Item-Writer Spotlight: Candice Mateja, DO, FACP
ABIM is proud to spotlight members of the Item-Writing Task Forces, which are responsible for writing all of the content for assessments in each discipline of internal medicine. Learn more about the Item-Writing Task Forces and how ABIM creates assessment questions on the ABIM Blog. If you are interested in applying to serve as an Item-Writer, view current openings.
Candice Mateja, DO, FACP | Internal Medicine: Inpatient Item-Writing Task Force
Dr. Mateja is an academic internist and medical educator at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine and Tampa General Hospital, where she serves as Vice Chair of Education for the Department of Internal Medicine and Associate Program Director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program. A passionate educator, she is deeply involved in undergraduate and graduate medical education, with expertise in clinical reasoning, remediation, professionalism and faculty development.
Dr. Mateja has been on the Internal Medicine: Inpatient Item-Writing Task Force for two years.
“My favorite aspect of writing ABIM exam questions is the opportunity to translate real-world clinical reasoning into a meaningful assessment. I particularly enjoy identifying the key decision point in a clinical scenario and designing distractors that reflect the common cognitive errors physicians might make in practice. Crafting these plausible but incorrect options requires thinking carefully about how clinicians process information and where reasoning can go astray. This process allows questions to test not just factual knowledge, but the clinical judgment and decision-making skills that define excellent internal medicine practice. In many ways, item-writing becomes an extension of my work as a medical educator, helping ensure that assessments reflect the thoughtful, evidence-based reasoning we strive to teach our learners.”
She advises new Item-Writers: “Start with the clinical decision point, not the disease. Great questions test reasoning, not trivia. Design distractors that reflect the kinds of mistakes thoughtful physicians might realistically make, and keep the stem focused so the test-taker’s thinking is what gets evaluated. And perhaps most importantly, enjoy the process and the community; being part of an ABIM Item-Writing Task Force means you get to nerd out about clinical reasoning with some truly wonderful colleagues.”
During her free time, Dr. Mateja loves to read, crochet, spend time with her husband and two cats, and travel.
