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Are there people out there still waiting to hear back? I have not received an email and my portal shows not released

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I'm hearing great news from my coresidents who passed but I myself haven't received any notification from ABIM. Did anyone else not receive word yet? This sucks. I was reading in past threads that they can roll out in waves over a few day span.

I’m in the same boat.. anything today?
 
All steps in 230s
ITEs all 3 years around 60-70%
ABIM 640
University hospital

Did mksap 18 x 1 (about 85% done... most of the undone ones were in neuro and derm since they are low yield)
Uworld x 1.5 (all on tutor mode)
Never read board basics

Did it slow and steady starting in November 2018 (maybe 10 questions every other day), then upped intensity in spring 2019.

Best thing in my opinion is reading throughout residency, whether it be cecils, harrisons, review articles, etc... read throughout residency and you will not need to cram at all
What does it mean when you say ABIM 640? Passing score starts at 370. What are you referring to?
 
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What does it mean when you say ABIM 640? Passing score starts at 370. What are you referring to?
Score ranges from 370 (passing score), to 800 (maximum). This year, the mean score was 500. He scored 640 which is really good. I scored 516 just over the mean. All you need to score is 370 or above to pass
 
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I think this is potentially dangerous advice, although I understand what you're trying to do.

You mention not having time to prepare and that the test is doable, but in the same breath say you scored a 93%ile on ITE without prep. Obviously this shows you are prepared to a high level or just a test taking juggernaught. Likely both. In either case you are an outlier. Congrats on your score and fellowship.

To those who don't wake up scoring 93%ile on a whim, study hard for this exam. Whether it is slow and steady and/or dedicated month. I think there are enough brutal stories on this thread to suggest that being underprepared may be catastrophic.

Thats sort of the point. There is enough advice here about how to be over prepared so this is just a different perspective for people who may feel they don’t need to go quite as deep as some people here. Some residencies aren’t really designed to give you as much time to study as some people who post here seem to be able to take. Of all of the co-residents that I was close with, I don’t think I single person was able to actually start studying until it was over. I think there is value in balancing out the other end of the spectrum of experience that is posted here.

Also to be clear, I included the ITE for context to highlight that I wasn’t in a bad spot and thus perhaps appropriately not concerned too much. If I understand percentiles correctly, there are actually a lot of people who would be in a similar spot. Again, I think this is on perspective that other people can relate to, even if not you specifically. It’s helpful to hear all sides.

I also wouldn’t call reading all of mksap and doing all questions being underprepared. If anything I was trying to highlight that not everyone needs to start 6 months before.
 
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Thats sort of the point. There is enough advice here about how to be over prepared so this is just a different perspective for people who may feel they don’t need to go quite as deep as some people here. Some residencies aren’t really designed to give you as much time to study as some people who post here seem to be able to take. Of all of the co-residents that I was close with, I don’t think I single person was able to actually start studying until it was over. I think there is value in balancing out the other end of the spectrum of experience that is posted here.

Also to be clear, I included the ITE for context to highlight that I wasn’t in a bad spot and thus perhaps appropriately not concerned too much. If I understand percentiles correctly, there are actually a lot of people who would be in a similar spot. Again, I think this is on perspective that other people can relate to, even if not you specifically. It’s helpful to hear all sides.

I also wouldn’t call reading all of mksap and doing all questions being underprepared. If anything I was trying to highlight that not everyone needs to start 6 months before.

Like I said, I understand your point, I'm sure everyone does. The humble brag seeps through the monitor...

You're reaching roughly 8% of the test taking population with advice akin to a wealthy son taking over his father's highly successful business. It's not all to hard, life is good. Sure, that's a different perspective. Again, I understand your point.

To each their own.

Cheers.
 
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Like I said, I understand your point, I'm sure everyone does. The humble brag seeps through the monitor...

You're reaching roughly 8% of the test taking population with advice akin to a wealthy son taking over his father's highly successful business. It's not all to hard, life is good. Sure, that's a different perspective. Again, I understand your point.

To each their own.

Cheers.

The humble brag to whom, a bunch of random people? Please...
I do regret posting because this turned pretty annoying pretty fast. it’s a good reminder of why I never post on these things.
 
I got an email to check my ABIM result online. I checked and it said "passed". And next to it, it says - Results mailed. No PDF available. What is that about? Anyone else here who didn't get a PDF result??
 
Was anyone here who finished residency before 2012 ever individually notified by the ABIM of the 7 year rule change for eligibility and exam options?

Or does anyone know if there was any official correspondence sent to any potentially affected physician?
 
So my understanding is that if we cannot find ABIM verification online for people who took the exam this year, that means they did not pass the exam?
 
So my understanding is that if we cannot find ABIM verification online for people who took the exam this year, that means they did not pass the exam?
Couldn’t it imply that people also didn’t take it?
 
Couldn’t it imply that people also didn’t take it?
Yes. He/she specifically mentioned people who took the exam. But not finding a name on the website could imply that a person has not taken the exam. Not everyone takes the exam right out of residency for various reasons.
 
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Was anyone here who finished residency before 2012 ever individually notified by the ABIM of the seven-year rule change for eligibility and exam options?

Or does anyone know if there was any official correspondence sent to any potentially affected physician?

I don't believe anyone received notification of the seven-year eligibility change. I initially practiced medicine in a small town where it was easy to procrastinate. When I recently got a job at a big transplant center, they gave me the position with the condition I pass my boards. It was then I found out about the change. That ended my procrastination quickly! I took and passed the ABIM examination. That said, I'm sure there are many chronic procrastinators out there who would have taken and passed the ABIM if they had known of the rule change. There are probably a lot of them who have no idea they are no longer board eligible.
 
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I failed too!
Have one more attempt left.
Will need to start preparing again....
Failedagain and Rongy_Dringus how do I get in touch with you?
Thanks again for all your help everyone.
Sorry to hear about your exam...Are you looking to start studying with a partner?
 
Passed on first attempt. Did not sit for exam right out of residency for fear of failing as I was moving and had to start working right away for financial reasons and had family health issues.

Anyways, worked as a nocturnist in a busy metropolitan teaching hospital for the last year. Have always been an "average" test taker. Went to DO school in midwest and low tier midwest university IM residency program.

USMLE1: 222
Comlex 1,2,3: 539, 531, 650
Comlex PE: Failed first attempt, passed 2nd
ITE %ile: 10, 71, 65
ABIM: 530

My residency made us do MKSAP questions once 2nd year and once third year (kinda half assed it at that time). We also had to do Medstudy questions in simulated test format throughout 3rd year. Didn't study at all throughout the year of working as a hospitalist until the month before the test. Took 3.5 weeks off for dedicated study time leading up to test. 6-8 hours a day. Tried to read the full MKSAP text, but only made it through cardiology. Then, basically just read each chapter of BB followed by all the questions on the topic in tutor mode making sure to read and understand why it was wrong or right. Doing it this way, I finished MKSAP with around 80% correct (inflated because I just read the material). About 10 days out from test was finished with MKSAP (and found that it got too easy), so bought UWORLD and started doing random blocks. I got really frustrated with UWORLD as I felt that the questions were overly tricky. Only made it about half ways through Uworld scoring 67%. The last 2 days before the test I re-read board basics.

Felt the test had a fair amount of obvious easy questions, but there were plenty where I could get it down to 2 and then just had to guess. I felt they would leave out the one bit of info that I needed to differentiate between the two I had narrowed it down to. In that regard I would say the test was somewhere about half way between MKSAP and UWorld in difficulty. I didnt get tested on topics I thought would be on the test. Mostly ambulatory stuff. There were quite a bit of questions that I still don't know the answer to and I don't think are in board basics at all. Board basics is a MUST for this exam. I know I got a few extra correct on test day from re-reading BB before.

Definitely thought I had failed walking out, so pleasantly surprised with a passing result.
 
I passed this exam on first attempt.
I used Board Basic, First Aid, MSKAP 17 questions, and World. My schedule during 3rd year was intense in addition to starting fellowship at busy acadmemic program. My only advice to the current 3rd years -especially for those on interview trails- is study early on in your third year and don't wait until post match. It was very difficult test and do many and learn from many questions as possible.
 
I got 370 and failed! is the passing score different for different people? I am devastated! On my report it mentioned 371 as passing score.

So sorry to hear that. Unfortunately. 371 is the passing cut-off for everyone.
 
I got 370 and failed! is the passing score different for different people? I am devastated! On my report it mentioned 371 as passing score.
Consider rescoring? That usually doesn’t work but since you’re so close might be worth trying
 
I got 370 and failed! is the passing score different for different people? I am devastated! On my report it mentioned 371 as passing score.
Oh god! I'm so sorry you failed for 1 point. My bad, I think passing was 371 not 370.
 
I got 370 and failed! is the passing score different for different people? I am devastated! On my report it mentioned 371 as passing score.
I too failed by one point. I’m having it re scored. It cost $250. But it’ll give me piece of mind.
 
I got 370 and failed! is the passing score different for different people? I am devastated! On my report it mentioned 371 as passing score.

I'm so sorry! As others have said, look into getting it rescored, odds are it won't change but definitely give some closure.

I've known a couple of people who were in a similar boat. Failed by one or two points. Good news is, they all passed next time around. Keep your chin up and study hard!
 
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I'm so sorry! As others have said, look into getting it rescored, odds are it won't change but definitely give some closure.

I've known a couple of people who were in a similar boat. Failed by one or two points. Good news is, they all passed next time around. Keep your chin up and study hard!
Has any one ever heard of a change in score after having an exam re-scored??
 
The silver lining to this situation is that you know you have the ability to pass this stupid test. Keep up your knowledge, work on a bunch of questions, and tackle your weakness (questions missed per report). You should pass with no problem next year!
 
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I completed IM residency before 2012 and never took the exam, this year was the last chance.
I studied for 4 months before the exam, the last 2 months I took off to study full time and was studying 3-4 hours a day in May & June.
Obviously didn't do the trick, failed and no more attempts allowed in my case unless ABIM changes the rules. (Or go back to do an additional year of residency!)
I feel worthless right now. Hope I'll survive this experience.
I am in this boat
 
Passed. I finished residency in 2012, failed that year, focused on cardiology fellowship, and tried again in 2015. Failed again. Had not studied with consistent effort. This year I took a month off work and studied Board Basics and MKSAP questions with explanation. 7-8 hours a day. Panicked a couple of days before exam and lost precious time, so barely skimmed Hematology and Neurology. Had gone over everything else twice. Walked out of the exam feeling fairly confident.

If I could pass this exam after studying for just a month, 6 years after residency and practicing only cardiology since then, BELIEVE me, you can too. Never give up. Try, and try again.

I had similar path, failed after residency. Focused on cardiology fellowship but failed after. Now devastated. Really could use some advice from someone who has walked this path. Esp on how you managed subspecialty boards and job applications. Could you message with me?
 
I had similar path, failed after residency. Focused on cardiology fellowship but failed after. Now devastated. Really could use some advice from someone who has walked this path. Esp on how you managed subspecialty boards and job applications. Could you message with me?

Just to clarify : if you are board certified in cardiology, I think most places won't care about IM boards as long as you're certified in your field of practice?
 
I completed IM residency before 2012 and never took the exam, this year was the last chance.
I studied for 4 months before the exam, the last 2 months I took off to study full time and was studying 3-4 hours a day in May & June.
Obviously didn't do the trick, failed and no more attempts allowed in my case unless ABIM changes the rules. (Or go back to do an additional year of residency!)
I feel worthless right now. Hope I'll survive this experience.
 
Just to clarify : if you are board certified in cardiology, I think most places won't care about IM boards as long as you're certified in your field of practice?

Yes, you can't sit for cardiology boards until you pass ABIM. So I am locked out of cardiology, echo boards and nuclear boards... I did all three but cna't take boards in any. I can't breath
 
I am in the same boat as Night Runner. I failed again, and the 7 year window has elapsed... ;(

I am in same boat. Are you planning on redoing residency? How does one even go about this? Asking a program for a one year spot? Match ? out of match?
 
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Just to give others hope... I am a terrible test taker. Failed COMLEX a few times, etc etc.

Inservice percentiles
PGY1 - 9%
PGY2 - 2%
PGY3 - 16%

The "Predicting the probability of passing the American Board of Internal Medicine examination" calculator said I have < 1% chance of passing. Good thing I just learned about this after the exam otherwise that would have gotten into my head.

I passed with a 478. :thumbup:

I did not actively study in residency, just whatever was required by our residency. I passively learned with podcasts/videos and did some MKSAP questions every now and then.

Studying: I took the exam very seriously. Took Awesome Review course twice in my 3rd year. Once residency was over I read Awesome Review 9x (~100 pages per day), did MKSAP 17 4x (100 questions/day, exam mode), read board basics once (barely), skimmed Choosing Wisely.
 
I hear this new board review platform, Skymedicine, is super high-quality for ABIM board review. The authors dedicated the site to internal medicine, unlike all of the other board review sites like UWorld and Kaplan
 
I personally liked the mksap questions in residency to learn basic material, disease processes. For board prep, uworld questions really expanded the differential and the Medstudy review course was solid- they give you an outline in bullet point format which was indispensable
 
I hear this new board review platform, Skymedicine, is super high-quality for ABIM board review. The authors dedicated the site to internal medicine, unlike all of the other board review sites like UWorld and Kaplan
Dedicated to internal medicine, you say? Where can I learn more?!

I personally loved UWorld’s focus on underwater basket weaving.
 
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Dedicated to internal medicine, you say? Where can I learn more?!

I personally loved UWorld’s focus on underwater basket weaving.

I suppose you can learn more by visiting their website.

I don't think UWorld has a focus. They offer accounting, college prep, nursing, MCAT, USMLE, and both IM and Family Medicine board review.

Your attempt at humor is cute. However, humor works better when the punch line resonates with other people and not only the peculiar and obscure thoughts in your head.
 
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I suppose you can learn more by visiting their website.

I don't think UWorld has a focus. They offer accounting, college prep, nursing, MCAT, USMLE, and both IM and Family Medicine board review.

Your attempt at humor is cute. However, humor works better when the punch line resonates other people and not only the peculiar and obscure thoughts in your head.

If you take into consideration his name, the JAZZHANDS, and stab at underwater basket weaving, it's pretty funny.

But in seriousness, UWORLD was a great study for me and something I reference in practice as well. Never heard of Skymedicine.
 
I suppose you can learn more by visiting their website.

I don't think UWorld has a focus. They offer accounting, college prep, nursing, MCAT, USMLE, and both IM and Family Medicine board review.

Your attempt at humor is cute. However, humor works better when the punch line resonates other people and not only the peculiar and obscure thoughts in your head.
1) there is no website that I can find, so no. All that’s vouching for this service is your hearsay.

2) who cares if it’s dedicated to internal medicine? UW does have several products but as alluded to, its medicine boards review is excellent. What’s the value proposition of your new study company?

3) your advice on resonating people rather than thoughts is noted, if not comprehended.
 
1) there is no website that I can find, so no. All that’s vouching for this service is your hearsay.

2) who cares if it’s dedicated to internal medicine? UW does have several products but as alluded to, its medicine boards review is excellent. What’s the value proposition of your new study company?

3) your advice on resonating people rather than thoughts is noted, if not comprehended.

3) Good job catching my typo, appreciated.

1) Yes, hearsay indeed, that was the point of the comment. Good job acknowledging that.

2) It is unclear why you appear so angry and defensive about UWorld. Per my hearsay, Skymedicine is super high quality for ABIM board review. Add the fact that the site focuses only on internal medicine rather than non-medical subjects like accounting and perhaps readers of this thread may be interested. Didn't realize suggesting information about ABIM board review to a thread dedicated to ABIM board review would strike the furor of a fellow who calls himself JAZZHANDS.

--Shabeer - Nope, not very humorous at all. Super peculiar and strange joke. I’m sure he had an internal giggle though.
 
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3) Good job catching my typo, appreciated.

1) Yes, hearsay indeed, that was the point of the comment. Good job acknowledging that.

2) It is unclear why you appear so angry and defensive about UWorld. Per my hearsay, Skymedicine is super high quality for ABIM board review. Add the fact that the site focuses only on internal medicine rather than non-medical subjects like accounting and perhaps readers of this thread may be interested. Didn't realize suggesting information about ABIM board review to a thread dedicated to ABIM board review would strike the furor of a fellow who calls himself JAZZHANDS.

--Shabeer - Nope, not very humorous at all. Super peculiar and strange joke. I’m sure he had an internal giggle though.

Yes, I'm internally giggling and resonating many many people, don't worry. Furiously too.

I will vouch for UW as it worked for me but beyond that I don't care. You mentioned a new, but likely spurious, prep course, the advertising strategy of which inexplicably seems like putting any information in a locked filing cabinet in a disused lavatory with a sign on it that says, "Beware of the leopard."

Also, at no point have I ever called myself JAZZHANDS. That changes now.
 
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Does anybody have any idea when the AOBIM exam results come back?

I took both exams (first attempt) and sadly did not pass ABIM. Scored 368. I've never been a good test taker, but haven't failed anything previously. I'm devastated. The thought of studying again is giving me crippling anxiety because I now work full time and have very young kids.

Overall when I took the tests, I felt better about ABIM than the AOBIM exam. The AOBIM felt like there were just so many off the wall questions, no information in the question stems, terrible images that looked like they were from 1940.

I'm hoping that regardless of my feelings the pendulum swings in the passing direction, but I'm also trying to mentally prepare to study again. First time around I did Uworld x 2 and MKSAP sort of haphazardly. Reading this thread it looks like there is a lot more I can do to prepare to study again like board basic and med study videos and maybe a board review course. The problem is finding the time between work and my kids....

I guess I'm looking for any words of wisdom on AOBIM and any advice....

Thank you <3
 
Passed this exam. When do we get our diplomas? I want another thing to hang from my wall.
 
I read thru MedStudy and did the entire UWorld question bank (averaged about 67% correct first pass thu the questions). Just found out I passed, scored right at the national average.
 
Anyone know of a mentor or advisor for this monster of an exam?
Also, anyone looking for a study partner to start reading and doing questions in Nov for exam date in August 2020?

Thanks much.
 
I'm happy to say that I passed the ABIM! Scored 528. I got my score report almost a month ago. It took me a while to get around to posting this. This is also my first post on this site. For any students or residents interested in how I got here:

Education
I'm a Canadian citizen, did my undergrad at University of Toronto. Unfortunately I did not make myself competitive enough to attend medical school in Canada, but I was successful throughout school at MUA (Nevis, West Indies). I was happy to have matched to residency on the first try soon after graduation. I also matched to my first choice which was University at Buffalo internal medicine in 2016. I chose this program because it was as close to home (Southern Ontario) as possible for me, and I'm very glad I did. After 4 years of living far from home and moving around a lot during med school for various clinical rotations, I wanted to be close to family and friends. I was even able to (unofficially) live in Canada while crossing the border daily to go to work in Buffalo.

USMLE
I was also glad to be able to pass all my exams (including shelf exams) on the first attempt, and I scored fairly well on all of them. Most importantly, my Step 1 score was 252. Step 2 CK was 243, and Step 3 was 226. My scores seem to get a bit worse as the importance of the exams decreased, which is how I'd want it to be. I credit my Step 1 score with helping me get the residency interviews I wanted, and ultimately allowing me to match to my first choice.

ABIM

Finally getting to the ABIM, this was also my first attempt and I was nervous that I wasn't prepared enough. I had not taken any of my ITEs seriously during residency. I don't even remember what my scores were, probably because I basically chose answers almost at random just to get them over with. My residency program didn't have any penalties for not doing well on the ITEs, which is probably why I didn't take them seriously, and I was always really busy with work and other stuff (wedding plans, fellowship applications, etc.) right before the exams. So when it came time for me to study for the ABIM, I was nervous that karma was going to show me that I should have taken the ITEs more seriously. To add to my fear, until about 2 months prior to the ABIM, I had barely touched MKSAP. However, given my record of success with the USMLEs, I trusted that 3 months of intense studying would be enough. In total, I used Uworld and MKSAP (which my program bought for us since intern year), and I completed both Qbanks, then also did most of the incorrect answers on each. I also took messy, poorly organized notes on most of the questions and topics I got incorrect. I did not attend any kind of prep course or review. Overall, I liked Uworld somewhat better than MKSAP, although my scores on both Qbanks were pretty bad. I credit how well I did on the real ABIM to studying all my incorrect answers, and just doing a TON of questions. I also used the Board Basics book to brush up on high-yield points, but I've never been able to study well by simply reading things or highlighting or taking notes from books. Med school made me realize that I learn best by just burning through THOUSANDS of Qbank questions, then trying to understand concepts from the explanations by doing a bit of extra reading if necessary.

Next
I'm currently completing a fellowship in geriatrics, only for 1 year. A major reason I chose this fellowship was because I wanted to keep options for returning to Canada open, which includes having a total of 4 PGYs of training for internal medicine. As a different route to working in Canada, I'm also seriously considering joining a group which hires docs like me through "pathway 4" (see CPSO website for details).

Good luck to all those taking the ABIM in the future, and feel free to ask any questions, although I'm new to this whole forum stuff. Cheers!
 
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ynetranium and night runner. i am in same situation. failed and no more attempts.

my job told me no eligibility no re credentialing
im about to resign before i dont get re credentialed
not sure what to do. abim says you have to redo 1 year residency but there are no "1 year residency" i emailed abim academic affairs today to see if a 1 year transitional residency would suffice. " i suspect this will put a lot of doctors out of work now. even if i can find a spot somewhere residency starts in july . i have bills to pay. i asked abim on the phone when and how we were notified and she said email. she then said she was unable to find that correspondence where i was notified and that it has been posted on the website since 2012. i only signed in to the website last year after i first found out about this when my director was reviewing my file last year.

any ideas
 
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