Cardiology board review project
For the USMLE Board Review Project, click here.
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
The Project
Overview
The goal of the Cardiology Board Review Project is to create a universally accessible free repository of Cardiology Board Review Questions. All questions must be original and cannot violate WikiDoc's strict policies regarding plagiarism. Liability related to copyright violations regarding cardiology board review questions rests with the person who prepared the question. Please notify WikiDoc in writing if you feel that there has been a copyright violation regarding a board review question. Board review questions are reviewed and discussed by the WikiDoc Scholars. After creating the questions, the editor must quality check his or her own work using the WBR quality checklist. Cardiology board review questions must be approved by the peer-review process prior to uploading them onto WikiDoc.
Statement of Need
Current cardiology board review sites charge exorbitant fees for access to the content which may represent an undue financial burden and barrier to participation.
How Can WikiDoc Meet Those Needs?
- Provide robust resources for cardiology fellows and attending physicians to prepare for the Cardiovascular Disease Certification Exam
- Provide opportunities for cardiology fellows and attending physicians to exchange knowledge, strategies and test-taking skills
How Can You Help WikiDoc Meet Those Needs?
- WikiDoc encourages medical students, interns, residents, fellows, attending physicians, and faculty members to submit cardiology board review questions.
- WikiDoc Cardiology Board Review Project is led by Will Gibson, M.D., Ph.D. from Harvard Medical School. For more details, you can send an email to willjgibson@gmail.com.
ABIM Cardiovascular Disease Certification Exam
Multiple-Choice Questions
Exam Content
The primary medical content categories are shown below, with the percentage assigned to each for a typical exam:
- Arrhythmias 15%
- Atrioventricular conduction disease
- Atrioventricular block, 1st degree Atrioventricular block, 2nd degree Atrioventricular block, complete Left bundle branch block
- Right bundle branch block Left anterior fascicular block Left posterior fascicular block
- Sinus node dysfunction
- Sinus bradycardia
- Sinus pauses Bradycardia-tachycardia syndrome
- Supraventricular arrhythmias
- Atrioventricular reentrant nodal tachycardia
- Pre-excitation syndromes (including Wolff-Parkinson-White) Atrioventricular reciprocating tachycardia
- Ventricular arrhythmias
- Ventricular tachycardia, monomorphic Ventricular tachycardia, polymorphic
- With prolonged Q-T interval
- Without prolonged Q-T interval Ventricular fibrillation (including idiopathic and non-idiopathic varieties) Premature ventricular complexes
- Atrial arrhythmias
- Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation Persistent atrial fibrillation Permanent atrial fibrillation Typical atrial flutter (Type I) Atypical atrial flutter (Type II) Atrial tachycardia
- Ectopic atrial rhythms
- Channelopathies
- Long Q-T syndrome
- Brugada syndrome
- Early repolarization syndrome
- Sudden cardiac death Syncope
- Pacemaker and ICD function Antiarrhythmic drug effects
- Coronary Artery Disease 21.5%
- Heart Failure and Cardiomyopathy 17%
- Valvular Disease 15%
- Pericardial Disease 4%
- Congenital Heart Disease 5%
- Vascular Diseases 6%
- Systemic Hypertension and Hypotension 7.5%
- Pulmonary Circulation Disorders 3%
- Systemic Disorders Affecting the Circulatory System 4%
- Normal Cardiovascular Anatomy and Physiology 2%
Exam questions in the content areas above may also address clinical topics in:
- Preventive and rehabilitative cardiology
- Cardiovascular disease in women
- Geriatric cardiovascular disease
- Preoperative assessment for noncardiac surgery
- Postoperative cardiac care
- Critical care medicine, cardiovascular surgery, and general internal medicine as encountered in the practice of cardiology (including some general pediatrics with an emphasis on adolescent medicine)
Exam Format
The exam is composed of multiple-choice questions with a single best answer, predominantly describing patient scenarios. Questions ask about the work done (that is, tasks performed) by physicians in the course of practice:
- Making 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
Some questions require interpretation of pictorial material including electrocardiograms, intracardiac electrograms, hemodynamic recordings, chest radiographs, photomicrographs, and imaging studies such as coronary angiograms, echocardiograms, ventriculograms, myocardial perfusion studies, computed tomograms, magnetic resonance images, and intravascular ultrasound images. Some questions may also require recognition and interpretation of recorded heart sounds.
ECG and Imaging Studies
How to Create A Question
Principles
- Refer to WikiDoc pages for texts, figures, and videos in the explanation.
- Avoid using medical eponyms in the question stems. Instead, describe the signs and symptoms in medical terminologies. For instance, replace "marfanoid habitus" with "arachnodactyly (long fingers), increased arm span to body height ratio (long limbs), scoliosis (curved spine), high-arched palate, and joint hypermobility".