This has been described in greater detail in another post, but here is a short synopsis:
AKT 0,1, and to a lesser extent 6 - Basically just the basics of anesthesia. Much more straight forward questions than the inservice exam. A good description would be the first 7 or 8 chapters of the old Baby Miller book. Drugs, equipment, airway issues and some basic phys. If you have had the chance to read those chapters and have had any OR experience as an intern the first couple of tests should be fairly straight forward. This is not to say that it is easy, but it is the type of test that you may not know the answer, but know you could or should have known it (if that makes any sense).
To be honest, I can't remember AKT 6, but 0 and 1 were the exact same test.
AKT - 18 This test is a reflection specific to the subspecialties. There were few, if not any, questions regarding drug mechanisms, equipment, etc unless it was related to the subspecialty (drugs specific to CV case). In my opinion was not as straight forward as the AKT 0 and 6, but still much more standard than the in-service. Again, there were definitely questions I could not remember, but most of them I knew I could have and should have known. There (at least in my case) are always questions on the in-service that I would not have gotten if I had 10 years to study just because they seem to come out of left field.
These tests are a huge pain to take, but they seem to be a pretty good assessment (individual wise) of were you are. It was nice to see topics that appear to have importance to test creators. You will be able to tell what areas are strengths (usually as much to do with your residencies strengths as your readings to this point) and which areas will require more independent study to get up to snuff.
