Internal Medicine Review Course
Klacee Sawatzky
To claim MOC points, you must successfully complete the MOC quiz. The MOC quiz becomes available on the final day of your course. You can access the MOC quiz, syllabus from your completed course, and any updated course material with the below link.
If you do not pass the ABIM Certification or MOC Exam in internal medicine after attending an ACP Exam Prep Course, you may attend one ACP Exam Prep Course within twelve months of your ABIM notification date, subject to space availability, and not pay the registration fee or you may receive access to a current Online ACP Exam Prep course recording. To qualify, email PGgua...@acponline.org a copy of the ABIM notification letter of your test results with the option you are choosing.
Get the Core, Flashcards, and Qbank+ in one valuable package! These Essentials combine focused content with evidence-based learning techniques to ensure you achieve and maintain core competency in Internal Medicine.
Participants in this MedStudy educational activity are those physicians seeking to assess, expand, and reinforce their knowledge and clinical competencies in internal medicine, focusing their learning on subjects that are directly relevant to clinical scenarios that will be encountered on the ABIM Certification board exam or the Maintenance of Certification (MOC) board exam and the American Osteopathic Board of Internal Medicine (AOBIM) board exams, as well as in the contemporary clinical setting. The content of this activity is intended to help learners assess their own key knowledge and clinical competencies with evidence-based standards of care, as reflected on the board exams, and remedy any potential competency gaps that may exist.
In rating the effectiveness of their study methods, physicians rate internal medicine board review courses somewhat more favorably than independent study using textbooks (the most widely-used method), but somewhat less favorably than independent study using print or online question banks.
The best internal medicine board review course for you will depend on many personal factors ranging from cost to your preferred way of learning. To help you determine which factors are most important to you, we interviewed a number of our survey participants to find out their reasons for enrolling in internal medicine board review courses and the criteria they used for selecting specific course offerings.
In choosing specific internal medicine board review courses, most physicians appear to strongly consider producer reputation, time, and cost. For example, in studying for his spring 2014 ABIM recertification exam, general internist Dr. Reynaldo Alonso of the Bronx, NY knew his learning preference would be for a live course:
I would think the internal medicine board exam might be more daunting for those who have specialized in their careers but still wish to maintain their internal medicine certifications. As a general internist, I see many different things every day in practice, so this course was all I really needed to feel confident and to pass my exam.
For my internal medicine boards, I chose a live course, but for pediatrics, I selected a DVD course. I chose the live course because it was relatively nearby, and I had an opportunity to stay with friends. I was also able to take off an entire week to devote to the course. My residency program provided educational funding, and the course was created by a reputable organization. Also, there was no DVD option for the particular course I had chosen, while other DVD courses were available to me through my residency library.
The real benefit with online courses is that you can log in anytime, so they are a good fit when you cannot put together the blocks of time needed for live courses. When my children were small, I will admit I preferred the longer-distance courses, because being away from the daily demands of family life made it much easier to focus on review. When you attend courses locally, it can be more difficult to separate from your daily concerns and to focus only on the course material.
Deciding when to schedule an internal medicine review course can be somewhat tricky. On the one hand, physicians may be inclined to enroll in courses very close to their exam dates in order to maximize memory retention of the material covered. Dr. Hamilton advises a different tactic:
You want to take your course far enough ahead of time for it to be useful in directing supplemental study. Internal medicine board review courses will often cover newer content that you might need to know. They are very good at bringing physicians up-to-date in areas where they may not have concentrated their own consumption of medical research, journals, and so forth. Board review courses are a great way to gain insights into the areas where you need to study more and review relevant research and literature prior to taking your exam. You want to make sure that you leave yourself sufficient time to do that follow-up study.
Both of the courses I took were psychologically reassuring. While the universe of what there is to know in medicine is almost infinite, it was a relief to know it is possible to go through [what the boards view as] the most important points of medicine in one week! That way I could focus more on the parts of the review course in which I had weaknesses. This helped my confidence more than anything else. When I actually took the boards, I based my answers for 50% of the questions on practical experience; another 30% of my answers were based on experience with practice questions. The number of extra questions I could answer because of the board review courses was probably between 5 and 20%, but that small margin was very comforting in terms of helping me to prioritize my time.
An interesting perspective on internal medicine board review courses and preparation for board certification in general came from Dr. John Wolfe Blotzer, who has worn many hats throughout his medical career, including chief resident, fellow, educator, academic dean, residency program director, clinical practitioner, and even a board-review course lecturer.
At the time of the survey, Dr. Blotzer had recently retired, but still held multiple board certifications (internal medicine, rheumatology, and geriatrics). He had lifelong certification in internal medicine, but still chose to undergo regular assessments of his medical knowledge and to recertify at recommended (albeit not required) intervals throughout his career.
I believe all physicians have an ethical duty to stay up-to-date with their medical knowledge and have never believed that I should be held to a different standard than others in the field. In the early 2000s, I sat for three board exams within a short time frame. It was exhausting, but I truly believe in the importance of keeping up-to-date.
That approach must have worked as Dr. Blotzer passed each certification or recertification exam both with high scores and without other specific preparation or board review courses. What is more, he felt the examinations had become easier over time as a result of making studying and learning a routine part of his practice.
Asked how he might advise others who are preparing for medical board certification and considering courses, Dr. Blotzer said that, above all else, he would recommend introspection about individual learning styles, understanding varying practice settings (for example, academic versus purely clinical), and maintaining habits for staying up-to-date with medical knowledge.
A six-day educational course led by Dr. Sanjeev Arora (The University of New Mexico), Dr. Sanjiv Chopra, Dr. Martin Abrahamson and Dr. Mark Zeidel (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, affiliate of Harvard Medical School).
It is directed at the level of the internist and family practitioner, and will also be useful for residents. The emphasis will be placed on progress that has been made in pathophysiology and clinical management in the most common disorders seen by the internist and family practitioner.
Much of the material will be presented in lecture format by the best teachers and clinicians from two major medical centers. In addition, each specialty will have a case-based session using an interactive wireless Audience Response System that will be present on your desk. This system will allow you (anonymously) to test your knowledge in the different areas of medicine.
Cancellation Policy: The Office of Continuing Education will refund tuition, minus a $100 administrative fee, if you cancel, in writing, before Oct. 4. No refunds will be issued after Oct. 4.
Excellent success rates in ABIM Internal Medicine Certification & Recertification Exams for last 17 years. Rewarding experience for practicing physicians and residents from many academic programs. We provide board preparation guarantee.
iMedicine Review Course App
The first and only complete internal medicine review app on iPad/iPhone, it contains high yield course material selected from live classroom courses. Get a discounted price of only $19.99 (50% off for a limited time) if you purchase from your device. Or try the free lite version on iPAD/iPhone.
This comprehensive review is designed for internal medicine residents, practicing internists, and sub-specialists who are preparing for the ABIM Internal Medicine Certification or Recertification Examination.
With an extensive array of lectures, case discussions, and board preparation sessions, this CME program is the most comprehensive review of internal medicine offered by the clinical faculty of Harvard Medical School.
The 2024 program has been enhanced for both in-person and distance learning. In addition to being held live in Boston, all sessions will be live streamed, and all sessions will be recorded and made available to participants for online viewing for 60 days after the end of the course.
Not only does the course cover every primary medical content category from the ABIM/AOBIM blueprint, but the time spent on each topic is weighted according to the percentage assigned to each for a typical exam.
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