2015 Internal Medicine Board Review Courses

This was originally posted at:http://knowmedge.com/blog/internal-medicine-board-review-courses-2015/

Internal Medicine Board Review Courses

Internal Medicine Board Review Courses 

Are you studying for the ABIM Internal Medicine Board Exam? We’ve touched upon our suggestions for studying for the ABIM exam including a brief overview of the independent internal medicine board review courses. 

There are a lot of internal medicine board review course options. We’ll cover the ones we’re aware of here. If you know of one we’ve missed, please post a comment or send us a note at support@knowmedge.com. 

Independent Internal Medicine Board Review Courses 

iMedicine Review 

iMedicine Review – Shahid Babar

iMedicine Review – Shahid Babar 

Website: www.imedicinereview.com 
Taught by: Shahid Babar, MD FACP FHM 
Overview: Dr. Babar has been conducting Internal medicine board review courses at various academic centers since 2007. He founded iMedicine Review in 2010 and in addition to continuing his live courses, he created educational apps for residents and physicians preparing for ABIM Internal medicine board exam. His courses are 3 ½ days long and take place in various cities around the country. 
Locations / Dates: Dr. Shahid Babar’s will be teaching his iMedicine Review course at five different locations in 2014. 

PinnacleHealth Hospital Program 
Harrisburg, PA 
May 21, 22, 23, & 24, 2015 (Thursday – Sunday) 

The George Washington University 
Washington, DC 
May 28, 29, 30 & 31, 2015 (Thursday – Sunday) 

University of Connecticut 
Farmington, CT 
June 11, 12, 13 & 14, 2014 (Thursday – Sunday) 
Marriott Teaneck at Glenpointe 

New York, NY 
June 18, 19, 20 & 21, 2015 (Thursday – Sunday) 
Hilton Meadowlands 
New York, NY 
July 9, 10, 11 & 12, 2015 (Thursday – Sunday) 

Cost 
The cost of the iMedicine Review course varies depending on a few factors:

• Physicians – $695.00
• Residents – $595.00
• Groups of 2 or more – $545.00
• Chief Residents – $245.00

In addition, if you have subscribed to the Knowmedge Internal Medicine Question Bank, you are eligible for the Chief Residents rate! Please email us at support@knowmedge.comto learn how you can get the discounted rate. 

Contact You can contact iMedicine Review through the website or directly by emailinginfo@imedicinereview.com. 

Note: Dr. Shahid Babar is an advisor to Knowmedge . 

Awesome Review 

Awesome Review – Habeeb Rahman

Awesome Review – Habeeb Rahman 
Website: www.tutormd.com 
Taught by: Habeeb Rahman, MD 
Overview: This Internal Medicine Board Review course taught by Dr. Habeeb Rahman is a popular option for residents. While more expensive than some of the other review courses, the high-yield animations and notes presented by Dr. Rahman make this a worthwhile experience for many who take his Awesome Review course. 
Locations / Dates: Dr. Habeeb Rahman will be teaching his Awesome Review course at ten different locations in 2015. 

Maimonides Medical Center 
Brooklyn, NY 
January 21 – March 4 (Weekday nights) 

North Shore University Hospital 
Manhasset, NY 
February 7 – February 22 (Saturday and Sunday) 

Empire Meadowlands 
Secaucus, NJ 
March 6 – March 15 (Weekday nights) 

Hilton Chicago 
Chicago, IL 
March 20 – 22 and March 27 – 29 (Weekends) 

New York Hospital of Queens 
Flushing, NY 
April 11 – April 26 (Weekends) 

Crowne Plaza Phoenix Airport 
Phoenix, AZ 
May 8 – 10 & May 15 – 17, 2015 (Weekends) 

Empire Meadowlands 
East Rutherford, NJ 
June 1 – June 6 (Sun – Fri) 

Holiday Inn 
Los Angeles, CA 
July 12 – July 17 (Sun – Fri) 

Empire Meadowlands Hotel 
Secaucus, NJ 
Sep 6 – Sept 11 (Sun – Fri) 

Empire Meadowlands Hotel 
Secaucus, NJ 
Sep 6 – Sept 11 (Sun – Fri) 

Cost 
The cost of the Aweome Review course varies depending on the size of the group:

• Group of less than 10 people: $1,095.00
• 10 or more people: $1,045.00

Contact: 
You can contact Awesome Review through the website or directly by emailinginfo@awesomereview.com or by calling 201-905-0102 or 201-888-1002. 

Unique Review Course

Unique Course – Satish Dhalla

Unique Course – Satish Dhalla 
Website: www.uniquecourse.com 
Taught by: Satish Dhalla, MD FACP 
Overview: Of the three Internal Medicine Board Review independent courses, this is the oldest. Dr. Dhalla has been director of the Unique Course Board Review since 1995. 
Locations / Dates: Dr. Satish Dhalla will be teaching his Unique Course twice in 2014. Double Tree Hilton Fort Lee, NJ June 22 – June 27 (Monday – Saturday) Double Tree Hilton Fort Lee, NJ July 13 – July 18 (Monday – Saturday)   Cost The cost of the Unique Course is $1,095.00. 

Other Internal Medicine Board Review Courses 
There are a lot of other Internal Medicine Board Review courses. We’ll go through the ones we’re aware of here: 

Mayo Clinic Internal Medicine Board Review

• Website: Mayo Clinic Internal Medicine Board Review (IMBR)
• Dates: June 1 – June 4
• Location: Rochester, MN
• Cost: $999 – $1,099

  
Cleveland Clinic Internal Medicine Board Review

• Website: Annual Intensive Review of Internal Medicine
• Dates: June 1 – June 6
• Location: Cleveland, OH
• Cost: $1,015 – $1,390

  
American College of Physicians (ACP)

• Website: Internal Medicine Board Review (IMBR) Courses
• Dates: May 27 – 31, May 31 – Jun 5, Jun 18 – 21, Jul 13 – 17, Jul 21 – 25
• Locations: Florham Park (NJ), Chicago, San Antonio, Washington DC, Seattle
• Cost: $965 – $1,245

  
Columbia University Internal Medicine Board Review

• Website: Intensive Review of Internal Medicine
• Dates: June 14^th – June 19^th
• Locations: New York, NY
• Cost: $400 – $1,100

  
GoFrontRunners

• Website: Internal Medicine Board Review
• Dates: August 1 – August 2
• Locations: Laguna Hills, CA
• Cost: $575 (2014 price)

  
MedStudy Board Review

• Website: ABIM Certification Board Review Course
• Dates: May 22 – May 30
• Locations: Dallas, TX
• Cost: $1,245 – $1,545

  
American Physician Institute for Advanced Professional Studies (The Pass Machine)

• Website: Internal Medicine Review Course
• Dates: March 21 – March 23 / June 13 – June 15 / August 15 – August 17
• Locations: Chicago, IL
• Cost: $1,297

  
If you know any internal medicine board review courses we have missed, please let us know.   If you have used an internal medicine live course to study, please share your feedback with us in the comments section. We all benefit from learning about the various internal medicine board review courses that are offered.  

The Medical Diagnoses NYT Columnist David Carr Faced In Life

Not just budding journalists; writer’s life offers lessons to medical students and residents too

A rumble spread through the media world last Thursday when, just hours after moderating a panel for The New York Times, the veteran journalist David Carr collapsed on the newsroom floor. He was rushed to St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital, where was pronounced dead. An entire Sunday edition of the newspaper could be printed exclusively of all the tributes paid to Carr on social media, television, message boards, etc.

In the days following, I’ve read about the wealth of life experiences spanning his darkest days full of violence, drugs, and alcohol through his addiction recovery attempts and finally to his rise as an authoritative journalist. Along the way, I was struck by how many medical problems Carr unfortunately suffered from beyond crack cocaine, which seems to be what every media outlet highlights.

Cocaine Use

In his 2008 memoir “Night of the Gun”, Carr with tremendous candor shares with his readers his fight against lymphoma, his bout of necrotizing pancreatitis, the knee surgery to remove his right meniscus, and his family history of lung cancer. I thought to myself, as Carr himself would say, “Someone should write a story about this.” 

In the book, he accurately describes Hodgkin lymphoma as “a good cancer if it is your turn”. He stated at the time of his diagnosis that it is “curable if found in its early stages”, which is true. But since his diagnosis the malignancy is now highly curable no matter at what stage it presents. Most individuals usually present with a painless enlarged lymph node or the presence of a mediastinal mass on imaging in relatively young adults. 30% of patients have “B symptoms” which include fevers, night sweats, and weight loss. 

Hodgkin Lymphoma

Carr’s diagnosis of lymphoma was somewhat unique, like just about everything about him. He had been recovering from a right knee accident on an icy outdoor staircase that required surgical removal of the meniscus. 

Meniscal Tear

A few weeks of wearing crutches to avoid placing pressure on the right knee led to what Carr initially thought was hypertrophy of his neck muscles on the weight-bearing left side. The following morning though in the timespan of just hours, he noticed that the left half of his neck was even bigger than the night before. As he candidly wrote in his memoir, “Lemme see, uncontrolled growth right over my lymph nodes. I think I got a little touch of cancer here.” Carr underwent a neck biopsy and a bone marrow biopsy that confirmed the disease and he started undergoing treatment. 

Hodgkin lymphoma treatment is as follows:

• Localized disease treatment entails radiation therapy (with or without chemotherapy)
• Advanced disease treatment entails combination chemotherapy (6 cycles of ABVD: Adriamycin, Bleomycin, Vinblastine, Dacarbazine)

In general, Hodgkin lymphoma treatment is easier to remember than Non-Hodgkin lymphoma in which histology plays a crucial role. There is one notable exception to this general rule: For patients with CD20 positive Hodgkin lymphoma, Rituximab is added to the treatment plan. 

Despite the large size of his lymphoma, Carr was diagnosed with localized disease. The rounds of radiation therapy Carr underwent resulted in dropped head syndrome, a relatively rare complication: “My neck is chronically bent…because of the nerves and muscles that hold it loft are compromised, shot out by all the radiation I absorbed so many years ago,” he wrote in Night of the Gun. 

Patients who undergo treatment of Hodgkin lymphoma are at risk of developing late secondary malignancies which include Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), leukemia, or solid tumors; at the time of his death, Carr had lung cancer, also the same disease that took his mother’s life. 

Specifically, the autopsy report listed small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma and its complications as a cause of death.

Paraneoplastic Syndromes in Lung Cancer

Other after-effects of Hodgkin treatment include heart disease, which was also cited as being present on autopsy performed this weekend due to the suddenness of his death. Carr had enough risk factors—such as cigarette smoking and cocaine use—that the radiation he endured was not the lone culprit but it likely contributed. 

In addition to lymphoma, he was diagnosed with necrotizing pancreatitis in 1999, sending him to the hospital for 16 days including the ICU for 4 days. With incomplete resolution of the pancreatitis, he endured further complications including a pancreatic cyst and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (usually seen in the most severe cases).

Pancreatitis Complications (click for enlarged image)

Carr’s passion for mentoring young minds has been well-documented. But, even he would be surprised to read that those students and residents preparing for a career in medicine would extract some take-home points from his life experiences. RIP, David Carr.

Originally posted at http://knowmedge.com/blog/david-carr-nytimes-cocaine-hodgkins-meniscal-tear-pancreatitis/

Internal Medicine Question Bank Giveaway Contest!

Hello everyone!

My name is Nick Mephis. As the winner of the last Knowmedge challenge, I’ll be running the upcoming Facebook challenge and am pumped up to get started testing some High-Yield and key Internal Medicine concepts that YOU WILL see on your Boards. Having won a 3-month subscription to Knowmedge’s IM Qbank last year and gone through all 900+ Qs, I can be sure you guys/gals are going to enjoy learning and competing with your colleagues the coming weeks.

We’re excited to kick off another Knowmedge Internal Medicine Question Challenge for all our Facebook followers starting on Monday, February 16^th!

Here’s how it works:

• Each day, between 6am – 9am EST, we’ll post a medical question on the Knowmedge Facebook page
• Submit your answer in the comments section and earn points for each question
  • 4 Points: Awarded to the first person who answers the question correctly
  • 3 Points: Awarded to all participants who answer the question correctly
  • 1 Point: Awarded to all participants who answer the question incorrectly
  • 1 BONUS POINT: Awarded to all participants who “Share” the question with their facebook friends and help us spread medical knowledge! *
  • 1 BONUS POINT: Awarded to all participants who “Like” the question
• We’ll add up the points each night at midnight EST and publish a weekly leaderboard Sunday night EST identifying the week’s top scorers
• At the end of the month, the participant with the highest overall point total will receive a free 3-month Knowmedge subscription and bragging rights!

If you’re not already a fan on Facebook, simply like us and join in the challenge!

*Please be sure to set your Facebook privacy settings to allow others to see your shares so we can award the Share points accordingly*

ABIM admits it screwed up on MOC requirements

It’s not every day you get an email from the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) with the subject line: “We got it wrong. We’re sorry.” Yet, that’s precisely the email heading that greeted thousands of ABIM diplomats in their in-boxes yesterday.



The email (which can be found in its entirety below) opens with an acknowledgement that the ABIM prematurely launched the new MOC requirements that shifted the once-every-10-years certification process to a more continuous one without a consideration of how it would be practically implemented.

I was present at a widely attended MOC talk last April at the American College of Physicians (ACP) convention in Orlando, Florida. The hour-long-session was standing room only by the time I walked in and I arrived 10 minutes early. It was moderated by Dr. Richard Baron, president and chief executive officer of the ABIM. Physicians were absolutely furious and voiced their frustration loudly and clearly. To his credit, Dr. Baron handled the line of at least two dozen attendees lined up to ask him questions in a calm manner and reassured folks that they were actively reviewing each component of the proposed changes.

The best source of information for discovering what changed with the February 3^rd email blast Dr. Baron sent is the FAQ page of the ABIM site. You can find it at: http://www.abim.org/maintenance-of-certification/moc-faq/default.aspx

In short, here’s what this announcement means for you:

• No worrying about the Practice Assessment, Patient Voice and Patient Safety requirements for at least two years. While this idea to place full focus on patients sounds like a good one, private-practice physicians—especially those in solo  practices—were simply ill-equipped to implement a project like this while trying to take care of their daily load of patients.
• No more “Meeting MOC requirements” next to your status on the publicly accessible ABIM site. Instead, it’ll read “Participating in MOC.” This is not just semantics. Some of the most emphatic complaints were about the wording patients would associate with their physicians if they weren’t enrolled in the MOC program.
• An update to the Internal Medicine MOC exam to better reflect what physicians in practice are doing.” Those changes begin this fall. Knowmedge will present more information as it becomes publicly available.
• Fee Freeze. To assuage fears that the MOC plan was simply a money-making scheme, the ABIM declared that the $1,940 enrollment fee (which can be paid at a $194 annual rate) will not increase through at least 2017.

If you’re interested in reading more about the reaction on social media and the restitance to MOC, below are a couple of good articles:

• Medscape: ABIM on MOC: ‘We Got It Wrong’
• The Voice in the Ear: Who’s Sorry Now? The ABIM, That’s Who

And now, that email sent by Richard J. Baron, MD, MACP (President and Chief Executive Officer American Board of Internal Medicine) in its entirety:

Dear Dr. XXXXX:

ABIM clearly got it wrong. We launched programs that weren’t ready and we didn’t deliver an MOC program that physicians found meaningful. We want to change that.

Nearly 80 years ago, the American Medical Association and the American College of Physicians founded the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM). ABIM was charged with distinguishing the discipline of internal medicine from other forms of practice by creating uniform standards for internists. Those standards have evolved over the years, reflecting the dynamic nature of internal medicine and its more than 20 subspecialties.

A year ago, ABIM changed its once-every-10-years Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program to a more continuous one. This change generated legitimate criticism among internists and medical specialty societies. Some believe ABIM has turned a deaf ear to practicing physicians and has not adequately developed a relevant, meaningful program for them as they strive to keep up to date in their fields.

ABIM is listening and wants to be responsive to your concerns. While ABIM’s Board believes that a more-continuous certification helps all of us keep up with the rapidly changing nature of modern medical practice, it is clear that parts of the new program are not meeting the needs of physicians like yourself.

We got it wrong and sincerely apologize. We are sorry.

As a result, ABIM is taking the following steps:

• Effective immediately, ABIM is suspending the Practice Assessment, Patient Voice and Patient Safety requirements for at least two years. This means that no internist will have his or her certification status changed for not having completed activities in these areas for at least the next two years. Diplomates who are currently not certified but who have satisfied all requirements for Maintenance of Certification except for the Practice Assessment requirement will be issued a new certificate this year.
• Within the next six months, ABIM will change the language used to publicly report a diplomate’s MOC status on its website from “meeting MOC requirements” to “participating in MOC.”
• ABIM is updating the Internal Medicine MOC exam. The update will focus on making the exam more reflective of what physicians in practice are doing, with any changes to be incorporated beginning fall 2015, with more subspecialties to follow.
• MOC enrollment fees will remain at or below the 2014 levels through at least 2017.
• By the end of 2015, ABIM will assure new and more flexible ways for internists to demonstrate self-assessment of medical knowledge by recognizing most forms of ACCME-approved Continuing Medical Education.

Please visit our FAQ page for more information about these changes. I do want you to know that, since the changes being made are significant, it will take time until your individual status page is updated on the ABIM website.

ABIM is changing the way it does its work so that it is guided by, and integrated fully with, the medical community that created it. However, I know that actions will speak louder than words. Therefore, ABIM will work with medical societies and directly with diplomates to seek input regarding the MOC program through meetings, webinars, forums, online communications channels, surveys and more. The goal is to co-create an MOC program that reflects the medical community’s shared values about the practice of medicine today and provides a professionally created and publicly recognizable framework for keeping up in our discipline.

As the first non-academic physician to lead ABIM, I am particularly proud of my 30 years in private, community practice, and I see this letter to you as a start – a new beginning. The ABIM Board of Directors, staff and I are fully committed to doing a better job – to ensure that ABIM and MOC evolve to better reflect the changing nature of medical practice.

It remains important for physicians to have publicly recognizable ways – designed by internists — to demonstrate their knowledge of medicine and its practice. Internists are justifiably proud of their knowledge and skills. However, the current MOC program can and should be improved.

Over the next few months, you’ll see communication from me and ABIM leadership, asking about your vision for internal medicine, the MOC program and your opinions about what it means to be a doctor today. We have also created “Transforming ABIM”, a Google+ Community that you can join, to ask questions and share ideas, and a blog.

I have heard you – and ABIM’s Board has heard you. We will continue to listen to your concerns and evolve our program to ensure it embodies our shared values as internists.

Thank you for your input and feedback – and for the important clinical work you do each and every day.

Sincerely,

Richard J. Baron, MD, MACP
President and Chief Executive Officer
American Board of Internal Medicine