Official ABIM 2015 Thread

[berndine]

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I woule refer you to this remarkably insightful post on the topic.

Okay, thank you (and sorry, I didn't realize someone had recently posted a similar question).

 

[visari]

Someone I know failed the test by a couple points. He felt really bad. He studied really well and he was an amazing resident. any recommendations for this guy ...whom I just happen to know

come on guys...seriously!

 

[gutonc]

Okay, thank you (and sorry, I didn't realize someone had recently posted a similar question).

Dude...it's like 6 posts above yours in the same thread. It just shows that perhaps reading comprehension is the problem that "someone you know" has.

 

[berndine]

Someone I know failed the test by a couple points. He felt really bad. He studied really well and he was an amazing resident. any recommendations for this guy ...whom I just happen to know

come on guys...seriously!

Ha! I see what you're saying, but, no, seriously, this particular person told several residents in our cohort (we were a pretty tight group) about the failure. So, yes, I do happen to know a resident who was vocal about their failure and I honestly wanted to know if rescoring was an option, especially with them being so close to passing. Thanks for the response, though.

 

[Rikkye]

To people posting methods/studying - I know when I look through these topics as a lurker, knowing how you performed on other things (ITE, even steps) and the actual score of the test (here the ABIM) would help a lot - as people have pointed out everyone is different both in baseline knowledge, test taking abilities, life responsibilities, etc. So not only is studying important but maybe more vital than studying is being able to appropriately triage how much you need to study so you can give the appropriate amount of times/resources to the exam.

You're approach to this topic would be (and should be) totally different if you're one of these two people:

1. 190 Step 1, 210 Step 2, 220 Step 3, PGY 1 ITE 15th percentil, PGY 2 ITE 30th percentile, PGY 3 ITE 25th percentile --> probably needs to start early, do longitudinal studying just to improve overall knowledge base, and then do more test specific reviews like a board study course.
2. 270 Step 1, 288 Step 2, TOO HIGH TO REPORT Step 3, PGY 1 ITE 71st percentile, PGY 2 ITE 92nd percentile, PGY 3 ITE co-authored the ABIM for you all. --> probably could have taken the ABIM as their PGY-3 ITE and passed if not excelled on the test.

I realize that many of you did offer some amounts of data but in varying degrees - but there is an opportunity here to get a decent data set that has some bias for sure (we'll have a lot of the top 1% and more of the lower portions who are truly worried for failing) but could be more helpful to those having to take ABIM next year...

maybe something like this?

ABIM Stat - PASS first attempt 589
ITE Percentile by year - PGY 1: 50th, PGY 2: 77th, PGY 3: 90th
USMLE Scores (1/2/3): 235/251/240

followed by how you studied. The whole "I went to this strength residency program" or "this rank medical school" is pretty subjective and probably doesn't correlate as well as your step scores.

That being said, those are my stats and my study technique was MKSAP qbank each subject individually followed by UWorld random subjects, block sizes 10-40, tutor mode x1 then again same system with the ones I got wrong. The only book I used was board basics and I used that basically as my 'traveling' book - if I was taking a flight/train or needed something to pass some time while I wasn't doing something else, board basic was like my go to read. I didn't even get through it once. No review courses.

Just an idea (and not one that I'm going to have the follow through on to make organized like all those saints in the fellowship forums who track the interview lists) as we all try to pay it forward.

I was lurking for stats when I took the board this summer. I hope my stats will be insightful to others.

Abim 2015 - 649 first pass
Ite% - pgy1 65, pgy2 45, pgy3 22
Usmle - 241/235/??? Forgot the 3rd one but pass
Mksap bank 1st attempt 50-60%, 2nd attempt 70-80%
Uworld bank 1st attempt 75%

Use mainly mksap BB and medstudy 6 months prior
No fellowship

------

<=== lol 7 years membership and I'm still medical student.

 

[hfpef86]

ok, now that I am done with this test, here is my review.

I believe MKSAP notes and questions are plenty to pass the test. I reverse studied (questions - then pertinent notes). If you read the notes without the context of a question, you will most definitely fall asleep reading the notes.

MKSAP by itself won't get you a stellar score, but then again, you and your program director are the only two people to ever see your score.

I also agree with those who suggested that if you have a decent history of USMLE step 1/2/3 testing, you will also have a good chance of passing the ABIM on your first attempt (if you put in some effort). I also believe the ITEs are neither sensitive nor specific in predicting a passing score on the ABIM exam. This is likely because its hard to say who actually put in the effort, and how much effort, right before the actual ABIM exam.

I essentially sat down and studied for 1 week. Throughout my 3 years of residency training, I did some MKSAP questions randomly but never finished them. Over my 1 week of actual studying, I essentially made a flash card with every MKSAP question learning objective and a few pertinent pearls from the MKSAP notes. I finished all the questions in about 6 days and on the last day went over all my flashcards one more time. That was essentially it.

I passed comfortably 2 standard deviations above the mean, but by no means "rocked it".

Its really interesting to see this year's pass rate is at 89%, the highest in the past 5 years.

So here is my advice to you, the chance of you failing this exam is pretty low, as long as you put in some effort. So chill out, (although i certainly didn't!), study, take the test and Fugetaboutit!

 

[Captopril]

After deriving so much info from this forum, thought I should give a little more about my experience:

I got murdered on ITEs all 3 years: 2nd percentile as an intern (yes, 2nd percentile, that is not a typo), 9th percentile as an R2, 20th percentile as a third year.

Read MKSAP endocrine, pulm, cardio intermittently throughout residency, probably retained ~10% of what I read. Also did MKSAP Questions off and on throughout residency but never sat and powered through them.

I really buckled down and studied starting May of third year (3 months out from exam). I started by resetting MKSAP and doing 40-50 Qs a night averaging 55-65%, with highlighting the concepts in Board Basics 3. In June, after getting through about half of MKSAP Qs, I started actually reading BB3 with intention to memorize.

I started Pulm fellowship in July but luckily was given a light rotation so spent my days doing MKSAP Qs and UWorld, reading BB3 here and there. After about 600 UWorld questions, I realized it was killing my morale and essentially stopped. Had finished MKSAP Qs once at this point so started repeating them from scratch, getting 75-85% on my second run.

I took the last 10 days off before the exam, and spent it cramming BB3 during the day and doing 40-50 repeat MKSAP Qs at night.

Exam day I felt underprepared, although the test seemed fair. Some Qs out of left field but most were manageable. I had regretted not reading MKSAP or med study thoroughly while going through the test. Time was not an issue. Afterwards I was CERTAIN I failed. No doubt in my mind.

Turns out I was wrong, PASSED. Scored lower than the mean, but as long as I don't have to go through the torture of ABIM again, I'm ok with that.

Take home message: BB3 + MKSAP Qs will let you squeak by and pass, but to pass comfortably I would recommend reading Med Study a few times (colleagues did this and thought the exam was a breeze) and then using MKSAP Qs and BB3 as a cram session at the end.

 

[abbycornish]

Does anyone know definitively if certain questions are weighted more than others? I reviewed the information on the website about standard setting and all that. one reason I ask is because on my score report, on the med onc section, there is only 1 question listed as wrong but it is between Avg and -1 std dev. My colleague, who got 3 questions wrong in med onc, was between +1 and +2 std dev. Just trying to understand this. I do have a call out to ABIM but I'm not anticipating much result from them. Thanks.

 

[Phospholipid]

you and your program director are the only two people to ever see your score.

Really? Program directors get the actual scores as well?

 

[Momma_MD]

I also passed. Thank you LORD!
3rd time around. Busy mom with 4 kids working full time.
I thought I could do what I usually do but I was wrong.
Each year I learned a new lesson.
Finally my friend gave me great advice. He said if you want to pass, you MUST change your strategy.
The first time, I had used Medstudy books/videos, MKSAP book and MKSAP questions alone. Failed by 30 points.
2nd time, I took Awesome review but took a later course so only got through the material 2 times. Failed by 14 points.
3rd time, I repeated Awesome Review. This time early and repeated the books 3-4 times
I again focused on MKSAP Qbank alone.
Reviewed Board Basics 3 but really focused on Awesome review books.
Lastly, I used K_NOWMEDGE flash cards and Q bank.
Every free time I got, I reviewed the flash cards. Sometimes idly but looking at those cards instead of facebook each night helped me remember rote material.
I also focused on the graphs the Qbank gave and watched the videos with the answers.
K_NOWMEDGE helped me drill material I would never remember alone.
3rd time around, improved my score 100 points!
I passed very comfortably.
I focused mainly on Cards, GI and Pulm for last week. Know it well!
Awesome review is the best course hands down. He says "read my material again and again and you will pass"- and that is precisely what I did.
His course is so fast, not all of it makes sense. But there is a method to his madness. I recommend it!!

So happy and so glad to be able to focus on my family now.
They sacrificed as much as I did.

P.S. Selling ALL of my material. message me if you are interested
Medstudy videos
Medstudy Books
MKSAP 15 Books
MKSAP review course CD audio- great for the car!

 

[terribletesttaker]

I also passed. Thank you LORD!
3rd time around. Busy mom with 4 kids working full time.
I thought I could do what I usually do but I was wrong.
Each year I learned a new lesson.
Finally my friend gave me great advice. He said if you want to pass, you MUST change your strategy.
The first time, I had used Medstudy books/videos, MKSAP book and MKSAP questions alone. Failed by 30 points.
2nd time, I took Awesome review but took a later course so only got through the material 2 times. Failed by 14 points.
3rd time, I repeated Awesome Review. This time early and repeated the books 3-4 times
I again focused on MKSAP Qbank alone.
Reviewed Board Basics 3 but really focused on Awesome review books.
Lastly, I used K_NOWMEDGE flash cards and Q bank.
Every free time I got, I reviewed the flash cards. Sometimes idly but looking at those cards instead of facebook each night helped me remember rote material.
I also focused on the graphs the Qbank gave and watched the videos with the answers.
K_NOWMEDGE helped me drill material I would never remember alone.
3rd time around, improved my score 100 points!
I passed very comfortably.
I focused mainly on Cards, GI and Pulm for last week. Know it well!
Awesome review is the best course hands down. He says "read my material again and again and you will pass"- and that is precisely what I did.
His course is so fast, not all of it makes sense. But there is a method to his madness. I recommend it!!

So happy and so glad to be able to focus on my family now.
They sacrificed as much as I did.

P.S. Selling ALL of my material. message me if you are interested
Awesome Books
Medstudy videos
Board Basics 3
Medstudy Books

Greetings and CONGRATULATIONS on passing!,
I might be interested in the Awesome Review material but am not familiar with those books--are those printed lecture notes/course outline? and what is the purchase price?
Bob

 

[hfpef86]

Really? Program directors get the actual scores as well?

Yes, if you chose the option during your test to share your information with your program. If you did not, they won't get it.

 

[Gibbyvette]

I know of a person that is going to be able to take the test again in January due to an invalidated exam in august, Does anyone else know about this?

 

[cassrae]

I know of a person that is going to be able to take the test again in January due to an invalidated exam in august, Does anyone else know about this?

There was a computer outage for a few hours on 8/7 that some people were affected by, I assume that is what this is about.

 

[jacksparrow82]

____

I have never heard anything more ridiculous, try to get privileges at hospital or malpractice insurance without board. Good luck with subspecialty board.....

I think what he is saying is that people don't look down on you for not passing. They just want you to get it done. Its a meaningless test since everyone is required to pass it. Just pass it and put it behind you.

 

[aspoonfulofmedicine]

Hi Everyone,

Told myself if I passed the ABIM this year I'd create and account and post my experience to pay it forward. I received a lot of support on this forum last year, so thank you everyone for posting.

My brief story: American medical grad, AOA, excellent residency program, asked to be chief resident but turned it down for a family situation. First attempt at boards 2014 resulted in a fail, score was about 340, I think the passing is 360.

I was pretty devastated, lost a lot of confidence and started second guessing a lot of my decisions. One fail was all it took to do that to me. If you are reading this and in that situation, I just want to tell you its not worth it. Don't **** all over yourself because of a failure; that fact that you got into medical school, graduated and completed residency, all the while being sleep deprived, handling family situations, probably at the cost of your health to some level makes you remarkable and already stronger and more mentally agile than 99.9% of the population. All of that to be able to offer medical care to people, really, its what makes us different, rare, and most importantly...adaptable.

So I felt sorry for myself for 1 month, and started studying in November. Don't get me wrong, the sadness, loss of confidence and all that was still there but I didn't let it prevent me from completing tasks and realizing the reality I was in.

First time I ready MKSAP 16, did the questions twice and studied with a partner. I also did BB3 x 1.
Second time I changed my strategy and instead opted for lectures. I did the MedStudy Video Lecture series 2015 with the printed syllabus and took notes. Some sections I did 2-3x, including Cards, Endocrine and Pulmonary. I'm selling my Video Lecture Series for $1000 (discounted from $1600) if interested please message me. I also did the K*N*O*W*M*E*D*G*E question bank about 1.5x, again focusing on cards, pulmonary, endocrine, and ID. I did these things until about May, after that I took the AWESOME Review and only studied the notes (I read them about 3x) and did the MKSAP questions once through. I noticed my scores on the question banks continued to go up as I studied, I think this is very important. Last year on MKSAP I was hitting between 50-60s and this time on KnowMedge and MKSAP I was consistently getting 70s-80s. I also read BB3 x 1 and studied the Awesome Review Notes with a partner, quizzing back and forth. I studied everyday, and on the weekends I was off. I set goals to get through the material and tried to meet them but also scheduled in "catch up" days.

It was a really long and exhausting task but in the end I proved a lot to myself and passed. Every once in a while I'll hear someone talk about someone who failed their boards and internally I just think of how unforgiving physicians can be, to others and to themselves. Good luck everyone, congrats to those who passed but to those that did not pass this year; don't worry your best asset is yourself, and you've already invested so much time, cash, and energy into becoming who you are today and this is just another task you have to complete and you will do it.

Please message me if you are interested in purchasing the MedStudy Video Lecture Series 2015.

 

[Instatewaiter]

Does anyone know definitively if certain questions are weighted more than others? I reviewed the information on the website about standard setting and all that. one reason I ask is because on my score report, on the med onc section, there is only 1 question listed as wrong but it is between Avg and -1 std dev. My colleague, who got 3 questions wrong in med onc, was between +1 and +2 std dev. Just trying to understand this. I do have a call out to ABIM but I'm not anticipating much result from them. Thanks.

Certain questions are weighted differently. Those that more people get right are worth MORE points. Thus if you miss a hard question, you lose fewer points. However if everyone is getting an easy question right and you get it wrong, you lose a lot of points.

 

[Pijiriguo]

Anyone interested in full set of MKSAP 15 new for free?

 

[Raryn]

Anyone interested in full set of MKSAP 15 new for free?

Only 6 years out of date! 🙂

(And yes, I understand it's free. Still, we're on MKSAP 17 now)

 

[Pijiriguo]

Only 6 years out of date! 🙂

(And yes, I understand it's free. Still, we're on MKSAP 17 now)

If you are not interested you are more than welcome to remain quiet. I don't see the point in your comment but oh well...🙂

 

[Gibbyvette]

Heard of a person taking Int Med board exam again some time in January due to some computer problem last august. Does anyone know when this exam is and when scores will be sent out? Thanks

 

[thierryhenry]

Guys, opinions about buying new MKSAP 17 QBank versus USMLE World QBank?

I have had MKSAP 16 Qbank and full Text since Intern year, and have definitely exhausted this option (have done the bank multiple times). Doing through Board Basics three now and notating things from MKSAP Q I miss.

My question is which Qbank should I buy? Take the test in August of this year. I am favoring USMLE World ABIM for 6 months just because I've heard this bank is quite rigorous and harder than the real test. My reservation with getting MKSAP 17 is that it will not be that much different than 16 that I already have (including the text); minus a few updated guidelines.

Please let me know what you guys think! Thanks