ABFM recertification exam - how many hours did you actually log studying?
Coming up on my 10-year recertification and trying to calibrate how much study time I actually need. I've been doing my CME regularly and keeping up with AAFP self-study modules, so I'm not starting from zero. But the last time I sat for this exam was my initial boards, and I remember being shocked by how specific some of the pharmacology questions were.
I've got about 14 weeks before my scheduled date and I'm currently doing about 45 minutes to an hour of focused review most mornings before clinic. My practice question scores are running 71-75%, and based on what I've read the passing threshold is around 65-70% depending on the year's version. So I'm in decent shape but not comfortable.
The areas I'm worried about are pediatric and preventive care - those tend to get updated frequently and I'm less exposed to peds in my current practice mix since I see about 85% adults. Geriatrics polypharmacy questions have always been a weak point for me too. The chronic disease management stuff feels solid because I see it every day.
How did others handle topic areas where their clinical exposure is limited? Did you find simulation-based question banks more useful than reading review texts for those areas? And roughly how many total hours did you put in over your prep period?
For the peds gaps - AAFP's family medicine board review course has a solid peds module structured around what actually shows up on the exam rather than comprehensive pediatrics training. That's a more efficient path than a full Harriet Lane review.
71-75% on practice questions at 14 weeks out is solid. Most people I know who failed were in the 60-65% range with 4-5 weeks to go. The geriatrics polypharmacy questions are high-yield so they're worth focused time, but don't let them become a rabbit hole at the expense of other areas.
About 120 hours over 12 weeks for my recert last year. Mostly question-based with targeted reading when I hit patterns of wrong answers. The peds questions in particular respond well to question drilling because the high-yield topics come up repeatedly and you start recognizing them fast.
Clinical exposure gaps are best filled with question banks, not reading. Reading tells you what's true. Questions force you to apply it in context and distinguish between similar presentations - which is what the exam actually tests. I'd do 40 questions a day in your weak areas minimum.