For nearly all medical specialties, board certification is a reality that can produce significant anxiety not to mention some non-insignificant financial outlays. Prior to board certification, medical students and residents must first survive rotation shelf exams, Step I/II/III licensing exams, and yearly in-training exams. Preparation for these numerous exams has become a big business for the specialty boards. Options to prepare include materials completed during the Maintenance of Certification (MOC) process, CME quizzes, board review courses, and board review apps.

Here at iMedicalApps we have previously reviewed many of the board review apps — NEJM Family Medicine, AAEM Flash Cards, Pretest Pediatrics, Pediatrics Quiz.  The options are nearly limitless, but few board review apps have been studied or proven to improve success on the certification exam.

One of the more established brands for board review, USMLE, etc. is Exam Master Corporation. Founded in 1994, the company produces a range of question banks, board review materials and quizzes for a wide variety of medical specialties as well as general medical knowledge to allow learners to prepare for USMLE Step I/II, in training exams, rotation quizzes, and board certification.

When I was a Family Medicine Program Director, we used Exam Master for rotation quizzes and as a board review tool. Recently, Exam Master has launched a number of standalone apps including Exam Master Pediatrics Practice Exam v1. The board review app reportedly follows the American Board of Pediatrics blueprint for their board certification exam. The board review app contains 350 board review style questions which can be viewed together or divided by specialty/subject area. Each question includes a detailed explanation and references.

Video Review

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Evidence based medicine

The Exam Master Pediatrics Practice Exam v1 board review app contains 350 evidence based questions and answers. Each question/answer is provided with quality references ranging from recent journal articles to accepted pediatric sources such as the AAP’s Pediatrics in Review articles. The issue is the cost benefit of purchasing access to the online version of the content which contains over 1,000 questions or the somewhat less costly board review app version limited to 350 questions.

What providers would benefit from this App?

Students, pediatric and family medicine residents, mid-levels, any staff provider who is interested in challenging their pediatric knowledge or preparing for the ABP exam.

Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the official policy of the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government.

  • Price
    • $24.99
    • High quality questions from reputable company and authors.
    • Detailed answers with references.
    • Easy to navigate/fast interface.
    • Can take all questions at once or view by content area.
  • Dislikes
    • May be more economical to purchase limited online access.
    • References not hyperlinked to internet sources.
    • Not as many questions as online version.
    • Not available for Android.
  • Overall

    Exam Master Practice Exam v1 is a high quality board review tool based on the ABP exam blueprint. The app will appeal especially to pediatric residents and medical students looking for a fun way to review for shelf and board exams. Those interested in board review should consider purchasing access to the online version of the ABP prep and/or check with their medical librarians to see if they have institutional access.

  • Overall Score
  • User Interface

    A very easy to use, but nothing fancy interface.

  • Multimedia Usage

    App contains references for every question/answer, but no ability to link out to the references from within the app. Unclear if app has ability to update content/add more questions.

  • Price

    App is cheaper than the Exam Master online version, but contains significantly less content.

  • Real World Applicability

    The app should be looked at closely by those preparing for the ABP exam. However, this is a crowded market with ever increasing resources from a variety of companies not to mention the well-respected AAP Prep The Curriculum materials. The material is challenging but with only 350 questions some may be better off looking at the Exam Master online version.

  • Device Used For Review

    iPhone 6 running iOS 9.0.2

  • Available for DownloadiPhoneiPad