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Prior to taking the AOBIM exam, I couldn't find any thread about tip for studying AOBIM Board, and the comparison between Medstudy vs MKSAP. I guess the candidates for taking AOBIM is declining and soon that AOBIM will be gone. Anyway, I would like to share my study experience with everyone.
Let's start with Q&A first. Medstudy has the most similar in question style, length and difficulty level, unlike MKSAP Q&A which has a pretty lengthy question stems. However, I've found that MKSAP was pretty good on testing me ophthalmology picture, acid-base disorder and pulmonary nodule which I found useful on the actual exam. Also, AOBIM provided some normal lab value unless they want to ask you some specific questions then they assumed you to know it.
For studying material, I chose Medstudy rather than MKSAP. I have whole set of each. Our residency program provided Medstudy (Q&A) and MKSAP (everything). Medstudy comes with highlights and red-font for specific topics. Also, their text wasn't like in long paragraph as in MKSAP. Brief and accurate allows quick review that you won't forget much. (I am not a good reader.) Plus, our assisting program director recommended Medstudy as the prime study tool for board exam preparation. Therefore I decided to purchase Medstudy books the last minutes a little before my graduation (I purchased their recently released 17th Edition in June 2017).
Coming with Medstudy Book, there is a small booklet like those quick guide coming with your electronic gadgets. The only part i paid attention with was the distribution like Cardio 14%, GI 10%, ID 10%.... This is what i used for scheduling my study. I put the heavier weighted topic first because i know I will get tired and become less interested approaching to the end of study. I also made myself to do at least one hour question daily plus its review. Like i said above, I completed in mid- August (around two months) since I paid less attention in Neurology (4%), Allergy (2%) and Dermatology (2%). These three topics later I focused more on questions from both Medstudy and MKSAP (or their flash card). Then, I focus on doing questions from both MKSAP and Medstudy, plus some second review on important stuff as highlighted in Medstudy book (mainly memorization - chart, table too).
Went to exam yesterday. Medstudy prepared me very well. Nothing alike MKSAP questions style. Plus, a lot of info that Medstudy highlighted and started with [know!] were appeared in exam. Also, for some questions, I read the question stem, choices plus a little info and i feel like already tipped off for the choice. (Of course, I spent sometimes to verify since I don't want to miss.) When I did Medstudy Q&A, I kinda picked up that sense of questions and I picked the correct choices 95% of time. As the exam is very time and energy consuming, I did exercise regularly before exam and wake up as early as 6am the week before so I could train my body to adapt for the exam date.
If I think of anything else, I would add them up later. Please feel free to leave your comment below.
Let's start with Q&A first. Medstudy has the most similar in question style, length and difficulty level, unlike MKSAP Q&A which has a pretty lengthy question stems. However, I've found that MKSAP was pretty good on testing me ophthalmology picture, acid-base disorder and pulmonary nodule which I found useful on the actual exam. Also, AOBIM provided some normal lab value unless they want to ask you some specific questions then they assumed you to know it.
For studying material, I chose Medstudy rather than MKSAP. I have whole set of each. Our residency program provided Medstudy (Q&A) and MKSAP (everything). Medstudy comes with highlights and red-font for specific topics. Also, their text wasn't like in long paragraph as in MKSAP. Brief and accurate allows quick review that you won't forget much. (I am not a good reader.) Plus, our assisting program director recommended Medstudy as the prime study tool for board exam preparation. Therefore I decided to purchase Medstudy books the last minutes a little before my graduation (I purchased their recently released 17th Edition in June 2017).
Coming with Medstudy Book, there is a small booklet like those quick guide coming with your electronic gadgets. The only part i paid attention with was the distribution like Cardio 14%, GI 10%, ID 10%.... This is what i used for scheduling my study. I put the heavier weighted topic first because i know I will get tired and become less interested approaching to the end of study. I also made myself to do at least one hour question daily plus its review. Like i said above, I completed in mid- August (around two months) since I paid less attention in Neurology (4%), Allergy (2%) and Dermatology (2%). These three topics later I focused more on questions from both Medstudy and MKSAP (or their flash card). Then, I focus on doing questions from both MKSAP and Medstudy, plus some second review on important stuff as highlighted in Medstudy book (mainly memorization - chart, table too).
Went to exam yesterday. Medstudy prepared me very well. Nothing alike MKSAP questions style. Plus, a lot of info that Medstudy highlighted and started with [know!] were appeared in exam. Also, for some questions, I read the question stem, choices plus a little info and i feel like already tipped off for the choice. (Of course, I spent sometimes to verify since I don't want to miss.) When I did Medstudy Q&A, I kinda picked up that sense of questions and I picked the correct choices 95% of time. As the exam is very time and energy consuming, I did exercise regularly before exam and wake up as early as 6am the week before so I could train my body to adapt for the exam date.
If I think of anything else, I would add them up later. Please feel free to leave your comment below.
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