Question for those who have taken the Family Medicine boards

[CTIV]

Are the questions similar to those on the USMLE step 3? To study, I like to work questions and I'm having trouble finding banks of board-style FP board questions. However, I do have a large Kaplan step 3 Q-book and I was wondering if questions like those would be sufficient. Thanks.

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[deleted87716]

The FM board exam is more challenging than Step 3. If you intend to study, I recommend using a board review book, like Swanson's.

 

[CTIV]

Thanks. Swanson's got fairly bad reviews on amazon.com. People seemed to like the book by Jason Wilbur...I might look into that one.

 

[edfig99]

i'm assuming you're not talking about an FM shelf exam for a rotation. the fp boards did feel a bit like step 3 when i took them, with a couple of minutiae oriented questions reminiscent of step 1. If you want to study for the boards and you're at a residency program, just get old copies of intraining exams. the same people that write the intraining exams write the actual boards. some questions are actually recycled and if changed at all from the intraining exam it's only slight. it's also useful to scan the last 2 or 3 years worth of the American Family Physician to review clinical areas where you bomb on the practice tests. swanson's is ok for a rotation but i wouldn't recommend it for board prep.

 

[Doctor Grim]

So what is the best source to study for the FM board exam? My exam is scheduled for Aug.

Is it about the same as our in-service? Or more complicated like the Step 3?

Thanks.

 

[Paindoc1]

Its all about old in svc exams....I was surprised at how much it was exactly like the in=svc exams!!! The questions were picky and either you knew the answer or you did not...but not very complicated. The more challenging questions were in the modules you choose......and that part is supposed to reflect the areas of your chosen strength...
Not an easy exam but not very hard either.....just thought that it was not a very well written exam.
Best of luck...they don't give out 1st time passing stats but I thought It was the easiest of all the standardized exams I had taken in my career(but then again maybe I actually learned something during my residency?).
Best of luck...no reason to stress...as long as you scored at least in your national avg for your year....you will easily at least pass, if not do well.