ABFM Boards - Strategy

[TheFPDoc]

Passed ABFM Boards. Pretty hectic working environment and hence had 1.5 month prep - 2 hours per day. Weekends would be around 6-8 hours of study time.

- ABFM questions (APP) on itunes. Pretty good. Used it while on the move.
- ITE questions ... last 3 years
- Board Vitals ... not that great. Did not use it.
- NEJM ...Good MCQ's. Did elective modules as well.
- First Aid ... Pretty good.

Started reading First Aid and simultaneously hit the MCQ's. Completed about 1000 mcq's. Referred old IM Board review notes when additional topics had to be brushed up.

The exam questions align with ABFM/ITE mcq's. Use First Aid topics as guide - in depth reading may be required on topics like Anemia, HIV. Brush up Pediatrics. Taking the above approach will help in narrowing down to 2 answers. Now you have 50% chance of picking the right answer.

The questions are intriguing but stay calm and apply the concepts that you have learnt.

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[kaymazaaa]

Passed ABFM Boards. Pretty hectic working environment and hence had 1.5 month prep - 2 hours per day. Weekends would be around 6-8 hours of study time.

- ABFM questions (APP) on itunes. Pretty good. Used it while on the move.
- ITE questions ... last 3 years
- Board Vitals ... not that great. Did not use it.
- NEJM ...Good MCQ's. Did elective modules as well.
- First Aid ... Pretty good.

Started reading First Aid and simultaneously hit the MCQ's. Completed about 1000 mcq's. Referred old IM Board review notes when additional topics had to be brushed up.

The exam questions align with ABFM/ITE mcq's. Use First Aid topics as guide - in depth reading may be required on topics like Anemia, HIV. Brush up Pediatrics. Taking the above approach will help in narrowing down to 2 answers. Now you have 50% chance of picking the right answer.

The questions are intriguing but stay calm and apply the concepts that you have learnt.

Did you use first aid for step 3?

 

[TheFPDoc]

Did you use first aid for step 3?

No. First Aid for Family Medicine Boards - latest edition.

 

[Marz98]

No. First Aid for Family Medicine Boards - latest edition.

I thought Frist aid step 3. Is there any first aid for FM boards also ??

 

[deleted87716]

Check this out:

 

[drake19]

Passed ABFM Boards. Pretty hectic working environment and hence had 1.5 month prep - 2 hours per day. Weekends would be around 6-8 hours of study time.

- ABFM questions (APP) on itunes. Pretty good. Used it while on the move.
- ITE questions ... last 3 years
- Board Vitals ... not that great. Did not use it.
- NEJM ...Good MCQ's. Did elective modules as well.
- First Aid ... Pretty good.

Started reading First Aid and simultaneously hit the MCQ's. Completed about 1000 mcq's. Referred old IM Board review notes when additional topics had to be brushed up.

The exam questions align with ABFM/ITE mcq's. Use First Aid topics as guide - in depth reading may be required on topics like Anemia, HIV. Brush up Pediatrics. Taking the above approach will help in narrowing down to 2 answers. Now you have 50% chance of picking the right answer.

The questions are intriguing but stay calm and apply the concepts that you have learnt.

Could you expand on Nejm abfm were questions useful for exam, similar in format, wor5 the price tag? Thanks

 

[Marz98]

No. First Aid for Family Medicine Boards - latest edition.

Ok thanks

 

[TheFPDoc]

Could you expand on Nejm abfm were questions useful for exam, similar in format, wor5 the price tag? Thanks

NEJM standard is good; mcq stem is better compared to board vitals. Most helpful are the ABFM and ITE mcq's --- similar in format.

 

[TheFPDoc]

I thought Frist aid step 3. Is there any first aid for FM boards also ??

Please search in Amazon - yes ...its different than step 3.

 

[Ericslv]

Passed ABFM Boards. Pretty hectic working environment and hence had 1.5 month prep - 2 hours per day. Weekends would be around 6-8 hours of study time.

- ABFM questions (APP) on itunes. Pretty good. Used it while on the move.
- ITE questions ... last 3 years
- Board Vitals ... not that great. Did not use it.
- NEJM ...Good MCQ's. Did elective modules as well.
- First Aid ... Pretty good.

Started reading First Aid and simultaneously hit the MCQ's. Completed about 1000 mcq's. Referred old IM Board review notes when additional topics had to be brushed up.

The exam questions align with ABFM/ITE mcq's. Use First Aid topics as guide - in depth reading may be required on topics like Anemia, HIV. Brush up Pediatrics. Taking the above approach will help in narrowing down to 2 answers. Now you have 50% chance of picking the right answer.

The questions are intriguing but stay calm and apply the concepts that you have learnt.

Did you recently finish residency or have you been out for a while? For those who recently finished the inservice questions from the past 3 years are really a good review option. Study the topics you were weak on and any topic you want to improve on after that. Perhaps a good question bank. If you have been out for a while then perhaps a review course. If you have been reading the AAFP journal you will do well especially if you go back to some of the key topics and review them. The test has changed. There is only one module now so it makes it better if you have been out for some time and focus on outpatient and for example don't do any OB or peds etc.

Personally, I thing it's just a money making project for them after the initial certification and adds very little to real practice.

 

[TheFPDoc]

Did you recently finish residency or have you been out for a while? For those who recently finished the inservice questions from the past 3 years are really a good review option. Study the topics you were weak on and any topic you want to improve on after that. Perhaps a good question bank. If you have been out for a while then perhaps a review course. If you have been reading the AAFP journal you will do well especially if you go back to some of the key topics and review them. The test has changed. There is only one module now so it makes it better if you have been out for some time and focus on outpatient and for example don't do any OB or peds etc.

Personally, I thing it's just a money making project for them after the initial certification and adds very little to real practice.

Been out for a while. While I debated on review course which covers all the topics in 3 days, it did not really materialize.
Agreed - good question bank is what you need.

 

[emptiness]

Hi there,

Just wondering if anyone used the PassMachine Qbank/lectures for ABFM preparation? and if it is effective...compares to UWORLD.

I am planning on doing the ITEs, but not sure which additional Qbank to purchase

thank you!

 

[Ironheme]

Check this out:

That was actually really good. For some reason I was half expecting a meme or blank page. Thank you.

 

[TheFPDoc]

Hi there,

Just wondering if anyone used the PassMachine Qbank/lectures for ABFM preparation? and if it is effective...compares to UWORLD.

I am planning on doing the ITEs, but not sure which additional Qbank to purchase

thank you!

Yes a good question bank is needed - ABFM questions on itunes is pretty solid representation of what you can expect. Personally I would check out Uworld for a month and see how it feels compared to ABFM questions on itunes.

 

[SLC]

Just do ITE questions, anything else is overkill

 

[Gos81238ia]

Guys....Uworld for ABFM. Don't waste your time passively reading books. The Uworld questions are great, challenging, and when you don't know something, their explanations are always on point.

I tried AAFP question, ABFM app, ITE questions, AAFP videos, Graber & Wilson's. Nothing beat Uworld and thats the only resource I ended up sticking with.