Back to the Basic 2017

[gratefulgas]

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For any of my fellow hard-working docs out there who tend more toward the middle of the bell curve and are curious, I passed with forty-nine keywords. Not as good as I'd hoped (felt pretty good leaving the test) but it's a pass and another step toward independent practice. Will keep studying and learning new things in this crazy, fascinating medical specialty. 👍

 

[gas4lyfe]

Is Brian Hall Anesthesia review book, a good resource for the Basic? I feel like I need another resource beside true learn

 

[Robotic Wis-Hipple]

Is Brian Hall Anesthesia review book, a good resource for the Basic? I feel like I need another resource beside true learn

Faust's Anesthesia Review is a good, fairly encompassing book that pairs well with a qbank imo.

 

[Quixotic2501]

For those wondering, top 10% letters have gone out.

 

[IkeBoy18]

For those wondering, top 10% letters have gone out.

Nice.. did you get one? Any clue on keywords?

 

[anbuitachi]

i didn't get a letter but apparently my program director received emails of everyone who received got 10% in the class and she said she got one for me too

 

[IkeBoy18]

i didn't get a letter but apparently my program director received emails of everyone who received got 10% in the class and she said she got one for me too

Niiice! I saw u had 30 key words.. i had 34. I hope that was enough to make the cut

 

[dchz]

30 keywords is too 10%, 70 keywords is fail. Margins are super thin..... 40 questions separate 80% of people??

 

[anbuitachi]

30 keywords is too 10%, 70 keywords is fail. Margins are super thin..... 40 questions separate 80% of people??

perhaps they failed more than 10%? yea i was surprised to have gotten a 10%.. though its weird PD got it and i didn't get any notification

 

[pasgasser2]

32 keywords but no letter or word from my PD about top 10%...

 

[IkeBoy18]

32 keywords but no letter or word from my PD about top 10%...

34... and got the word that wasnt top ten % from the PD.. congrats to those who did!

 

[anbuitachi]

got the actual letter in the mail.

 

[polar403]

30 keywords is too 10%, 70 keywords is fail. Margins are super thin..... 40 questions separate 80% of people??

70 keywords in a 200 question exam means you only got 65% overall. In most areas of life that isn't considered passing.

Either way, it's not unreasonable to make that as the cutoff if 90% (or more) of examinees achieved that mark. You have to set the cut-off at some point. When you're at that level the knowledge base probably needs improvement.

 

[Turtlez]

Anyone have any thoughts about this year's (2018) exam?

 

[parliamentarian]

Anyone have any thoughts about this year's (2018) exam?

First section for me was very tough. Lots of guessing. Second section much more reasonable. I took it Friday and my classmates who took it Saturday feel the opposite. Left more worried about missing a lot of obvious questions plus the stuff out of left field too.

 

[Psai]

Test was a waste of time and now I don't know what to do with myself when I get home. Sometimes I search openanesthesia out of habit.

 

[anbuitachi]

Test was a waste of time and now I don't know what to do with myself when I get home. Sometimes I search openanesthesia out of habit.

what, you are a CA1??

First section for me was very tough. Lots of guessing. Second section much more reasonable. I took it Friday and my classmates who took it Saturday feel the opposite. Left more worried about missing a lot of obvious questions plus the stuff out of left field too.

My ITE was 63rd percentile. I’m a little nervous because I just could not get motivated to study for this. Made it through maybe 80% of TrueLearn. Really hoping I didn’t fail but would not be surprised if I did. I missed more than a few gimmes, especially in that first section.

I dont think anyone is motivated to study for this test esp since it's only 4 months after ITE.

 

[Turtlez]

First section for me was very tough. Lots of guessing. Second section much more reasonable. I took it Friday and my classmates who took it Saturday feel the opposite. Left more worried about missing a lot of obvious questions plus the stuff out of left field too.

My ITE was 63rd percentile. I’m a little nervous because I just could not get motivated to study for this. Made it through maybe 80% of TrueLearn. Really hoping I didn’t fail but would not be surprised if I did. I missed more than a few gimmes, especially in that first section.

What do you mean by "feel the opposite"? I had it on Saturday too

 

[coffeebythelake]

For those wondering, top 10% letters have gone out.

what's this about top 10% letters?? how come i never heard of this before. and i was always high 90%tile on my ITE's and 99%tile on my written boards.

 

[parliamentarian]

What do you mean by "feel the opposite"? I had it on Saturday too

They thought the first section was okay but the second section was tough.

what's this about top 10% letters?? how come i never heard of this before. and i was always high 90%tile on my ITE's and 99%tile on my written boards.

The basic exam sends you a letter if you are in the top 10th percentile. This is the only test where this is done as far as I know.

 

[anbuitachi]

what's this about top 10% letters?? how come i never heard of this before. and i was always high 90%tile on my ITE's and 99%tile on my written boards.

It's not well known but they send you a secret letter if you are in top 10 percent

 

[madmax604]

Anyone have any thoughts about this year's (2018) exam?

I felt like it was pretty tough. More anatomy and neuroanatomy than I would have liked. Took exam on Friday. I’m guessing I missed between 50-60 questions. 72 percentile on ITE but feeling pretty nervous on this one. Did not walk out as comfortable as I would have liked too.

 

[shepardsun]

I think I heard this year they were doing away with the secret letters.

 

[anbuitachi]

I think I heard this year they were doing away with the secret letters.

thats literally what people said they heard last year

 

[Psai]

I didn't take a break to minimize the amount of time spent in the ****ty testing center

 

[DocVapor]

I took it Friday. Felt like it was fairly tricky all the way through, but personally did feel better about section 1 than 2.

 

[deleted697535]

What's the difference between this, ites and the akt24?
Thank you

 

[hiyaman]

Hopefully I just pass and be done with it.

 

[anbuitachi]

What's the difference between this, ites and the akt24?
Thank you

Basic exam is part of board exam. you need to pass it to pass your boards

ITE is a yearly exam. Many residencies have this exam. For anesthesiology, ITE actually matters for fellowship.
AKT is anesthesia knowledge test, similar to the ITE, also tests knowledge. People dont really care about the AKT.

Yes Anesthesiology residency has way too many exams

 

[shepardsun]

So many exams. And I feel like the OSCE now just adds insult to injury.

 

[AdmiralChz]

Basic exam is part of board exam. you need to pass it to pass your boards

ITE is a yearly exam. Many residencies have this exam. For anesthesiology, ITE actually matters for fellowship.
AKT is anesthesia knowledge test, similar to the ITE, also tests knowledge. People dont really care about the AKT.

Yes Anesthesiology residency has way too many exams

With the advent of the Basic exam, many programs (including mine) dumped the AKT. It was an obnoxious sequence - something like AKT-1, 3, 6, 12, 18 month tests. Some still use it, including many programs in Canada. Thankfully the scores don’t matter.

 

[deleted697535]

Akt 1,6,24 still used in Canada but no basic exam.
If you get under a certain score you have to retake akt6, and under a certain score on akt24 they might advise you to not take the final exam that year. So it kind of counts

 

[ButterButter]

How does this look for fellowship?

Necrobump aside, how does what look for fellowship?