How many questions are on family medicine shelf
Mia Horton
Updated on March 22, 2026
The Family Medicine Shelf exam is made up of 80 items. Each optional module consists of 10 items.
How many questions are on the shelf exam?
How long are shelf examinations? These exams consist of approximately 110 questions that must be answered in the allotted time frame of two to three hours.
How many questions are on the surgery shelf?
The surgery shelf is 110 questions long (all vignette based multiple choice, with varying numbers of answer choices), and students are given 2 hours and 45 minutes to complete each exam.
How many family medicine UWorld questions are there?
The exams consist of up to 80 questions that attempt to mirror the true exam, which allocates 95 minutes for four sections of 75 multiple-choice questions each.How long is the family Med shelf exam?
How long do I have to complete a shelf exam? Most exams are 110 questions and you are given 2 hours and 45 minutes to complete the exam. An exception is the Family Medicine shelf which has a shorter version with 90 questions in 2 hours and 15 minutes.
How do you pass internal medicine shelves?
- While in the exam, start with the last 10 questions first. The latter questions require more thought, while previous questions are easier without as heavy analysis.
- Start studying early. …
- Equilibrium. …
- Utilize the correct resources. …
- The Long View.
How are shelf exams graded?
– The exam score sheet states that the exams are curved to a mean of 70 with a standard deviation of 8, but when the percentiles are given they don’t match up. … Each year they set the percentile based on the previous test administration. This usually happens around Nov. The mean has been climbing each year.
Is UWorld enough for shelf exams?
Unfortunately, the UWorld questions alone (besides for IM) are not enough to honor the Shelf exams! You need to supplement with a deeper level of knowledge and granularity gained by doing one other full question book from front to back.Is UWorld enough for family Med shelf?
UWorld. Although UWorld is helpful for all of the Shelf Exams, it can be a little bit trickier to use for the Family Med Shelf than for some of the others. … Although UWorld is still helpful, there are two other sources of questions that may be more useful for the Family Med Shelf: PreTest and the AAFP.
Is UWorld enough for internal medicine shelf?UWorld should be the primary source for information (the question explanations). Only if you feel the explanation is not sufficient should you read Step Up To Medicine or another book to supplement your learning.
Article first time published onWhat is a shelf exam in med school?
Shelf exams are where med students in their MS3 taking clinical rotations get examined and assessed of their mastery and practical application of medical knowledge within the actual clinical setting.
How hard is the surgery shelf exam?
It often requires long hours on the wards and in the OR, with relatively frequent call. After weeks of this (usually 6 to 8 weeks, depending on the med school), you will then be faced with the Surgery Shelf Exam, which has a reputation as being one of the more challenging Shelf Exams.
What is a passing shelf score?
1) The passing score for the shelf is 62 and 78 is considered honors.
How many questions are on the internal medicine shelf exam?
The exam is a web-based test consisting of 110 questions, the majority of which are single-best answer multiple choice questions, administered over 2 hours and 45 minutes.
How many questions are on the pediatric shelf exam?
The Pediatrics Shelf exam is formatted as an online test consisting of 110 questions which must be answered in 165 minutes.
Do residencies look at Shelf scores?
They aren’t part of our residency applications, and programs don’t ever see them. That said, a strong showing on the shelf will certainly help your surgery clerkship grade, and programs rightly consider the clerkship grade to be an integral part of the application.
What is a good family Med shelf score?
The Family Medicine clerkship has chosen a raw score of 79, which is the 63rd percentile for the national student performance across the 2018-19 academic year. 79 is the lowest raw score acceptable to achieve honors in the national recommended range of scores.
What is the average shelf score?
How do you interpret a shelf exam score? The NBME shelf exams were originally scaled to a mean of 70 and a standard deviation of 8. Keep in mind, this is not recalculated every year. The actual average in a given year has tended to creep up and is usually somewhere in the low-to-mid 70s.
What happens if I fail a shelf exam?
For the basic science (non-clinical) NBME Shelf exams, a failing grade may result in failure of a lecture or laboratory course. … This is because initial Shelf scores can be completely expunged and replaced with the retake score if the retake occurs within 90 days after the original exam.
How do I study for a shelf exam?
- Create a Study Schedule. Make a study schedule that will help you stay on track, despite the ups-and-downs that come with rotations. …
- Decide Which Resources to Use. …
- Be Diligent during Clerkship Year, but also Be Flexible.
How do I pass a shelf exam?
- Study Well in Advance. …
- Use Question Banks and Prep Course. …
- Understand the Shelf Exam Format. …
- Keep the Right Perspective. …
- Balance Group and Solo Studying. …
- Meet with People Who Have Shelf Exam Experience.
How do you study internal medicine?
- Supplement your lectures and clinical experience with reading. …
- Read and study from a variety of sources that match your learning style. …
- Practice answering questions. …
- Form a study group. …
- Consider taking a board review course.
Does UWorld have family medicine questions?
Highly recommend Exam Guru since UWorld doesn’t have a specific section for Family Medicine-specific topics and you would have to pick and choose to go through the medicine questions. AAFP also has good articles and management recommendations to go through for cases you see in the clinic.
How do I prepare for the family medicine shelf exam?
- The Case Files Family Medicine.
- Step Up to Medicine.
- UWorld.
- AAFP Board review questions.
- PreTest Family Medicine Edition.
- OnlineMedEd.
- Screening Vaccination Guidelines.
How can I do well in family medicine?
- Learn the basics of a thorough history.
- Learn to do directed physical exams.
- Learn to present.
- Understand the flow of clinic.
- Participate in procedures.
- Make small talk.
- Continue running through questions.
Is Uworld enough for third year?
Uworld, Uworld, Uworld is all that is really needed to say. I would make sure to do about 15-20 Uworld questions per day throughout all of third year. This was key, because not only did it hit important topics for rounds, it was the cornerstone to board studying and made dedicated for Step/Level 2 that much easier.
Are there breaks during shelf exams?
6. Take a break! Unlike the USMLE Step exams, you are free to get up, stretch, eat a snack, drink some water, and use the bathroom at your leisure during the shelf examinations. … Another strategy you can try is taking breaks consistently as you go through the exam.
Is the internal medicine shelf hard?
The NBME Internal Medicine Shelf Exam is challenging especially from the standpoint that it occurs during your internal medicine clerkship – a period that you are likely spending a lot of time at the hospital. This means whatever precious time you have, it needs to be focused on high-yield exam preparation.
How many Uworld IM questions are there?
Begin UWORLD As of this writing, there are close to 1400 internal medicine questions. It’s a marathon getting through it and at times it feels like studying for Step 1 again.
How often are shelf exams?
Shelf exams are usually given at the end of your rotation, and are available for basic science subjects like Physiology and Pharmacology, as well as clinical science subjects (i.e., rotation-based) like Medicine, Surgery, and Pediatrics.
How much should I study for shelf exam?
Try to take at least one practice exam a week or two before the shelf exam. No matter what your score, remember that you still have one to two weeks of studying. If you can’t fit one in that far in advance, try not to take a practice exam in the last few days before the real deal.