ID Board Review/Exam Content, Categories and Structure
This page is dedicated to describing and listing the basic structure and contents of the ABIM ID Certification Exam, as well as providing information pertaining to the exam.
Exam Content and Categories
edit| Medical Content Category | Percentage of Exam |
|---|---|
| Bacterial Diseases | 27% |
| Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infection | 15% |
| Antimicrobial Therapy | 9% |
| Viral Diseases | 7% |
| Travel and Tropical Medicine | 5% |
| Fungi | 5% |
| Immunocompromised Host (Non-HIV Infection) | 5% |
| Vaccinations | 4% |
| Infection Prevention and Infection Control | 5% |
| General Internal Medicine, Critical Care Medicine and Surgery | 18% |
As the table shows, there is an emphasis on diagnosing and managing bacterial diseases, HIV infections, antimicrobial therapies, as well as ID management of Internal Medicine, Critical Care, and Surgery patients. On the other hand, viral diseases, travel/tropical medicine, fungi, non-HIV immunosuppression, vaccinations, Infection Prevention (IP) and Infection Control (IC) only account for 31% of the exam. As such, this book will first focus on the high yield topics that account for almost 70% of the exam, then on the lower yield topics.
Exam Pass Rates
editThe majority of physicians who sit for the ID certification exam pass. However, there has been a noticeable decrease in the pass rate for 2020, and 2021. This decrease in the pass rate may have been related to the COVID-19 pandemic, as many other subspecialties had a similar decrease in pass rate over the same time period.[2]
| Exam | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infectious Diseases | 339 (97%) | 338 (98%) | 362 (98%) | 364 (94%) | 372 (92%) |