So your Medical License has expired and you want it back, time to get ready for your SPEX exam. The National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) and Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) curated the Special Purpose Exam to reinstate or reactivate those MDs who have lost their license for one reason or another.
Think you’re ready for your SPEX Test? See if you can answer these 5 FREE SPEX Practice Questions from the BoardVitals SPEX question bank.
How’d you do? Whether you got them all right or all wrong, there’s always room for improvement and more practice. Practicing SPEX questions is the best way to test yourself for this exam. The SPEX exam is one day long and over the course of the 7 part exam, you will answer approximately 330 multiple choice questions. In order to pass, you need to get a score of 75; though somewhat confusing, this neither means 75% or 75 questions correct. You earn your 75 points based on the criteria of licensing board statutes and regulations. Each medical licensing board determines what is a “passing score.”
The SPEX exam structure follows two dimensions: disease categories and physicians tasks. It is in your best interest to have a comprehensive understanding of all topics found in both dimensions to properly prepare yourself for the exam. The breakdown is as follows:
SPEX Dimension 1: Disease Categories
- General Principles
- Disorders of Blood
- Disorders of the Nervous System/Special Senses
- Mental Disorders
- Disorders of the Skin
- Disorders of the Musculoskeletal System
- Disorders of the Respiratory System
- Cardiovascular Disorders
- Gastrointestinal Disorders
- Renal and Urinary Disorders
- Disorders of the Male Reproductive System
- Female Reproductive System and Pregnancy
- Disorders of the Endocrine System
- Immunologic Disorders
SPEX Dimension 2: Physician Tasks
These topics test physicians on how they are able to:
- Apply Scientific Concepts
- Formulate a Diagnosis
- Manage Patient Care.
There are lots of ways to make sure you are properly prepared to ace the SPEX. The SPEX Bulletin is a great place for specific information from NBME regarding logistics around the exam, fees and other information. FSMB also offers a Practice Test that you should definitely take before test day. BoardVitals offers a SPEX Practice Question Bank with more than 1000 questions written and reviewed by top physicians. Not ready to commit? Start with a free trial.
