The American Board of Preventive Medicine is the certification body for physicians who study the health of individuals and select populations. The board offers a national certification exam every year for physicians who wish to demonstrate competence in preventive medicine. Divided into two parts, the exam questions feature clinical cases, administrative problems, epidemiological situations and definitions encompassing biostatistics, legal and regulatory systems, aerospace medicine, occupational health and public health. The board recommends careful preparation months in advance for the six-hour, 300-question test.
Instructions
1. Take a board review course. Professional organizations for preventive medicine physicians offer conferences throughout the year to help prepare for the board exam. The American College of Preventive Medicine and the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine host multiday board review courses, where expert physicians lead course attendees through practice exams, exam content outlines and review exercises. Although fees for these courses vary based on the location, length of the course and host organization, you can expect to pay between $750 and $1,000, as of October 2010. Fees include all course materials, including study guides.
2. Use the board's study guide and outlines to prepare. Some candidates for the board exam prefer to prepare on their own with study guides. The American Board of Preventive Medicine publishes a detailed exam study guide, which provides sample questions, content outlines, lists of scientific journals test takers should read and textbooks that writers use to create the exam. The board also provides a breakdown of the distribution of test items, noting how much emphasis test takers should place on specific topics. The board's study guide is free and downloadable from its website.
3. Try the board's exam tutorial and demonstration exam. Test takers can prepare for the board exam by downloading the American Board of Preventive Medicine's tutorial and sample exam from its website. The board's tutorial helps test takers who are not familiar with computer-based exams get a feel for the pace of the exam, and the demonstration exam lets you take a sample test on your computer to identify areas where you need further study.
Tags: board exam, Board Preventive, Board Preventive Medicine, American Board, American Board Preventive, Preventive Medicine, study guide
