Written Boards

[Member678]

Having failed something for the first time ever... the written boards last year, I'm definitely freaking out right now and hoping somebody can provide me with some clarity.

It seems that all my fellow Ophtho friends, colleagues, old residents, etc have all passed and I definitely am dealing with this privately. I definitely have all the excuses.. busy fellowship.. personal stuff, sick family member, didnt do well on the OKAPs, didnt study more than usual.. and I still feel like a royal failure.

Currently am nervous about disclosing this to my new job and what the repercussions will be with credentialing, insurance companies- anyone with some insight? If I pass this year.. orals will be in Oct or next year so it may delay certification for up to 1 year. Is that a problem? Do people disclose this when interviewing for jobs? My understanding is board eligible is what is required, otherwise how do general ophthalmologists just out of residency practice?
Do employers have access to this information?

Any suggestions on how to do this better this time around time would be really really appreciated from anyone. I'm using all the resources suggested: Provision, Chern questions, friedman review, bcsc questions . If anyone has any study guides in an electronic fashion please feel free to PM me.

Thank you

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[Visionary]

Sorry to hear that. Yes, you only need to be board eligible to get insurance and hospital credentialing, but you do need to be done with your boards within the allowed time (3 years, as I recall). You also need to be open with potential employers, but you can explain your circumstances. Do not try to hide it. Please keep in mind that there have been people from top institutions that have failed written and/or oral boards. So, you are in good company. It is a stressful, multiple choice test of a broad knowledge base. It does not reflect on the type of doctor you are. That said, you definitely need to redouble your efforts for the next run. You know what to expect now. There are many good resources. I would recommend not only reviewing material (resources you listed are fine), but doing a lot of questions. They were not around when I took the writtens, but I have heard good things about Ophthoquestions. Get yourself on a regular daily study schedule, even if it's only an hour here and there. You should be able to nail it the next time. Keep your chin up.

 

[guttata]

Employers will not have access to your exam results. However, your employer may need the pass/fail results of your WQE for insurance/hospital credentialing. The applications will ask if you are Board Eligible or Board Certified, but I cannot remember if they ask if you ever attempted a board certification exam.

You should have no problems being credentialed. Most hospitals require board certification within 3-5 years of being Board Eligible. Most insurance companies do not have board certification requirements for initial applications. So, you should be able to provide and bill for clinical care as any other provider.

You already know this, but you need to study as though your job/career depended on it. I would recommend Friedman's review book (watch for the typos), Last Minute Optics, MEEI question book. I have heard good reviews about Ophthoquestions. Also, a few colleagues used Osler's review course - you can see if you can buy a copy of the curriculum. Start with your weakest subject first (so you can review it again). I would personally review the bcsc subjects for my weakest areas. Start early (now if you are taking it this spring). Learn one subspecialty at a time, as it is easy to be overwhelmed. You won't be able to review everything in one week, but you need to start somewhere. If possible, try to stimulate the testing environment at home so that you feel more comfortable on testing day.

Do not cram the night before the test. Sleep well. Bring snacks to testing center. Dress appropriately.

During the test, read every question carefully. I 'marked for review' every question when I was not 100% sure of the answer. As the test progresses, you may find information that will help you answer earlier questions. Don't beat yourself down for missing esoteric questions and don't spend too much time on one question.

 

[Zorro12]

When I was a fellow we were allowed to attend a "meeting" and were given some funds to do so. Myself and one of the other fellows went to the Wills Course. I really think it helped. It was a week (4-5 days?) of no clinical duties and it was a great review of things I had not thought about since residency.

 

[Bgladney]

You need to disclose to potential employers. 10 years ago, it would have been a real deal breaker....today...not so much. You will probably see a clause in the contract that will require you to pass and to become BC within a period of time or you will be terminated. That is common now.

Don't freak. People are fairly understanding however some opportunities will rule you out from the start. Then again, some will rule you out based on which college football team you root for!

 

[Esteban Deltoro]

I too have failed more than once and have been in practice for quite a few years. Thank G-d no major losses so far. It is difficult and embarrassing I know yet keep your head up. You will be able to practice Ophtho. I know people that are much older and have not passed. They are all working. I like you am not going to give up and will try again. I would appreciate any other advice of how to pass from other people that have been successful. Even though I have gone through the whole education process I have always had difficulty with the standardized tests. Just barely getting by. I have usually read the books and not used the test questions as much. This time I am going to try to do more questions. What have been other people's approaches? It would be useful to hear how successful people have take. The written boards. Even though I have been at this for a while I find that memorizing all of the info in the bcsc -7000 pages- quite daunting. Last time I took more questions. I did the provision and moc questions from the academy. I have taken 4 review courses over the years. Including the doheny DVD series. I consistently get the same grade on the written. I am truly lost as to how to study and be successful and not waste another year and attempt. I read some of the above comments and have ordered the additional books mentioned.
I am still thinking questions could be the difference between success and failure. I dont know if reading the bcsc would be the highest yeild. It takes a tremendous amount of time and it has not worked for me in the past. I would also greatly appreciate other people's advice on how to be efficient and study in a way to gaurantee success. Thank you in advance for any advice.

 

[LightBox]

Try: www.ophthoquestions.com It can't hurt and I've heard good things about it.

 

[Frumps]

Please try ophthoquestions. It was a lifesaver for me! I failed the writtens the first time and passed on the second attempt with flying colors. You also have to understand how they score that thing. You cannot bomb any one section. It drastically reduces your score!

I am currently studying for the oral exam. Any advice for this would be greatly appreciated

 

[busybean]

You'll do fine, just take it again and pass I know, easier said than done, I am in the same boat. Went straight from residency to work, working for the past year and did not pass first time through. Now studying my tail off. My question is, does anybody have experience with the new 2012 version of Friedman review vs the 2005? A lot of things have changed since then and I am wondering if I should buy the new version.

 

[billambeer]

I really have no room to talk about your specific situation. In fact, I'm not even a resident yet. But, I have taken some time to digest the review texts, BCSC, and some other parts of OKAP prep (like the Qbanks available such as Tamesis, Provision 4 &5, ophthoquestions.com, etc). I've heard that OKAP prep is the best preparation for MQE. I could be wrong.

To see what I have collected, see: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=983633

I realize what I wrote is overkill, but maybe you'll find it helpful in that you can see what I've read about different resources. Some, even in this thread, have contributed to what I've found (although their thoughts were... abbreviated).

I wish you the best of luck in passing. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be. Keep your head up.

 

[serge232310]

Unfortunately I also failed.

 

[Doug F]

Hey hey. I'm a failure too!! I also run a $600000 solo practice in NYC. I am trying again tomorrow. Most of my friends also failed but then passed so you are in good company. Funny thing is that in my residency, the people who passed with flying colors first time seem least prepared to practice. They are always seeking my advice. I may fail tomorrow but I know I did my best.
Peace.

 

[cubsrule4e]

How do you think you did? I took it this week as well, albeit for the first time, however my history of OKAP scores hasnt been stellar. I mainly used Ophthoquestions.com and the BCSC books and questions. I really dont know what to expect, the first half seemed like i was marking every other question, whereas the second half I was a lot more confident. As for practice implications, my only limitation is that I cant qualify for partnership until Im board certified. Theres no clause for me to be terminated or anything like that if I dont become board certified in x amount of time.

 

[Doug F]

I honestly have done so bad on the standardized ophthalmology tests that I have no confidence in my ability to pass these things. I have no idea. I studied my ass off though, like I always do. Agree, the first 125 were brutal.

Can you help me with this reasoning. OK. I failed the boards in 2005. I never actually looked at the letter again until this week. And by the way the failure letter states, "We regret to inform you of your failure to achieve a passing grade on the Ophthalmology Written Qualifying test." Some background on me: I was Board Certified in Internal Medicine in 2000. Never did my MOC because I don't practice IM anymore. Also, I am a licensed Airline Transport Pilot, the highest FAA rating. So, I am no dummy. But these ophtho tests....they're nuts!

So in 2005, the ABO gives you a raw score. For my case it said I received a score of 434. 460 was needed to pass. I was in the 53%tile.

This is what I calculated this week. Help me analyzed if you think I am correct. I based my analysis that 70% was needed to pass. Do you think that is reasonable? So I then calculated 460 is 70% of what? That answer is 657. So, if there are 250 questions, then to get 100% and the 657 raw score, each question would be worth 2.3 points. 2.3 x 250 = 657. So If 460 was needed to pass and we are assuming a 70% needed to pass, you need to get (460 /2.3) which equals 175 correct answers to pass. I got a 434. So I got 165 questions and thus failed by 10 questions.

I need some other eyes to look at this and analyze this. Am I right here?

 

[R1982]

I honestly have done so bad on the standardized ophthalmology tests that I have no confidence in my ability to pass these things. I have no idea. I studied my ass off though, like I always do. Agree, the first 125 were brutal.

Can you help me with this reasoning. OK. I failed the boards in 2005. I never actually looked at the letter again until this week. And by the way the failure letter states, "We regret to inform you of your failure to achieve a passing grade on the Ophthalmology Written Qualifying test." Some background on me: I was Board Certified in Internal Medicine in 2000. Never did my MOC because I don't practice IM anymore. Also, I am a licensed Airline Transport Pilot, the highest FAA rating. So, I am no dummy. But these ophtho tests....they're nuts!

So in 2005, the ABO gives you a raw score. For my case it said I received a score of 434. 460 was needed to pass. I was in the 53%tile.

This is what I calculated this week. Help me analyzed if you think I am correct. I based my analysis that 70% was needed to pass. Do you think that is reasonable? So I then calculated 460 is 70% of what? That answer is 657. So, if there are 250 questions, then to get 100% and the 657 raw score, each question would be worth 2.3 points. 2.3 x 250 = 657. So If 460 was needed to pass and we are assuming a 70% needed to pass, you need to get (460 /2.3) which equals 175 correct answers to pass. I got a 434. So I got 165 questions and thus failed by 10 questions.

I need some other eyes to look at this and analyze this. Am I right here?

Hi Doug,

Good luck this year. it was a difficult exam, in my opinion.

About the scoring, they have a way of setting the cutoff % required to pass, which incorporates which questions were on the test, how hard the test was (either by the experts judgement or by comparing how folks did in the past on the same questions), etc. There are several complex algorithms that are used in standardized test scoring but in general, based on the test there is a certain cutoff score. This can be adjusted a bit here and there based on how this batch of test takers did compared to prior test takers. After all that complex math, roughly 25-30% fail each time, but it varies b/c there isn't a standard percent correct or percentile that determines the cut off. If the batch this year is as a whole better prepared, perhaps slightly more will pass than previously but it doesnt shift a ton, and vice versa if the group is less prepared, less will pass but again it doesn't shift a ton since ophthalmology residents are as a whole similarly capable year after year. Once they make the cutoff decision based on all the statistics, everyone above that passes and everyone below that fails.

I am not sure what % correct the cutoff has been in the past b/c they don't share that publically, I think, but I imagine its somewhere between 50-75% correct? I don't know, higher than that sounds crazy. 70% is probably a reasonable guess.

The 3 digit number doesn't correlate directly to your score, but rather to your location in the normal distribution of scores... so you can't do the math above to see how many you may have gotten right. That is, a score of 500 means median score, 400 is 1 standard deviation below median, and 600 is 1 standard deviation above median, etc (median 500, st dev 100) ... just as it was for OKAPs (except this time ur compared to board takers wheras in OKAPs the median and std deviation were derived from all takers (yrs 1-3)). 434 means you were <1 standard deviation below the median that year.

You said they said your score was 53rd percentile? Are you sure that was percentile? That would mean >53% of folks failed that year which I haven't heard of, but maybe that was a fluke year. They may also previously have provided % correct (I don't know), in which case the 53% could mean % correct rather than percentile. Or maybe it was a typo.

In any case, if you got 434, 465 was minimum to pass, and 500 was the 50th percentile, that means you were prob really close to passing. There were prob a ton of folks crammed in the middle of the score range including between 434 and 464 so probably missing a few more questions dropped u from 465 to 435. I imagine you were close, and hope you (and I) do well this year. Good luck!

 

[Doug F]

Damn. That was awesome. I hate statistics but I think I understood your point. However, about the fact that I finished in the 53 percentile--Doesn't that simply mean that 47% of test takers did better than me? There was no fluke year in 2005. I am pretty sure also that about 65 to 70 percent of test takers passed that year.

 

[R1982]

Damn. That was awesome. I hate statistics but I think I understood your point. However, about the fact that I finished in the 53 percentile--Doesn't that simply mean that 47% of test takers did better than me? There was no fluke year in 2005. I am pretty sure also that about 65 to 70 percent of test takers passed that year.

Exactly. 53rd percentile means you did better than 53% of people (or that 47% did better than you). So if you got a 53rd percentile and failed it means that at most 47% of test-takers passed (or at least 53% of test-takers failed), both of which are unlikely unless 2005 was different than most years. Typically about 70% pass and 30% fail vs <50% pass and >50% fail if you failed with 53rd percentile. So was wondering if that was a type regarding the 53% or if perhaps it was 53% correct questions but not a 53%ile.

 

[Doug F]

I will look at the paper again when I get home. Could also mean that you needed to be in the top 70 percentile to pass. Right?

 

[Doug F]

Oh snap. I finished in the 23rd percentile, not 53rd.

 

[Edema]

I took this test for the first time during this year's busy fellowship. I read the cornea and peds bscs books and stopped there because I was reading aimlessly and getting nothing out of it. My uveitis book was still shrink wrapped. I read the books and would still get questions wrong on ophthoquestions. Like a lot of wrong ones. Right after I read the book. annoying.
I'm writing this post because I think I owe it to whoever created ophthoquestions to promote a really good tool for clinicians looking to pass their boards. I seriously thought I would not pass (I passed). I am a great clinician and physician but DESPISE minutiae of the OKAPs, etc. (which I bombed). I think after 6-7 months of ophthoquestions I was still in the 30-40 percentile on their website. I thought for sure I would fail. Dang gunners.
I have one word of advise for anyone looking to pass the boards. Just do these questions. Period. No excuses. All of them. Over and over. I started in October doing questions leisurely with the intent to finish round 1 by january. I spent the next three months repeating all the incorrect questions until there were no more questions left to do. I did this on late nights when I was practically falling asleep on the couch after a long day of fellowship. I had already resigned myself to failing based on my repeated wrong answers on the website and my brutally low scores against my peers. Not so. Do the questions and you will pass.
If I can pass, anyone can pass. Just do the ophthoquestions. Seriously. That's all I can say. Message me with specific questions about my situation, my fellowship hours and how in the heck I passed this stupid thing with just OQ. I will answer honestly.

 

[Doug F]

I took this test for the first time during this year's busy fellowship. I read the cornea and peds bscs books and stopped there because I was reading aimlessly and getting nothing out of it. My uveitis book was still shrink wrapped. I read the books and would still get questions wrong on ophthoquestions. Like a lot of wrong ones. Right after I read the book. annoying.
I'm writing this post because I think I owe it to whoever created ophthoquestions to promote a really good tool for clinicians looking to pass their boards. I seriously thought I would not pass (I passed). I am a great clinician and physician but DESPISE minutiae of the OKAPs, etc. (which I bombed). I think after 6-7 months of ophthoquestions I was still in the 30-40 percentile on their website. I thought for sure I would fail. Dang gunners.
I have one word of advise for anyone looking to pass the boards. Just do these questions. Period. No excuses. All of them. Over and over. I started in October doing questions leisurely with the intent to finish round 1 by january. I spent the next three months repeating all the incorrect questions until there were no more questions left to do. I did this on late nights when I was practically falling asleep on the couch after a long day of fellowship. I had already resigned myself to failing based on my repeated wrong answers on the website and my brutally low scores against my peers. Not so. Do the questions and you will pass.
If I can pass, anyone can pass. Just do the ophthoquestions. Seriously. That's all I can say. Message me with specific questions about my situation, my fellowship hours and how in the heck I passed this stupid thing with just OQ. I will answer honestly.

 

[Doug F]

Thank you Edema for the advice.

 

[tweetledee]

Exactly. 53rd percentile means you did better than 53% of people (or that 47% did better than you). So if you got a 53rd percentile and failed it means that at most 47% of test-takers passed (or at least 53% of test-takers failed), both of which are unlikely unless 2005 was different than most years. Typically about 70% pass and 30% fail vs <50% pass and >50% fail if you failed with 53rd percentile. So was wondering if that was a type regarding the 53% or if perhaps it was 53% correct questions but not a 53%ile.

Just took the written boards...any idea about how many questions you can get wrong and still pass? the 8 week wait for our scores is going to be brutal...