How did you have enough time to get through the exam if you used Up to Date for 80% of the questions? Aren't you only allotted an average of about 2 minutes per question? You would have to be pretty quick with finding the answer on Up To Date with all those questions. It sounds like a pretty stressful exam.Took ABIM recertification test (this was my second recert test)
I chose taking the exam because I wanted to just do it one time and not have to deal with 5 years of LKA questions. As I was preparing for the exam I came to question this decision many many times, and I think if I had to do it over I probably would have chosen to do the LKA questions (maybe..)
Preparation: I did all 2200 MKSAP 19 questions (I used Uptodate on some of the questions, but honestly I was too lazy to use it and would usually just give a educated guess, My score was around 63-65%) I was planning on reviewing all of the wrong answers but I got totally tired out of studying and after I completed all of the questions I didn't have the mental energy to review the wrong questions. I assumed the exam itself would be easier than MKSAP (more on that later)
Arrived at testing center at 730. I asked the proctor how long are ABIM people usually at the test center, he said they are usually here until 430-530 depending on how much break time they use, in my mind I was thinking there's no way I'll be here until 430pm. I was thinking I would not need the full 2 hours per section (55 questions per section x 4 sections). I skipped the tutorial since I did it at home, and dove right into the first section. I quickly realized that this test was not easy, in fact I had to look up the answers to the first five questions and it took me a while to figure them out. It quickly dawned on me that this was going to be a long day. One hour into the exam, I was feeling pretty depressed knowing I had 7 more hours of questiosn. I estimate I had to use Uptodate on 80% of the questions. What helped me was I started to view it as not an exam, but a research exercise using Uptodate, and I just relaxed and took my time. The questions were very particular and there was no way to know the answer besides looking up the answers. I ended up using all of the time for each section, in fact on two of the sections I basically didn't have any time left, there definitely was not time to review any questions. I was pretty patient and took my time with uptodate hunting for answers, I think this strategy payed off because if you look long enough (usually) i could find the answer.
I was finished by 5:30pm. Long story short the test is basically 8 hours of searching Uptodate for answers to very particular questions. One thing I am not sure is: Is the original non recertification test (where you do not have Uptodate) the same, I really can't imagine doing this particular test without Uptodate. I didn't have any issues passing the original boards (20 years ago and the first recertification 10 years ago), so I don't know if they have now made the recertification test more difficult now or if it is the same. Honestly, in hindsight I would have studied less because I don't think any more studying would have made any difference.
If I could do it over, would I choose the exam over the LKA questions? This is a tough call. Now that I'm done, I'm happy to be finished. I actually think either option is reasonable, if you are someone who just wants to be done with it, I think the exam is a good option. Interestingly enough on this particular exam day, there were only a handful of other doctors taking the exam, I do not think the exam is a very popular option. I hope this helps anyone who is making the decision regarding ABIM recertification.
Official ABIM Exam/study tools thread!
- Thread starter timurx
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How did you have enough time to get through the exam if you used Up to Date for 80% of the questions? Aren't you only allotted an average of about 2 minutes per question? You would have to be pretty quick with finding the answer on Up To Date with all those questions. It sounds like a pretty stressful exam.
I don't know either. I timed myself with practice tests, giving myself 30 secs to use UpToDate for a question. Frankly if you can't find the answer in under a minute, you're not going to find it within the constraints of the timed exam without skipping some potentially easy questions.
I only used it about 6 times during each block on my first pass.
If I had some time left over (some easy 5 sec questions), I'd go back to my marked questions and look in UpToDate again. That was pretty low yield.
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I feel like it is gonna be so hard for me to get 64% of ABIM questions correct to pass. On UW, I average around 50-55%...
