ABR NM and ABSNM Prep - American Association of Physicists in Medicine...
Transcript of ABR NM and ABSNM Prep - American Association of Physicists in Medicine...
PreparingforABRMedicalNuclearPhysicsandABSNMExamsNATHAN BU S S E , M . S . D A B R DA B SNM
CO LO RADO A S SO C I AT E S I N M ED I C A L P H Y S I C S
AUGU S T 1 , 2 0 1 7
DisclosuresRecentlycompletedABSNM- PhysicsandInstrumentation(2016)andABRMedicalNuclearPhysics(MNP)(2017)
Item-writerforABROLAMOCDiagnosticcommittee
Nospecificknowledgeoftestitems
ABR- ObtainingaSecondCertificateForafirstcertificateinMNP,processissimilartoDiagnostic,butrequiresMNPresidency.
Forthosewithanexistingcertificate,Part2requiresequivalentofatleastoneyearofclinicalexperienceinMNP obtainedAFTERdiplomateisfullycertifiedinpreviousdiscipline.
ExperiencemustbeattestedtobysomeonewithABR,ABMP,ABSNMNuclearMedicinecertification.
Onceapproved,candidatehassixyearstocompleteprocess,Part2mustbetakenwithinfouryearsofapproval.Ifeitheroftheprecedingrequirementsaren’tmet,candidatemustcompleteayearofclinicalexperienceataninstitutionthathasaCAMPEP-accreditedresidency.
Beginningin2019,theclinicalexperiencemustbePROSPECTIVE. Diplomateandsupervisormustsubmitplanpriortoinitiationofclinicalexperience.Moredetailstobepublishedin2017.
ApplicationsacceptedbetweenDec1andJan31.
ABRPart2ContentGuide
ABRPart3ContentGuide
ABSNMOverviewOfferedannuallyontheSaturdaybeforethestartoftheSNMMIannualmeeting
Fourdifferentsubspecialtyexams:
-NuclearMedicinePhysicsandInstrumentation
-RadiopharmaceuticalScience
-RadiationProtection
-MolecularImaging
ABSNM- RequiredCredentialsRequirementsforPhysicsandInstrumentation:
-MSorPhDinphysics,medicalphysics,engineering,appliedmath,orotherphysicalsciences
-Twoorthreeyearsexperience(PhD/MS)offull-timepracticaltrainingand/orsupervisedexperienceinmedicalphysicseitherbymedicalphysicistcertifiedbyanNRCrecognizedspecialtyboardoraphysicianAUmeetingrequirementsforimagingandlocalizationstudiesandunsealedbyproductmaterialrequiringawrittendirective(10CFR35.290and390)
-Letterdocumentingtheexperience
-DoesnotrequireletterfromsomeonewhohastakenABSNM
ABR- ExamFormatandDayof
SameasABRDiagnosticParts2and3
ABSNM- ExamDayOfAdministeredinhotelconferenceroom.
Scantron format,twoexamineespertable.
Coffeeandwateravailable.
Bringyourowncalculator– itmustbeapprovedbyexaminers
Part1:GeneralExamination– Morning.3hours.180Questions.
Oneoroneandahalfhourbreakforlunch.
Part2:SpecialtyExamination– Afternoon.2.5hours.100Questions.
RecommendedStudyMaterials-Cherry,Sorensen,andPhelps,PhysicsinNuclearMedicine,knowthis.Allofthis.ThisistheBushberg equivalentforMNP.
-KnollRadiationDetectionandMeasurementrecommendedforcountingstatistics,errorpropagation,andelectroniccircuits.
-EarlyandSodee,PrinciplesandPracticeofNuclearMedicine,recommendedforclinicalchapters,especiallybone,thyroid,andcardiovascular.
RecommendedStudyMaterialsABSNMhasmoreclinicalbreadthanddepththanABRMNP
-Steves,ReviewofNuclearMedicineTechnology,designedforNMtechs,thisisusefulforradipharmacuetical knowledge,clinicalimages,etc.
-RamerandAlavi,NuclearMedicineTechnology:ReviewQuestionsfortheBoardExaminations,thisisapocketreferencefullofNMtech-typeboardexamquestions.
StudyTipsBoththeseexamsarehard!DoyouregularlyworkinNuclearMedicine?Ifnot,thentheseexamswillbeREALLYhard.
Ispent80-100hoursover3-4monthsstudyingforABSNMandMNPPart2– Itookthemboththesamesummer.
NMexamshavelessstudymaterialonlinethandiagnosticortherapyexams.Findastudybuddyandsharestudyguidesandoutlines.Createpracticeproblemsforwrittenororalexamsandquizeachother.
Knowcommonstatisticalformulas:standarddeviation,chi-squared,MDA,etc.
Developqualitativeunderstandingofreconstructionmethods:howthedifferentparametersaffectreconstructionforbothfilteredbackprojectionanditerativetechniques.
Knoworderofmagnitudeperformancecharacteristics(sensitivity,resolution,dead-time,etc)forcommonimagingmodalities.
ABRStudyTipsForABRPart2workalltheproblemsyoucan– ABRsampleproblems,CSPandKnoll’sproblemsandexamples,etc.Ifyou’relikeme,you’vebeenoutofschoolafewyearsandyourmathwillberusty.
Knowwhat’sontheABRlistofconstantsforPart2anddon’tmemorizethose(althoughmaybedoforABSNM).
ForPart3,practicetalkingthroughanswerstoimaginaryquestions.Lookataclinicalimage–describetheimage,howitwasacquired,whattheexamisfor,etc.
ABSNMStudyTipsFor20mostcommonNMproceduresknow:
-Clinicalindications
-Radionuclidesandtracer
-Biologicpathways
-Standardimageacquisitiontechniquesandappearances
Theremaybequestionsonproceduresnolongerregularlyperformedatmanysites:Thalliumheartstudies,first-passcardiacstudies,etc.
Somequantitativeproblems,butfewerandalowerdegreeofdifficultythanABR.
ABRPart2SampleQuestions- Simple
ABRPart2SampleQuestions- Complex
ABRPart2SampleQuestions– NewItemTypes
ABR– MaintenanceofCertificationSameasMOCforDiagnostic
NotethatdiplomateswithmultiplecertificateswillhavetwiceasmanyOLAMOCquestions!
ABSNM- MaintenanceofCertification100Category1ContinuingEducationCreditsevery4years(25CEsperyear).70%mustbeindiplomat’sprimaryspecialty.
$75annualMOCfee
Initialcertificationrenewedeveryfouryearsforfouryeartermbasedonrecertificationapplication
Thanks!
SpecialthankstoDustinGress forABSNMpreparationrecommendations