{"id":1885,"date":"2025-01-17T05:29:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-17T05:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/?p=1885"},"modified":"2025-02-12T19:29:14","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T19:29:14","slug":"how-to-increase-abfm-certification-exam-100-points","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/blog\/how-to-increase-abfm-certification-exam-100-points\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Increase Your ABFM Family Medicine Certification Exam Score by 100 Points"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-this-article-covers-two-easy-strategies-to-help-increase-your-score-for-the-american-board-of-family-medicine-abfm-family-medicine-certification-exam-or-in-training-exam-ite-while-there-is-no-magic-pill-or-wand-that-will-increase-your-score-these-two-techniques-are-useful-easy-to-implement-and-only-require-a-little-of-your-time\">This article covers two easy strategies to help increase your score for the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theabfm.org\/continue-certification\/exam\/one-day-exam\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Family Medicine Certification Exam<\/a> or In-Training Exam (ITE). While there is no magic pill or wand that will increase your score, these two techniques are useful, easy to implement, and only require a little of your time.<\/h6>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first strategy is to <strong>identify what you don&#8217;t know<\/strong>. Sounds easy, right? The key is to go through a curriculum and identify what you don&#8217;t know\u2014not what you are <em>weak<\/em> at\u2014but what you don&#8217;t know. The second strategy is to <strong>take advantage of human error<\/strong>. Tests are written by humans, and humans make errors from time to time. By paying attention to five types of flaws that question writers make, you can narrow down an answer choice to either the correct answer or a 50\/50 probability, even without knowing anything about the topic. By combining these two strategies, you&#8217;ll be able to increase your Family Medicine Certification Exam score by 100 points, which could be the difference between <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theabfm.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/2023-Exam-Pass-Rates.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">passing<\/a> or failing. Let&#8217;s get started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-strategy-1-determining-your-unknown-unknowns\">Strategy 1: Determining your unknown unknowns<\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As you begin to study for your exam, you&#8217;ll find that there are areas you are comfortable with. Maybe you have a special interest in endocrinology and feel confident with any question that might be asked on arginine-vasopressin disorder (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/Image-Arginine-Vasopressin-Disorders-Diabetes-Insipidus-DI-@8x.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">diabetes insipidus<\/a>). Because you are confident in endocrinology, you spend less time reviewing it. This is one of your <em><strong>known knowns<\/strong><\/em>. There is little utility in spending too much time on your known knowns when preparing for your exam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During medical training, my understanding of liver disease was poor. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/EDSU_LBz.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Hepatic encephalopathy<\/a> was just a term to me. I did not understand how or why it occurred, and I had a poor grasp on managing the condition. Liver disease was a <strong><em>known unknown<\/em><\/strong>. Because I recognized this specific deficiency, I was able to target my learning to diseases of the liver.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once I started to focus my learning, I came across many concepts and ideas that I knew nothing about&#8230;never even heard about some of them. These were the <em><strong>unknown unknowns<\/strong><\/em>, a concept created by psychologists Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham. It is part of their \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.communicationtheory.org\/the-johari-window-model\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Johari window<\/a>,\u201d a tool that helps users identify blind spots about themselves and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Known unknowns<\/em><\/strong> are things you\u2019re aware that you don\u2019t know\u2014you can recognize that you don\u2019t understand them. <strong><em>Unknown unknowns<\/em><\/strong>, however, are unexpected because you don\u2019t know they exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The way to supercharge your ITE or Family Medicine Certification Exam score is to identify your <em><strong>unknown<\/strong> <strong>unknowns<\/strong><\/em>. It takes a little effort, but the steps are rather easy. All you need are two things:<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"363\" height=\"101\" src=\"https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Notebook-and-Time-1.png\" alt=\"Notebook and time\" class=\"wp-image-6196\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/Notebook-and-Time-1.png 363w, https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/Notebook-and-Time-1-300x83.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 363px) 100vw, 363px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The system works like this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Step 1:<\/strong> Answer a <strong>question from a question bank<\/strong>. If you get the answer wrong, read the explanation. Then write down in your notebook the part of the explanation that describes why the correct answer is correct. This process helps to identify your <em><strong>unknown unknowns<\/strong><\/em>. Subsequently, if there is any other information that you did not know or somewhat knew, record it as well in your notebook under the same topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>You should do this for every question you get incorrect<\/strong>. I also encourage it for questions you may have answered correctly but discovered new information in the explanation that you previously did not know.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Step 2:<\/strong> Start each study session by <strong>reviewing your notebook<\/strong> that contains your unknown unknowns. As you do more questions, you will get questions wrong on topics already recorded in your notebook. For example, if you answer a question incorrectly on <em>which age group most commonly gets de Quervain tendinopathy<\/em>, you&#8217;ll record in your notebook something like &#8220;<span>de Quervain Tendinopathy: Epidemiology includes&nbsp;<\/span>women between 30\u201350 yrs old and postpartum.&#8221; Two weeks later, if you can&#8217;t name the <em>diagnostic test characterized by thumb flexion and ulnar deviation of the wrist<\/em>, you should go back through your notebook to find your first entry on &#8220;<span>de Quervain tendinopathy&#8221; and add the &#8220;Finkelstein test&#8221; as the way to diagnose the condition. While we are on the topic, here is a cheat sheet for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/ix5Vf5n1.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">de Quervain tendinopathy<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After a month or two of recording your incorrect answer explanations, you will have a filled notebook of your <em><strong>unknown unknowns<\/strong><\/em> and maybe many of your <em><strong>known unknowns<\/strong><\/em>. If you do this on a consistent basis and get through 1,000 to 2,000 question bank questions for a 300-question standardized exam, you&#8217;ll identify most of your blind spots that questions can be asked about. <strong>You will convert your <em>unknown unknowns<\/em> to <em>known knowns<\/em><\/strong>.<strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here is how your notebook might look:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/image1-1024x768-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13823\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/image1-1024x768-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/image1-1024x768-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/image1-1024x768-1-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I use the same system and process to prepare for all standardized exams. You can even use it to learn <a href=\"https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/blog\/how-i-learned-to-read-ekgs-better-than-a-cardiologist-and-the-best-ekg-books-in-medicine\/\">how to read EKGs&nbsp;better than a cardiologist.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"629\" height=\"443\" src=\"https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Study-schedule-1.png\" alt=\"Study schedule\" class=\"wp-image-6197\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/Study-schedule-1.png 629w, https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/Study-schedule-1-300x211.png 300w, https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/Study-schedule-1-600x423.png 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 629px) 100vw, 629px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/fm\/\">Family Medicine Board Certification Exam<\/a> around the corner, now is the perfect time to begin this system. It leaves time for adjustment and plenty of time to accumulate your <em><strong>unknown unknowns<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-strategy-2-taking-advantage-of-human-error\">Strategy 2: Taking advantage of human error<\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Earlier in this post, I mentioned you&#8217;ll need two things to<span>&nbsp;supercharge your standardized exam score: a notebook and time. The notebook you can buy anytime. However, time disappears. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Taking the time to identify your unknown unknowns will prepare you for the exam. However, we know <strong>five ways<\/strong> you can improve your score simply by showing up to your exam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>You can use the errors made by question writers to boost your score.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-anatomy-of-a-question\">The Anatomy of a Question<\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">First, let&#8217;s understand the anatomy of a question.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"492\" height=\"356\" src=\"https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/anatomy-of-a-question@2x-1.png\" alt=\"Question, stem, lead in\" class=\"wp-image-6776\" style=\"width:246px;height:178px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/anatomy-of-a-question@2x-1.png 492w, https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/anatomy-of-a-question@2x-1-300x217.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 492px) 100vw, 492px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<p><span class=\"statement-blue2 charcoal\"><span style=\"color: #1175c0;\"><strong>Question<\/strong><\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #1991eb;\">A 67-year-old woman who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer presents with increasing confusion over the past three days. Additionally, over the past week she has been complaining of fatigue, diffuse body aches, poorly localized abdominal pain, and constipation.&nbsp;<\/span><\/span><span><\/span><span class=\"statement-green2 charcoal\" style=\"color: #48952c;\">Which of the following electrolyte abnormalities is the most likely explanation for her symptoms?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A question is made up of the stem and the lead-in. The <strong>stem<\/strong> contains the details of the question such as the clinical presentation, past medical history, and laboratory results. But, the critical part of the question is the lead-in. The question writer uses the lead-in to find out what you know or don&#8217;t know about the topic in the stem, and it is also where question writers make errors. By applying basic grammatical analysis, you will be able to identify the correct answer or at least narrow down the answer choices without knowing anything about the topic. Here are our first two tips:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Pay attention to <strong>grammatical cues<\/strong>:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n<p><span style=\"color: #f6222a\"><strong data-rich-text-format-boundary=\"true\">Grammatical cues<\/strong>:<\/span>&nbsp;one or more answer choices&nbsp;<span style=\"color: #f6222a\">(distractors)<\/span>&nbsp;don\u2019t follow grammatically from the&nbsp;<span style=\"color: #48952c\">lead-in<\/span>.<br data-rich-text-line-break=\"true\"><br data-rich-text-line-break=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #1991eb\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A 25-year-old woman presents to your clinic with concerns about sexually transmitted infections. She reports that she had unprotected intercourse with multiple partners. She is asymptomatic, but her last partner told her that he recently tested positive for chlamydia.<\/span> <\/span><span style=\"color: #48952c\">The most appropriate next step is administration of which of the following?<\/span><br data-rich-text-line-break=\"true\"><br \/>A. Azithromycin<br data-rich-text-line-break=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #f6222a\">B. Obtaining a urine sample<\/span><br data-rich-text-line-break=\"true\">C. Penicillin<br data-rich-text-line-break=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #f6222a\">D. Vaginal swabbing<\/span><br data-rich-text-line-break=\"true\"><br data-rich-text-line-break=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #f6222a\">B and D do not follow grammatically from the lead-in. A good test taker can eliminate these.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">2. Focus on <strong>logical cues<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n<p><span style=\"color: #f6222a\"><strong>Logical cues<\/strong>:<\/span><span>&nbsp;one or more answer choices don\u2019t logically fit in with the other choices.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #1991eb\">A 22-year-old man is concerned he has appendicitis.<\/span> <span style=\"color: #48952c\">Which of the following signs is most sensitive for the diagnosis of appendicitis?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #f6222a\">A. Nausea<\/span><br \/>B. Pain with extension of the hip joint<br \/>C. Rebound tenderness<br \/>D. Right lower quadrant tenderness<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #f6222a\">Nausea is not a &#8220;sign&#8221; and can be eliminated by a good test taker.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Let&#8217;s now focus on answer choices to identify a few more areas where we can gain an edge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-anatomy-of-answer-choices\">The Anatomy of Answer Choices<\/h6>\n\n\n<p><strong data-rich-text-format-boundary=\"true\">QUESTION<\/strong><span>: A 67-year-old woman who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer presents with increasing confusion over the past three days. Additionally, over the past week she has been complaining of fatigue, diffuse body aches, poorly localized abdominal pain, and constipation.&nbsp;<strong>Which of the following electrolyte abnormalities is the most likely explanation for her symptoms?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #48952c\">A. Hypercalcemia<\/span><br data-rich-text-line-break=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #f6222a\">B. Hyperkalemia<\/span><br data-rich-text-line-break=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #f6222a\">C. Hypocalcemia<\/span><br data-rich-text-line-break=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #f6222a\">D. Hypokalemia<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-6814\" src=\"https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/AGACNP-Correct-vs-Distractors@2x.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"210\" height=\"74\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/AGACNP-Correct-vs-Distractors@2x.png 420w, https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/AGACNP-Correct-vs-Distractors@2x-300x106.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 210px) 100vw, 210px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The lead-in asks about the most likely explanation, so think carefully through each answer option. Here are the distractors:<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"605\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/agacnp_anatomy-of-answer-choices_2x-605x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6744\" style=\"width:345px;height:584px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/agacnp_anatomy-of-answer-choices_2x-605x1024.png 605w, https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/agacnp_anatomy-of-answer-choices_2x-177x300.png 177w, https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/agacnp_anatomy-of-answer-choices_2x-600x1016.png 600w, https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/agacnp_anatomy-of-answer-choices_2x.png 690w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 605px) 100vw, 605px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once you understand the goal of the question writer to create answer choices that are supposed to discriminate knowledge, it is easier to exploit technical flaws and improve the odds of getting a question correct. The following three pointers round out our five tips that can help you answer a question correctly:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">3. Look for answer choices containing <strong>absolute terms<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n<p><span style=\"color: #f6222a\"><strong>Absolute terms<\/strong><\/span>:<span>&nbsp;terms such as&nbsp;<\/span><span style=\"color: #f6222a\">\u201calways\u201d<\/span><span>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<\/span><span style=\"color: #f6222a\">\u201cnever.\u201d<\/span><span> When used in the answer options, these terms usually indicate an incorrect answer because they cannot hold up to scrutiny in all situations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>In patients with advanced Alzheimer disease, which of the following best characterizes the memory defect?<\/p>\n<p>A. Can be treated adequately with phosphatidylcholine<br \/>B. Could be a sequela of early parkinsonism<br \/><span style=\"color: #f6222a\">C. Is always severe<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #f6222a\">D. Is never seen in patients with neurofibrillary tangles at autopsy<\/span><\/p>\n<p>C and D contain absolute terms &#8220;always&#8221; and &#8220;never.&#8221; These should be avoided in answer choices because they are less likely to be true statements.<\/p>\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">4. Keep an eye out for a <strong>long correct answer<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n<p><span style=\"color: #f6222a\"><strong>Long correct answer<\/strong><\/span>: the correct answer is longer, more specific, or more complete than the other options.<\/p>\n<p>Secondary gain is which of the following?<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #48952c\">A.<\/span> <span style=\"color: #48952c\">A complication of a variety of illnesses and tends to prolong many of them<\/span><br \/>B. A frequent problem in obsessive-compulsive disorder<br \/>C. Commonly seen in organic brain damage<br \/>D. Synonymous with malingering<\/p>\n<p>Option A is longer than the other options, and it is also the only double option. Item writers tend to pay more attention to the correct answer than to the distractors and write long correct answers that include additional instructional material, parenthetical information, and caveats.<\/p>\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">5. Notice when a <strong>word repeats<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n<p><span style=\"color: #f6222a\"><strong>Word repeats<\/strong>:<\/span> a word or phrase is included in the stem and in the correct answer.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A 13-year-old obese boy presents with a progressive left-sided limp over the past three weeks. The patient states that he has pain in his knee. On exam, you elicit pain on internal rotation of the hip. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Plain radiographs show a left hip joint abnormality \u201clike ice cream <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;color: #48952c\">slipping<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> off a cone.\u201d<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Which of the following is the most likely diagnosis?<\/span><\/p>\n<p>A. <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Greater trochanteric bursitis<\/span><br \/>B. <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Legg-Calv\u00e9-Perthes disease<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #48952c\">C. Slipped capital femoral epiphysis<\/span><br \/>D. Transient synovitis<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This question uses the term \u201cslipping\u201d in the question stem, and \u201cslipped capital femoral epiphysis\u201d is the correct answer.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whether you are taking your Family Medicine Certification Exam or ITE, there is so much at stake. Taking the time to identify your unknown unknowns will not only help you prepare for and excel on your exam, it will help you expand your core knowledge. Then, on test day, use the five simple techniques to identify common flaws in questions which will increase your chances of getting a question correct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span>Give these methods a try and let me know how it goes. Moreover, I&#8217;d love to hear about techniques you use that I did not write about.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span>And if you are&nbsp;looking for a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.roshreview.com\/fm\/certification-exam\/\">family medicine board review Qbank<\/a>&#8230;you know where to find one. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Best,<br>Jennifer Conroy, MD&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This article is going to show two very easy ways to help increase your ABFM Certification score by 100 points. We already know that pass rates for the ABFM exam hover around 90% for all test-takers. And we know that superior test-taking skills alone are not sufficient to pass the exam.\u00a0While there is no magic pill or wand to achieve this, these two techniques are the most useful, easy to implement and only requires a little of your time. This means anyone can take advantage of them. The first tactic is to use a system over a couple of months to identify what you don&#8217;t know. Sounds easy, right? The key is to go through a curriculum and identify what you don&#8217;t know &#8211; not what you are weak at &#8211; but what you don&#8217;t know. The second strategy is to take advantage of human error. Tests are written by humans, of course, and humans make errors. This article will show you 5 very easy techniques to narrow down an answer choice to either the correct answer or to a 50\/50 probability &#8211; even without knowing anything about the topic. By combining these two strategies, you&#8217;ll be able to increase your ABFM certification score by 100 points &#8211; which could be the difference between passing or failing. Let&#8217;s get started.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":10483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1996,2027,2002],"tags":[2048,2642,2953,3589,3634,3708],"coauthors":[3849],"class_list":["post-1885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogtype","category-family-medicine","category-study-strategies","tag-abfm","tag-family-medicine-exam","tag-learning-system","tag-study-method","tag-test-taking-techniques","tag-unknown-unknowns"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.4 (Yoast SEO v28.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How to Increase Your Family Medicine Certification Exam Score By 100 Points | RoshReview.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"These two easy strategies will help increase your Family Medicine Certification Exam score by 100 points. 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