I took Ho 3 day review class 2011 and his 5 day in 2012, didn't pass. Looking for anyone who has been through this who can give me some advice.
Thanks
Thanks
Anesthesia Oral Boards Fall 2013 --Help
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Just oral boards
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Just further reiteration of the definition of "HO" - A person who screws you for money with often undesirable results.
I have no financial affiliations. Best bang for my buck was practice out loud to myself and mock orals with board examiners. Ultimate board prep was very high yield as well.
Best of luck and my condolences if you really did fail. And screw you if you are just setting up a couple buddies to promote your new board review product.
Just like Big Blue with Jensen. Ho is a good introductury course for Orals.
I agree that practice practice practice is the best way. But if u take the Ho course early in test prep. It will set the course how to pass the Orals. It's about technique and how to approach the Orals. Unfortunately some people don't get advice we give on these boards. Most anesthesiologists do not read this message board.
I don't think one should keep paying for Ho courses repeatedly. Once is enough.
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practice practice practice
www.justoralboards.com
this is what i used and its pass rate for people who failed is better than national average
www.justoralboards.com
this is what i used and its pass rate for people who failed is better than national average
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Hi
I had a long road to the boards,failed 3 times,took writtens and then passed the 4 th time
Almost was on the verge of getting fired.
I finally took UBP and studied vigorously ,did over 50 mock orals
Lot of stress for me and my family.
Don't lose heart ,this is not easy
PM me if any other Q
Good luck
I had a long road to the boards,failed 3 times,took writtens and then passed the 4 th time
Almost was on the verge of getting fired.
I finally took UBP and studied vigorously ,did over 50 mock orals
Lot of stress for me and my family.
Don't lose heart ,this is not easy
PM me if any other Q
Good luck
hang in there.
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Board Stiff Live! Great practice and many scenarios were on my actual boards.
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My regimen was a lot of reading in Yao & Artusio, almost 40 mock exams from Ultimate Board Prep (bought the books and practiced with a colleague, 3-4 per session as the candidate and examiner - you learn either way), and 16 cases with Just Oral Boards. J.O.B. have a good system and I think they prepared me for what to expect with regards to the exam conditions, i.e. the possible hostile examiner, bored examiner, nit-picking, etc. It's good to experience that and not get rattled for the first time on exam day. I didn't travel or waste any time watching other people take exams. Take your own mocks and practice your own reflex answers for common scenarios.
Best of luck.
Best of luck.
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I read Board Stiff Two, Board Stiff Three (not just an update of Board Stiff Two!), most of Yao and Artusio, and did several mock orals with a retired examiner. Started Big Red but Jensen's writing style didn't really agree with me, so I mainly used it to make flash cards for 40 or 50 of the most common things that I might get asked - not because I didn't know how to handle the situations but because I wanted to be sure I didn't forget to say something that I'd otherwise simply do by instinct.
The five most important things I remember being told were:
1. Almost every answer should have a "because." What are you having for lunch? A salad, *because* salads are nutritious and taste good. Etc.
2. Within reason, it's more important to be able to defend your answer than to have your answer match the examiner's own philosophy. These are board questions for a reason, as Board Stiff Two points out - they're supposed to test your ability to reason through a position on gray areas.
3. Go system-by-system. If you're debugging a machine problem, go from the wall to the patient. Be systematic. If the examiner tells you the pt is now hypotensive, don't say "Hmm, it could be an MI, or it could be dehydration, or it could be anaphylaxis, or it could be..."
4. "Assume" the best possible situation - the examiners will correct you if they want it to be otherwise. How would you get home today? "Assuming that the car is functioning properly and that traffic is flowing normally, I would..."
5. While you have to try to work through the question, you're allowed to comment that you would send this case to a specialist in real life. I got a pedi heart on my boards and certainly used that comment there.
And one thing that worried me, although thankfully I passed on the first try: you may get bizarre, where-did-that-one-come-from questions towards the end of the session. According to an examiner I asked later, it means they went through their questions more quickly than they thought they would and are now ad-libbing stuff to see what you'll say.
Good luck!
The five most important things I remember being told were:
1. Almost every answer should have a "because." What are you having for lunch? A salad, *because* salads are nutritious and taste good. Etc.
2. Within reason, it's more important to be able to defend your answer than to have your answer match the examiner's own philosophy. These are board questions for a reason, as Board Stiff Two points out - they're supposed to test your ability to reason through a position on gray areas.
3. Go system-by-system. If you're debugging a machine problem, go from the wall to the patient. Be systematic. If the examiner tells you the pt is now hypotensive, don't say "Hmm, it could be an MI, or it could be dehydration, or it could be anaphylaxis, or it could be..."
4. "Assume" the best possible situation - the examiners will correct you if they want it to be otherwise. How would you get home today? "Assuming that the car is functioning properly and that traffic is flowing normally, I would..."
5. While you have to try to work through the question, you're allowed to comment that you would send this case to a specialist in real life. I got a pedi heart on my boards and certainly used that comment there.
And one thing that worried me, although thankfully I passed on the first try: you may get bizarre, where-did-that-one-come-from questions towards the end of the session. According to an examiner I asked later, it means they went through their questions more quickly than they thought they would and are now ad-libbing stuff to see what you'll say.
Good luck!
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3-5d is not enough preparation
