Cardiovascular Board Exam for NP through American Board of Cardiovascular Medicine

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Does anyone have any experience with American Board of Cardiovascular Medicine (ABCM)? I am interested in taking the Level IV CVNP-BC exam through ABCM. It seems that there is no review material. Wonder what books or website will be helpful to prepare for the exam. I also have some questions that I wanted to clarify before I pay for the testing fee. I have emailed their director, also called them several times and left voicemail messages. However, I haven't heard back from anybody.....

Thanks a lot!

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Specializes in ACNP-BC, Adult Critical Care, Cardiology.

I would perceive that as a bad sign when a professional certification board does not return individual inquiries nor have a person available when you call. On their website, it seems like they also offer live review for the test, another red flag in my book. They also don't have a listing of who are on this board and what their credentials are. It's like "yes, we'll charge your for the test and while we're at it, do you also want to attend our very own live review course?". I'm all for NP's of specific specialties joining together to have a professional organization and presence (think SCCM and AACN for me as a Critical Care NP) but when it seems like something is outright revenue-driven, I get suspicious. Just my 2 cents.

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Specializes in Emergency medicine.

Disclaimer: not an NP, but a DO who has been through boards. In training, our primary learning resource is a comprehensive textbook for our specialty, then we switch to review books when prepping for the exam.

Looking at the online info...

"Once you have signed up and paid for the CVNP-BC Level IV Exam, you will receive a detailed study list for this Exam. We recommend that you study online by using references from known sites that were published within the past 5 years. You may also want to purchase a comprehensive Cardiology reference book published within the last 5 years; we have one listed on our site under More...References in the main menu panel."

It seems the most relevant text for the level IV test would be Braunwald's Heart Disease: a Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine, this is the one listed on the website. This should be a solid primary resource. After that, when just reviewing for the test, I would think a cardiology board review book, like the Cleveland Clinic Cardiology Board Review Book, would be a good resource.

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Thank you all for the advice. Really appreciate it!

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Specializes in Allergy, Asthma, & Clinical Immunology.

Hi Wendy,

Stony Brook University Medicine program core clinical e-books for Cardiology are as follows:

- Braunwald's Heart Disease : A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine

- Hurst's The Heart

- Preventive Cardiology : A Companion to Braunwald's Heart Disease

Hope this helps you! I am interested in taking the boards as well! Keep us posted and good luck!

Best,

Chris L.

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