD I got from a friend who does the ACP review course has some conflicting data in it which I think can be very confusing (In one place that say all cases of pulsus paradoxus are tamponade, but then when discussing constrictive pericarditis one of the bullet points for diagnosing is pulsus paradoxus. Now maybe it's referring to certain cutoff numbers (?10mm) but in and of itself is confusing.
I will tell you that the CD I got from a friend who does the ACP review course has some conflicting data in it which I think can be very confusing (In one place that say all cases of pulsus paradoxus are tamponade, but then when discussing constrictive pericarditis one of the bullet points for diagnosing is pulsus paradoxus. Now maybe it's referring to certain cutoff numbers (?10mm) but in and of itself is confusing.
for board basic 3 errata look here:
https://mksap.acponline.org/bb3/errata.html
for MKSAP 16 errata look here:
https://mksap.acponline.org/16/errata.html
https://mksap.acponline.org/bb3/errata.html
for MKSAP 16 errata look here:
https://mksap.acponline.org/16/errata.html
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Thanks.
Many other confusing things in the ACP blessed books/courses.
1) It says all pt's with angioedema should get an Epi pen- though I was always taught that bradykinin induced angiodema if on an Ace-I should just have their med stopped and Epi is not that useful. Even if they have been on the Ace-I for years.
2) Board basics has a table on incontinence that says overflow incontinence can be treated with timed urination OR intermittent cath. Most other sources just say intermittent cath.
Many other confusing things in the ACP blessed books/courses.
1) It says all pt's with angioedema should get an Epi pen- though I was always taught that bradykinin induced angiodema if on an Ace-I should just have their med stopped and Epi is not that useful. Even if they have been on the Ace-I for years.
2) Board basics has a table on incontinence that says overflow incontinence can be treated with timed urination OR intermittent cath. Most other sources just say intermittent cath.
congratulations.Congrats!
curious why we didn't get an email. I'm afraid to call and confirm
congratulationsCongrats! Me too
Congratulations everyone on Passing.
I failed. I am devastated and can hardly breathe right now. I am at work and wished I had waited to check the website at home.
Can't concentrate from the shock of seeing the words FAIL on my screen.
I studied so much , but probably the wrong stuff.
I failed. I am devastated and can hardly breathe right now. I am at work and wished I had waited to check the website at home.
Can't concentrate from the shock of seeing the words FAIL on my screen.
I studied so much , but probably the wrong stuff.
Congratulations everyone on Passing.
I failed. I am devastated and can hardly breathe right now. I am at work and wished I had waited to check the website at home.
Can't concentrate from the shock of seeing the words FAIL on my screen.
I studied so much , but probably the wrong stuff.
Sorry to hear that Pishicat.
You'll do it in October. Hold your head up high and hang in there. We are all good at what we do. I have a very talented Onc friend whom I did residency with who failed his boards the first time, but is now a top notch well respected Oncologist. Have a nice scotch tonight, watch a good movie, and take it from there. You will do it.
Sorry to hear that Pishicat.
You'll do it in October. Hold your head up high and hang in there. We are all good at what we do. I have a very talented Onc friend whom I did residency with who failed his boards the first time, but is now a top notch well respected Oncologist. Have a nice scotch tonight, watch a good movie, and take it from there. You will do it.
Thank you. I knew you would pass. you were worried but I had a good feeling about your results...
gonna go grab a gallon of scotch now...............
and then sign up for Awesome review tomorrow....that's one thing I didn't do. not sure if I should jump into the review class in 2 weeks....or wait till the September class.... thinking maybe wait till September..as it will be fresher before the October exam.....any thoughts?
To all that Passed...congrats, I did as well. To those that didn't, you will eventually.
I am past 60 and had to recert for the last time...thankfully. I was never grandfathered, because despite the ease of school, the test got me more times than not. I would like to share what I did to pass this time with anyone who is interested.
I used Pass Machine..questions and some of the syllabus
Med Cert..online, topics and questions
Med Study..questions
Kaplan IM Question book
IMedicine online syllabus and questions
I did approx 5000 questions with these 5 sources and did them all twice. I made notes of hard questions and the syllabus and reviewed those 3 times. I studied Wed/Sat/Sun for 6 mos. After all of that, I still wasn't sure I passed until I saw the results. To me the test is very hard (especially at my advanced age...haha) and I hate ABIM. Nuff said. If anyone has a question pm me and I will reply. No one deserves this treatment.
I am past 60 and had to recert for the last time...thankfully. I was never grandfathered, because despite the ease of school, the test got me more times than not. I would like to share what I did to pass this time with anyone who is interested.
I used Pass Machine..questions and some of the syllabus
Med Cert..online, topics and questions
Med Study..questions
Kaplan IM Question book
IMedicine online syllabus and questions
I did approx 5000 questions with these 5 sources and did them all twice. I made notes of hard questions and the syllabus and reviewed those 3 times. I studied Wed/Sat/Sun for 6 mos. After all of that, I still wasn't sure I passed until I saw the results. To me the test is very hard (especially at my advanced age...haha) and I hate ABIM. Nuff said. If anyone has a question pm me and I will reply. No one deserves this treatment.
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Incoming PGY1: would you recommend getting MKSAP or MedStudy for use as a reading source through PGY1 & PGY2 years?
[We get a stipend to purchase books, and after buying the books I wanted -- Pocket Medicine, Sanford Guide, Washington Manual -- I still have money left]
[We get a stipend to purchase books, and after buying the books I wanted -- Pocket Medicine, Sanford Guide, Washington Manual -- I still have money left]
Congrats to all that passed!! Definitely encouraging to read about all those that passed. I'm taking my exam in mid-August... fingers crossed that I'll be ready! I've gone through all theKnowmedgequestions and am reviewing all the ones I flagged as well as the PDFs I printed. I am also going throughMKSAPquestions and referencingBB3.
@futuredoctor10 - I think MKSAP is a good source. I have not used MedStudy but have heard good things about their books as well. I think you'd be fine with either option!
Good luck to all studying for the August exam!
@futuredoctor10 - I think MKSAP is a good source. I have not used MedStudy but have heard good things about their books as well. I think you'd be fine with either option!
Good luck to all studying for the August exam!
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So here is my preparation status so far:
1. MKSAP 16 questions: Done with >50% of the subjects. hopefully I would be able to do them all.
2. Medstudy: started very enthusiastically, but only managed to read half of it. Thinking of not continuing it more.
3. Awesome review: Probably the BEST 6 days I guess. The guy is AWESOME. He is the single person who talks for 6 days. So everything is correlated as he knows what he said each day. Also his method is great. Will try to read through his notes atleast 3 times before exams. I am thinking of making it the base of my revision strategy.
4. Twitter: Knowmedge is a great resource for revision. I dont have time now to do the knowmedge.com bank and I dont want to dilute my efforts.
5. Board Basics 3: Haven't started it yet. Don't know what to do regarding it. Shall I start reading it or leave it?
Any suggestions?
I have also started my Cardiology Fellowship so TIME is limited in my case. Boards are scheduled in 3rd week of Aug.
1. MKSAP 16 questions: Done with >50% of the subjects. hopefully I would be able to do them all.
2. Medstudy: started very enthusiastically, but only managed to read half of it. Thinking of not continuing it more.
3. Awesome review: Probably the BEST 6 days I guess. The guy is AWESOME. He is the single person who talks for 6 days. So everything is correlated as he knows what he said each day. Also his method is great. Will try to read through his notes atleast 3 times before exams. I am thinking of making it the base of my revision strategy.
4. Twitter: Knowmedge is a great resource for revision. I dont have time now to do the knowmedge.com bank and I dont want to dilute my efforts.
5. Board Basics 3: Haven't started it yet. Don't know what to do regarding it. Shall I start reading it or leave it?
Any suggestions?
I have also started my Cardiology Fellowship so TIME is limited in my case. Boards are scheduled in 3rd week of Aug.
Hi everyone. New to the board. I'm taking the exam in August and just looking for a support board. I have been studying since May. Gone through MKSAP books and questions. Now I'm doing the Knowmedge qbank as well. I just started but I really do like the videos and printouts a lot. I will be taking Awesome Review as well.
@Cancerian2020 - I just signed up for Twitter to follow Dr. Rahman. Will also follow Knowmedge. Are there any other sources you recommend?
@Cancerian2020 - I just signed up for Twitter to follow Dr. Rahman. Will also follow Knowmedge. Are there any other sources you recommend?
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@Kristee I would advise not to clutter your twitter news feed. Dr Rahman & Knowmedge are probably the most high yield. I also "muted" all my other contacts on twitter so when I look into my feed i only see relevant things.
What is your recommendation on Knowmedge qbank? Also are you planning to read BB3? Are you doing anything now (fellowship, job-just asked to know how much time you would have before boards)? Let us know your journey.
Hi @Cancerian2020 Thanks for the advice! I'm keeping a one-track focus on this exam now so plan to only follow the most relevant accounts.
I hadn't heard of Knowmedge until I saw their PDFs from someone at my hospital who took the exam in May. He used BB3, MKSAP questions and Knowmedge questions to study (and just found out he passed). I got it on his advice and I really like it. Some of the images on their twitter page are directly from their qbank and the fact they have those plus a video for each question is really great. I don't know if it's cause I'm getting tired of reading a lot of MKSAP books and getting brain fried but I actually really like listening / watching the Knowmedge videos and reviewing the printouts later. I see you are doing MKSAP questions... If you have time, I think the Knowmedge qbank is a really good supplement.
As for BB3, a colleague gave me hers so I'll probably review it. She said it's more straight to the point and high-yield for the exam than MKSAP. Really just depends on how much time I have now until the exam. I definitely want to get through Knowmedge and go to Awesome Review. If I have time after that, I'll review BB3 as well. And yes... just started fellowship as well.... I know time will be limited and so I've been going pretty hard the last couple months.
I hadn't heard of Knowmedge until I saw their PDFs from someone at my hospital who took the exam in May. He used BB3, MKSAP questions and Knowmedge questions to study (and just found out he passed). I got it on his advice and I really like it. Some of the images on their twitter page are directly from their qbank and the fact they have those plus a video for each question is really great. I don't know if it's cause I'm getting tired of reading a lot of MKSAP books and getting brain fried but I actually really like listening / watching the Knowmedge videos and reviewing the printouts later. I see you are doing MKSAP questions... If you have time, I think the Knowmedge qbank is a really good supplement.
As for BB3, a colleague gave me hers so I'll probably review it. She said it's more straight to the point and high-yield for the exam than MKSAP. Really just depends on how much time I have now until the exam. I definitely want to get through Knowmedge and go to Awesome Review. If I have time after that, I'll review BB3 as well. And yes... just started fellowship as well.... I know time will be limited and so I've been going pretty hard the last couple months.
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Hello everyone,
Long time reader... first time poster here. I've read through your posts/experiences and would appreciate your advice and input on my situation.
I just finished my medical residency (graduated last week), and have my ABIM exam scheduled on August 20th. I'm not starting at my job until after that- so I have a full 1.5 months off.
Started doing MKSAP questions yesterday (hadn't touched board review material before this... I know, shameful) and have the "Awesome Review" coming up from July 14-19th.
I admit that I have been underestimating this exam, and kind of writing it off as something that wouldn't be too difficult to conquer when the time came. My ITE scores from this year were quite low- 12th percentile with 60% of questions correct (lowest in GI/Cards/HemeOnc), but again I didn't take the ITE seriously itself, so I told myself that it was not a good indicator.
Well, I've woken up... and i'm hoping that it's not too late.
My question is: If I finish all the MKSAP 16 questions once, and do the Awesome Review course, do I stand a chance at passing this exam?
Are there any drawbacks to taking it and failing?
Should I cancel my review course and exam, and focus on taking it next year?
Any thoughts would be helpful..
Long time reader... first time poster here. I've read through your posts/experiences and would appreciate your advice and input on my situation.
I just finished my medical residency (graduated last week), and have my ABIM exam scheduled on August 20th. I'm not starting at my job until after that- so I have a full 1.5 months off.
Started doing MKSAP questions yesterday (hadn't touched board review material before this... I know, shameful) and have the "Awesome Review" coming up from July 14-19th.
I admit that I have been underestimating this exam, and kind of writing it off as something that wouldn't be too difficult to conquer when the time came. My ITE scores from this year were quite low- 12th percentile with 60% of questions correct (lowest in GI/Cards/HemeOnc), but again I didn't take the ITE seriously itself, so I told myself that it was not a good indicator.
Well, I've woken up... and i'm hoping that it's not too late.
My question is: If I finish all the MKSAP 16 questions once, and do the Awesome Review course, do I stand a chance at passing this exam?
Are there any drawbacks to taking it and failing?
Should I cancel my review course and exam, and focus on taking it next year?
Any thoughts would be helpful..
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Hi @CPKMD - Here are my two cents. To start preparing with 1.5 months to go is a very short period of time. Also, I do remember reading a study a while back that said the correlation between ITE scores and ABIM score is pretty high. So as far as negatives I think those are a couple big ones against you.
With that said... the positives are that you have 1.5 months that you can dedicate full time to this. And you're taking a live course focused on the exam. From everything I know about Awesome Review, it probably is your best shot. Everyone tells me the live course and his notes are really high-yield. You should do that and practice as many questions as you can. MKSAP, Knowmedge, Others.... whatever you can do.
Stay positive. And I wish you all the best
With that said... the positives are that you have 1.5 months that you can dedicate full time to this. And you're taking a live course focused on the exam. From everything I know about Awesome Review, it probably is your best shot. Everyone tells me the live course and his notes are really high-yield. You should do that and practice as many questions as you can. MKSAP, Knowmedge, Others.... whatever you can do.
Stay positive. And I wish you all the best
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Pulsus happens in a lot of other things besides tamponade- severe RV failure, severe respiratory disease, constriction. But, if they tell you the patient has pulsus, it's probably tamponade.
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I would advice not to dilute your efforts by running everywhere.. And this would be the same advice Awesome is going to give you... Concentrate your efforts.. Awesome + MKSAP 16 should be enough.. Try to complete both of them.. You'll feel better after Awesome...
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@CorlSt @Cancerian2020
Thank you both for your positive advice. I'm going to go full steam ahead and take this exam as planned. Just wondering though- are there any drawbacks to failing your initial certification exam? Just wondering.
Thank you both for your positive advice. I'm going to go full steam ahead and take this exam as planned. Just wondering though- are there any drawbacks to failing your initial certification exam? Just wondering.
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1. You'll lose money
2. Your ego will get bruised/crushed
3. Unless there's something in your contract that says you have to pass it first time or in a certain time and you're up against that deadline, then no.
ditto ...
if you dont pass a bunch of things may happen...i took recert earlier than needed.
i lost money.
if you fail, your amygdala will light up like las vegas.
ego beyond crushed. emotionally drained.
days later your amygdala will seeth into a slow burn.
but you'll never get over the devastation. hard to get back in the game.
i have heard some job applications will ask if you've ever failed a board.... although cant personally verify this..
now, on a positive note you will go thru the experience and "see what it is like."
only you can decide if that is the road you want to take.
good luck my friend.
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