You have been taking high-stakes exams your whole life, and here you are studying for the boards in preparation for the Board Certification or Maintenance of Certification exam, simply as nervous as ever. That's natural! But knowing how to study for the boards and avoiding these 10 mistakes is crucial. After all, failing the exam can have repercussions, and you don't want to have to retake it.

Unfortunately, many learners, at all levels, have misconceptions near learning and do not fix effectively. Virtually of u.s.a. don't know which learning methods are most effective, and nosotros often prepare for exams using inefficient learning strategies.

Mistaken Beliefs About Learning When Studying for Boards

Many people accept a poor understanding nearly what leads to success in learning and remembering knowledge and skills. These beliefs are not harmless; faith in them tin can lead to failure.

1. Believing that beingness good at a bailiwick is a affair of inborn talent rather than difficult work

Have y'all always been strong in sure topics? Exercise you tell yourself that your success is a result of your inborn intelligence and natural skill? Conversely, accept you told yourself y'all're just "bad" at something and no matter what y'all exercise, it will always exist hard for you? Well, this line of idea is hurting your ability to acquire and better your performance. Studies bear witness that people who think that power is innate tend not to piece of work difficult or persevere. In fact, a growth mindset (the belief that intelligence is not fixed and can be developed) is a comparably strong predictor of achievement.

2. Bold that learning is fast

With the limited time you have effectually clinical and personal obligations, it would be nice if learning new things (and reminding yourself of things yous in one case knew by eye) were a quick process. However, if yous desire to empathise the learning textile and retrieve information technology, you lot need to be prepared to spend some time on it — and go back to information technology once more and again.

In one of our interviews with Ulrik Christensen, founder and CEO of Area9 Learning, our adaptive-learning technology partner, nosotros asked, "Does NEJM Knowledge+ enable physicians to spend less fourth dimension preparing for their medical lath review studying for board exams?" He answered:

No, adaptive learning is not magic, and this is a very important thing to understand.

Broadly speaking, people need to report much more than they call up they practice. To a physician who is under pressure because of an upcoming board exam, an adaptive learning system may feel like more than work than a traditional study method because the system will be improve than they are at identifying what they don't know and demand to study more. Merely, if adaptive systems don't make people study harder than they otherwise would, I don't think they would work very well.

3. Thinking that knowledge is equanimous of isolated facts

Weaker learners attempt to memorize items independent of their relationships with interrelated concepts. Reading through a textbook underlining important nuggets may make you lot feel similar y'all're learning, simply looking over those terms afterwards volition not assistance you synthesize information coherently — and will not be useful in retrieving knowledge in the existent world.

Robert Bjork, PhD, a well-known expert on learning and retentiveness, wrote that "it is important to remind ourselves of some of the ways that humans differ from man-made recording devices. We exercise non, for example, shop information in our long-term memories past making any kind of literal recording of that information, but, rather, by relating that new information to what we already know…and the retrieval of stored information is a fallible, probabilistic process that is more inferential and reconstructive than literal."

four. Assertive that multitasking is like shooting fish in a barrel, especially during course or studying

Focusing on two or more tasks at a time is a fact of life, but believing that y'all can practice more than one thing at a fourth dimension effectively is a myth. You may convince yourself y'all have both read up on the contraindications for a new medication and listened to your mom berate y'all for not calling often enough at the same fourth dimension, simply neuroscience studies evidence that your brain was in fact switching dorsum and forth betwixt these two tasks, and you are likely to accept missed of import information in the concurrently. Nancy K. Napier, PhD, in Psychology Today says, "That get-go/finish/start process is rough on us: rather than saving time, it costs time (even very small micro seconds), it's less efficient, we brand more mistakes, and over time information technology can be energy sapping."

Sadly, believing in the multitasking myth has fifty-fifty led to medical errors.

Bad Decisions in Studying for the Boards

The reality is that you lot have a limited amount of time for studying for board exams, so it makes sense to have a program of assault. Don't fall into the following traps, and you'll have a better chance of success when studying for the boards.

5. Relying too much on your instructors to prepare yous

Our brains larn and retain knowledge best under certain conditions: when we need the knowledge at that moment in time and when the new information has context. The majority of learners who are taking courses to prepare for the boards and residents taking their assigned roster of courses assume that if they attend form, listen and have notes, await over the study guides instructors have handed out, and so on, they will be ready. Textbooks, handouts, study guides, and slide decks tin can be a great starting place, simply just being present and reading over the materials is not enough to guarantee that yous will do well on the exam. If you are committed to succeeding, you need to take responsibility for ensuring that you truly understand the material.

half dozen. Non leaving enough fourth dimension to study

It may seem like the all-time strategy for success would be some full-bodied cramming sessions close to exam time, but with the scope of knowledge you need to commit to memory and so large, it is likely you volition underestimate the amount of fourth dimension information technology will take to review all the material. Given that you lot're a busy person, y'all're going to want to hold at least some of that knowledge in your long-term memory, and that means non forgetting what you learned at the beginning of your written report sessions. Repeated studies accept shown that spaced repetition is the most effective method for retaining learning over the long term.

7. Studying in an arbitrary, rather than priority, order

You can't know exactly what's going to be on the exam, merely the boards practice publish blueprints showing what portion of the exam will be on the various topics (e.g., cardiology 14%, primary ethics 2%, etc.) as well every bit (for the Internal Medicine board exam) which tasks (diagnosis vs. treatment) are more than likely to exist tested on for a given topic. So, information technology would be better not to go downwards the list of topics alphabetically when preparing for lath exams merely to use study materials that are proportional to what'south covered on the exam — and to focus your attention on the highest priority items.

eight. Wasting time reinforcing your strengths

Information technology is a common fault to believe y'all know more than y'all do; this mistake arises from ignorance rather than arrogance. Psychologists have shown that one of the main differences between stiff and weak learners is that the latter take poor metacognition. Many learners gravitate toward reviewing and even testing themselves on subjects they already understand rather than delving into topics they are not sure they know very well or at all. For example, NEJM Knowledge+ gives you the option of choosing which subspecialty module y'all want to do offset, and allows you to switch between modules at will. Would yous first with the module you are about comfy in or with a module you know y'all are going to answer almost questions incorrect at starting time? People tend to like doing what they are practiced at; it makes them feel confident and sure of themselves. The problem is, you really need to learn in the areas you are least comfortable with or yous will run out of fourth dimension to tackle the problems that y'all find difficult.

nine. Using passive study strategies

The most common method of studying for the boards is reading, reinforcing your noesis through repeatedly reminding yourself of the information you have to remember. It is likewise the nigh passive method and leads to poor memory retention. Henry Roediger and Jeffrey Karpicke, psychologists at Washington Academy, constitute that, "Relative to testing, repeated studying inflated students' conviction…even though repeated-study subjects actually showed much poorer retentivity on delayed tests." Which brings usa to…

10. Non testing yourself on the fabric

Every bit Roediger and Karpicke wrote in their 2006 research article in Psychological Science, "Testing has a powerful effect on long-term retentivity."

The testing effect is real. Dozens of studies show that you will recall 50% more of learned information by testing yourself than past using the same amount of fourth dimension to written report (for example, i inquiry team institute a score deviation of 67% with testing vs. 45% with studying).
how to study for boards testing versus studying pie charts

The good news is that all of these mistakes are reversible.

Research suggests that if yous learn about the research underlying effective study strategies, you are more likely to carelessness mythmaking, adopt effective approaches, and succeed on your exam than people who have not been exposed to this information.

Now that we've told you some mistakes to avert…

How TO Study for Boards: x Ways to Prepare for Your Board Exam

Now that we've told you some mistakes to avert when studying for the boards, hither are some tips and strategies that are sure to help you conquer this milestone and hopefully ease your feet along the fashion.

i. Discover your learning style

The methods others use won't necessarily be equally effective for you — including those used past members of your study group. Are you a visual or an auditory learner? Finding out which way works all-time for you is something to consider in the early stages of preparing for board exams. If you are a visual learner, endeavour videos (similar NEJM Quick Take). If you are an auditory learner, record lectures and play them back. Adaptive learning works specially well for those looking for a dynamic feel that is based on learning theory and science.

2. Plan to put in the time

As we mentioned above, mastering the material you need to know for the boards will take some fourth dimension — perhaps more than you bargained for. Between all of your obligations, it tin be hard enough to observe the time to get plenty sleep, allow alone put it in an hr or ii of studying every night leading up to the board exam. Before registering for your exam, practise your best to classify study hours over a larger flow of time. Check out this article for ways to fit studying into your schedule. Information technology's best to program months, or even a twelvemonth in accelerate. The last thing you lot want to exercise is resort to cramming.

In a written report washed by Nate Kornell, spaced repetition of the material you're learning proved to be more effective than cramming by twenty%. Implementing spacing allows you to retain more data than cramming with a higher recall charge per unit.

Bonus tip: Try studying during your morning and evening commutes. All of that fourth dimension adds up!

iii. Showtime a report group

Preparing for board exams with your friends is a great style to help address each other'southward weaknesses. You lot may have one area completely covered to the signal where y'all tin be the teacher in that group, withal struggle immensely in another area. Effort to have anybody hold on a ready time to meet. Your discussions will go a long manner.

Speaking of discussions, be sure to check out one of the NEJM Resident 360 discussions, similar How to Ace Your Side by side Standardized Test. Run into all of the advice residents and experts gave!

4. Avert burnout

The last thing you want is to be burned out studying. It can exist extremely beneficial to take study breaks. Research suggests that doing something you enjoy the twenty-four hour period before the test has a more positive upshot than continuing to written report upwardly to the last minute.

5. Do during your breaks

According to this study reviewed by Harvard Health, those who exercise with moderate intensity 30 minutes per day, every day, have improved memory and concentration. If you experience as though you're in a fog, start exercising regularly. You lot may fifty-fifty find, similar Dr. Monique Tello, that you can review your board examination materials at the gym!

6. Have advantage of mobile resources to study for boards

There are numerous apps that tin give yous the tools to create your own flash cards and exams. This study shows that students who utilize online studying tools have higher test scores than students who don't. Reviewing board examination wink cards (or fill up-in-the-bare questions like those in NEJM Knowledge+) on the bus is a lot easier than trying to search through a textbook for a specific review section.

7. Find a improve report environment

Study somewhere that is gratuitous from equally many distractions as possible. If you're reviewing notes — or better still, testing yourself — in forepart of a Television receiver, chances are y'all won't be very productive. Find a tranquility corner in your local library that you lot can rely on for a focused study session.

8. Prioritize challenging subjects

Every bit we noted above, it's tempting to procrastinate on the harder subjects — but you lot don't want to be caught without enough time to main them. Do you know what y'all know and what yous don't know? Knowing which subjects present the biggest challenge to you allows yous to decide how much time you'll dedicate to them versus reviewing what you're more comfortable with.

ix. Get enough sleep!

This study published in Nature shows that irregular sleep straight affects academic performance. Aim for at least vii hours of uninterrupted sleep.

ten. Exam yourself

Testing yourself may just be the best way to study for boards — equally we've noted, studying by reading over your materials and not testing yourself may be the biggest mistake yous can make in preparing for your exam exam. One effective method of assessing your knowledge is to use exercise exams, which simulate the timed surround of the actual lath exam you're taking.

The reason taking practice tests help is that they reinforce your knowledge by asking your encephalon to struggle with recalling the answers and practice tests can foreclose the effects of stress on retentiveness. According to this written report by Smith et al., when participants' studied using practice tests, they experienced fewer of the typical negative effects of stress — such as forgetting the answers.

Beingness prepared for test day means knowing what it feels similar to take the exam under pressure level. For case, NEJM Knowledge+ contains two 60-question practice exams that simulate the bodily timed test. Questions in the exercise exams align with the test blueprint. Calculation this layer of realism to your prep can increase your conviction and help you be more than confident on test solar day.

At that place yous have it—HOW TO STUDY FOR THE BOARDS—10 common mistakes to avoid and 10 tips and strategies that will help you lot to build confidence, maximize your study time, and pass the exam!

Studying for Boards: More Study Tips and Resource from NEJM Knowledge+

  • Lath Review Study Tips
  • Download a complimentary customized learning guide that matches your learning manner.
  • Taking the Internal Medicine Board Test
  • Taking the Family Medicine Board Exam
  • Taking the PANCE/PANRE Exam
  • Taking the Pediatrics Board Exam

Internal Medicine Lath Review from NEJM Knowledge+