UCSF Students

February 16, 2010

The ABSITE Review

The ABSITE Review

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Review by Roy Hobbs
This is a very nice review in a pocket-sized version that allows you to easily carry it around. The style is the same as the earlier edition though this is now in color. It is set up in a bullet-point high-yield style and can be read quickly. Just remember that it is designed for ABSITE review not as the definitive source for anything.

Review by Edward
this book is designed to be a concise, topic based review for the absite. it is the most efficient way to spend your time, although the outline format is boring. people that write a negative review don’t get the point.

Review by Davido
I had the previous version, and bought this one when mine disappeared from a call room. Even better than the first edition. There really isn’t anything else available that compares. If you know this material, a good to excellent score should follow.

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The ABSITE Review

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January 8, 2010

How to study for the Junior ABSITE

How to study for the Junior ABSITE

Surgery residents are expected to take the ABSITE exam each year of residency. First and second year general surgery residents take the Junior ABSITE. This exam is mostly basic science, with some clinical questions.

There are some who are extremely talented, and can take 1 week to study for the exam.

Does your score matter? Absolutely, and how well you do relative to your peers is what is important. If you score below a certain percentile set by your residency program, you might be placed on probation, and/or fired from your program.

Is my Absite score used in fellowship applications? Well, some residents seem to think that it does matter. Granted, who you know and where you trained matters significantly more than your ABSITE score.

Do preliminary residents have to take the exam? This depends on the program in which you are in. Of course, if you’re a prelim for general surgery, you want to do well. If you’re a prelim for another surgical specialty, your score probably won’t matter, and your goal might be to beat the categoricals (for fun).

How to study for the Junior ABSITE

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January 7, 2010

The Practice ABSITE Question Book by Steven Fiser

The Practice ABSITE Question Book by Steven Fiser <– Click to read reviews

This question book contains over 500 practice questions for the ABSITE Exam. It also contains detailed explanations for each answer. It covers all of the major topic areas.

The book is 240 pages and is rated an average 4/5 stars on student reviews.  The questions in this book are simple and basic. It is not as difficult as the ABSITE, but is a great way to reinforce important concepts. 

In summary, this book provides a basic review for topics the ABSITE, but is too simple to rely solely on it for ABSITE review.

CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO READ SURGERY RESIDENT REVIEWS OF The Practice ABSITE Question Book by Steven Fiser

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January 3, 2010

Absite exam introduction

Absite exam introduction

Some facts
- ABSITE stands for The American Board of Surgery In-Training Examination
- It is a multiple-choice examination
- It is designed to measure the progress attained by residents in their knowledge of basic science and the management of clinical problems related to general surgery.
- You can only get your results from your program director

What residents in forums say about the ABSITE
- The ABSITE in-training exam you take yearly during residency contains a fair # of basic-science related to those on the USMLE exams
- It can be heavy on USMLE Step 1 stuff (junior)
- It is more specific toward clinical practice of surgery (senior)
- The exam is somewhat repetitive each year, and that’s where many of these ABSITE guides get their info. There are more than a few questions that repeat every year
- The questions on ABSITE are repetitive.
- PGY 1 & PGY2 Exam version is skewed more toward basic science.
- PGY 3, PGY4 and PGY5 Exam version is skewed more toward clinical science.

 

Here’s a list of ABSITE review books and resources for surgery residents. Below I’ve included additional ABSITE information.

 

ABSITE REVIEW BOOKS – You may click on the links to read reviews.

The ABSITE Review  by Steven M Fiser
The Practice ABSITE Question Book by Steven M. Fiser
The Comprehensive ABSITE Review (Fiser, Comprehensive ABSITE Review) by  Steven M Fiser
The Senior ABSITE Review by Steven M Fiser
The Johns Hopkins ABSITE Review Manual (American Board of Surgery In-Training Examination)
First Aid for the® ABSITE (FIRST AID Specialty Boards)
General Surgery ABSITE and Board Review, Fourth Edition: Pearls of Wisdom
General Surgery Review (For The Written Boards And Absite) 
Absite Review, Simplified
Review of Surgery: Basic Science and Clinical Topics for ABSITE
Clinical Review of Surgery – ABSITE Edition
Pass the ABSITE!
 

The official website for the ABSITE is http://home.absurgery.org/default.jsp?certabsite

 

What is the ABSITE?

“The American Board of Surgery offers annually to general surgery residency programs the In-Training Examination (ABSITE), a written, multiple-choice examination designed to measure the progress attained by residents in their knowledge of basic science and the management of clinical problems related to general surgery. The ABSITE is furnished to program directors as an evaluation instrument to assess residents’ progress. The results are released only to program directors. It is not available to individual residents and is not required as part of the certification process.” – http://home.absurgery.org

Examination Questions

“Since 2006 the ABS has offered the ABSITE as a junior level (PG-1 and -2) and senior level (PG-3 to -5) examination. Both the junior- and senior-level versions consist of 225 multiple-choice questions; examinees are given five hours to take the exam. For the junior-level exam, 60% of the examination focuses on basic science, while 40% centers on the management of clinical surgical problems. In the senior-level exam, 20% of the exam focuses on basic science and 80% on clinical management. The relative emphasis on clinical content categories in the two examinations is shown in the following table.” – http://home.absurgery.org


Examination Content

Content Category Junior Level Senior Level
Body as a Whole 66.6% 25%
Gastrointestinal Tract 10.0% 25%
CV/Respiratory 7.8% 16.7%
GU, Head and Neck, Skin, Musculoskeletal, CNS 7.8% 16.7%
Endocrine, Spleen, Lymphoma, Breast 7.8% 16.7%

Source
http://home.absurgery.org/default.jsp?certabsite

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