ACEP Celebrates 50 Years of PEER!

PEER is the gold standard in EM board prep because it’s the closest to the real ABEM exams. In fact, PEER was created 2 years before ABEM was founded, as an assessment tool to help define emergency medicine as its own specialty. As such, PEER was the precursor to the first written EM board certification exam, offered in 1980:

In 1974, prior to the push for board development, ACEP produced the Physician’s Evaluation and Educational Review (PEER I), an examination that allowed practicing emergency physicians to assess their knowledge of the field’s core content. The test was developed under [Dr. R.R.] Hannas’s education committee, and Richard Braen, MD, did much of the detail work. ACEP members who paid for the examination were scored and provided with feedback on how they compared to their peers, as well as information about any areas of weakness. —Brian J. Zink, MD, Anyone, Anything, Anytime: A History of Emergency Medicine

Today, PEER has grown into an item bank with 3,000+ high-quality board questions, 1,500+ PEER Pearl summary infographics, 2,500+ bonus key point questions, 105+ pre-built quizzes aimed at the full Foundations of EM curriculum, simulated In-Training and Qualifying exams, learning pathways with 350+ video lectures, and much more. PEER’s goal is not only to assess EM knowledge, but also to educate emergency physicians at all stages of their careers — from medical student to intern, through residency, to graduating resident and board certification, to continuously learning attending physician.

To maintain such a high level of quality, PEER carefully follows ABEM’s exam blueprints and question-writing standards. Each product is specifically curated to meet the goals and needs of the emergency physician. Each PEER question is written and edited by practicing emergency physicians, undergoes multiple levels of review, and is continually updated and refined based on user feedback to ensure medical clarity and accuracy.

ACEP and PEER are proud to have successfully prepared generations of emergency physicians to pass ABEM exams. In doing so, we strive to support EM education and critical advancements in emergency care.