How to Study for Pediatric Board Exam in 7 Steps

In 2024, the American Board of Pediatrics Certifying Examination first-time pass rate for general pediatrics was 89%, which is an improvement of 7% from the previous year. The board exam is comprehensive and lengthy, evaluating your knowledge of pediatric medicine and clinical skills. Therefore, adequate preparation is crucial to passing and earning your board certification. 

Below is a 7-step approach we recommend you take to create your study guide, covering the exam format and how to develop a study schedule. Unfortunately, there is no shortcut to studying for the pediatric board exam. It will take dedication and discipline to pass. It’s a good thing you’re no stranger to high-stakes exams.

Step 1: Understand the exam format & blueprint

Administered annually in the fall by the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP), the pediatric board exam is computer-based. All 330–350 questions are multiple-choice, with a single best answer.

Scores are based on the total number of questions you answered correctly, and score reports are recorded on a 1 to 300 scale. A passing score, also known as the passing standard, for the pediatric board is 180. 

The exam consists of four sections covering a total of 24 content domains. The domains and their weight percentages are as follows:

1. Preventative Pediatrics/Well-Child Care – 12%
2. Fetal and Neonatal Care –  4%
3. Adolescent Care – 5%
4. Infectious Diseases – 7%
5. Mental and Behavioral Health – 6%
6. Psychosocial Issues – 3%
7. Emergency and Critical Care – 4%
8. Child Abuse and Neglect – 3%
9. Orthopedics and Sports Medicine – 4%
10. Eye, Ear, Nose, and Throat – 6%
11. Cardiology – 5%
12. Pulmonology – 5%
13. Gastroenterology – 5%
14. Neurology – 4%
15. Skin/Dermatology – 4%
16. Hematology-Oncology – 3%
17. Allergy and Immunology – 3%
18. Endocrinology* – 3%
19. Nephrology, Fluids, and Electrolytes – 3%
20. Genitourinary System – 3%
21. Genetics, Dysmorphology, and Metabolic Disorders – 2%
22. Rheumatology – 2%
23. Ethics – 2%
24. Patient Safety, Quality Improvement, and Research Methods – 2%

Review the ABP content outline for more details. And, if you’re curious to see what the exam looks like, complete the exam tutorial.

Step 2: Create a study strategy & set goals

Now that you know the basics, it’s time to figure out how to study for the pediatric boards. That involves setting some goals and developing a strategy! 

To create your study strategy, sit down and answer these 3 questions:

1. What materials do I want to use? 
2. What study method allows me to learn best and retain the most information? 
3. How will I fit studying into my current schedule? 

Knowing how, when, and what you’ll study is essential to developing a robust strategy – if you need help crafting your study plan, check out step 5.

Next, you need to set weekly and monthly goals. Goals help keep you motivated by acting as milestones leading up to the exam date. 

For example, weekly goals remind you to take it one step at a time; this can be completing 100 practice questions a week or studying 15 to 18 hours. Monthly goals remind you of all the progress you’ve made so far; for example, you may celebrate successfully reviewing multiple content domains or simply a culmination of your weekly wins.

Please note that your goals should be realistic and achievable. Avoid setting an unattainable number of study hours per week – you won’t create a successful strategy that way.

Step 3: Identify your study resources

Studying for the pediatric boards isn’t a walk in the park, but the right resources will surely make it feel like a breeze! 

Textbooks

You don’t need to buy any new textbooks unless you want to. Read your pediatric medicine textbooks to review information and take notes. While reading alone won’t set you up for success, pairing it with effective study methods, such as paraphrasing or writing notes in your own words, will definitely help.

Question banks 

Everyone needs a good question bank for the pediatric boards. Practice questions help you deepen your understanding, improve your test-taking approach, and ease exam anxiety.

When choosing your question bank, ensure it’s written by content experts, such as the TrueLearn Pediatric Board Review Bank. Topics are mapped to the ABP blueprint, and it contains a library of 1,350+ questions for you to test yourself, improve your performance, and prepare to pass.

Furthermore, if you’re always on the go, the TrueLearn SmartBanks app is available on the App Store and Google Play so you can study from anywhere life takes you. 

Study groups

It helps to study with your peers! You keep each other accountable, teach each other topics, and can ask questions. Call it peer learning, but sometimes, you simply need a friend to study alongside you in the quiet coffee shop. Reach out. 

Flashcards

We know flashcards are popularly recommended, but to be fair, they just work. Whether for rapid review or repeated studying, flashcards are highly effective resources for review and long-term retention. TrueLearn recently launched a new create-your-own flashcard feature for all SmartBank subscribers at no additional cost.

Step 4: Determine your strengths & weaknesses

There’s a reason why folks say, “Practice makes perfect.” Take an initial practice exam to see what you know. Your exam results will identify your strengths and weaknesses, helping you further explore the content areas you need to review. 

Over time, you can retest yourself and see how you’ve improved, what else needs attention, and if there’s still more work to do. It’s really a self-awareness tool – and a way to keep yourself accountable. Residents subscribed to our ABP Certifying SmartBank can add on a 100-question predictive Assessment. (And if bundled upfront, you can save $15 off this self-assessment.)

Step 5: Plan out a study schedule

Plan backward from your exam date and use the content outline to plan your schedule! Feel free to make adjustments as needed, and be sure to review content areas where you struggle the most.

We’ve provided an example 12-week schedule below for you to get started, but you should adjust this according to what you’ve learned from Step 4.

Weeks 1 and 2: 

• Preventative Pediatrics/Well-Child Care 
• Ethics
• Patient Safety, Quality Improvement, and Research Methods
• Fetal and Neonatal Care
• Emergency and Critical Care
• Child Abuse and Neglect

Weeks 3 and 4:

• Infectious Diseases
• Eye, Ear, Nose, and Throat 
• Adolescent Care
• Mental and Behavioral Health
• Psychosocial Issues

Weeks 5 and 6:

• Cardiology
• Pulmonology
• Gastroenterology
• Neurology

Weeks 7 and 8:

• Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
• Skin/Dermatology
• Hematology-Oncology
• Allergy and Immunology
• Endocrinology 

Weeks 9 and 10: 

• Nephrology, Fluids, and Electrolytes 
• Genitourinary System
• Genetics, Dysmorphology, and Metabolic Disorders
• Rheumatology 

Weeks 11 and 12: 

• Full-length practice test
• Weak content area review
• General review

Every week should include your goal of practice questions and additional review of a topic you struggled with from the previous weeks.

Step 6: Build endurance for test day 

The exam itself is 7 hours long, but counting each 15-minute break, the exam tutorial, and your 30-minute early arrival to the Prometric Test Center, you’ll be there for around 9 hours. That’s a long time!  Even if you’ve taken lengthy exams before, you may still need to retrain your brain for test day by regularly reviewing practice questions.

Remember, since the exam is divided into four sections, you’ll have approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes for each. Some quick math tells us that’s about 87 questions for each section. 

As you take the practice exams, reading question stems and answers thoroughly, use the process of elimination, and get used to sitting for an extended period of time. It may be difficult at first, but you’ll build stamina over time.

Step 7: Take an assessment 2 weeks out

While you’ll likely already use practice exams and questions throughout your routine, take an assessment at least two weeks before your exam day. This will help you gauge your performance and identify areas that may need re-review.

When you sign up for TrueLearn’s pediatric board question bank, you can use the SmartAnalytics feature to track your progress and see how well prepared you are before the exam. It’s a pretty convenient tool throughout your study process, so don’t knock it till you try it.

That just about wraps up our pediatric board study guide! Before you go, we’re offering a free trial to try TrueLearn and jump-start your board prep. Sign up today.