How I Prepared for the Pediatric Emergency Medicine Exam

As a board-certified pediatric emergency medicine physician, I have been through many exams, and I am now board certified in pediatrics as well as pediatric emergency medicine. I can confidently say that my preparation for both board exams allowed me to pass on my first try -- though at the time, especially walking out of the testing center, I was not feeling extremely confident.

My exam prep journey continues, as the certifications and renewals don’t stop. So, my motto for every exam I have ever taken or will take is this -- have ONE book that serves as your bible, and then review as many questions as you can get through while annotating in that ONE book/bible! Then, READ and RE-READ that book as much as you can. 

What I Used to Study for the Pediatric Emergency Medicine Exam

For my Pediatrics board exam, I used Laughing Your Way to Passing the Pediatric Boards, and I annotated that book using review questions from American Academy of Pediatrics PREP Self Assessments.

For my pediatric emergency medicine boards, there was no ONE book. So, I signed up for the Med-Challenger / PEMQ Book Live Board Review course. The slides they provided served as my comprehensive book, which I annotated with review questions.  I also bought the Med-Challenger PEDS EM board review course, and used these excellent question banks to annotate my notes from the course.

How I Studied for the Pediatric EM Exam

For both board exams, I gave myself approximately 2-3 months of actual studying, at least 3-4 days a week for 8+ hours a day.

By the time I was really in full swing with studying, I began dreaming about all my study materials. THAT was when I knew I was actually ready to take the exam, even though consciously I didn't feel ready.

A final word of advice -- take some breaks while studying (but not too many), ingest caffeine, and stay confident.

Staying in a good headspace was half the battle!

Divya Mirchandani, MD