One of the most common questions we receive at Beat The Boards! is: “How many hours should I devote to preparing for my board exam?”
On the one hand, I have a firm answer: 200 hours for a specialty exam and 150 for a subspecialty exam.
On the other hand, I have no answer at all. Vast differences in study time and effort exist among individual learners and for different exams. Instead, I have a way for you to arrive… Click to Read More
How to Study for Your ABPN Board Exam: Prioritize “the Big and the Bad” for Smarter Board Prep
No matter how much time you have remaining to prepare for your ABPN board exam, you must still prioritize certain exam topics over others. This is true because even if you go through ALL the material once or even twice during your board exam prep, there will always remain topics that you’ll perform worse on during your practice tests.
How do you know which topics you’re weaker on as you’re progressing through your studies? If you took the exam previously… Click to Read More
Two Pathways to Addiction Medicine Board Certification
From now until the end of 2025, the American Board of Preventive Medicine (ABPM) offers two ways for physicians to become board-certified Addiction Medicine specialists – the “traditional certification pathway” and the “clinical practice pathway.”
The ABPM recognizes that physicians working in addictions have diverse medical specialty training, and therefore, the medical specialty board offers these two certification pathways in Addiction Medicine. While the “traditional” pathway requires completion of an accredited fellowship, the “practice pathway” allows physicians to apply to… Click to Read More
Should I Maintain My Board Certification for as Long as I Practice?
My answer for myself is: Yes, I would always maintain my board certification for as long as I see patients. I would not practice with lapsed board certification. Here I present my reason – yes, I have only one reason to remain board certified. This medical-legal reason is relevant to and resonates with me. It may or may not be relevant or resonate with you, but I think it’s good for you to at least be aware of it as… Click to Read More




