It’s time to prepare for internal medicine boards, and you’re wondering where to begin Let us help you with that! This fast and dirty internal medicine study guide is full of tips, tricks, and valuable insight into the art of internal medicine board prep and the inner-workings of the exam itself. After all, this is the only thing standing between you and your new career.
While grasping the full magnitude of this implication may be overwhelming at first, take comfort in knowing that you are not alone. There are many resources available to guide you towards success. You can do this! Take the time to assess the content you need to cover, and portion it out into manageable increments.
Once you’ve grasped the breadth of the material, schedule times throughout your day dedicated solely to the topics and sections you’ve chosen to focus on. Setting a strict schedule and mapping out a plan of attack from the get-go will not only help you manage time and stress, it also ensures that you cover all relevant material. Starting with topics that are familiar to you will help get you started and reinforce what you know, as well as familiarize you with your study habits.
Feedback from successful examinees suggests that seminars are not very useful. Instead, we reccomend you choose a board review course that challenges you and requires your active participation. Exposing yourself to practice exams early on will warm you up to the content you should expect to see on the exam, as well as help you assess your strengths and weaknesses. Be sure your study guide is mapped to the and offers case-based questions that emulate the Q&A format seen on the actual exam. Things to keep in mind when choosing an: As far as board review questions and practice exams go, consider quality as well as the quantity. Insist upon a review that offers thorough, detailed, case-based questions that require involved study and active reading.
This is the kind of quality content you’re most likely to retain long-term. Look for lasting value. Once certified, you’ll have annual MOC and CME requirements to fulfill. The ability to earn continuing medical education credits while working through a review product is one of the main added values to pass-guaranteed board reviews.
Is a leader in online medical education, offering the. Boasting over 1,700 detailed, challenging case-based questions following the ABIM exam blueprint, built-in CME & MOC resources, and a 100% pass guarantee, you can’t go wrong. Practice & Re-Practice. Once you’ve worked your way through the entirety of your study material several times and familiarized yourself with what areas you are and are not confident in, it’s time to focus on the relevant material with which you are least comfortable and familiar. With adaptive learning, not only are you assured to properly utilize all materials available, your time is spent exactly where it needs to be spent with every use, thereby producing a more effective individual review, with no wasted value, all in less time. And remember: Always keep the ABIM Exam Blueprint in mind! Treat Your Body Right.
Preparing for IM boards will push you to your limits – you will be stressed, burnt out, and oftentimes exhausted. But like they say: It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
In the long run, it won’t do you any good to sacrifice your physical and mental well-being. At least every 3 hours, allow yourself a break to relax and unwind. Stay hydrated throughout the day. Remember to eat and nourish your body with healthy meal options. Exercise will help maintain healthy circulation and oxygenation to your brain.
Take some time to meditate. And perhaps most importantly, maintain a healthy sleep schedule, especially the week before your exam. During the Exam. The ABIM board uses multiple-choice questions that have one best answer. These items have a “stem” that presents the background information necessary for answering the question, which usually comes at the end of the stem.
Be sure to read the stem carefully. As you proceed, make note of information that seems especially relevant. Read every answer option carefully. First use the process of elimination to filter out what you know is incorrect, and go from there.
Focus on addressing each question individually. Take a deep breathe every now and then. If you are completely stumped by a question or unsure you answered correctly, flag it and come back later.
That having been said, also consider that the first thoughtful answer an examinee makes is usually the best answer. Second-guessing yourself is not likely to help your performance unless you fully realize that you’ve misread or misunderstood the question. This will help you maximize your time.
ABOUT THE BOOK The transition from medical student to physician is one of the most important events in the life of a young doctor. From the moment medical school graduates step foot on the internal medicine ward as 'real doctors,' they will be leaving behind civilian life forever.
Hereafter, patients, family, and friends will look to the new doctor for help and healing, counting on years of study and training to have provided the tools to diagnose and treat disease.Residency is a challenging time because doctors are charged with learning as much as they can, but are also hospital employees with a job to perform. The hope of this guide is that an intern will be able to navigate the rocky waters of internship whether remaining in internal medicine residency or matriculating to another field such as dermatology, neurology, anesthesiology, or radiology.
This guide is not a practical how-to, as a residency program should provide such support. It is, however, designed to help interns maneuver the pitfalls of the workplace, navigate interpersonal interactions, and utilize the best tools and practices during the course of their internship.MEET THE EXPERTDr. Galen was born an identical twin in Cleveland, OH. He attended the boys preparatory academy, University School, where he edited the literary magazine and the school newspaper. At Brown University, he studied biology primarily, but not without availing himself of Brown's Classics and Comparative Literature Departments.At Tufts University School of Medicine he led the Progressive Students' Alliance and the local chapter of Medical Students for Choice. He is completing residency in internal medicine at Yale University and resides with his fiancee in New Haven, CT.
Outside of work he enjoys the Yale Writer's Workshop, Super 8 film-making, and classic rock. EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK Language matters because in internal medicine we spend most of our day talking to each other (on rounds), talking to patients, their families, and delivering care by communication with nurses, pharmacists, and physicians from other fields. Communication is at internal medicine's core, not only verbally but also in our lengthy admission history and physicals, daily progress notes, and our outpatient clinic notes.Doing this job well is a huge part of being an effective physician at all levels.
Communication should be precise and should always stem from your best understanding of a patient's clinical condition. How you talk to everyone in the complicated inpatient hospital workplace can be as important as what you say.' Do not state on rounds, 'there must be a pulmonary process' or 'something rheumatologic going on.' These are generalizations and do not represent your best effort at differential diagnosis. Think and speak in terms of etiology, e.g.
'vasculitis could explain these signs and symptoms.' 'I've ever seen.' For example, 'this is the lowest platelet count I've ever seen.' Using your limited clinical experience from 3rd year of med school until now as a judge of severity demonstrates a lack of self-awareness. A member of your medical school's class of 1965 can rate findings based on his clinical experience. Instead, refer to known thresholds with clinical significance, such as 'this platelet count below 20,000 puts my patient at risk for spontaneous bleeding.' .Buy a copy to keep reading!