About The Shelf Exam

The Emergency Medicine shelf exam effectiveness of the fourth-year emergency medicine experience. The Emergency Medicine Shelf Exam is made up of 110 items in traditional multiple choice, single best answer format as well as several sequential item sets. The entire exam lasts for 2 hours and 45 minutes.

Systems
General Principles (Ethics, Patient Safety, Etc.)
1%–5%
Immunologic Disorders
1%–5%
Diseases of the Blood
5%–10%
Mental Disorders
1%–5%
Diseases of the Nervous System
10%–15%
Cardiovascular Disorders
15%–20%
Diseases of the Respiratory System
10%–15%
Nutritional and Digestive Disorders
10%–15%
Gynecologic Disorders
1%–5%
Renal, Urinary, Male Reproductive Systems
5%–10%
Obstetric Disorders
1%–5%
Diseases of the Skin
1%–5%
Musculoskeletal and Connective Tissue Disorders
5%–10%
Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders
5%–10%
Physician Task
Promoting Health and Health Maintenance
1%–5%
Understanding Mechanisms of Disease
5%–10%
Establishing a Diagnosis
25%–35%
Applying Principles of Management
45%–55%
Patient Age
Birth to 17
5%–10%
18 to 65
60%–65%
66 and older
15%–20%

*A subset of items across the organ systems includes content that focuses on resuscitation/trauma (~15%) and environmental/toxicologic disorders (~15%).

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