Official ABIM Exam/study tools thread!

[Square[]]

I think you will do well. I would stick with just one resource. Mksap is probably the way to go. I thought the mksap questions were slightly harder than the actual test. I liked using the text for a quick reference. Use the ITE score reports to hone in on your weak subjects.



I don’t know why you had to be so abrasive. It kinda sounded like the person you responded to was honestly lost about which resource to use and wanted to optimize his spending and time.

🙂 I wasn't sarcastic.

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[jggg]

Guys, I passed !! It was my fifth try. Can you believe that? I had to pinch myself to believe it. After checking the result online, I called ABIM so that I could hear from them to double check just in case the online result was wrong. Scored very poorly in all my ITEs- Almost always less than 15th percentile. First 3 times in the ABIM board exams, I was on the bottom of the bottom on the ABIMs. Couldn't get any worse. 4 th try I began to do MCQs and scored around 300 when the passing score was around 370. Can you believe how much I scored this time? 480 when the passing score is 370. Phew !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will write in detail later how I prepared. I just wanted to write in short because I am just overjoyed. I want to give a huge thanks to the admin to get this site going (because I could get ideas from this and Admin has personally answered my queries and there was another guy who was helpful) and also to God/Jesus who helped me pass ! So those out there who have failed many times, don't get discouraged. I know what you are going through. Will write in detail when I am a bit free.

 

[Nonkiboy]

Question because I am in a similar boat. Finished residency in 2011, bunch of fails. They let you take the test 8 years after finishing? I thought it was 7 years. Does the 7 year eligibility begin after July 2012?

Yes, 7 years after July 2012

 

[gutonc]

you would probably pass with minimal revision; however not worth risking and regretting. I recommend to do a question bank of your choice: mksap or UW.

Agree. You probably don't need to do anything. But pick a QBank and use it.

 

[jacksparrow82]

Question because I am in a similar boat. Finished residency in 2011, bunch of fails. They let you take the test 8 years after finishing? I thought it was 7 years. Does the 7 year eligibility begin after July 2012?

Depends on when you graduated. The 7 year rule didn't take effect until 2012. That's why 2019 is the first year they will enforce it. If you graduated residency before 2012 then you could technically get more time to pass.

 

[JP2740]

Took it yesterday. Got my @ss handed to me. UWorld as a primary study tool can definitely prepare you well for it. Key is to use it to learn and not to judge how well you’re doing. Awesome Review books a good read for it as well.

As for the test, many questions where in clinical practice multiple choices are blatantly correct. Screening questions where the sole purpose is to trip you up (when these are available at the click of a finger (or chart) to you in everyday practice). Ununusual presentations of derm & rheum and where you’re left guessing. And of course plenty of zebras which we’ll never see, except maybe some rare case report article.

Test felt heavily outpatient based. Makes you wonder if IM in-patient focused programs should just be splitting up and doing the hospitalist boards.

Did you pass bro?

 

[adam91385]

I don’t post on here much but figured I would share this in case someone found it helpful.

We all come from different backgrounds with various strengths and weaknesses. I think that makes it hard to apply one general study plan to everyone. I went through some personal challenges before I took the test last year and failed by one point. It was devastating professionally as I work in a very academic environment and I felt as if I let my colleagues down. Typically I did very well on tests but for whatever reason it didn’t work out the first time for me. I didn’t make excuses though and went through the grunt work of 10 months of prep for take 2.

First attempt I used MKSAP and BB.
This year I used the same as above but added UWORLD which for me was exponetially superior in preparing me for the test. BB is a solid tool for high yield things and certainly helped me get some extra points but you need time to go through it given the density of the book. Hope this is useful for someone.

 

[Gd3485]

Depends on when you graduated. The 7 year rule didn't take effect until 2012. That's why 2019 is the first year they will enforce it. If you graduated residency before 2012 then you could technically get more time to pass.

May I ask, what year did you graduate residency?

 

[sakuraa]

Passed! did 1 SD above average. First attempt

I tend to be a good test taker when i study, 240s step 1, 260s step 2, didnt really study that much for step 3 230s
ITEs 1st year 70s percentile, 2nd year 40th (freaked out but it was not a good day to take a test for me) 3rd years 70s percentile

I wasnt happy with my ITE scores so I took a month off after residency to study.
did MKSAP Q bank once during 3rd year. then after did it once during the month I was studying with incorrects and then random blocks after
for Uworld 2-2.5 weeks before the test (freak out moment) did it once and then did incorrects.

read BB twice.

I thought Uworld was amazing. MKSAP was good but too easy. and BB is key but you need to know more than that.

For those of you who did one q bank and passed: awesome.
to those who did multiple things and passed: great
to those didnt make this time: dont worry, you got this. you'll do great next time!

and finally to those like myself who combed through this thread looking for advice on how to pass and what will work for you based on what your ITE score is or your uworld avg: Find your own way. There are people i know who did great on ITEs and used one resource and failed. I know people who did horrible and used on resource and did great. Just find what works for you, put in the effort, see how youre doing. If you feel like a resource isnt working, try another. take all of our advice with a grain of salt. just dont take the exam as a joke or assume you'll pass.

 

[niuz]

First attempt: Pass!

Wanted to share my experience since this thread has been a great source of information.

Poor (borderline) Step 1, above average Steps 2 and 3, Low ITE's

6 months prior to exam, started reading and taking notes on Board Basics and did MKSAP 2x. 70s % first time, 80-90s % second time. 1 month prior to exam decided to get UWorld, did that 1x, scored 60s%

If I were to do this all over again I would have started studying earlier and more seriously. Probably should have done UWorld a second time.

It's a tough exam and requires putting in the time and effort to study. But it's doable, so don't psych yourself out! Now I can finally focus on my fellowship in a field that I'm actually interested in...Good Luck!

 

[2DEG]

There is no way to sugarcoat this. I failed this exam. My score 359. Passing score was 371. I mainly used MKSAP and Board Basics. I really thought I would not take this exam again. Heck with it, I will remain a board uncertified physician. Preparing for this exam means a lot of sacrifice on my family's part.

However, I see that I do have two more attempts left to pass this exam. Please tell me if this might help me better next year: I am going to use UWORLD primarily. I will also use MKSAP 18 and Board Basics.

Sitting in that exam room feels like worse than anything else I have ever experience. Tell me what I need to do so that I have to experience that feeling of sitting in that exam room for 8 hours just once more.

I think the testing center people know me by the first name now.

 

[rebbeca55]

I’m sorry for what you’ve been going through. I think you were very close and can make it.
You have to know your personality and what works for you. For me, I have to repeat over and over and I can’t repeat a million of resources. What I did was going over UW. I did mistakes but I was also highliting answers the first round and read through the highlights.
So repetition works for me, and also UW has always been helpful through the usmles and ABIM.
I would also select a few high yield chapters of B.B. and repeat those: cards, pulm, general, and derm.

About the exam room, hmmmm it’s a tough one! I’ll tell you this. I hav been going through some health issues. I almost cancelled my test several times and eventually decided to do as much as I can and see if I can make it to the exam room. The stuff I had packed and put in my locker would make one laugh or feel sorry! Pickles, mint extract, etc and praying I wouldn’t pass out. I don’t wanna go though details of my health issues, but just wanna tell you that I crawled into the exam room.
I hope this was helpful!?

Good luck!

This was meant a reply for 2DEG, somehow my reply didn’t work.

 

[ProblieFailed]

There is no way to sugarcoat this. I failed this exam. My score 359. Passing score was 371. I mainly used MKSAP and Board Basics. I really thought I would not take this exam again. Heck with it, I will remain a board uncertified physician. Preparing for this exam means a lot of sacrifice on my family's part.

However, I see that I do have two more attempts left to pass this exam. Please tell me if this might help me better next year: I am going to use UWORLD primarily. I will also use MKSAP 18 and Board Basics.

Sitting in that exam room feels like worse than anything else I have ever experience. Tell me what I need to do so that I have to experience that feeling of sitting in that exam room for 8 hours just once more.

I think the testing center people know me by the first name now.

Don't fall into insanity and do the same thing twice expecting a different outcome. Forget about BB and MKSAP-didn't work for you, right?

I passed this year, failed 2 years ago. Last time I used MKSAP, awesome review, UW (failed by just a few points). This time I used MedStudy (whole course with videos, qbank, flashcards, etc) and First Aid for the Internal Medicine Boards-passed heartily in the 600s. Did not touch UW (too tricky for its own good, in my opinion). Many people use MKSAP, BB, UW, etc, and do just fine. I was not one of them. Same as with USMLEs (which I did well on) for some reason I always needed to use the "roads less traveled" (USMLERx qbank instead of UW, for example).

If something didn't work, don't use it again and assume you need to "put more effort in". Read back on people who post here and fail multiple times; they all seem to "try harder next time" with the same resources.

You'll pass; as one of my favorite MedStudy instructors said "these ABIM people are evil-we need knowledge to combat evil". Get the knowledge from a different source this time around. Good luck!

 

[ortnakas]

Not sure if this is the best place for this question, but I don't want to make a whole new thread for it either.

I'm an IM intern, and ended up having to go on medical leave for surgery. The plan is for me to take two blocks off, but that leaves me zero wiggle room between graduation and the cutoff for taking ABIM boards on time in 2021. The alternative is trying to go back to work halfway through this block to get a little bit of a buffer in case something else comes up, and my program is willing to stick me an an easy hours rotation for a few weeks, but I'm not 100% sure I'll be up for it.

How important is it to take ABIM right after graduation in terms of job-finding? My goal is to be a hospitalist, not start a fellowship. Hopefully, I'll be able to take it on time regardless, but I don't know how bad the worst case scenario is.

Thanks, wise attendings.

 

[Raryn]

Not sure if this is the best place for this question, but I don't want to make a whole new thread for it either.

I'm an IM intern, and ended up having to go on medical leave for surgery. The plan is for me to take two blocks off, but that leaves me zero wiggle room between graduation and the cutoff for taking ABIM boards on time in 2021. The alternative is trying to go back to work halfway through this block to get a little bit of a buffer in case something else comes up, and my program is willing to stick me an an easy hours rotation for a few weeks, but I'm not 100% sure I'll be up for it.

How important is it to take ABIM right after graduation in terms of job-finding? My goal is to be a hospitalist, not start a fellowship. Hopefully, I'll be able to take it on time regardless, but I don't know how bad the worst case scenario is.

Thanks, wise attendings.

Two things -

Firstly, the cutoff in any given year is August 31. Depending on how your program structures blocks, you may still graduate in time to take the boards in the year of graduation - two blocks at my program would have been 8 weeks, which would mean you'd graduate August ~25, and could take the boards that year (yes - that would mean you could take the board exam a week before you graduated theoretically).

Secondly, I know of zero jobs except for being an IM program director that require board certification to get them. Even when it's required, you typically don't need it to *start* a job. You need it to *keep* the job. The timeline usually given by employers is 3-5 years. You may also be ineligible for partnership, some bonuses, whatever until you get board certified. But a delay of one year will not hurt you at all. Lots of people delay boards for a year for whatever reason (maternity leave being a common one) and it doesn't hurt them at all.

 

[gutonc]

Two things -

Firstly, the cutoff in any given year is August 31. Depending on how your program structures blocks, you may still graduate in time to take the boards in the year of graduation - two blocks at my program would have been 8 weeks, which would mean you'd graduate August ~25, and could take the boards that year (yes - that would mean you could take the board exam a week before you graduated theoretically).

Secondly, I know of zero jobs except for being an IM program director that require board certification to get them. Even when it's required, you typically don't need it to *start* a job. You need it to *keep* the job. The timeline usually given by employers is 3-5 years. You may also be ineligible for partnership, some bonuses, whatever until you get board certified. But a delay of one year will not hurt you at all. Lots of people delay boards for a year for whatever reason (maternity leave being a common one) and it doesn't hurt them at all.

I would argue that more people should delay taking the boards for a year or 2 anyway. I waited far too long personally (3 years...spent in a fellowship) but still did pretty well. A little "real world" experience is really helpful.

 

[Raryn]

I would argue that more people should delay taking the boards for a year or 2 anyway. I waited far too long personally (3 years...spent in a fellowship) but still did pretty well. A little "real world" experience is really helpful.

I just wanted it out of the way. My fellowship program gave us a light schedule the first couple months - studied, took the test, and moved on.

 

[JerseyBoy406]

Passed. Not sure how, but it’s done. Thought last years test was easier (failed by 2 points), but whatever.
Agree with the posters who think the ABIM is a money-grubbing mob who make tests which have NO relevance to our practice. For example, they state that we’re supposed to be good financial stewards of the health care dollar, and most diagnoses can be made by history and physical exam, but then ask questions which don’t include any pertinent history or physical exam findings. Total BS. They should take 500 office based IMs and 500 Hospitalists and tally our most common diagnoses, then gear the test based on that spread. Yea, include the zebras, but the majority should be what we do every day. Also, if anyone diagnoses say Lupus or Psoratic Arthritis, the correct next step is to refer to a specialist, not try to treat them. If it goes badly, and you haven’t sent them to the right specialist, your butt is going to be in a lawsuit AND you’ve hurt someone!
Good luck to all who need to repeat it next year. You got through medical school and residency so you all have what it takes! Be strong, be diligent, and don’t lose faith in yourselves...

 

[JerseyBoy406]

Question because I am in a similar boat. Finished residency in 2011, bunch of fails. They let you take the test 8 years after finishing? I thought it was 7 years. Does the 7 year eligibility begin after July 2012?

You’re good till 2019. In 2012, they gave everyone who wasn’t certified another 7 years, didn’t matter when they finished. I bet they’re going to extend it again next year because they are going to end up in a big fat lawsuit AND there’s going to be a riot in hospitals who have these restrictive by-laws when they try to force the non-vetted docs off their staffs. Mark my words. If the ABIM doesn’t relent, then I bet the Dept of Justice or Congress will get involved. There’s already an opinion by the DOJ in a Maryland state matter regarding insurance payers and non-board certified docs... GOOGLE IT!

 

[butterflystroke]

Semi-humble brag, but honest to goodness just don't know.

I scored extremely well on the ITE in both my intern and 2nd year. How should I study for the ABIM? Uworld only? MKSAP only? Both? Boards and beyond? Help me spend my money appropriately. FWIW, my worst category was still >70th percentile.

i would recommend reading the board basics book published by the acp. a new version will be coming out in january. for question bank i would totally avoid mksap. the questions are not board relevant (at least mksap17 wasn't). uworld is a definite must. do it in tutor mode, and keep repeating the questions until you get them all correct. there are about 1283 question on the uworld qbank. happy hunting!

 

[somekindof]

Not sure if this is the best place for this question, but I don't want to make a whole new thread for it either.

I'm an IM intern, and ended up having to go on medical leave for surgery. The plan is for me to take two blocks off, but that leaves me zero wiggle room between graduation and the cutoff for taking ABIM boards on time in 2021. The alternative is trying to go back to work halfway through this block to get a little bit of a buffer in case something else comes up, and my program is willing to stick me an an easy hours rotation for a few weeks, but I'm not 100% sure I'll be up for it.

How important is it to take ABIM right after graduation in terms of job-finding? My goal is to be a hospitalist, not start a fellowship. Hopefully, I'll be able to take it on time regardless, but I don't know how bad the worst case scenario is.

Thanks, wise attendings.

To get the majority of jobs, you only need to be board eligible (it's usually labeled as BE on job requirements and basically means you've completed residency). They then may give you a time limit on when you need to be board certified (BC) by. My hospitalist job required I do it within 5 years from starting. The jobs that will require it for sure will be any academic positions. I'm not sure if those jobs have grace periods to re-take it or not, but I imagine they are much more strict about it.

Remember, board certification is not a legal requirement. All you technically need to work is 1 year of residency and passing all 3 USMLE exams which allows you to get your medical license.

 

[ortnakas]

@somekindof @gutonc @Raryn & the people who PMed me: thank you for the reassurance!

 

[DrMetal]

My hospitalist job required I do it within 5 years from starting.

Does your contract actually state that you will be terminated if you're not BC'd in 5 years? I've heard of some states trying to pass laws prohibiting this (the firing of physicians, simply for not being BC'd). True?

 

[DoubleBogey]

Does your contract actually state that you will be terminated if you're not BC'd in 5 years? I've heard of some states trying to pass laws prohibiting this (the firing of physicians, simply for not being BC'd). True?

Mine states you have 3 years to complete boards - one guy’s contract wasn’t renewed due to failing

 

[exudate]

Passed. MKSAP questions - one pass through (~60% correct), barely completed. Looking back, MKSAP qbank is enough to pass this exam.

 

[somekindof]

Does your contract actually state that you will be terminated if you're not BC'd in 5 years? I've heard of some states trying to pass laws prohibiting this (the firing of physicians, simply for not being BC'd). True?

I'm actually not sure if it's specifically in the contract. I was just told they didn't need it for 5 years, and they didn't say specifically I would be terminated if I didn't get it within that time. I would hope it would be illegal to fire someone for not being BC'd, I think that's nonsense. If someone can legally practice without restrictions, there is no reason they aren't qualified to practice with or without board certification. I feel like it's all a huge racket. From what I understand, the reason is insurance companies won't reimburse if you're not BC'd, and again just from what I've read, insurance companies have a financial gain in the board certification process.

 

[Raryn]

Does your contract actually state that you will be terminated if you're not BC'd in 5 years? I've heard of some states trying to pass laws prohibiting this (the firing of physicians, simply for not being BC'd). True?

There's six or seven states that have prohibited *maintenance* of certification from being required as a condition of licensure/privileging/employment, but none that I'm aware of that made that rule about initial certification.

I've seen a number of contracts that give you X years (X being 3 or 5) to get board certified or get fired. There's also some that simply make it so you're ineligible for partnership and the bonuses thereof while you're not certified.

 

[benfolds21]

I'm actually not sure if it's specifically in the contract. I was just told they didn't need it for 5 years, and they didn't say specifically I would be terminated if I didn't get it within that time. I would hope it would be illegal to fire someone for not being BC'd, I think that's nonsense. If someone can legally practice without restrictions, there is no reason they aren't qualified to practice with or without board certification. I feel like it's all a huge racket. From what I understand, the reason is insurance companies won't reimburse if you're not BC'd, and again just from what I've read, insurance companies have a financial gain in the board certification process.

I work at a large “top tier” academic hospital and while it was not in my contract to be BC they were less than enthused when I did not pass my first attempt. They sent me a letter stating they would not renew my contract but then I think they quickly realized this would be a headache for them and kept me on.

 

[vanilla5]

I was following this thread for a long time and it was very helpful in my struggle to clear ABIM.

Took exam August 2018 and got results 11:59 PM on Oct 18- PASS !


Background- good medical student with USMLE steps 1,2- got 99 percentile, cleared CS and step 3 well.

During IM residency- did not study much. Had a baby and was always struggling to find work family balance.

Not great score in ITEs.

Matched for fellowship and was started on a busy University rotation right away- so decided to skip the exam on the year of completion of residency.

I think that was a bad decision- when you are fresh from residency, you are more uptodate on topics and should take it right away.


Then took exam 3 times. Then had to wait for one year. This was my 4th attempt.

Last time it was 1 mark away from passing score.

Did try rescoring- waste of money- no change.


This year I was all exhausted, hopeless and frustrated.

I was very depressed.

Felt like I will never pass this exam.

I almost gave up on clearing ABIM and had started to look into nonclinical alternatives as backup.

This time I used:

Medstudy notes- core curriculum- important as it helps to build up knowledge

Medstudy videos- listned during my commute to work

Awesome review course- found it OK

Board basics- especially during last few weeks going over important topics.

MKSAP Q bank- very good

U world- very good.

Meditation and prayer.



Previously I used medstudy exclusively with core curriculum and q bank. Used MKSAP as well but was not consistent.

This time I dis MKSAP (finsihed al) and was scoring about 60-70%.

I found MKSAP very useful.

And UWorld is also very good. was Scoring about 60%


Based on my experience I would recommend to do MKSAP Questions X2 times and U world X 2 times or more if you are a poor test taker like me.

Also use Board basics again and again in last few weeks for revision.


For those who failed this exam- do not be discouraged. Its one more exam. You have came a long way so keep going.

Devote time. If you have to take time off from work- take it. Make it a priority.
Keep faith in the God, your hardwork and keep going.

You will feel depressed, frustrated, hopeless and feel like you are never going to pass but never give up and keep going.

This exam does not reflect how smart you are or how is your patient care but it’s a big relief when you pass this exam as it helps with job security and all the things that depend on it.


Thank you all who wrote their experiences before to help other like me.

For those who will be taking it next year Good luck.

 

[PseudomonasPAO1]

I'm actually not sure if it's specifically in the contract. I was just told they didn't need it for 5 years, and they didn't say specifically I would be terminated if I didn't get it within that time. I would hope it would be illegal to fire someone for not being BC'd, I think that's nonsense. If someone can legally practice without restrictions, there is no reason they aren't qualified to practice with or without board certification. I feel like it's all a huge racket. From what I understand, the reason is insurance companies won't reimburse if you're not BC'd, and again just from what I've read, insurance companies have a financial gain in the board certification process.

It seems this would need to be clearly stated in your contract to be a hard and fast condition of termination. The other alternative is they simply make things uncomfortable for you (i.e.,weekends, holidays, nights, undesirable locations) to push you out, in effect a constructive discharge. I will definitely be reading the board certification & MOC criteria for future contracts!

 

[jggg]

Guys, I passed !! It was my fifth try. Can you believe that? I had to pinch myself to believe it. After checking the result online, I called ABIM so that I could hear from them to double check just in case the online result was wrong. Scored very poorly in all my ITEs- Almost always less than 15th percentile. First 3 times in the ABIM board exams, I was on the bottom of the bottom on the ABIMs. Couldn't get any worse. 4 th try I began to do MCQs and scored around 300 when the passing score was around 370. Can you believe how much I scored this time? 480 when the passing score is 370. Phew !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will write in detail later how I prepared. I just wanted to write in short because I am just overjoyed. I want to give a huge thanks to the admin to get this site going (because I could get ideas from this and Admin has personally answered my queries and there was another guy who was helpful) and also to God/Jesus who helped me pass ! So those out there who have failed many times, don't get discouraged. I know what you are going through. Will write in detail when I am a bit free.




Addendum to above:
I prepared with the following:

-MKSAP MCQ - about 1200 question - towards the end I was scoring above 90 %
-Know med g e - FLASHCARDS REALLY REALLY HELPED and did about 700 questions ie MCQs (was scoring about 70% towards the end in all exams)
-Med study- videos- watched about 4 times, MCQ about 1700 questions, I score about 67% in 1 day simulation exam about 1 month before the exam.
-U world- MCQ- twice,- was scoring about 30-40 percentile towards the end of first attempt
-Board basics - twice

#### KEY THING IS USE '''''''FLASH CARDS'''''' SO THAT YOU CAN CONSOLIDATE YOUR MEMORY - put all the wrong answers in flashcard so that you can repeatedly go back and consolidate the memory. know- med- g e .######

I think if you do flashcards in MKSAP and other review courses it would help as well.

I KNOW WHAT DESPERATION MEANS TO FAIL SO MANY TIMES. I was loosing all confidence and had reached rock bottom.

If you need help and encouragement please feel free to email me, I am here to help. My trust in Jesus Christ also helped.

 

[JerseyBoy406]

I work at a large “top tier” academic hospital and while it was not in my contract to be BC they were less than enthused when I did not pass my first attempt. They sent me a letter stating they would not renew my contract but then I think they quickly realized this would be a headache for them and kept me on.

SHOCKED that an academic hospital would do that...

 

[butterflystroke]

Passed. MKSAP questions - one pass through (~60% correct), barely completed. Looking back, MKSAP qbank is enough to pass this exam.

that's a lie and you know it.

 

[butterflystroke]

There is no way to sugarcoat this. I failed this exam. My score 359. Passing score was 371. I mainly used MKSAP and Board Basics. I really thought I would not take this exam again. Heck with it, I will remain a board uncertified physician. Preparing for this exam means a lot of sacrifice on my family's part.

However, I see that I do have two more attempts left to pass this exam. Please tell me if this might help me better next year: I am going to use UWORLD primarily. I will also use MKSAP 18 and Board Basics.

Sitting in that exam room feels like worse than anything else I have ever experience. Tell me what I need to do so that I have to experience that feeling of sitting in that exam room for 8 hours just once more.

I think the testing center people know me by the first name now.

dont waste your time with big books. get the board basics. a new version is coming out in january. then do lots of questions. for abim purposes mksap 17 was useless. the questions are too simplistic. uworld was the absolute best. do the questions at least twice. i would read the board basics as many times as possible. know it cold. YOU CAN DO THIS!

 

[Raryn]

that's a lie and you know it.

There's thousands of IM residents every year all over the spectrum of baseline knowledge and ability.

There's probably hundreds who could take the boards cold without studying at all and comfortably pass.

There's a larger group who could, after reviewing any comprehensive resource, do the same - I'd say that MKSAP counts as a comprehensive resource.

Others might need to study more - and some might need multiple resources, board review courses, etc.

I doubt that the poster you quoted is lying - it would be a weird thing to lie about. They took the test after just going through MKSAP once and passed, and are sharing their experience.

 

[lulu09]

As someone who struggled with all the step exams and the boards and really had to pick it up from a marginal step 1, I want to just add that honestly the resources that are good for each person completely differs.

I did UW x 2 but I found UW to be a bit almost too tricky and sure although the stems and answer choices were devious, I didn't find them to be that useful because I felt it was almost unnecessarily too convoluted. MKSAP felt much more natural to me when I started doing it, and although it seems kind of "basic," it does cover all of the topics you need (skip all of the MKSAP updates though and any question that has a link to an article -- that is not meant for actual board prep).

If I learned everything from all of my steps and ABIM, it is that for the people who failed and are struggling to pass, blind repetition of answer banks are NOT going to help. There is usually something fundamentally wrong with the way that you are consolidating knowledge or recognizing testing objectives from the questions. You can do UW and MKSAP to death and all you're going to end up is memorizing the answer choices, and that is just going to lull you into a false sense of security and eventually delude you into thinking you will pass, but just to fail again when you walk into the testing room because the actual questions will NOT be the ones you have already memorized from UW or MKSAP. I strongly believe that with anyone who has failed or come close to failing, it is necessarily to sit down 1-on-1 with live human being (heck, take a prep course if you need) and diagnose what exactly led to the fail (is it lack of knowledge, poor test taking skills, poor comprehension/reading ability, or anxiety?). Even sitting down with someone who did well (coresident or co-worker) and going over a couple of questions blind and "thinking out loud" why each answer choice is either correct or incorrect helps tremendously in picking a target to focus on for the next time around as hopefully your friend can help diagnose what is wrong. I bit the bullet and did this between Step 1 and CK and improved significantly. The hardest part is being honest with yourself and forcing yourself to change your ways and get out of the rut you're stuck in.

The boards are graded on a strict percentage (not curved), so there is a way to tackle this thing. If you made it through med school and residency, you should pass eventually. However, for the love of Osler, blind repetition of qbanks or blind reading of MKSAP is not going to help you. Full stop. Period.

Also, if UW works, go for that. If you like MKSAP, good for you. Sure, everyone has an opinion, and here's mine.

 

[JerseyBoy406]

that's a lie and you know it.

Yep. It was meant to be sarcastic! I guess I should have put a LOL after my sarcasm...

 

[Raryn]

Yep. It was meant to be sarcastic! I guess I should have put a LOL after my sarcasm...

Yeah, unless you have two SDN accounts, you aren't the poster he was responding to.

 

[failedagain]

@vanilla5 do you mind messaging and answering a few questions for me? thanks! much appreciated

 

[exudate]

that's a lie and you know it.

There's thousands of IM residents every year all over the spectrum of baseline knowledge and ability.

There's probably hundreds who could take the boards cold without studying at all and comfortably pass.

There's a larger group who could, after reviewing any comprehensive resource, do the same - I'd say that MKSAP counts as a comprehensive resource.

Others might need to study more - and some might need multiple resources, board review courses, etc.

I doubt that the poster you quoted is lying - it would be a weird thing to lie about. They took the test after just going through MKSAP once and passed, and are sharing their experience.

LOL! @butterflystroke, I know! I was sincerely surprised with my test results having only done one pass of MKSAP (with other board exams I felt I was more prepared). This time it was whatever was learned through residency and the few weeks of MKSAP during fellowship. So the idea of my post was to encourage others to gain confidence before exam with their prep (which I tried to do as well by reading here on SDN from other posters' experiences). But I see why you would say it is a lie, because I also did not believe that MKSAP would be enough, but due to time constraints and my last minute studying..MKSAP was all I could do. And I felt that some of the questions on the exam were very similar to the MKSAP questions.

Anyways, good luck to all the future test takers.

 

[gotcurry12]

Can someone please share their ABIM study schedule?

 

[VHud]

Hey guys,

I'm taking my IM boards in August 2019, but I purchased MKSAP 17 last year. Now I'm facing either spending another $400 on the new MKSAP 18 or just using MKSAP 17. Is there a major downside to just using MKSAP 17 to study for the 2019 boards, or should I suck it up and get MKSAP 18 as well? Is there a major difference between the two?

Any thoughts/advice would be appreciated.

 

[MyTachyBradyHeart]

Hey guys,

I'm taking my IM boards in August 2019, but I purchased MKSAP 17 last year. Now I'm facing either spending another $400 on the new MKSAP 18 or just using MKSAP 17. Is there a major downside to just using MKSAP 17 to study for the 2019 boards, or should I suck it up and get MKSAP 18 as well? Is there a major difference between the two?

Any thoughts/advice would be appreciated.

Absolutely no reason to get MKSAP 18. Provided you are a semi-decent test taker, you'll be ok after a few weeks of studying.

 

[geripalgal]

When i was a resident I was in the same situation, with the new edition coming out the year of the test. Our medical library ended up buying the newer version for reference soI just borrowed them to have newer questions to practice on in the 4 months prior to the exam....

 

[vanilla5]

yes ! Will be happy to help
please PM me

@vanilla5 do you mind messaging and answering a few questions for me? thanks! much appreciated

 

[failedagain]

yes ! Will be happy to help
please PM me

Greatly appreciate your reply since I think you are uniquely qualify to answer a question for me. I tried pming you again and it gave me an invalid. Most likely because your profile is private. I have a friend check, and you should be able to contact me via conversation/p,.


Very much appreciated

 

[Benzo4every1]

Hey guys. I haven't posted in a long time. I took my first recert MOC and passed.. My background , I am a full time pulm/crit doc and also moonlight occasionally and with a small child.
I did take the awesome review course in feb. I did MKSAP 17 x2, uworld x2 and (this included doing incorrects again and also corrects again)
I did make note cards but did not utilize properly. My sections had 2 uptodates and last two sections no uptodate. I think 3 months for me would not have been enough. I did over a longer stretch and studied after work as well. A lot of questions showed up from uworld and also awesome review. I would recommend the course. But also do a lot of questions. I did some MKSAP 18 questions but my percentage did not change too much. repetition is key. Good luck to everyone.

 

[DrMetal]

I am wholeheartedly against this being a requirement.

Nice post. I'm ok with initial certification, it's the MOC that I take issue with. Asking a good competent doctor who's been practicing for 30 years to re-take a multiple-choice test to prove her worth is rather insulting, if you ask me. It's a shame that we (as physicians) let it get to this point.

Having said that: did any of you use the MedStudy flash cards as a primary source for learning? Can you vouch for them?
2017-2018 Internal Medicine Core Scripts Flash Cards | MedStudy

 

[PseudomonasPAO1]

Nice post. I'm ok with initial certification, it's the MOC that I take issue with. Asking a good competent doctor who's been practicing for 30 years to re-take a multiple-choice test to prove her worth is rather insulting, if you ask me. It's a shame that we (as physicians) let it get to this point.

You are not alone:

Class-action suit filed against ABIM over MOC

 

[IM/Addiction Doc]

Nice post. I'm ok with initial certification, it's the MOC that I take issue with. Asking a good competent doctor who's been practicing for 30 years to re-take a multiple-choice test to prove her worth is rather insulting, if you ask me. It's a shame that we (as physicians) let it get to this point.

Having said that: did any of you use the MedStudy flash cards as a primary source for learning? Can you vouch for them?
2017-2018 Internal Medicine Core Scripts Flash Cards | MedStudy

Yes, I found the flash cards to be quite useful. They are kind of dense in information for a flash card, but it is a nice way to organize concepts. I think the whole Medstudy system is excellent, although the practice questions in Medstudy seemed easier than what is on the exam.