Official ABIM 2013 Thread

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What to do in the last Month Before Board Exam?
1. Just read Board basic and MKSAP questionnaire again?
2. Do a different Q&A like Medstudy?

can somebody guide us on this? especially those who passed the recent boards:idea:
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This week: Doing FA Cardiology--> Board BAsic cardiology ---> Then MKSAP Cardiology
Hopefully more productive week for me..Rested today as I did work 2 straight busy nights
 
DoctorDr said:
What to do in the last Month Before Board Exam?
1. Just read Board basic and MKSAP questionnaire again?
2. Do a different Q&A like Medstudy?

can somebody guide us on this? especially those who passed the recent boards:idea:
Click to expand...
Just passed April recertification exam and all I studied was BB3 three times and MKSAP questions two times and nothing else. That was enough to place my score in the 9th decile. I don't know, however, if the same strategy would yield similar results in the initial certification exam because it has been twenty years since I took my initial board exam. Best of luck and try to relax about the whole thing because I was very uptight and now I wish I took it easier on myself.
 
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To GenInternMed did u do mksap 16 or did u do Mksap 15 and did u just do questions? what exactly did u do?

I just barely missed passing the recert exam and was sooooo bummed out when I got the score report. I was shocked that I did not pass because I really thought I had and I had studied so much medstudy and watched all the recert videos so many times. I did the entire medstudy recert syllabus over and over again and still I came up short. I did mksap 15 questions but only once did I get thru them all and ran out of time before doing them a second time. To me the MOC is a very difficult exam with all kinds of irrelevant questions but somehow I thought I had passed it....well so now I have to take the october exam now. This MOC exam is driving me crazy!!!! 10 years of confidence that I have gotten practicing IM is now being eroded by the ABIM and their exam...its so frustrating. well according to ABIM score report only 67% of the 2971 who took the test passed the April recert exam. I called the ABIM and they confirmed it was one of the lowest pass rates they have had in a while. I suggested to them that a 33% fail rate is way too high and jokingly asked them if they were trying to decertify people on purpose. I also suggested to them that maybe they should make the exam easier and only fail the bottom 10% and grade it on a curve and they told me to send my suggestion in writing.

my plan now: I will try BB3 and read it over and over again and also do mksap 16 questions over and over again and see what happens. I think I will go to Awesome review in september since everyone has good things to say about it. I just bought conrad fischer master the boards and will read that too. and thats all I will have time to do since I still have a busy full time schedule
 
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desi6 said:
To GenInternMed did u do mksap 16 or did u do Mksap 15 and did u just do questions? what exactly did u do?

I just barely missed passing the recert exam and was sooooo bummed out when I got the score report. I was shocked that I did not pass because I really thought I had and I had studied so much medstudy and watched all the recert videos so many times. I did the entire medstudy recert syllabus over and over again and still I came up short. I did mksap 15 questions but only once did I get thru them all and ran out of time before doing them a second time. To me the MOC is a very difficult exam with all kinds of irrelevant questions but somehow I thought I had passed it....well so now I have to take the october exam now. This MOC exam is driving me crazy!!!! 10 years of confidence that I have gotten practicing IM is now being eroded by the ABIM and their exam...its so frustrating. well according to ABIM score report only 67% of the 2971 who took the test passed the April recert exam. I called the ABIM and they confirmed it was one of the lowest pass rates they have had in a while. I suggested to them that a 33% fail rate is way too high and jokingly asked them if they were trying to decertify people on purpose. I also suggested to them that maybe they should make the exam easier and only fail the bottom 10% and grade it on a curve and they told me to send my suggestion in writing.

my plan now: I will try BB3 and read it over and over again and also do mksap 16 questions over and over again and see what happens. I think I will go to Awesome review in september since everyone has good things to say about it. I just bought conrad fischer master the boards and will read that too. and thats all I will have time to do since I still have a busy full time schedule
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I did MKSAP 16 questions ONLY. But in both times that I did them I read the answers and all the explanation for each answer. This helped fill in some gaps and expand on the BB3 content. I am so sorry that you did not pass this time, but one thing that might make you feel a little better is the fact that you are not starting from vacuum this time, you have already studied a lot for the April exam and every day you study now will be a great help in passing the October exam. The reason I didn't read the MKSAP textbooks is lack of time because of the busy work schedule and family responsibilities. However, even if I had the time, I probably would not have read them because it is way too much to cover and more importantly to remember on exam day.
 
Cardiology Medstudy Q&A is not that bad..its a good Q&A just for cardiology for now as I just tried it
 
inspirationmd said:
Anyone have any experience with the MedStudy IM Flashcards? Worthwhile purchase at $175 (would be using GME funds)?
Click to expand...

It is a reasonable to buy at $175..I'm using it when downtime comes at night as Hospitalist...
Have used it after reading system based FA or Medstudy books also as a review for the most common possible questions...it's a great compliment
 
For those of you doing medstudy questions, what are your averages??
Also, I'm going over awesome board review material, BB3, mksap questions and medstudy questions. I hope this is enough. But my question is, how many times are you guys going over all your study materials?
Thanks
 
Tastebuds said:
For those of you doing medstudy questions, what are your averages??
Also, I'm going over awesome board review material, BB3, mksap questions and medstudy questions. I hope this is enough. But my question is, how many times are you guys going over all your study materials?
Thanks
Click to expand...

What's your Medstudy average?
 
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So, I kinda went nuts on materials when my program gave me all this money.

1. MKSAP 15 (I already had it from before) with audio
2. MKSAP 16 with audio (they gave it to me) with BB3
3. Medstudy with flashcards and the book of questions
4. Brigham IM review
5. John Hopkins Review

that's too much I bet..
 
surge55 said:
why do you think that is? are Medstudy Q's easier?
Click to expand...

I guess Medstudy questions are easier but both of them are good enough for practice questions..
---your program gave you too much review materials but I will take it as my program only gave us MKSAP books..

Goodluck
 
What is everyone studying with 3 1/2 weeks left to go? I want to maximize the next few weeks but I'm soo burnt out from studying. Any suggestions?
Thanks
 
MKSAP text is putting me to sleep. I am tempted to only do questions for the ABIM (world, mksap, medstudy, kaplan).
 
Hi are you still looking for sp for board basic?
 
I have done the mksap questions, medstudy questions and now finishing up usmle world questions. My mksap average first time around was high 60s to mid 70s. Medstudy average 70s-low 80s. Usmle world average right now is 50-60s. I am wondering, how many times are you doing the mksap questions? Last year I did the mksap questions 3 times and still failed the exam. That was the only qbank I used last year. Should I redo the mksap questions or get another qbank after finishing usmle world? I just wanna pass this year!
Any suggestions would be great..thanks
 
Doing Pulm/CC from BB2...
Its hard when working through 7 days and reading to complete and not to waste time

Good luck to everyone...;)
 
Hey Tastebud,
Do BB3 if not yet read...then repeat questions for CV,Pulm CC, ID and GIM..These are the BIG areas to focus on...
 
DoctorDr said:
Hey Tastebud,
Do BB3 if not yet read...then repeat questions for CV,Pulm CC, ID and GIM..These are the BIG areas to focus on...
Click to expand...

Thanks for your response. I have read BB3 2 times..and highlighted things I keep forgetting. I will go over those highlighted portions again for the 3rd time this upcoming week. You are right, I need to focus on those big topics so I'm going to start reviewing cards again tomorrow. It's just getting hard to go over things over and over again not knowing if I know the material. How are you quizzing yourself? Questions? Or studying with someone?
 
Its really hard reading again but its the way we could be more familiarize with the most common topics for each system....i'm on my 3rd day out of 7th days of work and after work and rest at night I do Medstudy Q&A, tonight I will do Pulmonary..then on Sunday-- I will start to complete BB2 Pulmo,then MKSAPQ&A Pulmo by Monday until Tuesday... Then by Wednesday BB2 Infectious dse for 3 days with MKSAP Q&A, then 2 days of Rheumatology of BB2/MKSAP Q&A, last few days is General Internal Medicine from BB2 with MKSAP...Then Im done..Exam on August 14...Goodluck to everyone;):thumbup:
 
how long does it take to go over board basics? is it just "high yield" facts for a specific disease? i have a little less than 2 weeks before my test date
 
obiwan said:
how long does it take to go over board basics? is it just "high yield" facts for a specific disease? i have a little less than 2 weeks before my test date
Click to expand...

It's a roughly 200 page book (about the same size as FA for Step 1 although denser). 2 weeks is more than enough time.
 
As someone who successfully recertified for the second time this spring (i.e. passed three times in 20 years), here's my take on the areas covered by the exam:

20% of the questions are random and irrelevant with 'word salad' answer choices. There will be a Gaussian distribution of results for these types of questions. Everyone is on the same footing, and this is where luck comes into play.

10% are questions that are coherent but where all the seemingly logical answer choices are incorrect. Here's where studying penalizes you. You're better off not knowing any better. Unfortunately, you have no way of knowing what not to study.

20% are coherent and straightforward, if you've studied for a different board exam, such as ophthalmology, but are not really within the realm of internal medicine.

20% are relevant to the practice of internal medicine but are actually trick questions. Read these carefully. Anyone can answer them correctly and it's easier if you forget everything you know about medicine.

10% are relevant internal medicine questions but are ultra obscure. If you study enough and practice long enough, you may just happen to encounter it.

20% are straightforward questions but at least two, if not all, of the choices are correct answers. Here again there will be a Gaussian distribution and luck will determine whether you answer it correctly.

20% don't have anything to do with medicine but can be answered correctly if you have good test-taking skills. You can't study for these, but IQ helps. Recent evidence that breastfeeding improves IQ is something to consider. If you weren't breastfed, you may wish to correct the situation.

Wait, that's more than 100%--something doesn't add up. Oh yeah, well, that seems to be the case with the ABIM where members of the nonprofit board make millions and don't even take the exam they administer.

Good luck!
 
For the last 2 weeks---BB2 or BB3 and tons of questions...
But for preparation BB2 or BB3 and questions are not enough...one needs a solid board review material--either Medstudy, HOPKINS board review, FIRST AID- to name a few resources....
Now I'm back to RHEUMA then Infectious dse, and general internal medicine plus questions in the last 2 weeks before exam day...

I'm very tired of preparing for this once a year expensive certification and hopefully
All of us pass the test...BLESS us all;)
;)
 
DoctorDr said:
For the last 2 weeks---BB2 or BB3 and tons of questions...
But for preparation BB2 or BB3 and questions are not enough...one needs a solid board review material--either Medstudy, HOPKINS board review, FIRST AID- to name a few resources....
Now I'm back to RHEUMA then Infectious dse, and general internal medicine plus questions in the last 2 weeks before exam day...

I'm very tired of preparing for this once a year expensive certification and hopefully
All of us pass the test...BLESS us all;)
;)
Click to expand...

Have you head any reviews on passmachine?
 
DrVanNostran said:
Have you head any reviews on passmachine?
Click to expand...

its a reasonable video review for ABIM...it helped me solidify concepts and informations in a short period of time..did most of them except derma, ENT, optha, endocrine. heard it twice....

when is your exam date? goodluck to us
 
DoctorDr said:
its a reasonable video review for ABIM...it helped me solidify concepts and informations in a short period of time..did most of them except derma, ENT, optha, endocrine. heard it twice....

when is your exam date? goodluck to us
Click to expand...

Hey, Im a PGY-2. But I started to study. I was debating to medstudy vs pass machine. I'm an audio learner so i figured one of those 2 would do the trick. thoughts on medstudy review??
 
DrVanNostran said:
Hey, Im a PGY-2. But I started to study. I was debating to medstudy vs pass machine. I'm an audio learner so i figured one of those 2 would do the trick. thoughts on medstudy review??
Click to expand...

Im much of audiovisual learner...PASS machine is a great learning tool..I think its great because they tried to simplify concepts and gives the learner full grasp of the topics. Medstudy i tried it when I was 2nd and 3rd year resident, for me you need to read already their books before doing the videos so fully understand everything. The books are great BUT full of too many informations. Honestly, one needs to reread at least twice the Medstudy books to fully understand the concepts.

I have watched PASS video machine at least 2x then read Board basic then did MKSAP..Made my better in scoring in MKSAP/Medstudy Q&A. I did not use Q&A of PASS machine.. Im not paid by Pass machine by the way but I tried to make use of it in a better way..USEd it while walking or doing threadmill..but the best is when you are focus and really into studying.. I did used also Medstudy flashcards when downtime working as Hospitalist..Its an excellent pocketsize learning tool..

Goodluck. Enjoy in your preparation:cool:
 
I have studied awesome review, medstudy books, and all mksap 15 questions. I have done some of mksap twice. The sections I did twice I have average in the low to mid 80's. what are decent scores on mksap?
 
Anybody else running into the problem of just not being able to study anymore THIS close to the exam? Has nothing to do with confidence at all but I am just studied out... :/ suggestions??
 
glitzytoast said:
Anybody else running into the problem of just not being able to study anymore THIS close to the exam? Has nothing to do with confidence at all but I am just studied out... :/ suggestions??
Click to expand...

Fear keeps me going.
 
I'm nervous about this exam :-/ The difference between this and the steps is that we actually had a formal curriculum where everything was at least covered...during my residency, there wasn't enough formal didatics, and people like me didn't develop the esoteric fund of knowledge....the emphasis was on clinical care, so I got good at that. Blah. Anyway I've been studying for months (went through all the MedStudy videos and MKSAP 15 questions, rewatched ID, Heme/Onc and planning to rewatch CV and hopefully GI...also redoing MKSAP 15 questions and going through MedStudy questions...
 
I am very nervous about this exam as well and very brain dead from studying. Aortic valve area- ughhh!! Thought pass machine was great!
 
glitzytoast said:
Anybody else running into the problem of just not being able to study anymore THIS close to the exam? Has nothing to do with confidence at all but I am just studied out... :/ suggestions??
Click to expand...

Your not alone..Goodluck to us;)
 
Guys/gals,
Doing infectious disease for 2 days...then GENERAL INTERNAL medicine for 2 days..then questionnaire again...anythjng to add aside from 2 IDs and the printed email from ABIM that you are okay to take the boards?
Hope everyone is doing great in their preparation...hopefully we all pass..tired of reading and understanding...thanks for my wife who sticking with me For the 2nd time around.. I will let her drive me to exam test as last year I drove by myself but got into a vehicular accident that I hit the rear of a car to almost him a gasoline station...it was theist horrific and anxious situation I underwent that day followed by Almost late on the exam testing area..I did not have any breakfast as I was almost late..my breakfast was eaten at LUNCH time...I was still thinking about the horrible car accident on the exam day..
Hopefully I get everything right and better pass this test...help me God..
 
good luck to all of you guys..fear is driving me too as I prepare yet again for the recert exam in october. To DoctorDr you will make it, keep the faith! Well I have been reading Conrad Fischer master the boards Internal Medicine book and I think its really good. Its packed with high yield info and might be worth reading even now if you have time, it can be read cover to cover in about 3-4 days and can be bought on barnes and noble.com or amazon.com.... I am thinking about going to awesome review review course in september. if anyone has done awesome review can you tell me if you thought it was good or not? good luck to all the initial cert people. I have to start doing mksap 16 questions, havent started yet, my exam is on oct 21!
 
is anyone who is studying for recert going to medstudy review in Dallas?

also ABIM is what all of us are doing but I recently found out that another board is also certifying in IM. Does anyone know if there exam is any easier? I was wondering if anyone knows about this alternate board that is certifying in IM also. http://www.abpsus.org/internal-medicine-board-certification

I dont know anything about it but I guess you can get board certified by this board too instead of ABIM. does anyone have any info on this alternate board?
 
desi6 said:
is anyone who is studying for recert going to medstudy review in Dallas?

also ABIM is what all of us are doing but I recently found out that another board is also certifying in IM. Does anyone know if there exam is any easier? I was wondering if anyone knows about this alternate board that is certifying in IM also. http://www.abpsus.org/internal-medicine-board-certification

I dont know anything about it but I guess you can get board certified by this board too instead of ABIM. does anyone have any info on this alternate board?
Click to expand...

It's a scam. Feel free to pay them their fee (which is actually higher than ABIM) and take their exam (which I'm sure you'll pass, no questions asked). Let us know how it works out for you.
 
desi6 said:
is anyone who is studying for recert going to medstudy review in Dallas?

also ABIM is what all of us are doing but I recently found out that another board is also certifying in IM. Does anyone know if there exam is any easier? I was wondering if anyone knows about this alternate board that is certifying in IM also. http://www.abpsus.org/internal-medicine-board-certification

I dont know anything about it but I guess you can get board certified by this board too instead of ABIM. does anyone have any info on this alternate board?
Click to expand...

I guess this is another option to be certified in IM instead of ABIM....I just don't know if one goes to fellowship that BCIM will be okay..
 
I took the exam yesterday. Not much studying during residency, big mistake. Finally studied for a month. Materials used, only MKSAP questions and BB 3. The exam was OK, but now reading how many people failed, I am kind of scared. Missed a few very easy giveaway questions (poor, almost no sleep the night before), which can cost me the exam (heard that 1-2 questions can make the difference between pass and fail). Good luck to everyone. Hope, I will pass, if not see you in the next year thread.
 
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I need to find out if this is a scam or its a legitimate deal.
I dont know enough about it to draw the conclusion that its a scam, maybe it is... there are lots of scams out there , in fact abim on their web site lists the boards that are scams.http://www.abim.org/news/scam-certification-boards.aspx but this one is NOT listed. so I dont know. I'll try and figure it out just to know for my own knowledge. . anyways, getting ready for ABIM MOC in october right now.
 
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