Board exam

[aspiringdoc09]

Same. I'm looking at some of these BtB neuro lectures I didn't cover and realize I could have gotten more points on Test 4 just by viewing them. BtB has good notes I will say.

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[Stagg737]

Some of these Spiegel vignettes are pretty difficult...

I'm hoping Spiegel is harder than the exam!

Wait, K&S has Vignettes? Where are these?

 

[BiscoDisco]

I did Spiegel 4 yesterday and got 72%. It felt neuro-heavy with obscure diseases. I'll try to do Spiegel 5 today. I have a few more vignettes to complete that I will do before the board exam. I also plan to read over the weaker areas.

I tried BTB Qs and avg 74% on 30% of the questions. I listened to a few videos in my weaker area and then downloaded the pdf to look at stuff. Even listening at 2x was too slow for me. The questions seemed super easy with occasional difficulty.

We should all do great based on my friends who have taken.

I'm 81% on BTB with 97% complete. I agree though, they do seem easy. Have your friends who have taken found any sort of correlation between BTB and passing the real exam?

I am also using the BTB pdfs which seem to be pretty good.

 

[aspiringdoc09]

@BiscoDisco My friends said I would pass if I got 70% on K&S or BTB. Many of them say it's a mixture of BTB, BV, and K&S. Seems K&S is probably overkill but good for the neurology subjects.

@Stagg737 Yes. In the back of the book (after T6), or if using the online version, you can see it there.

Any tips to keep up with CYPs?

 

[Stagg737]

@BiscoDisco My friends said I would pass if I got 70% on K&S or BTB. Many of them say it's a mixture of BTB, BV, and K&S. Seems K&S is probably overkill but good for the neurology subjects.

@Stagg737 Yes. In the back of the book (after T6), or if using the online version, you can see it there.

Any tips to keep up with CYPs?

If you're referring to CYP450 enzymes, google the flockhart table from Indiana University. Best resource for it I've seen.

Also, Idk how I completely missed the K&S vignettes online. Thank you so much!

 

[KnightofBaldMt]

@BiscoDisco My friends said I would pass if I got 70% on K&S or BTB. Many of them say it's a mixture of BTB, BV, and K&S. Seems K&S is probably overkill but good for the neurology subjects.

@Stagg737 Yes. In the back of the book (after T6), or if using the online version, you can see it there.

Any tips to keep up with CYPs?

I saw this mnemonic on the Facebook Psych Group:

Inhibitors are SICKFACES.COM (you slow down when you're sick)
Sodium valproate
Isoniazid
Cimetidine
Ketoconazole
Fluconazole
Alcohol (acute)
Chloramphenicol
Erythromycin
Sulphonamides
Ciprofloxacin
Omeprazole
Metronidazole

Inducers are SCRAP GP
Sulfonylureas, Smoking
Carbamazepine, Corticosteroids
Rifamycins
Alcohol (chronic)
Phenytoin
Griseofulvin
Phenobarbital

 

[aspiringdoc09]

I just completed Test 5 and did worse (65%). I know I rushed through it as I still had an hour. A lot of psychopharm (CYPs), ethics, and psychotherapy/history stuff. Will focus on weak areas until test day!

Thanks for the resources.

 

[KnightofBaldMt]

Any thoughts about optimal way to use timing on this exam?

 

[funtertaining15]

Any thoughts about optimal way to use timing on this exam?

have you tried the practice demo exam? gives you an idea and way to practice in a way, plus have 27 questions, with video and the multi choice- i did it yesterday and had some time left to spare with sections.

Psychiatry Certification Demonstration Exam - American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology

Psychiatry Certification Demonstration Exam (At this time, ABPN recommends using only desktop and laptop computers running Windows or macOS operating systems that meet or exceed the minimum specifications. Tablets and touchscreens are not supported.) The purpose of this Psychiatry Certification...

abpn.org

 

[ridethecliche]

I tanked the last Spiegel exam, but honestly I think I'm just losing steam with this. Found myself getting distracted and just losing focus and not really reading stuff much.

have you tried the practice demo exam? gives you an idea and way to practice in a way, plus have 27 questions, with video and the multi choice- i did it yesterday and had some time left to spare with sections.

Psychiatry Certification Demonstration Exam - American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology

Psychiatry Certification Demonstration Exam (At this time, ABPN recommends using only desktop and laptop computers running Windows or macOS operating systems that meet or exceed the minimum specifications. Tablets and touchscreens are not supported.) The purpose of this Psychiatry Certification...

abpn.org

Wait, does that exam give you answers or even a score? It says it doesnt... makes me wonder what the point is.

 

[funtertaining15]

I tanked the last Spiegel exam, but honestly I think I'm just losing steam with this. Found myself getting distracted and just losing focus and not really reading stuff much.



Wait, does that exam give you answers or even a score? It says it doesnt... makes me wonder what the point is.

no it doesn't. i just took screen shots... but yeah wish they gave an answer key at least.

 

[BiscoDisco]

no it doesn't. i just took screen shots... but yeah wish they gave an answer key at least.

The questions didn't feel too difficult. Hopefully the real thing is similar.

 

[aspiringdoc09]

I wish they would have provided answers but now I know that I can't go back on linked vignettes. LOL. Good luck. Wishing you all the best!

 

[ridethecliche]

Do the 'official' vignettes have questions where it asks you to pick multiple answers?

 

[BiscoDisco]

Do the 'official' vignettes have questions where it asks you to pick multiple answers?

Yep

 

[ObsequiousAplomb]

Took it today. It felt much easier than anything on PRITE.

 

[Stagg737]

Took it today. It felt much easier than anything on PRITE.

Hopefully it’s the same tomorrow! Congrats on those who finished today and good luck for the rest of us tomorrow!

 

[ridethecliche]

Took it today. It felt much easier than anything on PRITE.

There were a few questions on there where I legitimately felt like I had no idea what the question was asking of me.

I think spiegel felt harder and definitely had more neuro. I think it still has a ton of utility if you think of it as a learning resource/textbook. Obviously I don't know how I did yet but I thought boards vitals was reasonably helpful as well.

Welp. Time to hurry up and wait for the results. Hope everyone gets through this!

 

[KnightofBaldMt]

There were a few questions on there where I legitimately felt like I had no idea what the question was asking of me.

I think spiegel felt harder and definitely had more neuro. I think it still has a ton of utility if you think of it as a learning resource/textbook. Obviously I don't know how I did yet but I thought boards vitals was reasonably helpful as well.

Welp. Time to hurry up and wait for the results. Hope everyone gets through this!

I agree the individual question on Spiegel were more difficult. Still a wonderful resource. Surprisingly I thought BTB was an excellent representation (it was paid for by my program, so I can't speak to value but I probably still would have purchased). I thought the therapy questions were difficult, some of the neuroscience as well.

 

[funtertaining15]

I agree the individual question on Spiegel were more difficult. Still a wonderful resource. Surprisingly I thought BTB was an excellent representation (it was paid for by my program, so I can't speak to value but I probably still would have purchased). I thought the therapy questions were difficult, some of the neuroscience as well.

The therapy questions 😑 was hoping for more of the theorists and not what that was lol
Neuroscience/anatomy >neurology
Like 2 or 3q is fine but eek I might have preferred more neurology tbh.

 

[horse jockey]

so how did you find your exam guys?
Was it doable?
I made a lot of guesses and moved forward.
I hope I pass..

 

[aspiringdoc09]

Glad it's done. Not as frustrating/difficult as prite. The last couple of blocks were demoralizing for sure.

Resources:
Feel Spiegel was helpful. I didn't use BTB to its fullest but what I used was helpful. Minimal NInja Prite, which I felt was a useful resource. Used old ppts from our prite review course. Wish i would have looked over old prite questions since I felt I did see some repeats from it.

Test date:
Lots of tricky questions. I found the vignettes to be frustrating because the answers/management seemed too close at times. Do they give partial credit for vignettes? I hope it's partial, but I may be in denial, LOL. If no credit, I found it frustrating that I could get most of the questions correct but got stuck on one bad question. I agree that there were some I wasn't sure what they were asking. I tried to use reasoning skills to eliminate and answer. Time was fine.

My exam was heavier on neuroscience/neuroanatomy/neurology, paraphilias, and psychotherapy than I expected. Some WTF questions/answer choices. Psychopharm was heavy. Thanks for the CYPS resources guys. That saved me.

Overall, it was fair but frustrating. Here is hoping and praying for a pass. Tired of these exams.

 

[NeuroKlitch]

Def easier than prite, but also I never really studied for prite . I felt like board vitals prepared me really well tbh. I did Kenny and spiegal but that was 2-3 months ago so if I learned anything specifically from those question wasn’t anything that popped out on the page for me . It did help me with test stamina tho. Was doing like 150 questions a day leading up to the exam . But seriously board vitals saved my ass. Was def fair , but also pretty difficult and broad , and some information felt like it couldn’t necessarily be studied for and is more so a matter of luck if you happened to have been exposed through your training. Hopefully we aren’t part of the 11% and made it through comfortably. Good luck

 

[BiscoDisco]

Exam was not bad. It was a mix of questions that I felt beat the boards prepared me well for, and other questions that I feel there was no possible way you could even study for them. Even going back after the exam and looking up answers, I'm still not able to determine what the exact best answer would be with the assistance of google.

I will be shocked if I don't pass.

 

[blueforest]

I agree that the MCQs felt easier than PRITE and the timing was very generous. However, the vignettes were tricky! This is where I think things could go either way (passing vs. failing ). There were a few "easy" ones, either you knew it or you didn't. I really struggled selecting the top 2 most reasonable answers for many of them. This was the most challenging part of the exam, where most answers appear reasonable (besides 1-2 really wrong ones), and the rest you can sit there for 5 minutes thinking and it still won't help you. I felt this while studying practice vignettes, that there really isn't a great way to prepare for these besides experience and having reasonable judgement lol? Really questioning my judgement of course now after struggling on some of the vignette answer choices. I am easy to overthink some concepts. I talked to some friends who took the exam also and we all felt the same about the vignettes. They were confusing and we all interpreted some things differently. This will be interesting.. good luck everyone!

 

[emash124]

took the test yesterday, thought it was fair and somewhat challenging. Going back over some answers, I think I made 20 (probably more) stupid mistakes on easier questions :/ hopefully that isn't enough to fail. I did a good deal of preparation... Really feeling insecure about it. Fingers crossed! Hope we all pass!

Another thing is what I or others consider "stupid mistakes" may not be considered stupid in the grand scheme of things (i.e. 90% or more people got the correct answer). I did a lot of preparation so hopefully that isn't the case.

 

[NeuroKlitch]

took the test yesterday, thought it was fair and somewhat challenging. Going back over some answers, I think I made 20 (probably more) stupid mistakes on easier questions :/ hopefully that isn't enough to fail. I did a good deal of preparation... Really feeling insecure about it. Fingers crossed! Hope we all pass!

Another thing is what I or others consider "stupid mistakes" may not be considered stupid in the grand scheme of things (i.e. 90% or more people got the correct answer). I did a lot of preparation so hopefully that isn't the case.

From old threads looks like 69% is the percent needed to pass in the past. So that’s like 132 questions you can get wrong

 

[emash124]

From old threads looks like 69% is the percent needed to pass in the past. So that’s like 132 questions you can get wrong

Thanks for the heads up. Do you know if this includes the vignette questions as well? For example if one vignette is 5 sets and you miss one of the 5 do you get a “-5”? Just curious because I thought the vignettes were quite difficult.

 

[Stagg737]

Thanks for the heads up. Do you know if this includes the vignette questions as well? For example if one vignette is 5 sets and you miss one of the 5 do you get a “-5”? Just curious because I thought the vignettes were quite difficult.

I could be wrong, but my understanding of the vignettes is that each individual question is graded separately, but if a specific question required multiple answers to be selected, then one wrong choice means the whole question is wrong. So if you answer 4/5 questions in the set correctly it's only counted as one incorrect answer. I cannot imagine most, or even a significant number of people people getting 100% for a whole question set for at least half of those vignettes, probably more.

 

[emash124]

I could be wrong, but my understanding of the vignettes is that each individual question is graded separately, but if a specific question required multiple answers to be selected, then one wrong choice means the whole question is wrong. So if you answer 4/5 questions in the set correctly it's only counted as one incorrect answer. I cannot imagine most, or even a significant number of people people getting 100% for a whole question set for at least half of those vignettes, probably more.

Thanks for the clarification. In my typically neurotic manner, I have compiled over 20 stupid mistakes I made on the test, and am now beating myself up about it/worrying about failure… does anyone else do this or am I just overly paranoid?

 

[BeornBear]

Thanks for the clarification. In my typically neurotic manner, I have compiled over 20 stupid mistakes I made on the test, and am now beating myself up about it/worrying about failure… does anyone else do this or am I just overly paranoid?

You aren't alone. My brain is doing the exact same thing lol. I'm sure we both did great overall!

 

[emash124]

You aren't alone. My brain is doing the exact same thing lol. I'm sure we both did great overall!

Thanks for the encouragement. I spoke to one of my other former co-residents for over two hours going over difficult or ambiguous questions... Probably not the smartest idea as we were both demoralized afterwards lol. Apologies if some of you are not spiritual but nonetheless I will be praying for all of us we have come too far to be knocked down at this point!

 

[yoloswagpoop42069]

I think I got a 100%