Targeting your “unknown unknowns” is one of our favorite study tips for both the ABEM in-training exam and the initial certification exam. Here’s how you do it:
- Answer a practice question from a Qbank
- If you answer incorrectly, read the explanation
- Take notes about why the correct answer is correct, and make sure to take notes on anything in the explanation that you didn’t already know
If you do this for every question you answer incorrectly, and if you regularly review your notes and add information to topics as you do more questions, you’ll eventually determine your unknown unknowns. In return, you’ll uncover most of your blind spots that questions on the exam can ask about.
Read more about this strategy (plus tips for what to pay attention to on test day) in How to Increase Your Emergency Medicine Exam Score.