Pain Board Failure??

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Yo GabbaPentin

Yo GabbaPentin

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Has anyone actually failed the ABA pain boards? I don't even know anyone who knows someone who heard someone failed the exam. Give me some motivation to study this last week!

So far I have been through the dannemiller lectures once and through painexam.com once. Averaged low to mid 60's on the questions, which seems par for the course based on what others have reported. If you all had one week left to study, would you spend more time going through the lectures again or more time on painexam.com?
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Last year, of those taking the ABA Pain exam for the first time through ABPMR, 9% failed. 12% (10 of 67) were taking it as a repeat, so by inference, had previously failed at least once. Of board recertifications, 15% failed.

From:

https://www.abpmr.org/candidates/exam_statistics.html

I couldn't find the stats for those taking the same exam as registered through the ABA, but I've heard that it runs around a 15% failure rate on average for all takers combined. No one has come to me and said, "I failed." People tend not to advertise that.

I also was averaging about 60% on practice tests. It is a tough test, with obscure and ambiguous questions. 90% of it has nothing to do with procedures or interventions. If that's been your focus in fellowship and studying, you need to shift gears fast. I thought I failed, and was pretty discouraged afterwards, and I posted that here. In the end, I passed and scored above average.

Just don't be in the bottom 15%, and you're good for 10 years. It's definitely "fail-able."
 
with so little time, look over painexam and get rest.

plenty of rest. there is a lot of reading for each question, almost as bad as the internal medicine boards. so make sure you get plenty of sleep before the test.
 
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I looked at a bunch of threads on here and it seems that the general gist was high 50's-70% on painexam was about what people were getting and no one reported failing (not that you would expect people to) and the same people showed up in the "Passed!!!" threads. Most people talked about how obscure the test was and that there wasn't some go to source that was particularly high yield, or that they wished they would have studied differently.

I finished painexam, and now am going through the dannemiller question bank. I did a few of the lectures on weak areas for me, but personally find doing MCQs and looking up the answers or going through the explanations higher yield and better at identifying weak areas. After I am finished with Dannemiller, I will probably try to get through painexam two or three more times. Motivation is probably the single biggest issue here as well. Best of luck!
 
kstarm said:
I looked at a bunch of threads on here and it seems that the general gist was high 50's-70% on painexam was about what people were getting and no one reported failing (not that you would expect people to) and the same people showed up in the "Passed!!!" threads. Most people talked about how obscure the test was and that there wasn't some go to source that was particularly high yield, or that they wished they would have studied differently.

I finished painexam, and now am going through the dannemiller question bank. I did a few of the lectures on weak areas for me, but personally find doing MCQs and looking up the answers or going through the explanations higher yield and better at identifying weak areas. After I am finished with Dannemiller, I will probably try to get through painexam two or three more times. Motivation is probably the single biggest issue here as well. Best of luck!
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What is the dannemiller question bank? I bought the CME course and it basically just has like 5 questions at the end of each lecture. Is that what you are referring to? Thanks.
 
Yo GabbaPentin said:
What is the dannemiller question bank? I bought the CME course and it basically just has like 5 questions at the end of each lecture. Is that what you are referring to? Thanks.
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No.

There is a qbank with what they claim has >1000 questions. I have done about 400 questions and there are definitely some repeats in the different sections. I still have about 6 sections left (there is 11 total). There are no explanations that I have been able to find except for "this is the correct answer". No references that I have seen yet. If explanations and references exist it isn't obvious. There are some lengthy stems which rumor has it the test will have. You can check it out here:

http://cme.dannemiller.com/certcoach/
 
kstarm said:
No.

There is a qbank with what they claim has >1000 questions. I have done about 400 questions and there are definitely some repeats in the different sections. I still have about 6 sections left (there is 11 total). There are no explanations that I have been able to find except for "this is the correct answer". No references that I have seen yet. If explanations and references exist it isn't obvious. There are some lengthy stems which rumor has it the test will have. You can check it out here:

http://cme.dannemiller.com/certcoach/
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Meh... They've gotten enough of my money. Thanks though!
 
Let me say this:

I have taken a lot of tests and this one was the toughest. As said above lots of reading. I am the finish early and rock it kind of test taken and this one had me down to the last 5 min and totally fried and sure I failed.

The exam does not reflect a lot of pain practice IMO. Lots of weird crap, guess your best on those and move on.

In the end I did very well on a percentile basis which tells me they throw out a lot of questions and grade on a curve, so I got a lot wrong but more right than most

get rest
 
When you guys say obscure, any last minute things to look over or any sources to look over

Def lacking motivitation on this one and I want to get back to reality once this test is over
 
Pacman27 said:
When you guys say obscure, any last minute things to look over or any sources to look over

Def lacking motivitation on this one and I want to get back to reality once this test is over
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The purpose of this whole post was to scare the s@#t out of me and force me to study. So far, all I can pick up is that I should rest up in order to do my best guessing. If that's the case, then so be it. I will spend the rest of my vacation week at the beach with my ipad looking over painexam questions.
 
$119 for one month subscription to painexam.com???? Which one of you marketing geniuses own this site?
 
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IMHO, the danemiller q bank is very poor quality.
Seems like they have not been proofread, has few wrong answers, one line ?s.....job poorly done

Good luck to all taking the exam!
 
painfan said:
IMHO, the danemiller q bank is very poor quality.
Seems like they have not been proofread, has few wrong answers, one line ?s.....job poorly done

Good luck to all taking the exam!
Click to expand...

My favorite question was "Which artery?" (nothing else in the question stem, with 5 random arteries for answers)

I am actually tempted to ask for my money back since so many of the questions were verbatim repeats depending on which section you were in (sometimes with different correct answers:eek:!), though the medico-legal section was well done. Painexam also has numerous grammatical and display issues as well but I have found them more tolerable, and at least it has explanations.
 
kstarm said:
My favorite question was "Which artery?" (nothing else in the question stem, with 5 random arteries for answers)

I am actually tempted to ask for my money back since so many of the questions were verbatim repeats depending on which section you were in (sometimes with different correct answers:eek:!), though the medico-legal section was well done. Painexam also has numerous grammatical and display issues as well but I have found them more tolerable, and at least it has explanations.
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Made it through the painexam.com questions twice. First time through with a low of 54% and high of 74%, averaging mid 60's. Second time through I averaged about 96%. Hopefully because I learned the information, but probably more so because I memorized the answers.

So I'm to that point. About to open a beer, throw a fishing line off the beach and completely waste the next two days I took off to study. I've had enough. Maybe I will bring a lucky rabbits foot/horseshoe to the exam.
 
Yo GabbaPentin said:
Made it through the painexam.com questions twice. First time through with a low of 54% and high of 74%, averaging mid 60's. Second time through I averaged about 96%. Hopefully because I learned the information, but probably more so because I memorized the answers.

So I'm to that point. About to open a beer, throw a fishing line off the beach and completely waste the next two days I took off to study. I've had enough. Maybe I will bring a lucky rabbits foot/horseshoe to the exam.
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I was averaging right around 60% the first time through. Just starting the second time. Struggled a bit with the anesthesia questions (I'm PM&R). Hopefully it goes better.

I miss fishing so much...hope you catch something tasty. Good Luck on Saturday.
 
kstarm said:
I was averaging right around 60% the first time through. Just starting the second time. Struggled a bit with the anesthesia questions (I'm PM&R). Hopefully it goes better.

I miss fishing so much...hope you catch something tasty. Good Luck on Saturday.
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Good luck to you too. I'm definitely going to need it!!
 
I remember averaging around 60-70% on painexam. I thought the actual exam was way harder, but I scored in the 95% percentile. GO figure, I think everyone bombs it...
 
Finished the pain exam twice this past week. Was at about 60-70% the first time... Second time doesn't matter, because you kinda know the answers... Was at about the 75% ile for the pain ITE.

Have been soo busy with starting my practice that I totally ignored studying until 2 weeks .... Hope it doesn't bite me in the rear.... One more day of studying, then play Candy Crush all day on Friday...

Good luck everyone...
 
Good luck to everyone taking ABA pain exam. I am taking recertification/pain on Sept 14, and last year recert pass rate 77% . Glad to know there are question banks out there!
 
Yo GabbaPentin said:
Has anyone actually failed the ABA pain boards? I don't even know anyone who knows someone who heard someone failed the exam. Give me some motivation to study this last week!

So far I have been through the dannemiller lectures once and through painexam.com once. Averaged low to mid 60's on the questions, which seems par for the course based on what others have reported. If you all had one week left to study, would you spend more time going through the lectures again or more time on painexam.com?
Click to expand...

Never heard of painexam.com until 10 seconds ago.

I didn't have dannemiller questions - just a boot leg copy of the cd's.

I think I went through the lectures once.

Week before the exam, I went through important lectures on the cd (definitely hit the Tony Yaksh lectures again - seemed like I got several questions right from doing this).

That was me....but my fellowship was WAY better than yours. (JK....no idea where you did your fellowship.)
 
epidural man said:
Never heard of painexam.com until 10 seconds ago.

I didn't have dannemiller questions - just a boot leg copy of the cd's.

I think I went through the lectures once.

Week before the exam, I went through important lectures on the cd (definitely hit the Tony Yaksh lectures again - seemed like I got several questions right from doing this).

That was me....but my fellowship was WAY better than yours. (JK....no idea where you did your fellowship.)
Click to expand...

My fellowship was mediocre at best. Procedure wise it was very good, however we did not learn much about pain pathways or any esoteric board crap. Hopefully I'm not screwed... Went through all of the dannemiller lectures but not sure how much of the minutia I remember at this point. Oh well... there's always next year! ;)
 
I thought that the recert pass rate was way higher than that. Also, don't the recert people take the exam on the same day as the others? Maybe I'm off on that one.
 
I've been going through PainExam.com, I think I'll get some questions right from that. It's not that great, what bugs me the most is that each test is obviously based on whatever chapter of Raj or whomever the author was reading, so there'll be 20 HIV questions in a row. On the other hand, it's better than watching Dannemiller videos for the Nth time.

About the videos:
I actually found the Tony Yaksh lectures really excellent, but much more suited for a fellowship than boards prep, they were really condensed and I had to watch them several times but I feel like I "get" nociception much better now.

I'm kind of glad I never heard about the Certification Coach until now, I would have gone through all those extra questions and probably gone insane.

I am so used to saying "after the boards, we'll..." that my kid makes fun of me for saying it. I am eager for Saturday.
 
flydoc1 said:
the ABA recertification exam in pain and ICU are always 1-2 weeks after initial board is offered , they give a two week window in which one can choose a particular date to take exam. http://theaba.org/home/examination_dates and yeah unfortunately recert pass rate last year 77% probably one of the lowest recert pass rate in a subspecialty, you can see scores at end of ABA newsletter, http://theaba.org/pdf/newsletters/ABA-Newsletter-2013.pdf
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Wow! The year before it was 100%! Looks like the ABA thinks there are too many pain docs. Hopefully the pass rate on the initial exam doesn't drop to <50% this year.
 
bronchospasm said:
Finished the pain exam twice this past week. Was at about 60-70% the first time... Second time doesn't matter, because you kinda know the answers... Was at about the 75% ile for the pain ITE.

Have been soo busy with starting my practice that I totally ignored studying until 2 weeks .... Hope it doesn't bite me in the rear.... One more day of studying, then play Candy Crush all day on Friday...

Good luck everyone...
Click to expand...

I hear that! I don't know how I'm going to do on this exam, but I'm all the way up to level 290 on candy crush. Crushin candies LIKE A BOSS.
 
Just took the exam. What a crock of ****.

I have never completely guessed on so many questions in my life. The guesses were not even remotely educated. If I passed this exam, I cannot imagine how they determine who will fail it.

My recommendations for future testtakers would include doing a residency in obstetrics, physiatry, and psychiatry. Please do not waste your time with a pain fellowship or any pain related textbooks.
 
Yo GabbaPentin said:
Just took the exam. What a crock of ****.

I have never completely guessed on so many questions in my life. The guesses were not even remotely educated. If I passed this exam, I cannot imagine how they determine who will fail it.

My recommendations for future testtakers would include doing a residency in obstetrics, physiatry, and psychiatry. Please do not waste your time with a pain fellowship or any pain related textbooks.
Click to expand...

Don't forget veterinary school!
 
I keep telling myself great success begins with with failure

Agreed with the crazy amount of pysch, you have the ability to ask me 200 questions regarding pain and not one question on safety
 
Yo GabbaPentin said:
Just took the exam. What a crock of ****.

I have never completely guessed on so many questions in my life. The guesses were not even remotely educated. If I passed this exam, I cannot imagine how they determine who will fail it.

My recommendations for future testtakers would include doing a residency in obstetrics, physiatry, and psychiatry. Please do not waste your time with a pain fellowship or any pain related textbooks.
Click to expand...

It is a terrible test. I walked out feeling exactly the same 1 yr ago. I was sure I failed and I generally test very well. Everyone told me my score would be fine. Ultimately, my score was fine. Above average in fact. How so, I have no clue. They must have thrown half of my guesses out.
 
emd123 said:
It is a terrible test. I walked out feeling exactly the same 1 yr ago. I was sure I failed and I generally test very well. Everyone told me my score would be fine. Ultimately, my score was fine. Above average in fact. How so, I have no clue. They must have thrown half of my guesses out.
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If they throw all of my guesses, that will leave them about 10 questions to work with. Honestly felt like I pulled up the wrong exam!

There was a question on there that was specifically mentioned in the dannemiller lectures. They started the topic with "they will not ask you this." That was one of ten which I did not guess on.
 
Yo GabbaPentin said:
Just took the exam. What a crock of ****.

I have never completely guessed on so many questions in my life. The guesses were not even remotely educated. If I passed this exam, I cannot imagine how they determine who will fail it.

My recommendations for future testtakers would include doing a residency in obstetrics, physiatry, and psychiatry. Please do not waste your time with a pain fellowship or any pain related textbooks.
Click to expand...

Did you find the questions very wordy as people have mentioned before on other threads? and did you find painexam.com useful? Thanks
 
Very very wordy for no apparent reason.

To be completely honest, dannemiller and painexam.com probably helped with a total of 10 questions.
 
I stayed up late and watched The Negotiator with Samuel L Jackson. That was pretty high yield and I think some questions came straight from the movie.

OTOH, now I'm done for the next ten years and am about to experience the freedom that normal people feel- by not studying every day before and after work!!!


FREEDOM!!!!
 
flydoc1 said:
Did you find the questions very wordy as people have mentioned before on other threads? and did you find painexam.com useful? Thanks
Click to expand...
I finished the first 100 questions in one hour. I finished the second 100 in an hour and a half (30 minutes to spare)

Guessing doesn't take long. Also, they BOLD the stem at the bottom so you can check if this is a diagnosis or management type of question before you even read the wordy stem. I think only 20% of all the questions were very long/wordy.
 
Just took the test. Wasn't too bad. A lot most likely diagnosis stuff. I say 50 % of the test was straight forward, 25% was kind of tricky and the rest was obscure.

Lot of the high yield stuff concepts from pain exam was tested. Danemiller covers all the topics but does not prepare you for the test because it just throws data out there without stimulating you to think.

I felt that the best book to study for the test would have been Benzon. Lots of Questions straight out of that book. ... very little interventional procedure questions. Lots of CRPS, cervical and lumbar radiculopathy, psych, cognitive based therapy, etc

Overall... Definitely not intimidating... Some questions were lengthy, but most were short with useless info and you had to filter through it to get to the the relevant info.

ONLY THINGTHAT REALLY PREPARES YOU IS....... CANDY CRUSH
 
bronchospasm said:
Just took the test. Wasn't too bad. A lot most likely diagnosis stuff. I say 50 % of the test was straight forward, 25% was kind of tricky and the rest was obscure.

Lot of the high yield stuff concepts from pain exam was tested. Danemiller covers all the topics but does not prepare you for the test because it just throws data out there without stimulating you to think.

I felt that the best book to study for the test would have been Benzon. Lots of Questions straight out of that book. ... very little interventional procedure questions. Lots of CRPS, cervical and lumbar radiculopathy, psych, cognitive based therapy, etc

Overall... Definitely not intimidating... Some questions were lengthy, but most were short with useless info and you had to filter through it to get to the the relevant info.

ONLY THINGTHAT REALLY PREPARES YOU IS....... CANDY CRUSH
Click to expand...

Ahhhh ... I see. You are one of thooose.

I got raped. Before I was rapped, the ABA threw sand in the Vaseline.

So to all of you who thought that it "wasn't so bad".... SCREW YOU! I would think you would be a little more sensitive towards a RAPE VICTIM!!!

That said.... Congrats to all on finishing it. Worst case scenario is that I get raped again next year.
 
If its any consulation... I find that those that thought the test was simple and direct actually don't read the questions or recognize done of the subtlety of the questions, and tend to fail at a higher rate...

;)

But congrats everyone...
 
YO... I was ready for the sand in the Vaseline situation. But honestly, it was not too bad.

But I've taken tests before when I thought it wasn't bad only to later realize that the used lido instead of the sand and I didnt feel it but did actually get shafted... :laugh::laugh::laugh:

We'll see which one it was in about 4 weeks..

duct tape is right

But if you went through paniexam and danemiller, you probably covered 75 %of the test ... Concepts were same just words were twisted.
 
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The first hundred questions weren't too bad. The second set the test seemed a bit obscure and very psychological-based. The second set also had many questions where it was a pick the best answer and none of the answers were really that good, or I could narrow it down to two but I couldn't tell the difference why one would be preferred over the other.
 
bronchospasm said:
YO... I was ready for the sand in the Vaseline situation. But honestly, it was not too bad.

But I've taken tests before when I thought it wasn't bad only to later realize that the used lido instead of the sand and I didnt feel it but did actually get shafted... :laugh::laugh::laugh:

We'll see which one it was in about 4 weeks..

duct tape is right

But if you went through paniexam and danemiller, you probably covered 75 %of the test ... Concepts were same just words were twisted.
Click to expand...

After having time to recover, I still think it was a horrible test. Worst test I've taken and I have experience with the osteopathic exams.... which says a lot. I think it is so bad because I am typically a good test taker. Usually I flat out know 50-60%, am almost positive on another 30% and have very good educated guesses on about 10-20%. With this exam, I flat out knew 5-10%, had good educated guesses on about 30-40% and then just all out guessed on the other 50%. Taking the time to thoroughly read the question stem, they really could have been looking for multiple different things with each question and I don't think it was a lot of irrelevant info with a main question at the bottom. Just my take on it.

Regardless of how crappy that exam was, I'm really not to stressed about it. Worst case scenario, I roll the dice again next year. It's not like it is the oral boards. If I had to retake those, I'd have the nearest bridge to jump off up pulled up on my GPS.
 
Was just trying to voice my opinion about the test. And how I felt I could have prepared better.

It was in no way meant to slight or critique your experience on taking the boards... Not my intention, if it came off that way.

Anyways. IT'S DONE.
 
bronchospasm said:
Was just trying to voice my opinion about the test. And how I felt I could have prepared better.

It was in no way meant to slight or critique your experience on taking the boards... Not my intention, if it came off that way.

Anyways. IT'S DONE.
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I realize that. I was just messing around. In no way do I truly feel violated! :)

However... about this Candy Crush...

I never even heard of it until this post. So I looked it up and have completely wasted 2 hours of my day. Thanks for helping me find yet another way to waste time!
 
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Hey Yo, finally got some feedback from some fellows that took the exam and if there is any consolation, they were to put it bluntly " freaked out about exam" these were fellows that aced the written and orals and went to top programs ( Ivy League er's ), looking in retrospect especially with the orals if people left exam overtly confident they usually failed, and visa versa, so let's keep our finger's crossed! good luck to everyone who took exam!
 
Does anyone remb how long it takes to get results?
 
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