GeriGIM Posted October 5, 2021 Report Share Posted October 5, 2021 I’m writing the Royal College IM cert exam in February. I’m reading horrifying things about this test (“I studied 4-8 hours daily for 12 months”). Just wrote the ABIM exam — wasn’t too bad. How hard is this thing? Is UWorld good prep? I hear prep courses are highly recommended. What’s the fail rate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluberblubo Posted October 5, 2021 Report Share Posted October 5, 2021 Where are you doing residency? I'm assuming in the USA? There are 2 components to the exam in Canada (written and oral). Usually what a lot of canadians do is study with upper year residents to get an idea of how to approach the beast. There are a couple of prep courses in Canada, the biggest one is called internal medicine review (just google it and it should come up). I didn't find the course to helpful (felt it was a waste of time), but the slides are great! I didn't think it was horrible and ended up cramming for it over the course of 1.5 months and passed. That being said: 1. I've always been a crammer; 2. I had a lot of time off, so really just focused on studying; 3. Overall, I would rank myself in the 70th percentile of IM residents (i.e. not amazing, but slightly above average). The pass rate is like 97%-100% for canadian grads. I personally don't know anyone who failed in the year I did it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACHQ Posted October 5, 2021 Report Share Posted October 5, 2021 On 10/5/2021 at 2:07 PM, GeriGIM said: I’m writing the Royal College IM cert exam in February. I’m reading horrifying things about this test (“I studied 4-8 hours daily for 12 months”). Just wrote the ABIM exam — wasn’t too bad. How hard is this thing? Is UWorld good prep? I hear prep courses are highly recommended. What’s the fail rate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeriGIM Posted October 5, 2021 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2021 2 hours ago, skyuppercutt said: Where are you doing residency? I'm assuming in the USA? There are 2 components to the exam in Canada (written and oral). Usually what a lot of canadians do is study with upper year residents to get an idea of how to approach the beast. There are a couple of prep courses in Canada, the biggest one is called internal medicine review (just google it and it should come up). I didn't find the course to helpful (felt it was a waste of time), but the slides are great! I didn't think it was horrible and ended up cramming for it over the course of 1.5 months and passed. That being said: 1. I've always been a crammer; 2. I had a lot of time off, so really just focused on studying; 3. Overall, I would rank myself in the 70th percentile of IM residents (i.e. not amazing, but slightly above average). The pass rate is like 97%-100% for canadian grads. I personally don't know anyone who failed in the year I did it. What did you use to study? Q banks? Yup — in America! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeriGIM Posted October 5, 2021 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2021 1 hour ago, ACHQ said: If you don't have the Canadian material you will not pass. Ask colleagues that have written and passed it they should be able to help you out good luck Shoot — if only i knew some recent Canadian IM grads lol. Maybe I’ll reach out to some current Chiefs. Thanks for the tip! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluberblubo Posted October 8, 2021 Report Share Posted October 8, 2021 On 10/5/2021 at 6:38 PM, GeriGIM said: What did you use to study? Q banks? There aren't any Q banks tailored towards the Canadian Exams. In terms of study materials, I used Canadian material passed down from upper years. The only way to really get access to them is by asking someone who has recently done the exam. On 10/5/2021 at 6:41 PM, GeriGIM said: Maybe I’ll reach out to some current Chiefs. It is unlikely that this will be helpful. By all means go for it, but there have been rumours going around about the royal college filling lawsuits against residents/fellows for sharing material, but best of luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bearded frog Posted October 8, 2021 Report Share Posted October 8, 2021 2 hours ago, skyuppercutt said: In terms of study materials, I used Canadian material passed down from upper years. The only way to really get access to them is by asking someone who has recently done the exam. It is unlikely that this will be helpful. By all means go for it, but there have been rumours going around about the royal college filling lawsuits against residents/fellows for sharing material, but best of luck! As you allude to, everyone does this, but I would be very careful, as a mini-scandal has occurred at one IM program where someone reported a study group using materials to the Royal College and how they're investigating. LostLamb and samy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted October 9, 2021 Report Share Posted October 9, 2021 9 hours ago, bearded frog said: As you allude to, everyone does this, but I would be very careful, as a mini-scandal has occurred at one IM program where someone reported a study group using materials to the Royal College and how they're investigating. Speaking hypothetically there is a certain irony in having a test of great importance where it is generally understood that passing is impossible without certain materials.......and then being surprised that people will go to great lengths to obtain said materials. Particularly ironic when the people doing any sort of punitive action almost certainly used say similar materials in the past on the same test to get to their current position. LostLamb 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeriGIM Posted October 9, 2021 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2021 (edited) This is frustrating lol. I’ll study hard. Edited October 9, 2021 by GeriGIM error Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samy Posted October 12, 2021 Report Share Posted October 12, 2021 I highly suggest to register for the Toronto IM Review Course https://internalmedicinereview.ca/ I attended in 2019, quite satisfied overall. I studied for about 6 months for the written component and 6-8 weeks for the oral. Met with my study group 1-2x/week. It is still nowhere near as hard as Medical Microbiology, but it is a challenge by itself. GeriGIM 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ace of Spades Posted October 27, 2021 Report Share Posted October 27, 2021 I also attended the Internal Medicine Review course in Toronto. Highly recommend it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catchetat Posted October 29, 2021 Report Share Posted October 29, 2021 Can someone tell me the difference between doing the Royal College exam for General Internal Medicine versus Internal Medicine? Which is more valued? I am an endocrinologist and just want to pass a medicine exam for beef up my resume. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rh1984 Posted November 4, 2021 Report Share Posted November 4, 2021 Hello, I am also writing the exam in spring of 2022. Did my training in the US. I am currently using MKSAP to prepare. Then plan to study the IM review course. Would this be sufficient to pass or is it absolutely necessary to have access to these old exam questions? I don’t have any connections to Canadian training programs so that makes it difficult to obtain. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ameltingbanana Posted November 16, 2021 Report Share Posted November 16, 2021 On 10/29/2021 at 2:40 PM, catchetat said: Can someone tell me the difference between doing the Royal College exam for General Internal Medicine versus Internal Medicine? Which is more valued? I am an endocrinologist and just want to pass a medicine exam for beef up my resume. Any thoughts? IM exam - core internal medicine exam, this + 3 years of IM + 1 year of something else subspec = independent IM license GIM exam - GIM subspecialty exam, open to GIM subspecialty residents (those doing 2 years of subspecialization in general internal medicine post IM) I would write whichever one would be helpful for licensure. If you're a practising endocrinologist, I'm not sure that either one will beef up your resume. I don't know that you would be permitted to write the GIM exam - you need to apply for exam writing candidacy and the Royal College evaluates whether you are eligible to write the exam (i.e. I probably would not be permitted to go write the geriatrics exam for instance). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ameltingbanana Posted November 16, 2021 Report Share Posted November 16, 2021 On 11/4/2021 at 2:20 PM, rh1984 said: Hello, I am also writing the exam in spring of 2022. Did my training in the US. I am currently using MKSAP to prepare. Then plan to study the IM review course. Would this be sufficient to pass or is it absolutely necessary to have access to these old exam questions? I don’t have any connections to Canadian training programs so that makes it difficult to obtain. Thanks IMR has a fair number of sample questions associated with it (most were harder than the actual IM questions). That being said, I do think the old questions were very useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcp2md Posted November 16, 2021 Report Share Posted November 16, 2021 On 11/4/2021 at 12:20 PM, rh1984 said: Hello, I am also writing the exam in spring of 2022. Did my training in the US. I am currently using MKSAP to prepare. Then plan to study the IM review course. Would this be sufficient to pass or is it absolutely necessary to have access to these old exam questions? I don’t have any connections to Canadian training programs so that makes it difficult to obtain. Thanks You don’t need to have access to the old questions, don’t listen to that crap. IMR and either MKSAP or UW is plenty. I am also a US physician and already secured job in Canada Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabm Posted March 30, 2022 Report Share Posted March 30, 2022 Hi, any tips on passing the royal college IM certification exams ? What resources did you use and how long did you prepare for ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabm Posted March 30, 2022 Report Share Posted March 30, 2022 Any tips on passing the royal college IM exams please ? What did you use to study ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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