Boards / ITE Study Plan

APD/advisor meetings. Meet initially with PD/APD to develop a study plan for next year’s ITE. Then check-in monthly with clinic advisor to report progress on study plan.

ITE exam review. Review the ITE exam questions and answers to identify areas needing improvement.

Independent reading/learning. Do twice monthly reading/learning about topics related to primary care. Resources to use can include:

1. American Family Physician journal. Read the twice monthly American Family Physician journal and complete the AFP CME quizzes.

2. Other journals/podcasts. If you learn better with podcasts, consider podcasts like Curbsiders, Cribsiders, Primary Care RAP, etc.

Board review questions.

1. AAFP board review questions. Do 30 AAFP board review questions weekly. These should be completed while on outpatient rotations and the quantity can be adapted while on inpatient rotations.

2. ABFM CKSA questions. Do the 25 ABFM questions on the ABFM CKSA app quarterly.

Take and review high yield notes. One of the best ways to learn from reading and from doing questions is to take high yield notes on things you learned and then review these notes on a regular (weekly) basis to quiz yourself and solidify the material. You should take notes while reviewing answers to board review questions and while reading articles/listening to podcasts. It is very important to focus on learning/reviewing material that you do not know rather than spending time reviewing information you know. Taking high yield notes helps you learn material that you do not know.

APD/advisor meetings. Meet initially with PD/APD to develop a study plan for next year’s ITE and do a 1-2 month check-in meeting. Additionally, you should check-in or meet monthly with your clinic advisor to report on your study plan progress and ask any questions.  

ITE exam review. Review the ITE exam questions and answers to identify areas needing improvement.

Independent reading/learning. Do twice monthly reading/learning about topics related to primary care. Resources to use can include:

1. American Family Physician journal. Read the twice monthly American Family Physician journal and complete the AFP CME quizzes.

2. Other journals/podcasts. If you learn better with podcasts, consider podcasts like Curbsiders, Cribsiders, Primary Care RAP, etc.

Board review questions.

1. AAFP board review questions. Do 30 AAFP board review questions weekly. These should be completed while on outpatient rotations and the quantity can be adapted while on inpatient rotations.

2. ABFM CKSA questions. Do the 25 ABFM questions on the ABFM CKSA app quarterly.

Practice ITE exam. Take one or more practice ITE exams before the ITE exam your R3 year. This will be proctored by the residency staff and timed and should be completed in the spring or summer before your R3 ITE exam.

Complete the AAFP boards self-study review course. This is available through our program and consists of 48 modules and should be completed before your next ITE.

Boards study elective. If having carved out study time-either in longitudinal form or in a 1-2 week elective, would help, the residency staff can help to arrange this for you.

Take and review high yield notes. One of the best ways to learn from reading and from doing questions is to take high yield notes on things you learned and then review these notes on a regular (weekly) basis to quiz yourself and solidify the material. You should take notes while reviewing answers to board review questions and while reading articles/listening to podcasts. It is very important to focus on learning/reviewing material that you do not know rather than spending time reviewing information you know. Taking high yield notes helps you learn material that you do not know.

APD/advisor meetings. Meet initially with PD/APD to develop a study plan for next year’s ITE and do a 1-2 month check-in meeting. Additionally, you should check-in or meet monthly with your clinic advisor to report on your study plan progress and ask any questions. 

ITE exam review. Review the ITE exam questions and answers results to identify areas needing improvement.

Independent reading/learning. Do twice monthly reading/learning about topics related to primary care. Resources to use can include:

1. American Family Physician journal. Read the twice monthly American Family Physician journal and complete the AFP CME quizzes.

2. Other journals/podcasts. If you learn better with podcasts, consider podcasts like Curbsiders, Cribsiders, Primary Care RAP, etc.

Board review questions. R3s should aim to do 1000+ practice questions before their board exam.

1. AAFP board review questions. Do 50 AAFP board review questions weekly. These should be completed while on outpatient rotations and the quantity can be adapted while on inpatient rotations.

2. ABFM CKSA questions. Do the 25 ABFM questions on the ABFM CKSA app quarterly.

3. The NEJM Knowledge+ course is available for purchase and includes additional practice questions.

Practice exams. Take one or more practice board/ITE exams (old ITE exam is ok) before your board exam. This will be proctored by the residency staff and timed. If your probability of not passing is still >10% with your first practice exam, you should take a 2nd practice exam.

Board review course. Complete a board review course. This can be either the AAFP independent study course, the ACOFP study course, or a virtual or live boards review course. Please see details about boards review courses below.

Boards study elective. You should do either a longitudinal study elective or 1-4 weeks of a boards study elective to have carved out time to study for boards. During this time you can do the boards review course, practice questions, etc. The residency staff will help to coordinate the elective. Additionally, in the month leading up to the test, you can have excused absences from afternoon seminars to study if helpful. Please let the PD/APD know if you plan to miss seminars to study so we can excuse you from seminars.

Take and review high yield notes. One of the best ways to learn from reading and from doing questions is to take high yield notes on things you learned and then review these notes on a regular (weekly) basis to quiz yourself and solidify the material. You should take notes while reviewing answers to board review questions and while reading articles/listening to podcasts. It is very important to focus on learning/reviewing material that you do not know rather than spending time reviewing information you know. Taking high yield notes helps you learn the material that you do not know.