Michael Stephens, MD

If you sat for the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) certification exam and received a failing score, the experience can be discouraging and challenging to process.  Still, it’s important to remember that setbacks are inevitable parts of everyone’s medical career—you’re not alone! In fact, according to ABIM, 13% of first-time test-takers failed the exam read more…

The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Certification Exam is offered once per year over a two-week period of time. The assessment evaluates the ability of test takers to diagnose and manage both common and rare conditions under the broad umbrella of internal medicine. As you begin to prepare for the exam, it’s important to read more…

If you’re a physician or PA-C with an annual allowance to spend on continuing medical education (CME), you should start thinking about how you want to use any balance you have remaining as the end of the year approaches. An important component of working in healthcare is to make sure you are keeping up with read more…

Reaching the point in your medical training when you are ready to take your licensing exams or so-called “boards,” is the culmination of a long but fulfilling journey. These tests are intended to be thorough assessments of new physicians to make sure they are ready to independently care for patients. Preparing for your licensing exam read more…

The American Board of Internal Medicine offers multiple options to complete the assessment component of your Maintenance of Certification (MOC). This includes the traditional MOC exam every 10 years and a new longitudinal knowledge assessment (LKA) that has taken the place of the retired Knowledge Check-In.  Read on to learn more about the new ABIM read more…

Life as an internal medicine resident is busy. Most days are filled with patient responsibilities, and you naturally may want to relax and catch up on chores or errands during the occasional day off. You shouldn’t feel pressure to build even more into this busy schedule, but if you have the time and mental bandwidth, read more…

Every year as residency comes to an end, many decide between doing a fellowship or starting practice as an attending. It’s an individualized decision that hinges on professional goals and personal circumstances. The roles fellows and attendings serve are different in structure and purpose. If you’re approaching a similar decision, here are a few key read more…

Choosing a specialty in medical school isn’t easy. You’re required to make a career-long decision from a series of brief rotations each spanning a couple of weeks to months and then hope you made the right choice. Most of the time, this works out, and your career path becomes everything you wished for. But sometimes—maybe read more…

Fellowship is an exciting next step in your training after residency. Not everyone needs to do a fellowship (and many people don’t), but the advantage of further subspecialty training is the additional expertise that will set you apart from your colleagues. In this article, we’ll explain the different types of fellowships, how to apply to read more…

Starting residency is an exciting time! During this time, some specialties may require you to do a modified intern year before continuing to your “advanced” residency. This specifically applies to applicants going into anesthesiology, dermatology, ophthalmology, neurology, physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R), radiation oncology, radiology including interventional radiology (IR), and in some cases, urology and read more…

Applying to residency is an important and exciting milestone in your medical school journey. It represents the culmination of your educational experience as you start the transition from student to physician and begin the process of securing your dream residency program. You understandably may have questions about how to navigate this process, including how much read more…

Starting residency can be daunting. It’s a transformative experience that will transition you from a medical student to a practicing physician. It will be busy, and at times tiring, but you’ll learn so much and should view this as your opportunity to learn how to be a stellar doctor. Your program leadership—the faculty you work read more…

Residency is a busy time filled with many clinical, professional, and educational responsibilities. Much of the time, it can be a 60-hour or even 80-hour work week without much downtime. With a busy schedule, you may wonder whether you have time to relax and what that might look like. Here’s how vacation during residency works read more…

Medical school is long and expensive, with little (if any) time to earn money. Residency may not come with much more free time, but still, it’s exciting to receive a paycheck for your work rather than pay tuition. Your resident salary, generally adjusted to your cost of living, should cover housing, food, and limited entertainment. read more…