Tip 3: Plan Ahead
To avoid waiting until the last moment to tackle that subject you had intended to review weeks before, it’s helpful to make a schedule of how you will study. Carve out protected time in your calendar, and utilize that time well. How you do this is individualized, but recognize that it is important to do so. Do you like to study in groups or with a buddy? That works. Prefer to study alone? That works, too. Just make sure everyone knows this is time you need without distractions or conflicts. Your peers, colleagues, friends and family all know (or should know) that this test is important and that protected time is to be awarded and respected.
Tip 4: Questions, Questions, Questions
My singular favorite way to study is utilizing question banks. Identify the highest yield question banks, the ones that best resemble the exam, and test yourself frequently while studying. Look up every unfamiliar answer choice (even the wrong ones) following each question. Try to buy or obtain practice exams that closely resemble the actual test, and take them every few weeks to gauge your studying progress.
The ABIM is not in the business of failing physicians, especially in light of the forecasted workforce shortage in this country.
One of the biggest challenges facing people is where to find question banks. An excellent source of board-style questions are the CARE (Continuing Assessment Review Evaluation) modules found on the ACR website.3 Currently, three years of CARE questions are available on the website (around 60 questions each along with detailed explanations for each answer), as well as a CARE MOC session containing 36, case-based, multiple-choice questions with in-depth answer rationales, divided into three modules.
Additionally, 18 years ago, the ACR sponsored an initiative called the Rheumatology Self-Assessment Program.4 For a couple of years, 150 multiple-choice questions along with detailed answer explanations were released. Some of the questions utilized formats no longer in use, as well as tested now out-of-date concepts (think rofecoxib [Vioxx]); nevertheless, these remain a valuable resource. Hunting down old copies may require some sleuthing, but they can be still be found in print and online.
Board-style questions have evolved over time and, for the past several years, have settled into a particular format. Long gone are the questions in which you are forced to tease the incorrect answer out of a sea of correct options (“except” questions); instead, every question has a single, best answer. Although some of these queries are still structured around short statements with the expectation you’ll select the best response based solely on rote memorization, the vast majority of questions on the exam are case-based scenarios that require reasoning and decision making (clinical vignettes). Every sentence in the vignette is there for a reason, and in total should point to an obvious solution. Very rarely are there attempts to try and trick you into the incorrect response. Instead, the purpose of the exam is to ensure you recognize real-world scenarios and know how to respond appropriately.
