ABS Qualifying Exam · July 29, 2026

Your boards game plan.

--of 27days into the plan
Wednesday, July 29, 2026exam day
Where you stand · from your TrueLearn, July 2

The starting line

Translation: your accuracy is already right at the national average, and your pace leaves 30+ seconds per question to spare. The only thing between you and a comfortable pass is coverage — 1,469 questions you haven't seen yet. This plan clears every one of them by July 21, re-does every miss, and still tapers you into exam day rested.

Off to a real start: anorectal (92%) and colorectal (85%) are already strengths. First targets: esophagus (46%), small bowel (50%), stomach (64%) — plus early looks at trauma, vascular, transfusion, and endocrine, where your first answers hint they need attention.
The method · this is the big change

Every block in Tutor Mode

You've been doing 50-question blocks and reviewing them after. From now on, every block is Tutor Mode — the explanation appears the moment you answer, while your reasoning is still fresh. Same questions, better retention (the research is in "Why This Works"). Set up every single block the same way:

1Create Test → Mode: Tutor → Test Interface: ABS.
2Question State: New → tick today's categories and enter the exact count — the calendar gives you both, every day.
3Name it by date and block — 0706-A, 0706-B… — so your test list reads like a diary.
4Afternoon "yesterday's misses" block: same setup, but Question State: Incorrect. That's the whole system.
Tonight, one-time setup (2 minutes): in TrueLearn, tap the pencil next to Exam Date and set July 29 — and set your Goal to 70%. Your dashboard will pace itself with the plan from then on.
Start here · your week

This week, day by day

Here's exactly what your week looks like. Tap any day to open it — your morning workout comes first, then your study blocks, then you're off. Today is already open for you.

Your full month is under Your Calendar in the menu — but day to day, this is all you need.
Your game plan

How the next few weeks go

Twenty-seven days, full-time, built to peak right at exam day: clear the whole bank in tutor mode by July 21, dress-rehearse the real thing July 22, spend the last week re-doing every miss, then ease off so you walk in rested. Sundays are off and Saturdays stay short — that's on purpose, not slacking. If a day ever falls apart, the floor is one 20-question block — do that and count the day.

A day in the plan

What a study day looks like

Your mornings stay yours — work out, eat, then ease in. The hard blocks sit in the morning on purpose (that's your best brain); afternoons taper off and your evenings are always off. Most days you're wrapped by ~4 with the beach waiting. Here's the rhythm:

What you'll study with

Your tools — you already have most of them

Keep it simple. You don't need a pile of resources; you need to finish one great question bank and actually learn from it. Here's the short list:

You're fully set — nothing to buy. Your TrueLearn ABS Qualifying Exam bank is the board-format bank: 1,569 questions that read exactly like your exam, and the whole plan lives inside it. De Virgilio is your end-of-day book, SCORE's weekly quiz is a Saturday sanity check, and Behind the Knife rides along on beach walks. Skip everything else.
How to use this site

Three simple steps

1Read "Why This Works" once. Five minutes. It shows you — with the actual research — why the plan is built this way, so you can trust it and stop second-guessing.
2Each morning, find today in "This week" up top. It lays out your whole day and gives you the exact questions to do.
3Check things off as you go. Optional, but it feels good — and the Progress tab keeps track for you.
9 / 10people pass this exam on their first try. The exam is built to be passable — and this plan puts you comfortably on the right side of that number.
No guesswork

How we figured out the best way to do this

This plan isn't based on a hunch. It pulls from the research on how people actually pass medical board exams — what works, what's a waste of time, and the numbers behind it. Here's what that research says, and how your plan uses each piece.

Thu Jul 2 → Wed Jul 29

Your 27 days, block by block

Tap any day to open it — every block lists the exact categories and question counts to click into Create Test. Workout first, evenings off. Sundays are off. Saturday mornings are short. Today opens automatically.

Every block, same recipe: Create Test → Tutor → Interface ABS → Question State New (or Incorrect for the misses block) → tick the listed categories, type the count, go. Name tests like 0706-A so your list stays tidy.
At a glance · nothing here ever resets

How you're doing

One square per day. Sea-green means done, pale means partly done, sand means a planned day off. An empty square is just an empty square — today is a new page either way.

Starting point · TrueLearn, July 2

Your baseline by topic

From your first 100 questions — only topics with 10+ answered (fewer than that is noise). The plan hits the bottom of this list first, hard.

Weekly re-check: once a week (there's a Saturday task for it), open TrueLearn → Performance and glance at the category table. Anything sitting under 60% earns an extra re-do block. No spreadsheets — the dashboard already keeps score.
Optional · only if you like numbers

Log how your questions went

After a study block, jot how many you did and how many you got right. It's optional — but it'll show you which topics need more work.

Where to focus next

Topics by how they're going

Lowest first. Anything under 60% is worth another round before exam day.

Your most-asked question

What to use — and what to skip

Good news: you're already set up. You own the two most important things, and there's only one small thing to add (I'm handling it). Here's exactly what each one is for.

Bottom line: you're set — your ABS QE bank is the exact-format bank and the whole plan lives in it, De Virgilio closes out your weekday afternoons, and SCORE's weekly quiz takes 15 Saturday minutes. Nothing to buy, nothing to add. Skip everything else.
What's on the exam

Where the questions come from

Straight from your own question bank (which mirrors the official blueprint) — the top few topics are nearly half the test, so they get the most of your time.

The big day

Exam-day checklist

Tap to check off. The last two days are about rest and confidence — not cramming.

    On pacing: about 96 seconds per question. If you're stuck after a minute, flag it and move on — you can come back, and guessing never hurts you. Trust your first instinct.
    ABS Qualifying Exam · Wednesday, July 29, 2026

    Based on the ABS exam outline and published learning-science research.