Official ABIM Exam/study tools thread!

[BicepsTriceps]

does this mean I passed? I only ask because another page states that my exam “hasn’t been graded yet”. Also I have a page that links to a certification letter which states at the bottom that I haven’t been certified.
Too much confusion going on right now.

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[Raryn]

Table of first reported results updated for this year, just for future reference:

2020: Wednesday, October 14 @ 646 am
2019: Monday, September 30 @ 943am
2018: Thursday, October 18 @ 735pm
2017: Monday, October 23 @ 1014am (results rolled out over about 4 days with no rhyme nor reason to the order)
2016: Saturday, October 15 @951 pm (snafu on the website as results rolled in over the next 12 hours or so)
2015: Thursday, October 8 @ 817AM
2014: Monday, October 6 @ 1059AM
2013: Monday, October 7 @ 323 AM (seriously)
2012: Thursday, October 4 @ 814 AM
2011: Wednesday, November 2 @ 1033 AM
Unable to find 2010, but it was prior to November 9
2009: Tuesday, October 20 @ 540PM

 

[12345doc12345]

Mine only says "hasn't been graded yet". Talked with ABIM and they said they roll them out individually over a period of time and the order is not any indication of P/F status. FYI

 

[drleggo]

I passed and have a different window.

I would recommend going to the ABIM main website and searching your name. If it populates and it says certified then you passed. Otherwise I would wait to see if score report releases first. I wouldn’t assume that you failed. Might be delayed updating.

Thanks for the advice! I was literally attempting to go through my portal a million times and still hasn't loaded. For anyone with the same situation, below is the direct link to the search results for checking physician's certification.

Verify Physician Status | ABIM.org

Congratulations everyone!

 

[KeepCalm&DownDog]

After a grueling wait, so relieved to see that I passed! Nearly 200 points above the cutoff (score 556). Last year I failed on the first attempt due to poor preparation (I was unfocused and had only completed about 2/3 of my Uworld Qbank).

I want everyone to know that this exam does not define you as a person. If you didn't pass this year, please know that you are 100% CAPABLE and WILL overcome this exam. Take a break, go within and have an honest conversation with yourself.

The second time around, I started studying with MKSAP17 questions about 6 months before my test date. As I completed questions I made anki flashcards. in my opinion, creating and studying my own flashcards was a game changer. About 2 months before my test date I started doing Uworld questions and completed one pass through the bank. I started out in the low to mid 60% range and before the test was scoring 80% correct on average. Lastly, I recommend a formal board-prep course, I loved MedStudy as the videos were high yield and the text was easy to follow.

Congratulations to everyone!

 

[drleggo]

After a grueling wait, so relieved to see that I passed! Nearly 200 points above the cutoff. Last year I failed on the first attempt due to poor preparation (I was unfocused and had only completed about 2/3 of my Uworld Qbank).

I want everyone to know that this exam is not define you as a person. If you didn't pass this year, please know that you are 100% CAPABLE and WILL overcome this exam.

The second time around, I started studying with MKSAP17 Questions 6 months before my test date. As I completed questions I made anki flashcards. About 2 months before my test date I started new world and completed one pass. Started out in the low to mid 60% means and before the test was scoring 80% correct on average. lastly I recommend a formal word prep course, I loved Med study as the videos were high yield and the text was easy to follow.

Congratulations to everyone!

Congratulations! Figured I could also share what I did to prepare since this thread helped me a lot with planning but also the anxiety of if I was doing the right things. For background, on my ITE's scored ~40/60/70% through the years. Did UWorld qbank x2 (over about 5 months, first pass ~55%, second pass 75%). Cannot stress enough how key MKSAP Boards Basic was. It was super high yield for me (except the oncology section). Also did most of the Medstudy videos (cards, pulm, heme/onc, endo, rheum, derm).

 

[RxTeamocil]

Just FYI, I had no information all day - checked the ABIM home page and "no results found", exam status said no results, and certification letter said "not certified - dated Oct 14" and it changed over to certified at 5:20pm EST. So the results are definitely rolling in. Do not lose hope yet if you're in limbo!

 

[I love pulm crit]

I've passed per the main ABIM home page, but haven't gotten my score sheet yet? Wondering how long it took for the others to get theirs?

 

[JayGatsby727]

I've passed per the main ABIM home page, but haven't gotten my score sheet yet? Wondering how long it took for the others to get theirs?

It looks like they may have (accidentally?) released it this morning and then taken them down. I was able to download mine around 7AM, but it isn't available anymore. Now, all I can see is the pass, but no score/report.

 

[SeldingerTechneek]

Read Board Basics about 1 week before the test - this is the best resource imo. Otherwise did MKSAP intermittently throughout 2nd and 3rd year, 1 pass, had a lot of minutiae especially in the Onc section. Never used UWorld. Passed.

 

[nannaKskywalk]

Guys, I passed! And you guys were right they just needed to load my profile. No score report yet but I ended with the same screen as @GluteusMaximus90.

welp, that’s a relief. I basically did mksap casually in residency and then did awesome review in May. Then did combo of mksap/uworld/truelearn after I finished the uworld q bank. didnt really use too much if the truelearn (won a free subscription for 30 days based on someone who has posted the promo a few pages back on this thread) but it was something to do.

biggest bang for my buck was the mksap and uworld and making my own flashcards based on those Qbanks. Awesome review was good too.
Good luck to everyone!!!

 

[Please_Stand_By]

When will the score reports come out?

 

[Oncolizumab1]

Mine came out about an hour ago. I think it just varies.

 

[grt398]

Also passed thankfully. Like several others, it currently says I passed and under my profile I can view my certification letter, but there's no score report yet.

Edit: Score report now available, 600. Did MKSAP/UWorld x1 each starting ~4 months out (~65% correct on both first pass), then redid all incorrects, and made anki cards for my incorrects as well. ITE's for PGY1/2/3 were 68% (71st percentile)/78% (80th percentile)/73% (48th percentile). Studying in residency was pretty much focused on my patients and other topics I was interested in; I didn't start using MKSAP to any significant degree until my board study period.

 

[TandemLyfe]

Passed, comfortably.

ITE during PGY3 70% correct, never studied or took them seriously though. Did MKSAP x1 casually during residency, but didn't really "study" for the boards during training, just looked stuff up as needed. Post-June, studied ~4 weeks, did UW x1 on tutor, untimed mode. Repeated 30% of missed questions. Read through Board Basics x2, (tried to) annotate in it during UW. Watched a couple Medstudy videos (Endo, Gen Med are good).

Overall, UWorld+Boards Basics is all you need. Esp review the Tips "Don't get tricked" sections in BB during the week of exam, those are money. Medstudy vids are cherry on top, but not essential.

 

[KATZUNG.HOPE]

Passed as per certification status but no score report yet.

 

[KATZUNG.HOPE]

Did anyone get an official email today?

 

[BABSstudent]

Passed, no score report. Will update later with my score. Basically, I casually did MKSAP all through residency whenever I was on a rotation by trying to complete the section when I was on the rotation. Realistically I only finished 50% of MKSAP. I bought NEJM knowledge+ while I was a third year for an additional Q bank and completed it by the end of third year. I did about 65% of UWorld before the test and averaged around 75% correct and in the 80th percentile. Of all the question banks, ABIM was most similar to MKSAP. Knowledge+ was the least like it but was a good study mechanism for delayed recall. UWorld was okay, but the real deal felt very different from it.

update: score 550.

 

[longbuxu]

Passed.
By checking the portal, didn't receive email.

Board questions were quite "straightforward" in most, but it's hard at the same time, which means: 1/ 2 out of 5 choices are very similar to each other, that gives you hard time to choose, 2/ everybody will get it right, so if you get 1 question wrong, that'll make you 1SD below the average for that specialty already. For the record, I got 1 wrong question in Oncology, and it's 1SD below the average for Onc.

Used Medstudy books, some from MKSAP books.
Did Uworld (mainly), MKSAP18.

 

[berkeleyusa]

Passed! No score report yet. Mksap questions once. Casually read maybe a quarter of the mksap text. Did most of board basics once. ite was like 71 percentiles pgy1, 56 pgy2 and 65 pgy3. Step 3 243 in end pgy2. Took dedicated time after residency and awesome review. Not sure how much awesome review helped honestly. But def should do mksap and board basics. Exam seemed like any other nbme or ite exam. Sections 3 and 4 harder. For next year, those reading this, go to the ?mayo clinic percent chance pass calculator and insert your ite and last time on call and it gives you chance you'll pass abim. Mine was like 98 percent chance of pass,but was still nervous for whole thing. Average mksap qbank was 70 percent flat, mostly tutor mode or timed tutor. Didn't do uworld. Good luck next year peoples! Paying it forward with my experience because I've definitely been on this thread a lot.

 

[cookiemd]

PASSED!

Score: 512

Long time lurker, first time poster!

My journey is pretty unique in that I stalked this thread and didn't see anyone with ITE scores like mine

Step 1 216, Step 2 242, step 3 first time fail, second time pass

ITE 1 <10 percentile, ITE 2 >56 percentile, ITE 3 <10 percentile -->
*the end of my 2nd year and beginning of 3 year of residency is reflected in my step 3 first time fail and ITE score of <10 percentile. I was not having a fun time (just going through a lot of stuff) I couldn't study properly for step 3 and I didn't keep up with studying on a regular basis. So I didn't even touch any of the question banks until May 2020 (3rd year of residency)

Dedicated time off: 2 months (July and August)

Because of my last ITE score, I took dedicated time off studying from the end of residency until the end of August when I had my exam.
I took the Awesome Board review (but didn't review it after the course which was in May 2020). The review is very good but I couldn't review the book because it'd be too much and Board Basics I felt was thorough enough.

I started off with Uworld--> first time avg was 65 BUT I only started scoring above 65 on the tests around 2/3 way into the qbank. Prior to that, I had to relearn a lot of things and study and I was getting 50s on the tests. Uworld completely destroyed my confidence but YOU WILL get better near the end.
Second pass avg: 95 (but I also repeated the qbank in a short span of time since it was two months of dedicated studying time, so some of it was just recall on the questions because I had just seen them 3-4 weeks ago during my first pass, others I actually learned to reason through so I felt like I was learning.)

Once I did Uworld, I started MKSAP 17 which was good as well. First pass avg was 70. These are a lot easier than uworld. I didn't do it a second time.

I annotated a LOT in Board Basics and read the book through once, and then a second time looked over a few chapters I needed to review.

For the qbanks, I initially started Uworld with 40 questions untimed, but after 2 weeks, I changed it to 60 questions timed to simulate the exam more.

Honestly, do Uworld, MSKAP and BB. Uworld questions are too difficult and will crush your self esteem but because you're reviewing material, it will help with the first and second order type questions the board has. MKSAP is a little too easy but it's also a great supplement. The board didn't have question stems quite like either mksap or uworld but doing both qbanks helps you find a happy medium.

I AM SO GLAD it's OVER! I didn't think I was going to pass based on my step 3 failure and third year ITE, but for me, dedicated study time helped a LOT.

Good luck!

 

[DAA1510]

Passed, score > 700.

• Did MKSAP 18, 5 questions a day starting a year prior to exam, including reading explanations for every question (usually during downtime or on the way to and from work). I answered 67% correct on first pass
• Re-did all the MKSAP questions that I got wrong in the few months leading up to exam until I got 100% correct
• Read MKSAP Board Basics for the first time starting about 3 weeks prior to exam
• Read the one-sentence key point for all 1200 MKSAP questions in the 5 days prior to the exam
• Skimmed through Board Basics in the last 1-2 days prior to exam

 

[telestrat]

Passed - Score 514

ITE percentiles PGY-1 60s, PGY-2 high 40s, PGY-3 high 30s but didn't take these seriously. Didn't study or do questions throughout residency. Started studying late February 2020. Board Basics x1, MKSAP questions x1 (66% raw), Uworld x1 (65% raw), Step 3 bio Stats Review x1. Took notes while doing questions but didn't have the motivation to read the notes. I knew questions worked for me and I think I prepared just the right amount. Important to use whatever strategies have worked for you in the past.

 

[Please_Stand_By]

People that have score reports out, did you take the test earlier in August?

 

[ewax]

People that have score reports out, did you take the test earlier in August?

Nope, took it in August.

 

[Please_Stand_By]

Nope, took it in August.

Like within the first two weeks of Aug?

 

[BicepsTriceps]

Like within the first two weeks of Aug?

My friend took it on the same day.
He has his report and I'm still waiting for mine.

 

[ewax]

Like within the first two weeks of Aug?

Yes

 

[LifeTakesGuts]

Passed but no score report just yet.
ITEs were all borderline.
Just did UWORLD completely (68% average) and MKSAP 80% of the questions (72% average). Did not touch Board Basics or Med Study. No books. No Videos. Literally Only questions during a busy first few months of fellowship at a new program.

 

[IMSpecialist]

I did pretty well on ITE (top 20 percentile) but did much worse in ABIM (less than average)
I think these two tests are very different. Don't let high ITE score make you think you are going to pass with a breeze

 

[sg2]

Passed! No PDF yet. I wonder when this will be released?

 

[sg2]

People that have score reports out, did you take the test earlier in August?

I took it end of August. No report yet.

 

[Please_Stand_By]

Passed! No PDF yet. I wonder when this will be released?

Same here. I keep refreshing the page like it's a step 1 score.

 

[telestrat]

People that have score reports out, did you take the test earlier in August?

August 26th. My score report was only briefly on their website when I downloaded it. It’s gone now.

 

[aafisahar]

August 26th. My score report was only briefly on their website when I downloaded it. It’s gone now.

Ya same, looks like the score pdfs were up for a brief time then taken down.

 

[sg2]

The main abim page says there is some technical difficulty with the pdf files and they are working on it...

 

[drleggo]

People that have score reports out, did you take the test earlier in August?

No took Aug 28

 

[Please_Stand_By]

Probably will have to wait until Monday with the weekend coming up. I tried to find a backdoor way to download the PDF but nothing.

 

[mokateb]

Hi, How is awesome review/U world? any input

Very good for both. IF you can afford awesome review go fro it. Uworld is a must do. Way much better than MKSAP, in my humble opinion.

 

[sg2]

Very good for both. IF you can afford awesome review go fro it. Uworld is a must do. Way much better than MKSAP, in my humble opinion.

I did u world and awesome review and passed on my first attempt. I highly recommend both! I personally didn’t like mksap, it is good during residency, but for the actual exam u world is way better!

 

[Please_Stand_By]

+1 for UWorld. Felt more like the real exam IMO and many of the questions were extremely relevant and high yield.

 

[tantacles]

Passed! Used only Uworld to study. 55% (~51st percentile) correct, if that data interests you. Went over every question I got wrong with a fine toothed comb and wrote down teaching points from each question to help me process it. I did a few question sets with my wrong answers.

 

[randomguymd]

So I passed.

• Did well on ITE 40/50/52 respectively for the three years.
• All three step scores 220s.
• I did MKSAP last 6 of residency as board review my program set up. Did focus to hard on it.
• Didn’t do any review course.
• During fellowship, I did Uworld 1x, averaged out at 59% while working. Didn’t get to take time off except for the day of the exam.
• Quickly glanced through the board basic book a couple of days prior. Regret that since everything tested was straight out of that book

Recommendation is Board basic book is clutch for the exam. Uworld has harder questions similar to hard questions on the board. MKSAP was easier, and similar to the easier questions on the board. Don’t memorize the topic but understand the topics will help on the boards.

 

[Md1112]

Passed- thank God!!
I am writing this if it helps someone out there. I was not a good Resident, did not study for any of the ITE’s therefore scored <10 percentile for the first 2 and 50th percentile for my 3rd year . Unfourtunatly had a lot personal things going on.
But 8 months before my exam I started studying everyday, even if I was tired. They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I did MKSAP at least 3 times, and uworld 3 times. Finally I did awesome review a month before my exam which kind of consolidated everything for me. Also read board basics twice. No score report yet but I believe they weren’t a lot of questions I didn’t know or review before my exam. Congratulations to those who passed and Stay strong for everybody who didn’t make it this time or taking it in December. If I can do it, anybody can do it honestly.

 

[aafisahar]

Passed with a 560, did pretty good on the ITEs (80ish percentile first two years, didn't have to take it 3rd year). Delayed exam for one year due to settling in for fellowship. Did like 1/2 of Uworld before stopping. Scored 70ish percentile on it.

The real exam was mostly factoids with lots of zebras and poorly worded questions. Glad that I'm done with this trash exam.

 

[tenacious11]

Thank you very much for your update.

 

[BicepsTriceps]

Got my report finally.

726

Did MKSAP 18 questions once and took detailed notes.

Reviewed those notes around 3 times.

Read basic board review book once.

That's it.

 

[batndz]

Mid 500s. ITEs in 70th-80th percentile. Clinically busy residency. Did Uworld starting 5 day before test day (finished 80% of it) Barely touched MKSAP (hated it)

At the end of the day if you have been doing ok on ITEs, reading as you went along in residency (provided you’re at a reasonably busy residency), you don’t need to go crazy on the studying. (Pass rate is 91% after all...)

 

[deleted980918]

ITE percentile- 55-> 30 ->20 PGY3
STEPs in the 250s
No MKSAP, review course or board basics
Uworld 1x in between calls and busy cardiology fellowship rotations, read most of the explanations but skipped them towards the end
Passed in the 400 range

P=MD

 

[bdth1337]

Passed with a 600

Step 1: 254
Step 2: 264
Step 3: don't remember but something like 10-15 pts above the mean
ITEs: ~90th percentile all 3 years without studying

Trained at a rigorous academic program where hardly anyone studies during residency. After graduating, went through MKSAP 18 once (67% correct) and Boards Basics once while working as a hospitalist, but I honestly don't know if it helped that much. I think my clinical training is what prepared me best for the test, i.e. always reading about my patients and understanding what is evidence-based vs "that's what my attending said"-based.

I do think I could have passed the test without studying, but that's only because I worked super hard during residency and tried to read as much as I could.