Official ABIM Exam/study tools thread!

Started by timurx
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DrMetal said:
Why? Are you in your final year of eligibility? If don't pass, just study for it and take it again.
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I don’t understand this 7 year eligibility imposed by ABIM cartel. It basically prevents a licensed physician from being hired or reimbursed by insurance companies unless you pay and jump through the hoops imposed by a random organization. It’s a protection racket. After passing 4 difficult licensing exams and rigorous years of residency, do we really need another career determining exam? Why do doctors do this to themselves? While mid levels are lowering standards and getting away with it just fine?

Board certification is an added credential, it should not be a universal requirement and/or there should be an easier pathways towards remediation to achieve it. Doing an extra year of residency to regain eligibility is ridiculous—it’s very difficult to find a program who will take you on just for one year. State laws should be passed to prevent this.
 
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TAVR4life said:
I don’t understand this 7 year eligibility imposed by ABIM cartel. It basically prevents a licensed physician from being hired or reimbursed by insurance companies unless you pay and jump through the hoops imposed by a random organization. It’s a protection racket.

Board certification is an added credential, it should not be a universal requirement and/or there should be an easier pathways towards remediation to achieve it. Doing an extra year of residency is ridiculous—it’s very difficult to find a program who will take you on just for one year. State laws should be passed to prevent this.
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I couldn't agree more.

The ABIM lobbies well, they call themselves a non-profit (financial analysis shows otherwise). It's quite unfortunate that employers/insurers require BC, but it is what it is.

What's even a greater mystery is why the ABIM is the only accepted BC, but (in some cases) not the AOBIM, NBPS, ABPS.

The problem is: we physicians are too stupid and disorganized to stand up for ourselves . . . hence the BC/MOC debacle, hence the scope creep by NPs/PAs (who are much better organized and have passed legislation in over 20 states allowing them to practice independently). We're just good lap dogs.

It'll be a wonderful day when BC is de-emphasized and eliminated as a requirement for employment, when we can just practice and be judged on the fruits of our labor (for better or worse). Unfortunately, I'm not so sure such a day will come.
 
ABIM formed their own organization, set up their own game, played their own rules, implemented their own laws and regulations on physicians, and makes physicians to pay giant fees for it's terrible services. There is no where in the world that an computerized exam would take up to 3 months to get the result, and when the result is out, it counts backward to the date you take the exam... No wonder the whole country is heading toward communism-socialism
 
tomcruise9 said:
.. No wonder the whole country is heading toward communism-socialism
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No, it's actually capitalism (perhaps at its worst).

If you think about it . . . a private entity, the ABIM, has created a product (BC/MOC), has lobbied for its necessity and monopolized it (monopolism is a dark ramification of capitalism).

In turn, that has contributed to the scarcity and inflated expense of the physician (a 'commodity'). The economic system has found a way to circumvent that stress by selecting for a cheaper alternative, the NP!

It's textbook capitalism. We love it when it deflates the cost of cell phones (making them cheaper for us to buy) . . . we don't like it so much when we're the ones being devalued!
 
I would not wait much. It won’t come out next week or the week after next week but another 4 weeks for multiple reasons
 
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TAVR4life said:
Yeah this is completely arbitrary theoretically could release scores in March and still be under the 3 months that they told us
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you've got it, they would never want to break 5 weeks deal on their end. They also want to train the future candidates that by all means, there will not be an exception to release results earlier...
 
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workandwork said:
hopefully today, friends
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they usually release on Mondays/Thursdays AM based on previous posts although there have been exceptions (Wednesday & Saturday one year)..if not tomorrow then most likely next week which would be week 6 which is when August test-takers got theirs
 
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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
 
workandwork said:
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
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I guess it is random, no specific time or day
 
anyone has a list of programs that will allow a 1 year fellowship or residency to become board eligible again?
 
DrMetal said:
What's even a greater mystery is why the ABIM is the only accepted BC, but (in some cases) not the AOBIM, NBPS, ABPS.
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The other ones don't even have a test you have to take. So it's "send us your money and we'll send you board certification". It's not a surprise they aren't taken seriously.
If someone made an organization, a test, and correlated passing to some real positive outcomes (eg, malpractice lawsuits, even scores on other tests, patient satisfaction scores, whatever), and charged a lower price/had fewer hoops that doctors have to jump through, and I could see it start to be recognized as an alternative to ABIM.

Also it is NOT required everywhere. I inquired at multiple places and know of a hospital that does not require it. This makes me think it is more an employer than insurance issue, but maybe it depends on the specifics. Physicians are definitely partly to blame for not questioning it and making a more serious attempt for an improved system.
 
zeloc said:
The other ones don't even have a test you have to take. So it's "send us your money and we'll send you board certification". It's not a surprise they aren't taken seriously.
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You're quite right. Lets get rid of the notion of BC/MOC altogether. Lets say that if you went to college, completed medical school, completed a residency +/- fellowship, then that's enough! You can practice as a physician and be judged on the fruits of your labor, like every other important profession.

zeloc said:
Physicians are definitely partly to blame for not questioning it and making a more serious attempt for an improved system.
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We're entirely to blame. We created this beast. And we've been at odds with this, debating this with our heads so far up our #$%@ that we didn't see the rest of the world go by . . . . hence half the country now passing legislation allowing NPs to practice independently.

That's great, our profession is coming to an end. In < 50 years, the notion of the of physician will be as comical as that of the town apothecary.
 
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Results in today. I passed!! This was not my first attempt, but it was the first time I studied for it. I had done well in residency and on steps so thought I would just pass it. I went ahead and did my fellowship then tried to take it after doing mksap questions1x. No way - you have to study. And the farther away you get from residency the more you have to study.

In general I agree with most - this exam MUST be eliminated. Let's work on it. It has run my life and caused me so much shame and despair.
And the content is just not relevant. Having to pass this has held up my eligibility for cardiology boards. Luckily now with this passed I can sit for cards boards.

Until the test is abolished I recommend the following for those who are still wrestling this beast:
MKSAP - read all text and do all questions, I made flash cards along the way, I redid questions I got wrong (first time through scored 75%)
UWORLD - I completed it twice in last month before exam, then did all the ones I got wrong until I got them right (my first attempt average score was 70% 86th percentile, but that was because I had read all MKSAP text and done MKSAP nearly 2xs prior to starting UWORLD) I really recommend mastering MKSAP then using UWORLD to solidify. UWORLD can feel crushing if you haven't got the material down pat yet.
Board Basics - study this! I took all my notes in there from questions that I'd done along the way. So by the end of studying I had one resource with all my important notes in one book
Flash cards - I made them in power point so I could flip through them anytime/anywhere

Resources that help that folks don't mention a lot but I thought were clutch:
MKSAP audio! I used that to take in audio while I was in transit.

Biggest learning take away for me:
UWORLD is essential. MKSAP doesn't scratch the surface of the exam. MKSAP covers all of the content, but it doesn't ask the stupid backwards questions like the ABIM does. The style of questions in UWORLD are more similar to the style of questions for ABIM. ABIM is easier than UWORLD, but ABIM is harder than MKSAP. So doing UWORLD and mastering it will give you confidence when going in to take ABIM. The ABIM will feel easy after doing UWORLD, it feels hard and tricky after only doing mksap. IMO

Good luck to anyone who needs it in the future!
 
For future references

December 2020:- Wednesday, January 20, 2021 @ 2:30sh PM
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
 
CDI said:
Passed

Step 1: 217
Step 2 CK: 203
Step 2 CS 1st Attempt: Fail
Step 2 CS 2nd Attempt: Pass
Step 3: 200

ITE 1: 17th percentile
ITE 2: <10th
ITE 3: <10th

ABIM 1st Attempt: Fail
ABIM 2nd Attempt: Fail
ABIM 3rd Attempt: Pass
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I am in the same boat failed twice so much depressed what is your advise on preparation I did Uworld twice and medstudy videos and board basics. I see you attempted 3 times is that every year 2018, 2019,2020 or you took a break for an year.
 
Azwd said:
I am in the same boat failed twice so much depressed what is your advise on preparation I did Uworld twice and medstudy videos and board basics. I see you attempted 3 times is that every year 2018, 2019,2020 or you took a break for an year.
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Sorry to hear. It does suck. And yes, I went 18, 19, 20. Figured practice makes perfect.

I’ve failed enough stuff in life that it doesn’t really phase me anymore. Just keep rolling!

In 18, went to Awesome Review but didn’t study after/anything else.

In 19, went thru all the MedQuest videos, and nothing else.

In 20, went thru 400 UWorld questions, and reviewed my old residency review notes. Finished the exam about 3 hours early.

By this point, I had already done 240x3 (720) exam questions, which is more than the number of UWorld review questions I had done, lol.

I have very little respect for any of our USMLEs/medical boards as you can probably see from my track record.
I consider them a tool to keep people employed, nothing more.

I enjoyed living my life and being there for my kid - “No Ragrets”
 
DrMetal said:
You're quite right. Lets get rid of the notion of BC/MOC altogether. Lets say that if you went to college, completed medical school, completed a residency +/- fellowship, then that's enough! You can practice as a physician and be judged on the fruits of your labor, like every other important profession.
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Ok I agree, but then there is also no point in supporting these alternate boards. What is the path toward elimination of board certification requirements? Maybe this should be a separate thread. I inquired at one workplace if there is a requirement and was told I was the first physician to ever ask, this is in a large hospital that has been around a long time. At least physicians should find out if it is needed.
For an independent solo practitioner, is it required?
 
CDI said:
I enjoyed living my life and being there for my kid - “No Ragrets”
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This is the right attitude. Just keep chugging along. And some point, we need to reclaim our lives. Enough studying for tests, just do the job and do it well!

zeloc said:
I inquired at one workplace if there is a requirement and was told I was the first physician to ever ask, this is in a
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And this is the problem: we physicians are too timid to ask and challenge anything. We're just good lap dogs and do whatever the systems asks of us, no matter how non-sensical. A 62-yo physician who's passed this test 3 times already has to take it a 4th time to prove her worth?! Eff that.

What's worse is now that BC is the baseline, they're already starting to beat the drum for the "next thing", fellowship into ACP (so you can get the cool 'FACP' after your name). It's takes 3 years to get, it's based on a point system (you can actually get points for being a Boy Scout troop leader, which I'm excited about!). Of course, our employers are touting it as an elective endeavor, 'nice to have', brings us notoriety . . . but I have no doubt in 10 years it'll become required. It never ends!
 
I've heard from my program you need ROUGHLY ~65% correct to pass. gutonc said ~70%. Another poster in this thread calculated they scored ~73% on their exam, but still failed.

For those who barely passed recently (still, congrats!), can you give an estimate (somehow from the score report) what your percent correct was to pass?

ofc we shouldn't aim for the bare minimum score to pass, but adjusting goals to be 65%-->75% now doesn't give test takers much wiggle room than before.
 
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pavetta said:
I've heard from my program you need ROUGHLY ~65% correct to pass. gutonc said ~70%. Another poster in this thread calculated they scored ~73% on their exam, but still failed.

For those who barely passed recently (still, congrats!), can you give an estimate (somehow from the score report) what your percent correct was to pass?

ofc we shouldn't aim for the bare minimum score to pass, but adjusting goals to be 65%-->75% now doesn't give test takers much wiggle room than before.
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You won’t know the denominator (I.e. total number of questions) since some questions are presumably not counted which will lower the number of questions from 240. You could also get one topic wrong multiple times but it may only show up once on the score report as wrong.
 
Rayan El-Zein said:
What resources/strategy are people going to be using for the 2021 examination?
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Based on MKSAP Im going to be memorizing the NCCN guidelines and reading every scrap of new molecular biology research in nature and cell, very relevant for my future life in internal med. Getting my CDK4 and CDK6 inhibitor therapy indications memorized for my future life as a PCP
 
dlee2016 said:
i passed. whether i passed or failed, makes no difference in my positions:

1) this test is COMPLETELY worthless measure of competence as internist or primary care
2) we should DEMAND more meaningful test content
3) we should SUPPORT competition (i.e. National Board of Physicians and Surgeons - Board Certification) only and only so ABIM gets its head out of its rear and starts LISTENING to our complaints
4) those who passed now, remember the absolute BS you were put through with exam cost, prep cost, irrelevant test content, and lack of transparency on the part of ABIM, and consequently please support the wave of change that our senior physicians are demanding in terms of MOC changes. We need initial cert exam changed as well to reflect true practice

to those who have to take the exam for the FIRST TIME
****************************************************
1) there will be a good 40 questions on this test where nobody knows where the F*** ABIM got it from

2) if you speak to your program directors who may have meetings with ABIM, demand these GUINEA PIG questions be removed from your test as much as possible. $1500 for a test is enough to demand this. Why do we have to be guinea pigs for MOC exam test takers?

3) in terms of prep, read Board Basics back and forth 3-4 times and memorize it. You will still end up getting out of exam like WTF !!! There will be stupid ENT and Ophtho questions over and over again. I had NO questions on COPD or Asthma, NO questions on CHF management, NO questions on DM management, NO questions of GI bleed management. Instead I had questions on eosinophilic pneumonia. I had question whose answer hinged up knowing whether amyloidosis vs waldenstrom has retinal involvement (and that's after going through hell to eliminate the other choices). I had three questions on the interpretation of Rinne, Weber, and nystagmus patterns. I had plenty of ophtho questions. The questions in my fellowship field were SO FREAKING hard (and I'm sure I got them all), that I felt super bad about others taking the test. Yeah, Cards wasn't hard. Pulm wasn't hard. And there wasn't that many questions in them to begin with. At least that was my test.

4) Question banks are great and at the same time COMPLETELY WORTHLESS. Yeah you should do them all and memorize every detail in it. However, they are not EVER at the depth that the real exam requires it to be.

Plenty of people got out of the test and felt like "oh yeah, i knew the answer" but trust me, when i say they were completely wrong (questions happen to be in the area of my fellowship). You may get a false sense of security from the questions banks that you know stuff, but the hard test questions on this test, test you on absolutely the smallest minutiae (think one single buzzword throughout the question stem, or lack of a buzzword in it as the only factor that gives you the answer). If you happen to have time and finances to read Medstudy or MKSAP text (which is worthless IMO, too vague and not enough to know the hard questions on the test), then go ahead. Plenty of us cannot afford Awesome review and plenty of us are starting busy fellowships and can't read Medstudy for 1-2 months prior to exam. If you're in this group, make sure every single goddamn word in Board Basics is memorized to your core, and you may have a chance of passing this way.

5) If I were taking this test again, I would do MKSAP, UW at least twice, and read Board Basics 5 times, with last review of BB in the last 2-3 days prior to exam.

For those of you still having to take this test, please ask your PDs to DEMAND change to this exam like they are doing for MOC. We have NO VOICE in this whole mess of institution. Initial cert exam deserves a change to reflect true practice of internist, hospitalist, and PCP. Not the practice of hematologist, oncologist, hepatologist, neurologist and ENT.

To those who have to retake. I pray for you to have the patience to deal with this BS of process. Keep your head up. You're no different than people that passed. This test measures NOTHING of value.

*************************************
I know I will never recertify again. Even if I could, had the money, and had the knowledge to do so, I will absolutely NOT SUPPORT this piece of s*** institution.

Get their competition supported, so we can demand change from ABIM. Its overall goals and aspirations are great and admirable and I support it. I just don't support the crooks running it and absolutely don't support its current way of writing the exam.
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Whats BB board basics...is this another prep material thanks in advance for.answering
 
ZRF80 said:
For those who took it in October/November 2020, results are up. I Passed MOC.

Just watched MedStudy videos which I felt were very high yield and set up a good foundation, followed by MedStudy questions and a brush over Board Basics a few weeks prior to exam. Felt this was more than enough needed to take this exam.

Study time approximately 4 months intermittently.

If anyone is interested in discussing taking my MedStudy material (videos and all questions and flashcards online) along with the syllabus as well as my Board Basics book (I’ll ship to you for free) for a negotiable fee, please message me and we can work something out.

I felt the videos and questions were more than enough for this exam. Board Basics is a good way to put it all together before the exam itself.

thanks all.
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interested in video...email me [email protected]
 
CDI said:
Passed

Step 1: 217
Step 2 CK: 203
Step 2 CS 1st Attempt: Fail
Step 2 CS 2nd Attempt: Pass
Step 3: 200

ITE 1: 17th percentile
ITE 2: <10th
ITE 3: <10th

ABIM 1st Attempt: Fail
ABIM 2nd Attempt: Fail
ABIM 3rd Attempt: Pass
Click to expand...
what did you use to study? mksap - texts or just questions? what did you do differently?
 
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