AOA (DO) Pain Board

[milomoneepood]

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Anyone who has recent experience taking the AOA (DO) pain board? I’m DO PM&R board-certified, and am sitting for the DO pain board.

There are many posts on ABMS pain board but couldn’t find much on the AOA pain board.

I’m studying with Huntoon and Pass Machine like what other pain doctors would do for ABMS/ABPM boards, but I’d feel the AOA board may have a few differences perhaps.

If anyone has any experience/insight on the board and what to expect, it’d be much appreciated.

Thank you.


(not talking about why not taking the ABMS (MD) PM&R and Pain board etc [emoji1374])

 

[Ferrismonk]

I took the osteopathic pain boards relatively recently. I just did a bunch of questions and I found it helpful. Know your meds.

 

[DrSpine]

It wasn’t hard. Dannemiller is overkill if anything. The Pain Secrets book was fine.

 

[sb1003]

I'm taking the DO pain boards this fall. I am assuming that this exam will likely be a little easier than the MD counterpart as historically the DO exams have generally been easier than the MD versions (i.e. Step 1, etc.). I'm currently working through Huntoon's and then going to do Boards Vitals. Adding my incorrect answers/concepts to Anki cards that I review daily. I have not historically been a strong test taker so I started my studying earlier. I'm also going to review OMM stuff like couple weeks before (Dirty OMM on youtube videos seems to be the stuff med students review for the OMM portion these days).

 

[thecentral09]

What is the reason for taking these boards?

 

[buddababa]

I'm a little confused on the difference between DO and (regular) pain boards. What's the purpose of DO boards? Are they accepted by hospitals and credentialing committees?

 

[Ferrismonk]

If you did an osteopathic residency/fellowship, you need to do the AOA boards, not the ABA boards. Yes, they are fully accepted by everyone. No, you cannot do them if you haven't done an AOA residency. They'll likely be phased out eventually now that all programs are ACGME.

 

[thecentral09]

Thank you. For some reason the way I read it I assumed it was something new. I’m a do and didn’t know there were DO pain fellowships

 

[hopefulgasman]

Thank you. For some reason the way I read it I assumed it was something new. I’m a do and didn’t know there were DO pain fellowships

There are no DO pain fellowships. If you took primary DO boards, even if you did an ACGME pain fellowship, you then take DO fellowship boards. It’s a winning situation for the person because DO boards are a complete joke and easy to pass.

Also, if you’re a DO and did an ACGME residency, you can still elect to take DO residency boards instead of ACGME.

This is all firsthand from DOs that I know.

 

[K-hole]

I’m a DO, definitely didn’t take the DO pain boards that I’m aware of…

 

[Taus]

I’m a DO, definitely didn’t take the DO pain boards that I’m aware of…

same, my medical license is through the DO boards, however, my board certification in primary specialty/pmr and pain are through agcme. Perhaps things have changed in the decade since I did my fellowship and took boards.

 

[BobBarker]

OSU had an AOA anesthesia residency forever. It is now a acgme residency, that only takes DO’s. I’m sure that is just a coincidence… 😂 They had a pain fellowship for a couple years. Those grads are only able to take the AOA pain board. Additionally, if you graduated from their anesthesia residency prior to the merger but did an acgme pain fellowship you would only be eligible to take the AOA pain board. The third scenario is if you did both an ACGME residency and fellowship but are a DO, you can choose to take the AOA boards. I don’t think the AOA has an oral board and practicing test if I remember correctly.

 

[NVO]

OSU had an AOA anesthesia residency forever. It is now a acgme residency, that only takes DO’s. I’m sure that is just a coincidence… 😂 They had a pain fellowship for a couple years. Those grads are only able to take the AOA pain board. Additionally, if you graduated from their anesthesia residency prior to the merger but did an acgme pain fellowship you would only be eligible to take the AOA pain board. The third scenario is if you did both an ACGME residency and fellowship but are a DO, you can choose to take the AOA boards. I don’t think the AOA has an oral board and practicing test if I remember correctly.

Why didn't anyone tell me this so I didn't have to suffer through the oral boards just to be a pain doc lol

 

[Ducttape]

i assume you are referring to the oral anesthesia boards.

 

[BobBarker]

Scratch that. They do take an oral exam for the AOA anesthesia board.

 

[NVO]

Scratch that. They do take an oral exam for the AOA anesthesia board.

Doctor, your patient is sitting in the pre-op bay. Labs have resulted which show a K+ of 6.4. Surgeon states the case cannot be delayed and must go right now. Patient ate a burger 2 hours ago. He tells you he was told he was a "difficult airway" at his last surgery but doesn't recall the details. He is extremely nervous and refusing an awake fiberoptic intubation. What OMM technique would you utilize in this scenario and why?

 

[Ferrismonk]

Okay, guys, let me (try to) clear this up. There is a lot of misinformation in this thread.

Currently, there are no AOA-accredited-only residencies or fellowships. AOA and ACGME merged their training programs several years ago and the two AOA pain fellowships that existed prior decided not to seek ACGME certification. Many AOA anesthesia residencies also dropped AOA accreditation once they got ACGME accreditation because it didn't add much value and was a hassle.

Currently, all DOs who go to an ACGME residency and ACGME fellowship will usually just take ABA boards.

In the past:
- All DO and MDs who went to ACGME residency and ACGME fellowship took the ABA boards, like now.
- If you are a DO who did an AOA-accredited residency, and then an ACGME fellowship, you usually sat for the AOA boards.

Those of us who are board certified through the AOA must continue to get our certification through them, even though there are no more AOA-accredited pain fellowships.

AOA anesthesia boards are a written, oral, AND a practical exam.
AOA pain boards are a written exam.

Source: I'm a DO who did an AOA-accredited anesthesia residency and an AOA-accredited pain fellowship.

 

[Ducttape]

this is so obviously a CRNA case.

 

[milomoneepood]

I’m a DO and did internship residency and fellowship all ACGME. My residency program director at the time was advocating for AOA and AOBPMR, and there have been many DO’s from my program historically and GME itself, and also around the region within the state who were boarded under AOA for pm&r and pain and did well for themselves (private practice, VA, hospital work credentialed at many hospitals in the area, etc) so I figured I’d take the DO board for primary specialty, and now that that’s what Im boarded under, I have to continue certification under AOA.

I suppose I could really consider taking the MD board for pm&r and subsequently pain if I had any issues encountered from hospitals / groups with aoa pm&r board but i haven’t encountered any so far and it seems well accepted throughout the state from what I could tell.

 

[NVO]

Not that this is the case for everyone, but the only people I know who went to an ACGME residency and took the DO boards for their primary specialty are those that failed the ACGME boards and instead of retaking, took the DO version cause the DO boards are universally easier. Granted this was for specialties that weren't anesthesia or PM&R. n of 4-5

 

[BobBarker]

Yes, I have a friend who had trouble with the aba oral exam and he went ahead and completed the DO Boards. He eventually passed the aba oral exam.

 

[sb1003]

Anyone know how much OMM we need to know for the exam? Not sure if I should just cram watching omm videos or just skim through some chapters and really get down omm techniques, etc.

 

[milomoneepood]

Anyone know how much OMM we need to know for the exam? Not sure if I should just cram watching omm videos or just skim through some chapters and really get down omm techniques, etc.

bump.