Official ABIM Exam/study tools thread!

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rolen05 said:
I felt good leaving the exam.

I started looking up a few answers, which I got wrong, and had a panic attack.

I thought there were a lot of easy questions. There were also a good number of questions where I was not sure the answer. 1 or 2 I had no idea whatsoever, could not even make an educated guess.
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What did you use to study?
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SpyGuy said:
A lot of the important stuff you think would be in an internal medicine exam was never tested which boggles my mind.
.
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Yup. Completely irrelevant to clinical practice and has been for a very long time now. So why do we allow them to make this test required for practice?
 
Im taking the exam fri, alittle disheartened hearing people say that their studying didnt seem to help much and that important stuff is completely untested. Wondering how much good its gonna do to study the next few days. Ahh well will power through.
 
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When is the last testing date for this period?
 
rolen05 said:
I felt good leaving the exam.

I started looking up a few answers, which I got wrong, and had a panic attack.

I thought there were a lot of easy questions. There were also a good number of questions where I was not sure the answer. 1 or 2 I had no idea whatsoever, could not even make an educated guess.
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I still remember one question on my exam, which could be summarized as "What is the mechanism of <symptom> in <condition you've never heard of>?" Like, the molecular mechanism.

Yeah, no way in hell could I have known that one. But I still passed. There's always a few random questions like that, I wouldn't worry about it.
 
rolen05 said:
MKSAP one pass in the spring, got 63%.

Uworld over the past 2 months, 1 pass through got 67%. Repeated wrong answers.

I am trying to rationalize my anxiety --- the only answers I remember were ones that I was unsure about, and I got about half of the 6 or 7 that I looked up correct. Given that I was unsure about a minority of questions...I think I still have a good chance? I hope.
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Do you think the exam was similar to uworld or MKSAP?
 
JP2740 said:
When is the last testing date for this period?
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August 28th, only know cause I picked that test date knowing very well I’d need the extra days to hit a Qbank.

Working night shift the day after. That shift will pay for my inevitable exam retake next year. I have a tendency of cutting it extremely close, but I’m not sure I’m getting lucky this time. Still out here droppin 50s...on UWorld.
 
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CDI said:
August 28th, only know cause I picked that test date knowing very well I’d need the extra days to hit a Qbank.

Working night shift the day after. That shift will pay for my inevitable exam retake next year. I have a tendency of cutting it extremely close, but I’m not sure I’m getting lucky this time. Still out here droppin 50s...on UWorld.
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Yea I remember you being like that. I hope we both pass. I’m dragging my feet hard on the last 200 questions lol.

Did you do a fellowship?
 
CDI said:
August 28th, only know cause I picked that test date knowing very well I’d need the extra days to hit a Qbank.

Working night shift the day after. That shift will pay for my inevitable exam retake next year. I have a tendency of cutting it extremely close, but I’m not sure I’m getting lucky this time. Still out here droppin 50s...on UWorld.
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I'm taking mine the last day, Aug 28, too. I am just trying to go through MKSAP and make sure I remember as many of the concepts as I possibly can at this point. I decided not to do UWORLD because I wanted to make sure I at least had a solid understanding of MKSAP. Hoping it's enough to pass. Many people I've talked to at work and online have passed comfortably with just MKSAP as their primary source, so I didn't feel compelled to do 2 banks this time. If I fail, and have to retake next year, I will hit up UWorld and the new MKSAP for next time around.

My theory is that if you can nail down a single source you're probably going to have reviewed enough to pass the test. Being able to go through a single qbank and score in the 70-80% range should be good enough. In the past, when I failed, I did not do this. I did not make questions a priority and I remember distinctly walking out of the exam saying to myself "man I should have just done more questions." I remember seeing questions that were nearly word for word from MKSAP and I couldn't remember the answer and I was so mad at myself for not spending more time with questions.

At least, this is my theory and it's the only thing that is letting me sleep at night right now, so I'm hanging on to it for hope!
 
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jacksparrow82 said:
I'm taking mine the last day, Aug 28, too. I am just trying to go through MKSAP and make sure I remember as many of the concepts as I possibly can at this point. I decided not to do UWORLD because I wanted to make sure I at least had a solid understanding of MKSAP. Hoping it's enough to pass. Many people I've talked to at work and online have passed comfortably with just MKSAP as their primary source, so I didn't feel compelled to do 2 banks this time. If I fail, and have to retake next year, I will hit up UWorld and the new MKSAP for next time around.

My theory is that if you can nail down a single source you're probably going to have reviewed enough to pass the test. Being able to go through a single qbank and score in the 70-80% range should be good enough. In the past, when I failed, I did not do this. I did not make questions a priority and I remember distinctly walking out of the exam saying to myself "man I should have just done more questions." I remember seeing questions that were nearly word for word from MKSAP and I couldn't remember the answer and I was so mad at myself for not spending more time with questions.

At least, this is my theory and it's the only thing that is letting me sleep at night right now, so I'm hanging on to it for hope!
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Everyone I've spoken to (in real life/non-SDN) has told me the test is not as bad as they thought. A good number of short questions, most not trying to trick you aside from being too obvious, and that MKSAP didn't necessarily help all that much. (Figured as much cause MKSAP seems so direct, and UW makes you think a bit more.)

And also, ridiculous amount of extra time, I had one friend who took a short nap during one of the blocks, and another who finished in like facility record time (according to the site adminstrator).

Won't matter cause I'll still be second guessing, and then pull out my tinfoil hat and convince myself half way into Block 1 that the ABIM is out to trick me and 1 out of 10 has to be failed otherwise it wouldn't be a real test.
 
rolen05 said:
I don't know what this nomogram is that's out there regarding pass rates (based on ITEs)..but don't look at it. It said I have a 12% chance of passing. Seriously? It looks like they also collected data on Step 1 scores and ABIM pass rates, and it looks like it was correlated, but they did not include it in the nomogram (my score was 255)

My ITE was 42nd percentile, 71% correct. My residency program only became concerned if people were < 30 percentile.

I felt good out of the test...still feel ok. Find it hard to believe my chances were that low going in...
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Are you plugging in the wrong number in the nomogram? The paper that comes with it supports the PPV of passing the thing being >90% if you are above the 30th percentile.
 
rolen05 said:
I don't know what this nomogram is that's out there regarding pass rates (based on ITEs)..but don't look at it. It said I have a 12% chance of passing. Seriously? It looks like they also collected data on Step 1 scores and ABIM pass rates, and it looks like it was correlated, but they did not include it in the nomogram (my score was 255)

My ITE was 42nd percentile, 71% correct. My residency program only became concerned if people were < 30 percentile.

I felt good out of the test...still feel ok. Find it hard to believe my chances were that low going in...
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I think that's pretty old. Pass rates were also lower back then I believe. Must have been from before/around the time the revolt/stink/anti-ABMS movement began.
Led to more people passing - 90% pass rate these days? No longer trying to size people up like the USMLEs.
 
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CDI said:
Everyone I've spoken to (in real life/non-SDN) has told me the test is not as bad as they thought. A good number of short questions, most not trying to trick you aside from being too obvious, and that MKSAP didn't necessarily help all that much. (Figured as much cause MKSAP seems so direct, and UW makes you think a bit more.)

And also, ridiculous amount of extra time, I had one friend who took a short nap during one of the blocks, and another who finished in like facility record time (according to the site adminstrator).

Won't matter cause I'll still be second guessing, and then pull out my tinfoil hat and convince myself half way into Block 1 that the ABIM is out to trick me and 1 out of 10 has to be failed otherwise it wouldn't be a real test.
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MKSAP not helping makes me sad. I could've enjoyed my August.
 
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CDI said:
Everyone I've spoken to (in real life/non-SDN) has told me the test is not as bad as they thought. A good number of short questions, most not trying to trick you aside from being too obvious, and that MKSAP didn't necessarily help all that much. (Figured as much cause MKSAP seems so direct, and UW makes you think a bit more.)

And also, ridiculous amount of extra time, I had one friend who took a short nap during one of the blocks, and another who finished in like facility record time (according to the site adminstrator).

Won't matter cause I'll still be second guessing, and then pull out my tinfoil hat and convince myself half way into Block 1 that the ABIM is out to trick me and 1 out of 10 has to be failed otherwise it wouldn't be a real test.
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Agree with the time element - had a lot of time on mine last year, and I’m probably average time test-taker. MKSAP helped, but not to the point “I never would have gotten this question if it weren’t for MKSAP”. Your residency, if average, should have covered most of the stuff on the exam.
 
I know that all the questions are weighted differently, but is the a rough gauge of how many we can get wrong or the percentage needed to get right to pass?

I must have like 10 wrong answers already from the questions I couldn't figure out. And that's all I remember, it kills me inside.
 
SpyGuy said:
I know that all the questions are weighted differently, but is the a rough gauge of how many we can get wrong or the percentage needed to get right to pass?

I must have like 10 wrong answers already from the questions I couldn't figure out. And that's all I remember, it kills me inside.
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Dude, you’re toast, they might make you repeat medical school
 
SpyGuy said:
I know that all the questions are weighted differently, but is the a rough gauge of how many we can get wrong or the percentage needed to get right to pass?

I must have like 10 wrong answers already from the questions I couldn't figure out. And that's all I remember, it kills me inside.
Click to expand...
There is absolutely zero point in even trying to calculate what you missed and worrying about whether or not it will equate to a passing score. The exam is graded on a curve based on how everyone else does that year, the content for that year, and how many questions count/don't count. This is an explanation from ABIM itself:
"The passing score is an absolute standard determined by the board of directors using a 3 step process. First, the board identifies characteristics of minimally qualified or borderline candidates. Next, the board identifies the expected performance of borderline candidates for each item on the base test form. Finally, these judgements are systematically combined to derive the passing score for all examinees on the standardized score scale."

In other words, they look at how everyone did on the particular questions they provided that year and pick a score based on who knows what, and that's the score you have to get. Some years it could be 80% correct, other years it could be 65%. No one knows because they don't release that information so we're all left guessing. They try to tell us that it's not graded on a curve, but it is absolutely graded on a curve. They just do it in a backwards way. From my previous score report, based on the limited information they gave me on my score and percentages of each topic I got correct compared to a standard passing score, I calculated that a passing score that year (2011) would have been around 76%. But, that particular year the overall pass rate for 1st time test takers was only 84%. So, maybe it's a little lower now? And both years I've taken it, the total number of items counted towards the score was only 205. So, they throw out a significant number of questions (30-40) each year.
 
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SpyGuy said:
I know that all the questions are weighted differently, but is the a rough gauge of how many we can get wrong or the percentage needed to get right to pass?

I must have like 10 wrong answers already from the questions I couldn't figure out. And that's all I remember, it kills me inside.
Click to expand...

jacksparrow82 said:
There is absolutely zero point in even trying to calculate what you missed and worrying about whether or not it will equate to a passing score. The exam is graded on a curve based on how everyone else does that year, the content for that year, and how many questions count/don't count. This is an explanation from ABIM itself:
"The passing score is an absolute standard determined by the board of directors using a 3 step process. First, the board identifies characteristics of minimally qualified or borderline candidates. Next, the board identifies the expected performance of borderline candidates for each item on the base test form. Finally, these judgements are systematically combined to derive the passing score for all examinees on the standardized score scale."

In other words, they look at how everyone did on the particular questions they provided that year and pick a score based on who knows what, and that's the score you have to get. Some years it could be 80% correct, other years it could be 65%. No one knows because they don't release that information so we're all left guessing. They try to tell us that it's not graded on a curve, but it is absolutely graded on a curve. They just do it in a backwards way. From my previous score report, based on the limited information they gave me on my score and percentages of each topic I got correct compared to a standard passing score, I calculated that a passing score that year (2011) would have been around 76%. But, that particular year the overall pass rate for 1st time test takers was only 84%. So, maybe it's a little lower now? And both years I've taken it, the total number of items counted towards the score was only 205. So, they throw out a significant number of questions (30-40) each year.
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I thought the ABIM already said you need (give or take) 65% correct to pass in a feeble effort to be more transparent. And first-time taker pass rate is 90% as of last year.
 
CDI said:
I thought the ABIM already said you need (give or take) 65% correct to pass in a feeble effort to be more transparent. And first-time taker pass rate is 90% as of last year.
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Right, I'm just saying what it was when I last took it. Hopefully they stick to their guns and maintain that 65% correct to pass/90% pass rate from this point forward. I would have passed had that been the standard when I took it.
 
Took it yesterday, pretty painful, stuff that I thought would be on there, wasn't. I fully expected at least one question on MS, seizure disorder, colon cancer screening, diabetes meds (weight neutral vs weight loss), hiv med side effects. None of that was on there. Of course mixed cryoglobulinemia was....Marked a good 15 questions per section. Made the usual mistake of going home and looking stuff up and panicking on the ones I got wrong that were easy....Im sure everyone does that.

Figure overall, likely got about 70-75% right, not sure what the passing percent is though, so cannot even speculate if I passed the bloody thing. Also, if I bombed, what in the world am I gonna study differently? Its so damn random that I cannot even think of what I would do differently besides maybe spend more time over a longer period. Ugh. 3 months to wait.....Reaallllly dont want to do this again next year. Heres to hoping.
 
sylvanthus said:
Took it yesterday, pretty painful, stuff that I thought would be on there, wasn't. I fully expected at least one question on MS, seizure disorder, colon cancer screening, diabetes meds (weight neutral vs weight loss), hiv med side effects. None of that was on there. Of course mixed cryoglobulinemia was....Marked a good 15 questions per section. Made the usual mistake of going home and looking stuff up and panicking on the ones I got wrong that were easy....Im sure everyone does that.

Figure overall, likely got about 70-75% right, not sure what the passing percent is though, so cannot even speculate if I passed the bloody thing. Also, if I bombed, what in the world am I gonna study differently? Its so damn random that I cannot even think of what I would do differently besides maybe spend more time over a longer period. Ugh. 3 months to wait.....Reaallllly dont want to do this again next year. Heres to hoping.
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How did you prepare?
 
sylvanthus said:
Also, if I bombed, what in the world am I gonna study differently? Its so damn random that I cannot even think of what I would do differently besides maybe spend more time over a longer period. Ugh. 3 months to wait.....Reaallllly dont want to do this again next year. Heres to hoping.
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That's exactly how I feel. The blue print they provide is basically just a list of everything there is in internal medicine. So, it's like, memorize everything and then you'll pass?
 
Ive been watching dota 2 instead of studying omegalul
 
sylvanthus said:
Took it yesterday, pretty painful, stuff that I thought would be on there, wasn't. I fully expected at least one question on MS, seizure disorder, colon cancer screening, diabetes meds (weight neutral vs weight loss), hiv med side effects. None of that was on there. Of course mixed cryoglobulinemia was....Marked a good 15 questions per section. Made the usual mistake of going home and looking stuff up and panicking on the ones I got wrong that were easy....Im sure everyone does that.

Figure overall, likely got about 70-75% right, not sure what the passing percent is though, so cannot even speculate if I passed the bloody thing. Also, if I bombed, what in the world am I gonna study differently? Its so damn random that I cannot even think of what I would do differently besides maybe spend more time over a longer period. Ugh. 3 months to wait.....Reaallllly dont want to do this again next year. Heres to hoping.
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I think I just met my clone. You echo-ed everything I've been trying/wanted to say. Can't believe I paid over 1K for this exam to get tested on innumerable facts not relevant to daily patient care.
 
sylvanthus said:
Read MKSAP books, did MKSAP and UWORLD questions. Kinda the standard. Didn't go to a course as I was too cheap to pay for one.
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You did more than every single person I know, and you still did not think it was good prep? That's kinda crazy.
 
JP2740 said:
You did more than every single person I know, and you still did not think it was good prep? That's kinda crazy.
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Hah I had a bit of a knowledge deficit to make up. Spent the majority of my medicine months doing everyones procedures in the hospital instead of actually learning medicine. Gotta love being at a program where only the combined residents do the LPs, Paras, midlines, IVs, etc etc etc.
 
sylvanthus said:
Hah I had a bit of a knowledge deficit to make up. Spent the majority of my medicine months doing everyones procedures in the hospital instead of actually learning medicine. Gotta love being at a program where only the combined residents do the LPs, Paras, midlines, IVs, etc etc etc.
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Haha you’ll be fine though with that prep.

If it makes you feel better all I could do was MKSAP. I just finished now, test is in two days. Got 65.6%, 68.3% if you exclude those ridiculous update questions. Got like 70-74% right on ITE’s.

Any thoughts on me passing? @Raryn
 
This is truly embarrassing. I just took ABIM Initial Certification exam yesterday. This is not the first time I took this test. I am frustrated because I feel that I am just not able to pass this test. I never did well on in-service either. I passed exams during med school in one shot.

Quite frankly, I think I am a decent clinician. During my meeting with my program director during residency - she looked at my in-service and commented how there is a huge disconnect between my clinical practice (as a resident at that time) and my test score.

I am not the type that loathes ABIM exam. I do think it really does help one to become a better clinician and sets a standard.

Previously when I took this exam, honestly, I just didn't prepare well for various reasons. But this time I did. I tried my best, spent a long time studying. I made my family sacrifice for my study. I did mostly MKSAP 17 - both the board basics and MKSAP 17 Qbank.

I cannot begin to explain what my problems are. I feel like I cannot remember much of the minute details. I also think when I see the questions on actual ABIM exam, it seems so confusing, many answers choices can be potential answers. I feel that no amount of question bank or study can prepare me for the questions I see on ABIM. I don't think the board review such as Mayo Clinic videos help to prepare for the actual exam.

Fundamentally, perhaps there is a knowledge gap on my part - that's probably partially the reason for my poor ABIM performance. Topics such as PFTs, heart murmur etc - I don't think I have clear comprehension. But beyond that - there are so many nitty gritty detail they ask on the exam. I see those questions and I am like how in the world people remember/ know all these details.

If I don't pass this year, I wanna try again next year. If you hear desperation and frustration in my voice, you would be right. I don't wanna sit in that room in front of the computer for 8 hours again and feel how lost I am in reading those questions and answer choices.

Thank you for any constructive feedback.
 
2DEG said:
This is truly embarrassing. I just took ABIM Initial Certification exam yesterday. This is not the first time I took this test. I am frustrated because I feel that I am just not able to pass this test. I never did well on in-service either. I passed exams during med school in one shot.

Quite frankly, I think I am a decent clinician. During my meeting with my program director during residency - she looked at my in-service and commented how there is a huge disconnect between my clinical practice (as a resident at that time) and my test score.

I am not the type that loathes ABIM exam. I do think it really does help one to become a better clinician and sets a standard.

Previously when I took this exam, honestly, I just didn't prepare well for various reasons. But this time I did. I tried my best, spent a long time studying. I made my family sacrifice for my study. I did mostly MKSAP 17 - both the board basics and MKSAP 17 Qbank.

I cannot begin to explain what my problems are. I feel like I cannot remember much of the minute details. I also think when I see the questions on actual ABIM exam, it seems so confusing, many answers choices can be potential answers. I feel that no amount of question bank or study can prepare me for the questions I see on ABIM. I don't think the board review such as Mayo Clinic videos help to prepare for the actual exam.

Fundamentally, perhaps there is a knowledge gap on my part - that's probably partially the reason for my poor ABIM performance. Topics such as PFTs, heart murmur etc - I don't think I have clear comprehension. But beyond that - there are so many nitty gritty detail they ask on the exam. I see those questions and I am like how in the world people remember/ know all these details.

If I don't pass this year, I wanna try again next year. If you hear desperation and frustration in my voice, you would be right. I don't wanna sit in that room in front of the computer for 8 hours again and feel how lost I am in reading those questions and answer choices.

Thank you for any constructive feedback.
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Hang in there man. There are actually lot's of people in the same boat as you. I have taken it before as well and failed. I have a similar story to you regarding my clinical abilities, respect from my peers, superiors, etc. And I feel the same way with regards to feeling like I'll never pass. It's a ridiculous task we're given to basically memorize everything there is to know about the biggest knowledge base in all of medicine, so it's perfectly natural to feel like it's impossible to do. But it's not.
From everyone I've talked to this year at work who successfully passed this test, they all said the same thing. Questions, Questions, Questions. That's how people pass this. They just do lot's of practice questions, focus on the ones they miss, and repeat over and over again. Eventually the knowledge will stick long enough to help you pass. This is a test of word recognition, memorization of quick facts, and knowing how to answer their questions. There is no thinking involved. Sometimes there are a few layers of information you have to get through to get the answer correct, but it all still comes down to just having this stuff memorized. The best way to memorize things is to spend lots of time with the topics. The best way to do that is small, regular exposure. A little bit every day over the course of a year is better than spending 8 hours a day cramming during the last month or two.
That's what I've done this time that I didn't do in the past. I've been doing questions nearly every day all year. I feel like I'm finally starting to get a grasp on these topics, though I know there's always more I could do. The last time I took it I focused on board review videos, taking notes, reading and highlighting, etc. I didn't even get through MKSAP qbank all the way through once. This time I've gone through it twice in it's entirety and I've dabbled in UWorld a little as well. Probably over 2500-3000 questions studied at this point. Even though I lack confidence in myself for this test, I take comfort in knowing I've done a lot more this time then years past. So, I'm hoping it's enough to pass. Compared to my peers, I've done at least what they did to pass if not more. If I at least see a dramatic improvement in my score, but still fail, I'll be encouraged to try again. Hoping I don't need to though. I have noticed that just staying positive helps a lot. When I get frustrated and start getting angry at the questions, I tend to miss more. My plan if I fail is to immediately start doing 10-20 questions a day from a different qbank and try again.
FWIW, my first run through MKSAP I did open book tutor mode. That helped me stay positive because I wasn't seeing myself miss so many questions and it also helped me learn because it forced me to read through BB to find the answers. This second time through I'm doing closed book sessions in timed mode and I'm making flash cards for facts that I need to know, but still miss. I'm consistently averaging 78% correct now. I've been trying to boil each question down to it's unique, key point, which is usually just a one sentence fact. Such as, "6 weeks is the length of therapy considered adequate for a trial of antidepressants." Or "the best way to check for Giardia is a Giardia antigen test (not ova/parasites)" or "Certoluzimab can be used for Crohn's disease in pregnancy" or "Dermatomyositis is associated with an increased risk of Ovarian Cancer"
Almost every question can be put onto a simple flash card when you boil it down to what they're actually asking. That's how you make this test doable in my opinion. Assuming there are 205 questions on the test after they subtract the experimental qs, and assuming you need 70% to pass (which of course we don't know for sure), then that means you just need to know 140-150 facts like that to pass. So, memorize 200-300 of the most high yield facts you can find and add that to what you already know from your clinical training/experience and you should be good. That's an acheivable task in my mind. This is what I've been telling myself to help me get through this. Hopefully I'm right.
 
Random question:

I took the ABIM August 2016 and failed by just a few points (during my first year of fellowship).

I took a year off (was overseas, doing research during fellowship), and am now taking it again Tuesday.

However, I noticed that, as of 2012, the ABIM requires an "unrestricted license" just to sit for the exam. I only had a residency/fellowship license when I took it the first time and still only have that same institutional license (not applying for my state license until December).

So...is my institutional license enough? Or am I taking a test that they are just going to invalidate anyways, regardless of my score?
 
VneZonyDostupa said:
Random question:

I took the ABIM August 2016 and failed by just a few points (during my first year of fellowship).

I took a year off (was overseas, doing research during fellowship), and am now taking it again Tuesday.

However, I noticed that, as of 2012, the ABIM requires an "unrestricted license" just to sit for the exam. I only had a residency/fellowship license when I took it the first time and still only have that same institutional license (not applying for my state license until December).

So...is my institutional license enough? Or am I taking a test that they are just going to invalidate anyways, regardless of my score?
Click to expand...

I believe by "unrestricted" they mean no disciplinary restrictions or other problems like that. Plenty of people with residency licenses are taking the exam, so you're fine. If they let you sign up for it and schedule it, you'll be able to take it. They don't check your medical license at the testing centers.
 
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jacksparrow82 said:
Hang in there man. There are actually lot's of people in the same boat as you. I have taken it before as well and failed. I have a similar story to you regarding my clinical abilities, respect from my peers, superiors, etc. And I feel the same way with regards to feeling like I'll never pass. It's a ridiculous task we're given to basically memorize everything there is to know about the biggest knowledge base in all of medicine, so it's perfectly natural to feel like it's impossible to do. But it's not.
From everyone I've talked to this year at work who successfully passed this test, they all said the same thing. Questions, Questions, Questions. That's how people pass this. They just do lot's of practice questions, focus on the ones they miss, and repeat over and over again. Eventually the knowledge will stick long enough to help you pass. This is a test of word recognition, memorization of quick facts, and knowing how to answer their questions. There is no thinking involved. Sometimes there are a few layers of information you have to get through to get the answer correct, but it all still comes down to just having this stuff memorized. The best way to memorize things is to spend lots of time with the topics. The best way to do that is small, regular exposure. A little bit every day over the course of a year is better than spending 8 hours a day cramming during the last month or two.
That's what I've done this time that I didn't do in the past. I've been doing questions nearly every day all year. I feel like I'm finally starting to get a grasp on these topics, though I know there's always more I could do. The last time I took it I focused on board review videos, taking notes, reading and highlighting, etc. I didn't even get through MKSAP qbank all the way through once. This time I've gone through it twice in it's entirety and I've dabbled in UWorld a little as well. Probably over 2500-3000 questions studied at this point. Even though I lack confidence in myself for this test, I take comfort in knowing I've done a lot more this time then years past. So, I'm hoping it's enough to pass. Compared to my peers, I've done at least what they did to pass if not more. If I at least see a dramatic improvement in my score, but still fail, I'll be encouraged to try again. Hoping I don't need to though. I have noticed that just staying positive helps a lot. When I get frustrated and start getting angry at the questions, I tend to miss more. My plan if I fail is to immediately start doing 10-20 questions a day from a different qbank and try again.
FWIW, my first run through MKSAP I did open book tutor mode. That helped me stay positive because I wasn't seeing myself miss so many questions and it also helped me learn because it forced me to read through BB to find the answers. This second time through I'm doing closed book sessions in timed mode and I'm making flash cards for facts that I need to know, but still miss. I'm consistently averaging 78% correct now. I've been trying to boil each question down to it's unique, key point, which is usually just a one sentence fact. Such as, "6 weeks is the length of therapy considered adequate for a trial of antidepressants." Or "the best way to check for Giardia is a Giardia antigen test (not ova/parasites)" or "Certoluzimab can be used for Crohn's disease in pregnancy" or "Dermatomyositis is associated with an increased risk of Ovarian Cancer"
Almost every question can be put onto a simple flash card when you boil it down to what they're actually asking. That's how you make this test doable in my opinion. Assuming there are 205 questions on the test after they subtract the experimental qs, and assuming you need 70% to pass (which of course we don't know for sure), then that means you just need to know 140-150 facts like that to pass. So, memorize 200-300 of the most high yield facts you can find and add that to what you already know from your clinical training/experience and you should be good. That's an acheivable task in my mind. This is what I've been telling myself to help me get through this. Hopefully I'm right.
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The one takeaway I had from my passing my exam last year was there weren’t as many - this is associated with this type of question. Yes, they were there, but I felt the challenging questions were the ones that had 2-3 diagnoses in play and what was the next test you would order. These were difficult and probably were “weighted” more as they presented very common symptoms and you had to tease out common dx and not miss it.
 
DoubleBogey said:
The one takeaway I had from my passing my exam last year was there weren’t as many - this is associated with this type of question. Yes, they were there, but I felt the challenging questions were the ones that had 2-3 diagnoses in play and what was the next test you would order. These were difficult and probably were “weighted” more as they presented very common symptoms and you had to tease out common dx and not miss it.
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Oh I agree. The questions can give only very subtle clues to what they're really trying to ask and then they want you to go through several steps to get to the right answer. For instance, it's not enough to know how to recognize condition A, but you also need to know how to tell it apart from a totally unrelated condition B with some easily overlooked lab value that you don't typically pay any attention to. Then, you'll get to the question and be like "yes, I know what this is!" but then they'll ask "after starting the patient on the most appropriate initial treatment, which additional labs would you need to order given the treatment's expected side effects?"

Basically, you need to know 4 or 5 different facts to answer one question. I agree, those are the questions that make this exam such a bitch.
 
what message do people see on the ABIM portal after taking the test? Mine says "Exam not yet taken/scored"

.... is that what it is supposed to say?
 
CDI said:
August 28th, only know cause I picked that test date knowing very well I’d need the extra days to hit a Qbank.

Working night shift the day after. That shift will pay for my inevitable exam retake next year. I have a tendency of cutting it extremely close, but I’m not sure I’m getting lucky this time. Still out here droppin 50s...on UWorld.
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I feel the same way. I have been working nights and have not been able to stay awake during the day or even go to sleep during the night. I'm so behind on everything and I am not sure I would even be able to wake up the morning of the test. I still don't understand why there are no evening test. I am really depending on luck to get me through on the 28th. The other option is to cancel, get 55% of the registration fee back and use the money to buy question banks for next year.
 
rolen05 said:
what message do people see on the ABIM portal after taking the test? Mine says "Exam not yet taken/scored"

.... is that what it is supposed to say?
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Relax. Mine says the same too and I took it last week. I think it doesn't update until the whole testing period is over and everyone who is registered to take it this year has taken it.

I thought it was a very fair test for what it was. Random stuff yes and definitely not easy (I mark any question that I'm not 100% confident on, and I marked about 1/3 per section). However, if I fail, then it would be lack of diagnostic accuracy between 2 answer choices, which could most certainly be improved on with more study. I thought there was a lot of focus on critical thinking and much less obscure recall of random facts (or buzzwords) than I expected (or horror studies I've heard). MKSAP is gold. I completed UW x 2 but I felt UW might have been too nitty-gritty (although it did train my stamina). I wish I had the time to do MKSAP x 2, I actually ran out of time and just did about 2/3 of MSKAP first pass.
 
Test was hard but not impossible. Don’t think I did well but probably good enough to pass.
 
lulu09 said:
Relax. Mine says the same too and I took it last week. I think it doesn't update until the whole testing period is over and everyone who is registered to take it this year has taken it.

I thought it was a very fair test for what it was. Random stuff yes and definitely not easy (I mark any question that I'm not 100% confident on, and I marked about 1/3 per section). However, if I fail, then it would be lack of diagnostic accuracy between 2 answer choices, which could most certainly be improved on with more study. I thought there was a lot of focus on critical thinking and much less obscure recall of random facts (or buzzwords) than I expected (or horror studies I've heard). MKSAP is gold. I completed UW x 2 but I felt UW might have been too nitty-gritty (although it did train my stamina). I wish I had the time to do MKSAP x 2, I actually ran out of time and just did about 2/3 of MSKAP first pass.
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MKSAP is fine for this exam in my opinion
 
JP2740 said:
MKSAP is fine for this exam in my opinion
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Thank you (and lulu) for saying that! I tackle this beast tomorrow. Will report back here when I'm done. I am relieved to be done with studying at least. Just hoping for a good night's sleep
 
jacksparrow82 said:
Thank you (and lulu) for saying that! I tackle this beast tomorrow. Will report back here when I'm done. I am relieved to be done with studying at least. Just hoping for a good night's sleep
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At this point the best you can do for yourself is chill and sleep well and don’t burn out your brain. In my opinion not much of what you study from here will be a difference maker
 
spent 5 months studying for this exam. did 5000 questions, including mksap 17 (scored 68% first round, 88% on second round), uworld (55% first round, 70% second round), and medstudy (76% first round, didn't repeat because i didn't think it was worth repeating). just to cover my bases i read BB4 4 times. i also read medstudy cover to cover once (but couldn't read it more, because it was way too dense). i even watched the medstudy DVDs from last year twice. i honestly came out of the exam today thinking i may have studied for a different test. i honestly would be surprised if i passed today, and if i do it will be by the very skin covering my teeth.
 
Took exam today. Did Awesome Review in June, read Awesome Review Books 4-5x, UWorld x2, MKSAP x1 one week before the test. Thought the exam was pretty reasonable. Had a lot of buzzwords found in the question banks and Awesome Review books. A few questions ~5 each section where I narrowed the answers down to 2 choices and took my best shot. Hoping for best!
 
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butterflystroke said:
spent 5 months studying for this exam. did 5000 questions, including mksap 17 (scored 68% first round, 88% on second round), uworld (55% first round, 70% second round), and medstudy (76% first round, didn't repeat because i didn't think it was worth repeating). just to cover my bases i read BB4 4 times. i also read medstudy cover to cover once (but couldn't read it more, because it was way too dense). i even watched the medstudy DVDs from last year twice. i honestly came out of the exam today thinking i may have studied for a different test. i honestly would be surprised if i passed today, and if i do it will be by the very skin covering my teeth.
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This is just shocking to me that you could have this experience after doing all that. The test is stupid and unreasonable at times but I’m surprised you felt that bad about it.
 
JP2740 said:
This is just shocking to me that you could have this experience after doing all that. The test is stupid and unreasonable at times but I’m surprised you felt that bad about it.
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let me give a simple example: i spent a fair amount of time learning to recognize dermatologic conditions. what i didn't think to do is focus on their descriptions. all the derm conditions, and even immunology questions were without photographs and based on description alone.
 
butterflystroke said:
let me give a simple example: i spent a fair amount of time learning to recognize dermatologic conditions. what i didn't think to do is focus on their descriptions. all the derm conditions, and even immunology questions were without photographs and based on description alone.
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Ya but of course you need to know that every board exam is like that. Not just how it’s described but comorbities etc. you did too many qbanka and didn’t just master 1 of them. Honestly I try to also learn a lot from the question vignette too and not just the explanation bc it tells you a lot about the presentation and that’s how the questions are worded in the exam. Chances are you did just fine either way.
 
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