The ABSITE exam is the American Board of Surgery In-Training Examination. All general surgery residents take this course, which you can take annually. Studying for the exam is key, on top of your hands-on experience. Using an ABSITE question bank can give you an idea of what to expect from the test.
Top 5 ABSITE Question Banks of 2024
Many ABSITE study resources are available, but not all will completely prepare you for the exam. These question banks are the best, giving you the full scope of the material and a chance to test yourself before you take the official exam.
1. TrueLearn ABSITE Question Bank
The TrueLearn ABSITE question bank is your best choice because it has more than 1,000 questions. Since the official exam only has 250 questions, going through this material ensures you’ll know what the exam will cover.
TrueLearn is a medical and healthcare prep company. They offer study materials for countless exams, including COMLEX, USMLE, and specialty board exams. You can customize your TrueLearn question bank experience to focus on your problem areas to boost your ABSITE score.
When you answer the 1,000 practice questions, you’ll see detailed explanations for each answer. This process helps you correct what you missed while learning why you were wrong instead of simply memorizing the correct answer for the future.
You can also create customized quizzes to strengthen your problem areas. The sample quizzes mimic the experience of taking the ABSITE exam in-person, so you’ll get into the right mindset as you learn the correct answers to what you’ve previously missed.
While you won’t see the results of your ABSITE exam, the TrueLearn question bank can give you an idea of your possible performance. You can see your sample test metrics on a performance dashboard, which helps you see what you need to study more. You can also know how you rank compared to other students using this program.
Pros
- Over 1,000 sample questions
- Written by board-certified physicians
- Provides in-depth explanations for answers
- Shows performance metrics to give you an idea of your score
- Proven to improve exam performance by 14.4%
2. Decker Med Surgery Board Review
Decker Med is an e-learning platform to help you further your medical education. The Decker Med Surgery Board Review is an ABSITE study program that will help you review for the exam while preparing you for your written boards.
The study guide walks you through the information on the ABSITE exam and your written boards. You can take a 250-question mock ABSITE test for practice or in exam mode to mimic the test settings.
While the practice exam may seem limited, you can study for the test using over 3,500 questions. You can choose the subject category to ensure you’re learning more about your problem areas. The program tracks your responses to give you an estimated score, which can help you prepare for the official exam.
Pros & Cons
- Covers the ABSITE and written boards
- Has over 3,500 sample questions to study
- Gives you scores based on your practice
- Works well on mobile devices
- Provides a logbook for you to track your progress
- Expensive to access
Take Me To Decker Med Surgery Board Review
3. ABSITE Quest
ABSITE Quest is a fun way to study for the exam. The program sends you five questions daily, giving you 24 hours to submit your answers. The app then analyzes your responses, including how long it took to submit them, to decide your problem areas, and will give you more questions on those topics.
The program offers subscriptions covering an entire academic year, so you’ll answer over 1,200 questions. Instead of cramming all your study time into three months, you’ll learn more at a relaxed pace with the daily questions.
Though you’ll get automated questions, you can review your results to quiz yourself and make notes about what knowledge you need to refresh. As it gets closer to the exam, you can level up the program to get ten or more questions daily.
Pros & Cons
- Automatically get five questions a day for continual learning
- Subscription lasts the entire academic year
- Puts a fun spin on studying
- Plus and premium packages include mock exams
- Very affordable package options
- Basic package isn’t an effective study guide
- Must pay extra for a practice exam and flashcards
4. National Surgery Review
The National Surgery Review ABSITE review course is more of a standard exam prep program than what you’ve seen so far on this list. You can view over 50 hours of SCORE curriculum lectures to study the necessary material.
There are over 200 sample questions with detailed answers, so you’ll understand why you missed them. There aren’t as many questions as the first three options, so you’re paying for the lectures with this program instead of the question bank.
Pros & Cons
- Includes 50 hours of video lectures
- Can listen to the lectures as audio files for easy access
- Provides 200 practice questions
- Follows the SCORE curriculum for general knowledge
- Must pay a high monthly subscription
- Lots of extras to pay for, like the printed syllabus
5. ABSITE Smackdown
With a name like ABSITE Smackdown, you should get excited to study for the exam. This review book – available in paperback or ebook – includes access to a lecture series to help you learn the key concepts.
The main downside to this option is that you don’t get access to a question bank. The book is a study guide, but you’ll have to access questions and a practice exam through another outlet.
Pros & Cons
- Review paperback or ebook lets you study anywhere
- Provides video lecture footage
- Book has illustrations to help visual learners
- Includes access to an online rapid-review session
- Doesn’t include a question bank
- Doesn’t specify the number of lecture hours
- Expensive for what you get
6. General ABSITE Exam Information
Anyone who is a general surgery resident is eligible to take the ABSITE exam, which contains 250 multiple-choice questions you must answer over five hours. The results help you find fellowship and residency placements. With that in mind, it’s understandable that your results only go to the general surgery program – not to you directly.
You take the ABSITE exam after one or two years of your general residency because it helps you find a fellowship in your specialty. The exam guarantees you know the core curriculum of general surgery before moving on to more rigorous focuses.
The ABSITE exam covers topics in the SCORE curriculum, such as:
- General Surgery
- Complex General Surgical Oncology
- Pediatric Surgery
- Surgical Critical Care
- Vascular Surgery
It also includes radiology, outcomes, and ethics, which SCORE doesn’t cover.
About 80% of the questions involve clinical management, while the remaining 20% are applied science. Most of the questions focus on patient care, with less than 25% covering medical knowledge.
Conclusion
The ABSITE is a serious exam that can impact your medical future. Your residency will see your test results, which will help you find a fellowship in your chosen specialty. Studying for several months in advance can prepare you for the exam, so choose some of the ABSITE question banks reviewed above and work to improve your score and stand out from your peers.
FAQs
You’ve learned about the five best courses for ABSITE question banks. If you need more information about the exam, check out the answers to these frequently asked questions.
You should devote at least two months to studying for the ABSITE. You can take the courses reviewed above, read books, and use tutoring services like Med Learnity. Some great books to study independently include the following:
1. ABSITE Slayer by Dale Dangleben
2. Review of Surgery for ABSITE and Boards by Christian DeVirgilio
3. The ABSITE Review by Steven M. Fiser
Failing the ABSITE means you’re more likely to fail your written boards. Both your residency and fellowship programs will look at your ABSITE score, so it has a major impact on your future. Some residency programs will let you do more clinical training if you have a bad ABSITE score, but you should study as much as possible to prevent this issue.
A good score on your ABSITE exam is above the 50th percentile. Any score higher than that means you have a good chance of getting a competitive fellowship. Lower than the 50th percentile can hurt your chances at a quality fellowship. If you score below the 30th percentile, you need to study again and try harder on the next year’s exam.
The ABSITE exam has 250 questions. You have five hours to complete the exam, so it’s possible to spend quality time on each question to ensure you get a decent score.
