What is yearly specialty in-service exam all about? An EM resident is supposed to see all kinds of diseases from different specialties. So, the exams will cover everything? How to deal with it? ...
Yearly specialty in-service exam
- Thread starter Rotor
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I assume we are talking about the annual inservice examination that all EM residents are expected to take on the 4th Wednesday of February each year.
I would make one small observation. An EM resident is supposed to see all kinds of diseases "during the emergency phase". This is also known as the core content of emergency medicine. Your fund of knowledge and skill in this area is what will ultimately define you as an emergency medicine specialist. You should end up as more skilled in dealing with all the acute presentation of these diseases than any other specialist, even when it falls within their specialty area of a non EM specialist.
The inservice examination tests the program to ensure that they are training you well, and serves as a check for the PD that you are absorbing the needed knowledge.
The exam does cover the entire core content. You can find the core content on the web without much trouble. Your program should help you prepare for the exam through the didactic programs and even internal multiple choice exams. If you want to go for the gold, I have known people who have read Rosen's cover to cover even before starting the program. A less extreme approach is to keep up with a reading plan, practice with any of the exams one can purchase or find on the web. The subject matter of the exam is almost always contained in the main textbooks (Rosen, Tintinalli, Harwood). Remember that the written boards that you will take after you finish residency will be just like the inservice exam.
I would make one small observation. An EM resident is supposed to see all kinds of diseases "during the emergency phase". This is also known as the core content of emergency medicine. Your fund of knowledge and skill in this area is what will ultimately define you as an emergency medicine specialist. You should end up as more skilled in dealing with all the acute presentation of these diseases than any other specialist, even when it falls within their specialty area of a non EM specialist.
The inservice examination tests the program to ensure that they are training you well, and serves as a check for the PD that you are absorbing the needed knowledge.
The exam does cover the entire core content. You can find the core content on the web without much trouble. Your program should help you prepare for the exam through the didactic programs and even internal multiple choice exams. If you want to go for the gold, I have known people who have read Rosen's cover to cover even before starting the program. A less extreme approach is to keep up with a reading plan, practice with any of the exams one can purchase or find on the web. The subject matter of the exam is almost always contained in the main textbooks (Rosen, Tintinalli, Harwood). Remember that the written boards that you will take after you finish residency will be just like the inservice exam.
