Internal Medicine Board Review (see page 2)
Nail the Boards	Harrison's Internal Medicine, Textbook & Self-Assessment and Board Review Mayo Clinic Internal Medical Board Review Johns Hopkins Internal Medical Board Review Master the Boards Internal Medicine Turbo Mnemonics For The Boards 2004 Frontrunners' Internal Medicine Board Review Syllabus Frontrunners Internal MedicineReview

The Internal Medicine Boards : A Brief Overview

The internal medicine board certification exam for 2005 will be held August 23-24, 2005

Having recently had the "joy" of sitting for the Internal Medicine Certification Examination by the ABIM, the Fool would like to say a few things and answer a few questions. People often ask what they need to study in order to pass the ABIM. Remember one thing: Money is no object. First time pass rates for the year 2004 examination were 92% for 1st time test takers. There were more than 9000 takers for the 2004 exam. Repeat ABIM test takers had a dismal 29% pass rate. Doh! That means that the first time is the charm when it comes to the internal medicine boards!

You may enjoy looking over a few statistics courtesy of the ABIM:
Pass rates for the ABIM Internal Medicine Certification Examination
Internal Medicine Residency Pass Rates (by state)

What is a fool to study for the American Board of Internal Medicine Exam?

So, what do you have to know for the ABIM exam? You should be generous in both your time and study materials for the ABIM. Decide early one or two main texts you want to read for the test, and pick one or more sets of questions to study. In general, the more questions you do the better. The fool recommends Medstudy Board Review for Internal Medicine as one of your core texts. Above are other recommendations. We have heard positive feedback especially on Nail the Boards! The Ultimate Internal Medicine Review 4th Ed and Frontrunners' Internal Medicine Board Review Syllabus. In addition, if you completed residency recently we recommend reviewing all your In-Training Exams and reviewing all the questions you missed. If you spend 2 minutes reviewing each of these topics, you'll really pick up some points. Also, get yourself a great little reference to quickly look up topics. We HIGHLY recommend Current Medicine . Not only is it concise and to the point, it's up to date, and great for your general reference library as well

When it comes to main texts, like MedStudy, you can learn tons of stuff you wished you had known in residency. And when Medstudy says "know this!" for a particular fact, you can rest assured that you WILL see that question on the exam. Medstudy (main text) has some review questions, but they really aren't board style, and aren't that great.

Plan on a few sources for review questions for board style material. The fool liked the ACP MKSAP questions. However do know that some of these questions are notoriously difficult and nit-picky. Some of what they want you to know is NOT on the boards.

ABIM Exam Pearls

Hot topics that come up year after year on the ABIM:

• Celiac sprue (this includes the rashes and vitamin deficiencies associated). It seems like everyone in the world has sprue!
• Thyroid disease - hypo and hyperthyroidism are always popular
• Lupus and it's many manifestations
• Myocardial infarcts, management, long term care
• Glomerulonephritis (yes! all of the types)
• Transfusion reactions (ALL types, and complications)
• Zoonoses (Tularemia, RMSF, Lyme, any animal or tick borne disease!)

Stuff you don't really need to know:

• HIV medications - dont' concern yourself learning the various cocktails, just know the big ones and the side effects
• Antibiotic mechanisms, mechanisms of resistance
• Details about immunology, MHC complexes, etc
• Cancer staging. No questions about how to stage Hodgkin's disease, etc...

What Does the Internal Medicine Board Examination Cover? click here for more info