SCCM vs Chest. Different exams?

[TecmoBowl]

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Hi,

Please look beyond my ignorance and point me in the right direction.

I'm an Anesthesiologist and for the sake of improving my own knowledge base and hopefully it'll translate into being a better Physician, I'd like to study for and take the Critical Care exam.

But are there different exams for Internal Medicine vs ER/Anesthesia/Surgery etc?

Do all of us take the same exam?

And I'm sure this has already been answered- what's a good study source? I already have the basics of course. I was pretty good during all my ICU rotations to the point that my Attendings told me I should do an ICU fellowship. I just didn't think I could deal with the depression of vented patients/near death patients all my life. BUT, I absolutely love the knowledge base/thinking that goes with Critical Care.

So could you help a fellow doc out? Which test if there is more than one? How do I study the most updated literature? I'll settle for a year or two old for now!

Thanks.

 

[FuzzyBK]

Not to side track the thread, but have you already done a Critical Care fellowship? You can't take the ABIM exam unless you've done one of their fellowships. Same goes for the ABA and ABS.

 

[TecmoBowl]

Not to side track the thread, but have you already done a Critical Care fellowship? You can't take the ABIM exam unless you've done one of their fellowships. Same goes for the ABA and ABS.

That sucks..

No no fellowship. Just self-motivated. That's so ridiculous though.. to even sit for the exam? Well either way, could you guys/gals still recommend some review books/text books?

Thanks.

 

[Xerxes1729]

That sucks..

No no fellowship. Just self-motivated. That's so ridiculous though.. to even sit for the exam?

You take the relevant exam to earn a CAQ (i.e., become boarded) in the subspecialty of critical care medicine. Just like everything else you can get boarded in, the exam is the last step following advanced training in the field. You can't just take the exam in CCM any more than you could just study for and take the IM boards and become an internist.

 

[Intensivist]

Are you really attending? You sound trollish a bit....

 

[cchoukal]

The SCCM website sells test prep material geared toward the exam put out by the ABIM. Having recently taken the ABA's exam, the overlap was decent. If you're interested in satisfying yourself with good performance, doing so on the SCCM book's practice questions should suffice.

As others have said, I believe you can not sit for the exam without having completed a (accredited?) fellowship.

http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/8418a33c#/8418a33c/22

Not sure how well this will show up but, basically, it says that the ABA requires an accredited fellowship to sit for the exam.