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I know that this forum is primarily intended for students and residents interested in GI fellowships, but given the lack of info/forums for current or past GI/Hepatology fellows, I felt that this would be a good place to post some advice.
There is very little info online about how to approach studying for the ABIM GI boards, probably because most are too busy with a new job or 4th yr fellowship to bother offering any advice. I found this very frustrating in terms of approaches to high yield review, though mitigated by the very high pass rate for 1st time takers...
I just recently took my GI boards (Nov 2011) so the experience is still fresh. Below is my personal opinion about how to study, the typical study materials out there and their utility:
1. Read the ABIM website about GI and the breakdown of the content - it gives you an idea about how the boards are allocated by topic
2. You can procrastinate and study in a few weeks time and pass (I think) if you spend your time wisely (see below).
3. DO LOTS OF QUESTIONS!!because a) you fall asleep reading more than 1 paragraph and b) you learn by doing questions and understanding the wrong answer choices too and c) even reading review texts is not very high yield to the overworked GI fellow
To this end, this is my biased view:
A. Attend or obtain CDs or DVDs of the famous Steinberg course AND get access to the online bank of questions via their website. I had access to the 2007 and 2010 versions via my institution and not much had changed. I needed to buy the online question bank however.
---Extremely high yield (even the esoteric stuff was on my boards)
---Questions: pretty similar style and difficulty to the actual boards
---Lectures are world-class and with the syllabus, enough primary source review
---Can listen to them while commuting (I do not work for them or get $ from them)
2. Online ACG questions
---ACG questions have the correct style/format for the GI boards
---Some questions were almost straight out of there!
---I heard that the ACG review book is also quite good
---Price point is quite good
---Caveat: some of the questions/answers are too controversial to be helpful
3. DDSEP (from the AGA)
---The review textbook they give is surprisingly good and well-organized
---The paper questions are very good too.
---I got this on major discount with a coupon at DDW (or split it with your cofellows)
4. Mayo Clinic Review
---I didn't use it, but I heard the questions were also quite good.
---Often available in the medical library so not a bad option
5. Sleisinger & Fortran questions
---Terrible for GI board review; esoteric or too damn hard or irrelevant; waste of time
Again, this is not a comprehensive list and perhaps there are other courses (Harvard) or books (Acing the Boards) that I didn't use, but could be helpful. I'd be happy to see what others have experienced.
Remember: don't spread yourself too thin and stick to 1 or 2 review materials and you'll be fine.
Good luck to everyone out there and I hope that you found this to be helpful.
SGI
There is very little info online about how to approach studying for the ABIM GI boards, probably because most are too busy with a new job or 4th yr fellowship to bother offering any advice. I found this very frustrating in terms of approaches to high yield review, though mitigated by the very high pass rate for 1st time takers...
I just recently took my GI boards (Nov 2011) so the experience is still fresh. Below is my personal opinion about how to study, the typical study materials out there and their utility:
1. Read the ABIM website about GI and the breakdown of the content - it gives you an idea about how the boards are allocated by topic
2. You can procrastinate and study in a few weeks time and pass (I think) if you spend your time wisely (see below).
3. DO LOTS OF QUESTIONS!!because a) you fall asleep reading more than 1 paragraph and b) you learn by doing questions and understanding the wrong answer choices too and c) even reading review texts is not very high yield to the overworked GI fellow
To this end, this is my biased view:
A. Attend or obtain CDs or DVDs of the famous Steinberg course AND get access to the online bank of questions via their website. I had access to the 2007 and 2010 versions via my institution and not much had changed. I needed to buy the online question bank however.
---Extremely high yield (even the esoteric stuff was on my boards)
---Questions: pretty similar style and difficulty to the actual boards
---Lectures are world-class and with the syllabus, enough primary source review
---Can listen to them while commuting (I do not work for them or get $ from them)
2. Online ACG questions
---ACG questions have the correct style/format for the GI boards
---Some questions were almost straight out of there!
---I heard that the ACG review book is also quite good
---Price point is quite good
---Caveat: some of the questions/answers are too controversial to be helpful
3. DDSEP (from the AGA)
---The review textbook they give is surprisingly good and well-organized
---The paper questions are very good too.
---I got this on major discount with a coupon at DDW (or split it with your cofellows)
4. Mayo Clinic Review
---I didn't use it, but I heard the questions were also quite good.
---Often available in the medical library so not a bad option
5. Sleisinger & Fortran questions
---Terrible for GI board review; esoteric or too damn hard or irrelevant; waste of time
Again, this is not a comprehensive list and perhaps there are other courses (Harvard) or books (Acing the Boards) that I didn't use, but could be helpful. I'd be happy to see what others have experienced.
Remember: don't spread yourself too thin and stick to 1 or 2 review materials and you'll be fine.
Good luck to everyone out there and I hope that you found this to be helpful.
SGI
