As an ABIM certification exam on internal medicine, we received a large number of letters from our subscribers who are asking for suggestions on how to best learn tips. The truth is that there is no way to success, although there are, of course, ways to increase your likelihood of passing. Regardless of whether you are preparing for certification on board or trying to achieve certification support (MOC), “early learning and study” is the best proven and complete method. Below we describe possible strategies and tactics (in no particular order) for passing the ABIM exam:
1. Know the basics of the internal medicine exam
This is obvious, but many people simply do not consider this before they prepare for the exam and, instead, readily choose the source of the ABIM study to provide information.
- Review the ABIM exam plan and review the topics covered in the exam.
- A large percentage (33%) of the exam consists of cardiovascular diseases, gastroenterology, and pulmonary disease.
- More than 75 percent are based on patient presentations — most of them are conducted in an outpatient or emergency unit; others are mostly inpatient, such as an intensive care unit or a nursing home.
- Although this is not a big part of the exam, be prepared and expect some visual information to be interpreted, such as electrocardiograms, radiographs and micrographs (for example, blood films, Gram spots, urine sediments).
2. Use the entrance exam as a starting sensor.
If you are a resident, the internal medicine exam is a good starting point to see where you stand. It is simply the barometer of where you stand. This will give you an idea of where you can be weak, and where you can be quite strong. It will also give you an idea of how you compare yourself with your peers. Do not change your ABIM training plan simply based on this, but it gives you an early metric of the areas you need to focus on.
3. Get ABIM Exam Preparation Tutorial
It is important to have a good study guide that is suitable for the exam. Some of the most popular and effective guides we have come across are the MedStudy health care media review books, as well as a review of Harrison's recommendations on internal medicine.
4. Join the research team
Research groups, if used properly, are particularly effective because they allow you to study in colleges and other examiners. Often, people form study groups with their colleges (ideally, up to 3-4 people) according to the program of their residence. Tactics for use in ABIM research groups may include:
- Focus on a new category of internal medicine for weeks. For example, focus one week on cardiology, and then on pulmonary care. The exam can be broken down into a dozen categories (see ABIM Exam Plan). Most sub-specialty questions in the internal medicine exam will focus on cardiology, gastroenterology and pulmonary care. However, do not neglect other areas, as ABIM wants to ensure that general practitioners have a broad medical knowledge base.
- Challenge each other with internal medicine questions that you yourself wrote. We firmly believe in philosophy that the best way to learn is to teach. If you help others learn, your knowledge of medical concepts will be greatly enhanced.
We recognize that joining a study group is often impractical - especially for those who are no longer in backup programs where everyone prepares boards. Fortunately, we live in the digital age, where it is much easier to become part of a research team. You can connect with colleagues via Skype, a Google video call or a number of other channels. One of our favorite approaches is to stay informed and learn through the power of social networks - in particular, Twitter. In the previous post, we identified excellent tweeter descriptors for passing the ABIM exam as we prepare for certification. If Twitter is not a cup of tea, you can also connect with colleagues through the ABIM Knowmedge community on Google+. No matter what approach you decide, studying with others preparing for the same exam is an excellent motivational tool for success.
5. Get a question bank that fits your personal needs.
What is the value of the internal medicine question bank? This, of course, is a discussion close to our heart. Question banks have become a popular tool because they combine a lot of material in question format and help create an environment for testing. There are many questions that you can choose banks for - so what should you look for in an ABIM bank?
- High quality questions in ABIM style in a format similar to the exam A: The exam is mostly filled with clinical vignettes and has direct questions. At a minimum, your ABIM questionnaire should have both of these types of questions. Quantity is important, but the quality of the questions and explanations is much more important.
- Detailed explanations that address the reasons for the wrong choice. : A question bank that does not give you detailed statements is probably not worth the money or time spent. When you study the questions, you will inevitably get some kind of mistake - your choice of the question bank ABIM should explain in detail why your choice is wrong and the reason for the right choice.
- The ability to track your personal performance A: Your choice of ABIM Bank should be able to tell you about your performance in general and by category. Most - not all - question banks provide you with a category by dashboard. The Knowmedge Question Bank took an extra step to categorize the categories into subcategories, as shown in the ABIM exam diagram. This allows you to analyze your strengths and weaknesses at a granular level. To know that you are weak with cardiovascular diseases, it's great - knowing that you are weak in matters of arrhythmia is more valuable.
- Additions - Notes, Lab values, Highlighting A: Depending on how you learn, these can be valuable features.
ABIM exam questions direct conversation:
- No question of the bank - not MKSAP, not Knowmedge, not any - knows what will happen at the ABIM exam itself. Based on the ABIM Blueprint, you can make assumptions about which high-yield areas to explore. The point of the bank question should not give you the exact questions that will be on the exam - this, I hope, will teach you the concepts that you can see on the exam, and how to argue from what you do not know right away.
- In many places you can find high-quality questions about ABIM exams - the question of banks is not the only place. There are textbooks, books and even free sources. Therefore, do not just base your decision on the bank on the questions. In addition to the quality of the questions, what really distinguishes one ABIM exam questions bank from another is whether it really helps you build a broad knowledge base and help you save information for the exam. If you are not comfortable reading a bunch of text, it doesn’t matter how big the questions are. If you are not an audio-visual student, a Medstudy or Knowmedge video will do nothing for you (as clarity, Qmed Knowmedge contains textual and audiovisual explanations for this exact reason). If you are an “old-fashioned” student who prefers prints, then USMLEWorld is definitely not for you — those who used them are well aware that their software will block you from using print screens or copying their contents. In short, do not follow the flock - each of us learns differently, and you need to choose the best method for you.
6. Consider if the course is right for you.
There are pros and cons to complete the course to prepare for the ABIM exam. The advantages are that it gives you a serious dose of review in a short period of time. It makes you focused, if you are not focused, and some courses are absolutely excellent - we know that some artists are ardent supporters of some of the professors who teach these courses. We know about the three most popular independent courses:
- Dr. Habib Rahman’s amazing overview is the most famous and most popular independent course. Dr. Rahman has a unique teaching style and his lectures with his lectures. During this six-day course (Sunday-Friday), Dr. Rahman provides his students with a set of notes and practice questions.
- iMedicineReview Dr. Shahid Babar - This three-day course (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) includes a set of 1500 questions to check.
- Dr. Satish Dalla’s unique course is a six-day course (Monday through Friday) taught by one of The best foreigners in the country as defined US news
The disadvantages of the review course are that they are expensive (often more than $ 1,000 plus hotel accommodation) and can be inconvenient for round trips. Regardless of whether you are attending a course or not, it cannot replace the required training time before and after the course. It complements the training time and does not replace it.
7. View our proposed ABIM testing strategies.
ABIM exam questions are not meant to deceive you - they are designed to challenge your knowledge and ability to combine your understanding of many different concepts and topics. Below are some of the tactics you can use when doing the questions and / or taking the actual ABIM exam:
- For clinical vignettes, first read the question (last line), then go back and read the script. This way you will know what to look for when you read the script.
- Try to answer the question even before you see the answers to the question.
- Pay attention to the keywords that can help you in the etiology or physical exam.
- Keep track of key demographic information - geography, ethnicity, gender, age, profession.
- The ABIM test does not have to be difficult, but we are all human, so sometimes we miss keywords - for example, “least likely” - pay attention to them.
- If you are challenged by a longer clinical vignette, pay attention to the key elements and develop your own script - this may cause a response.
- Most of the therapists we talked to say that this is not a problem, but keep in mind that this is a test of time and you have about two minutes to ask a question.
We cannot focus enough on the mantra “learn early and learn.” The exam is difficult, but it can be acquired with diligence and proper preparation.
8. Understand and prepare for the ABIM test day
- Be prepared and confident. No matter how you decide to study, on a test day - confidence is important!
- Get a good night - cramming up and staying up late at the last minute, it will only strengthen you more.
- Get there early - do not risk getting into traffic. It is better to be a bit early than to be compounded by traffic.
- Take an extra layer of clothing. The last thing you want to do is to be uncomfortable and cold, because someone decided to turn the air conditioner on too high.
- Test day is long! Be mentally prepared for this. From registration to the optional survey at the end, the day will last 8-10 hours (depending on whether you are certifying for the first time or performing a certification exam).
- Keep some snacks that you can take during the break.
- Check out the ABIM daily exam schedule so you know exactly what to expect.
This is a basic overview of how to study and pass the ABIM exam. As already mentioned, there is no secret sauce or method for this - you just need to have a wide knowledge base. There is no alternative to study early and study often! If you are preparing for ABIM advice, we wish you success - we are here to help, let us know if you have questions! Happy study!
