Board Certification in Psychiatry

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Averaged 72% in psych and 78% in neuro -Beat the boards Qbank-. I have taken Test one on Spiegel 79%. I am taking rest sometime next week. Will share. I have no idea what is good or not.
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is anyone else reading Spiegel's vignette section and seeing things like this?...

Question: (Choose 2 of 3)

4 answer choices
 
WingedOx said:
is anyone else reading Spiegel's vignette section and seeing things like this?...

Question: (Choose 2 of 3)

4 answer choices
Click to expand...

yes...there so many proof-reading problems in the Spiegel online program...i haven't found many content errors though (just one and it was minor).
 
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americanidiot said:
yes...there so many proof-reading problems in the Spiegel online program...i haven't found many content errors though (just one and it was minor).
Click to expand...

I've been doing everything exclusively out of the book. Makes it harder to do the last chapter after I spilled coffee on the answer key.
 
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is it just me or are there about 10,000 questions about subtle differences between TCAs on Kenny & Spiegel?...these nuances seem a little over tested for a class of medication that is prescribed relatively infrequently.
 
I agree but it might be important when they are making sure you get it. BTW I have done 2 more exams -70%-. Hope that is enough.
 
Funny, my last two scores were exactly 70% as well (tests 3 and 4). Kenny and Spiegel is tough! I hope that's good enough to pass next week. Good luck, Pijiriguo (and all you lurkers:)
 
Hey all.
I have a weird question.... I know it is a few days before exam, but...
what is the structure of the exam? I can't find any description online.
How many questions are there. My confirmation page states that the exam is 570 min, its about 9.5 hrs. So what should I expect.
Thank you.
 
In the same email they send you a table where you can see how the test will be divided. Basically 480 questions; 4 blocks with vignettes each with 55 to 65 questions each. 4 more blocks with 60 questions each to test Neuro and psych.
 
Thank you very much Pijiriguo for your explanation.
BTW, I didn't get any table with an explanation of the exam structure. That is weird.
Good luck in your finals days of studying...
 
Thank you eublefar. That is weird. I thought they sent same email to all. Oh well... Maybe they don't. Good luck to you as well.
 
This is the table.

image.jpg
 
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wow, thank you for the snapshot of it. I definitely didn't get that one.
ABPN didn't send me any e-mails except that I can register for it. I guess I have to call them up and make sure that I am on the list of exam takers LOL
 
Here's my time plan for tomorrow: block 1, block 2, 10 minute break, block 3, block 4, 20 minute break, block 5, block 6, 10 minute break, block 7, block 8, finished! I anticipate taking a maximum of 60 minutes/block although I would be surprised if I needed that much time. Would love to hear others plans for tomorrow...good luck!
 
yeah...in my paranoid decision making i figured if there was some totally apocalyptic event tomorrow then i might have an easier chance of rescheduling my exam for the following day...although if it was truly an apocalyptic event, then likely friday would be affected too. oh well. back to cramming erickson/mahler/piaget stages and CYP inhibitors/inducers (a successful ritual for me before literally every medical board exam as i can NEVER remember them for longer than 24 hours).
 
as a testament to my poor instruction reading - it only dawned on me TODAY that we have to time our own blocks. i thought it was like USMLE where you get 60min for a block before it closes you out and you are forced to move on.
 
Hey American, good luck tomorrow. I don't think you have to time yourself. I believe blocks are timed according to amount of questions and at some point the block ends and kick you out. You need to time the breaks so you don't take more than the time allowed. But I have never taken this test before. Anyways, I wish you the best tomorrow.
 
Unfortunately it does seem we are given the whole days time up front and we are responsible to keep our own time...
 
americanidiot said:
Unfortunately it does seem we are given the whole days time up front and we are responsible to keep our own time...
Click to expand...

It's not a big deal. I took a lot of breaks when I took it.... can plan for 5-10 mins after each block to stretch your legs. Don't get caught up in rushing.... use the break time.
 
Remember, it's just a stupid exam. Just read the questions slowly. Afterwards, you can still work and earn money.
 
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Test taken today. Vignettes were confusing as expected. Spiegel was very helpful and I strongly recommend it. Now we have to wait.
 
I feel terrible. I have always been a very good test taker but now I feel that I know nothing and studied something completely unrelated.
I used Beat the Boards and I feel it was very superficial. Was not doing great on BoardVitals but it was improving. Didn't have much time for Spiegel that I should've. I feel that Spiegel is the closest to the actual exam.
Feel completely exhausted.

Now Qs:
1. Does ABPN notify your program if you pass or fail, even if you take it a few years since graduation?
2. What would be realistic consequences of not passing?
 
ABPN does notify you.
Consequence? You keep working and take it again the following year.

Keep doing Speigel. More the merrier. And then redo the questions again.
 
Rena said:
I feel terrible. I have always been a very good test taker but now I feel that I know nothing and studied something completely unrelated.
I used Beat the Boards and I feel it was very superficial. Was not doing great on BoardVitals but it was improving. Didn't have much time for Spiegel that I should've. I feel that Spiegel is the closest to the actual exam.
Feel completely exhausted.

Now Qs:
1. Does ABPN notify your program if you pass or fail, even if you take it a few years since graduation?
2. What would be realistic consequences of not passing?
Click to expand...

I did Beat the Boards also and it was okay but Spiegel was the closest to real test. At least 60 % of stand alone were from subjects I remember reading in the Qbank.
 
Pijiriguo said:
I did Beat the Boards also and it was okay but Spiegel was the closest to real test. At least 60 % of stand alone were from subjects I remember reading in the Qbank.
Click to expand...

I thought Spiegel was spot on last year. I have a friend who just took it who primarily used BTB and felt like the questions were unexpectedly hard.
 
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OldPsychDoc said:
ABPN does furnish a report to your program as well.
Programs are accountable for graduate performance.
Click to expand...

I failed that so hard. So not only will I not get my job renewed but my residency will also find out. Oh boy. :(
 
I sure hope not. I took way too much time on the vignette videos (watching them repeatedly) such that I had to go fast through the stand alone questions to finish on time. I've never once has trouble on prite because of time...this was so weird...Thanks for the vote of confidence Dr B...
 
I didn't have a good strategy for the vignettes bc spiegel ones seemed so straight forward and didn't have vids...
 
americanidiot said:
I didn't have a good strategy for the vignettes bc spiegel ones seemed so straight forward and didn't have vids...
Click to expand...

Yeah, the vignettes were evil last year. There's no good study source for them either. Hope you're at least able to feel somewhat good about being done and not having to study.
 
Doctor Bagel said:
Yeah, the vignettes were evil last year. There's no good study source for them either. Hope you're at least able to feel somewhat good about being done and not having to study.
Click to expand...
Thanks man - I'm trying to relax...appreciate the kind words...it's cool having psychiatrists to bounce these feelings off of
 
I thought some of the multiple answers had more than 2 correct answers, but you could only pick 2. Arg! It was definitely not as straight forward as practiced. Good luck to everyone who took it.
 
Agree. All the blocks were 60 but I was offered a break every time I finish a block and I did not do any block back to back
 
mellow22 said:
I thought some of the multiple answers had more than 2 correct answers, but you could only pick 2. Arg! It was definitely not as straight forward as practiced. Good luck to everyone who took it.
Click to expand...

I agree that was a tough exam! Some of the multiple choice, non-vignette, style were straight forward but the rest was nonsense. I hope I passed. My entire class feels like we failed.
 
yeah, pretty sure you got one between every section and could use the 50 min however you wanted.

I was tempted to just use extra break time beyond the 50 min and let it eat into my test time. I think I'm still conditioned from running out of time on step 3 to answering questions faster than I need to. I had a lot of time on the end.

Also, I'd prefer not to violate the nondisclosure agreement, but did anyone else think a certain subset of disorders was way over-tested on the vignettes compared to how often they occur in real life... or has everyone lost all their memory of such events?
 
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mellow22 said:
I thought some of the multiple answers had more than 2 correct answers, but you could only pick 2. Arg! It was definitely not as straight forward as practiced. Good luck to everyone who took it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, there was that, and there also were "pick two" question where you'd think "well, there's one clear answer here that I'd do 100% of the time in clinical practice, but there's also apparently another one... should I inappropriately prescribe a benzo or inappropriately prescribe an expensive antipsychotic as my second choice?"
 
WingedOx said:
Also, I'd prefer not to violate the nondisclosure agreement, but did anyone else think a certain subset of disorders was way over-tested on the vignettes compared to how often they occur in real life... or has everyone lost all their memory of such events?
Click to expand...

Yep. During the test I was like, "surely they aren't going through another entire vignette on this again".

I actually thought that the videos were alright in quality.

I feel like the psychopharm questions were more straightforward.

I felt like there were less questions related to development than I was expecting.

Of the study materials I used I felt like Kenny and Spiegel was the best. I think my cumulative score through was about 70%. We shall see.

Twelve weeks is going to be a long time to wait.

Best of luck to the rest of you.
 
WingedOx said:
yeah, pretty sure you got one between every section and could use the 50 min however you wanted.

I was tempted to just use extra break time beyond the 50 min and let it eat into my test time. I think I'm still conditioned from running out of time on step 3 to answering questions faster than I need to. I had a lot of time on the end.

Also, I'd prefer not to violate the nondisclosure agreement, but did anyone else think a certain subset of disorders was way over-tested on the vignettes compared to how often they occur in real life... or has everyone lost all their memory of such events?
Click to expand...

Lol..
 
Last edited:
WingedOx said:
Also, I'd prefer not to violate the nondisclosure agreement, but did anyone else think a certain subset of disorders was way over-tested on the vignettes compared to how often they occur in real life... or has everyone lost all their memory of such events?
Click to expand...
100% agree. It was rather ridiculous.
 
Dr.W said:
I agree that was a tough exam! Some of the multiple choice, non-vignette, style were straight forward but the rest was nonsense. I hope I passed. My entire class feels like we failed.
Click to expand...

Multiple choice, non vignette? OMG I did not see those.
 
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