2
E
xam questions in the content areas above may also include topics in Critical Care Medicine, Prevention,
Clinical Epidemiology, Ethics, Nutrition, Palliative and End-of-Live Care, Adolescent Medicine, Occupational
Medicine, Patient Safety and Substance Abuse.
ABIM is committed to working toward health equity and believes that board-certified physicians
should have an understanding of health care disparities. Therefore, health equity content that is
clinically important to each discipline will be included in assessments, and the use of gender, race,
and ethnicity identifiers will be re-evaluated.
E
xam format
T
he exam is composed of up to 240 single-best-answer multiple-choice questions, of which approximately
35 are new questions that do not count in the examinee’s score. Most questions describe patient scenarios
and ask about the work done (that is, tasks performed) by physicians in the course of practice:
• M
aking a diagnosis
• Ordering and interpreting results of tests
• Recommending treatment or other patient care
• Assessing risk, determining prognosis, and applying principles from epidemiologic studies
• Understanding the underlying pathophysiology of disease and basic science knowledge applicable
to patient care
Clinical information presented may include patient photographs, radiographs, electrocardiograms,
recordings of heart or lung sounds, and other media to illustrate relevant patient findings. Learn more
information on how exams are developed.
A tutorial including examples of ABIM exam question format can be found at
http://www.abim.org/certification/exam-information/internal-medicine/exam-tutorial.
The primary medical categories can be expanded for additional detail to show topics that may be covered
in the exam. Each primary medical content category is listed below, with the percentage of the exam
assigned to this content area. Below each major category are subsection topics and their assigned
percentages in the exam.
Please note: The percentages below describe content of a typical exam and are approximate; actual exam
content may vary.