Basic exam 2016

[AdmiralChz]

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was wondering if anyone knew whether the passrate will stay around 96% or if they are going to make it tougher. Additionally from speaking to older residents sounds like the pass mark was around 60-62% does anyone know if this will stay the same?

Im planning on calling them tomorrow and asking, will update then.

Can tell you the pass rate is only that high for now because it is such a new test with content that is still in flux (they definitely want to avoid advanced information on the exam like interpreting popliteal ultrasound images for peripheral nerve blocks), the rate will be inching backwards to fall in line with written Part II pass rates historically, at least that is the ABA's plan. Now exactly WHERE that will fall for each year is probably what the ABA is discussion about now (or did so very recently).

 

[Green Grass]

Any news y'all?

 

[Laryngophed]

Any news y'all?

Nope, just logged into my portal. Nothing there.

 

[Green Grass]

Think the 10%ers will hear earlier this year?


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[weirdomikey014]

Think the 10%ers will hear earlier this year?


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Last year the response was around Jan / Feb. It was in the midst of cardiac and icu interviews. Way too late for your apps because a lot of your interviews will already have been offered. not much of a difference noticed after an email was sent to the programs.

 

[Green Grass]

Last year the response was around Jan / Feb. It was in the midst of cardiac and icu interviews. Way too late for your apps because a lot of your interviews will already have been offered. not much of a difference noticed after an email was sent to the programs.

Yeah, that's why I'm wondering if it'll come earlier this year. Why should it take that long to calculate anyways?


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[Laryngophed]

Yeah, that's why I'm wondering if it'll come earlier this year. Why should it take that long to calculate anyways?


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Or maybe that's why it is that late. I think the boards have a very stern disapproval of using board certification for matching to fellowships and whatnot. Or so I've been told.

 

[Green Grass]

Or maybe that's why it is that late. I think the boards have a very stern disapproval of using board certification for matching to fellowships and whatnot. Or so I've been told.

Ah I see. Very possible then.


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[keepitcoming]

I think you guys are a bunch of douchebags. If you are so sure you are at the top ten then why are you on this forum? Go showboat somewhere else. Some people are scared of passing and this forum is somewhat of a support group. This is not intended for nerds who think they are the elite of the anesthesia world if I destroyed that test I wouldn't be on a forum asking dumb questions... Just saying.

 

[Laryngophed]

I think you guys are a bunch of douchebags. If you are so sure you are at the top ten then why are you on this forum? Go showboat somewhere else. Some people are scared of passing and this forum is somewhat of a support group. This is not intended for nerds who think they are the elite of the anesthesia world if I destroyed that test I wouldn't be on a forum asking dumb questions... Just saying.

Calm down, Junior. I don't see anyone here claiming to be top 10%. I think we were just discussing when/if that would be announced and why the ABA may or may not release it after the time for applications are due to fellowships.

 

[Green Grass]

I think you guys are a bunch of douchebags. If you are so sure you are at the top ten then why are you on this forum? Go showboat somewhere else. Some people are scared of passing and this forum is somewhat of a support group. This is not intended for nerds who think they are the elite of the anesthesia world if I destroyed that test I wouldn't be on a forum asking dumb questions... Just saying.

Haha. Meltdown. Love the passion.


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[AdmiralChz]

I think you guys are a bunch of douchebags. If you are so sure you are at the top ten then why are you on this forum? Go showboat somewhere else. Some people are scared of passing and this forum is somewhat of a support group. This is not intended for nerds who think they are the elite of the anesthesia world if I destroyed that test I wouldn't be on a forum asking dumb questions... Just saying.

I see your point, the entire point of the basic exam as I've said earier is to NOT put a number on things and just have a pass/fail. The ABA identifies the bottom 10% not as a punishment but to alert programs so they can get educated and propped up before the next round. But programs felt that if you identify the bottom 10 then maybe you should ID the top 10.

Regardless, all you need is the pass. Fellowships are much more comfortable comparing ITE scores and you'll find they matter much, much less than standardized tests in the past (like MCAT, USMLEs)

 

[linkin06]

it must be this week?

also, i've heard fellowships look at CA-2 ITEs now too??

 

[AdmiralChz]

it must be this week?

also, i've heard fellowships look at CA-2 ITEs now too??

Just finished with cardiac fellowship process. Only 1 program asked about CA-2 ITE score (which came out ~ 4 months after my initial application was in), so almost inconsequential (unless, of course, you apply as a CA-3 or after residency). Not sure about CCM apps but would be doubtful as it's the same timing as cardiac.

Wouldn't be surprised if Peds or Pain asked for CA-2 scores as that application process is much later (with results coming out Sept/Oct). Still, as long as you are >25th or so percentile not sure how important the scores are. Maybe others can provide more insight.

 

[medico999]

looks like they are updating the portal....i noticed that the primary-validate in the registration steps has changed. anybody else see that?

 

[Green Grass]

looks like they are updating the portal....i noticed that the primary-validate in the registration steps has changed. anybody else see that?

No change here.


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[keepitcoming]

Pretty sure results coming out today or tomorrow. Checked the portal and the website is under maintenance aka results are being posted. I a nervous wreck. My heart rate is at a constant high. I don't know what I will do if I fail. Good luck to everyone on this forum. God bless you.

 

[AdmiralChz]

I a nervous wreck. My heart rate is at a constant high. I don't know what I will do if I fail.

Deep breaths, you'd gather yourself together and pass it in a few months if you have to.

Previous BASIC exam results came out on Wednesday mornings in mid-July so it's certainly likely that today is the day.

Best to all, I remember being nervous myself.

 

[rakotomazoto]

Just got my results via the ABA portal: PASS!!!

I am relieved since no one at my institution has failed yet. It would suck to be the first.

I hope everyone else gets some good news today.

 

[Green Grass]

Good luck y'all. What's with the snail mail letter later this month?


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[BLADEMDA]

I would like to add that the ABA needs to keep the quality of graduates at a certain level. With many Ca-1 Residents just above passing STEP-1 and 2 the weed out process continues with the basic exam. I do agree that the exam should be "fair" but the ABA does have to be concerned about who is matching into Anesthesiology these days and in the future. For those who passed the Basic Exam a congratulations is in order.

 

[d9sccr]

I would like to add that the ABA needs to keep the quality of graduates at a certain level. With many Ca-1 Residents just above passing STEP-1 and 2 the weed out process continues with the basic exam. I do agree that the exam should be "fair" but the ABA does have to be concerned about who is matching into Anesthesiology these days and in the future. For those who passed the Basic Exam a congratulations is in order.

While there's some truth in what you're saying, not all medical schools are the same. We had less than 3 weeks to devote to studying for Step 1. Sure, there was the year prior to that if you had time, but our curriculum didn't really allow for it. Our course material consisted of mostly real-life clinical information rather than basic sciences (especially after the first year) which I think has made me a better resident but certainly didn't help my lower end Step 1 score. I have friends on the other hand that went to medical school that primarily focused on teaching to Step 1 and "high-yield" facts that knocked it out of the park. I did better than barely passing but lower than the average Step 1 score, but now in residency on all the AKTs/ITEs my lowest score has been 85th percentile.

How much do step scores correlate w/ how good vs. bad of anesthesiologist you'll be? Or any other doctor for that matter? I remember reading a paper in med school that the best correlation to how well someone would do in an ENT residency was whether they played a team sport growing up.

Congrats to everyone who passed !

 

[Ronin786]

Pass!

 

[AdmiralChz]

I would like to add that the ABA needs to keep the quality of graduates at a certain level. With many Ca-1 Residents just above passing STEP-1 and 2 the weed out process continues with the basic exam. I do agree that the exam should be "fair" but the ABA does have to be concerned about who is matching into Anesthesiology these days and in the future. For those who passed the Basic Exam a congratulations is in order.

Understand this and agree, but we have found in our program the average applicant's statistics have been steadily going up over the past few years - our average step scores are now fairly high and above average - my point being, we simply don't look at marginal pass students. I do not know if this is a nationwide trend reflecting increasing Anesthesiology competitiveness, but it is pretty striking when we compare 2013 application cycle to the one we finished up with in the Spring.

 

[Green Grass]

Understand this and agree, but we have found in our program the average applicant's statistics have been steadily going up over the past few years - our average step scores are now fairly high and above average - my point being, we simply don't look at marginal pass students. I do not know if this is a nationwide trend reflecting increasing Anesthesiology competitiveness, but it is pretty striking when we compare 2013 application cycle to the one we finished up with in the Spring.

Same here. We have Step 1 cutoffs unless you have a compelling story or reason to be interviewed.


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[Ronin786]

Understand this and agree, but we have found in our program the average applicant's statistics have been steadily going up over the past few years - our average step scores are now fairly high and above average - my point being, we simply don't look at marginal pass students. I do not know if this is a nationwide trend reflecting increasing Anesthesiology competitiveness, but it is pretty striking when we compare 2013 application cycle to the one we finished up with in the Spring.

I bet the more likely explanation is that Step scores have increased on the whole but programs perceptions of what a good score is hasn't. Over the past few years the average Step 1 score went from 220 to 230 and climbing. A likelihood of getting a 240 is much higher now that the curve is different, but most programs don't realize that and keep the 240 benchmark (or whatever number they choose to use).

 

[Green Grass]

I bet the more likely explanation is that Step scores have increased on the whole but programs perceptions of what a good score is hasn't. Over the past few years the average Step 1 score went from 220 to 230 and climbing. A likelihood of getting a 240 is much higher now that the curve is different, but most programs don't realize that and keep the 240 benchmark (or whatever number they choose to use).

That's a really good point. We moved our cutoff higher this year to combat that.


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[AdmiralChz]

That's a really good point. We moved our cutoff higher this year to combat that.


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Exactly what we did this year, wonder if we're at the same place? Hah!

 

[Laryngophed]

Pass.

I'm not sure I buy this as a weeding out process, particularly when the ABA in the not so distant past grandfathered in a bunch of folks without requiring them to take the board certification. If the ABA was really concerned about who gets to call themselves an anesthesiologist, they'd end that grandfathering stuff too.

 

[BLADEMDA]

Pass.

I'm not sure I buy this as a weeding out process, particularly when the ABA in the not so distant past grandfathered in a bunch of folks without requiring them to take the board certification. If the ABA was really concerned about who gets to call themselves an anesthesiologist, they'd end that grandfathering stuff too.

In the end only 4-5 percent of residents end up failing the basic exam. That isn't exactly a high percentage by any measure. So, it comes down to the basic questions and who missed most, if not all them, in order to fail the exam.

Most hospitals require board certification and the individuals who are not will have a very hard time finding a new job if they are forced to relocate. If you are referring to MOCA and time limited certfication that started in January 2000.
Some of use older guys have voluntarily recertified once already and are on our second cycle. The B.S. Never really stops so learning how to cope with it is part of the residency process.

Again. Congrats. On passing the basic exam.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/aba-basic-exam-2015.1132719/

 

[BLADEMDA]

Great Z blog:

The ABA Screws Anesthesia Residents

It's been a busy time over at the American Board of Anesthesiology headquarters. Besides the changes to MOCA recertification requirements, they have also altered how anesthesia residents will be board certified in the first place. Previously an anesthesiologist takes his written, or Part 1, exam shortly after finishing his residency. Once that has been successfully passed, he then takes the dreaded oral, or Part 2, examination. When both exams are completed, voila, another board certified anesthesiologist is christened into the world.

But the ABA has now changed the paradigm. Starting with the CA-1 class beginning July, 2013, the written exam has been split into two parts. The Basic exam will be administered during residency training. This is followed by an Advanced exam taken after residency before moving on to the oral exam. The trick is that the Basic exam has to be successfully passed within two attempts or the resident will be deemed incompetent and will not be allowed to graduate. Thus he could be stuck in anesthesia residency for four or five years if he were so unlucky.

This places extraordinary pressure on already overworked residents. In my time, many of us graduated residency then took a couple of weeks off from work to prepare for our Part 1 exam. Some people even delayed taking the test for a year or more. This only delayed their board certification but they were still able to practice during that time as a "board eligible" anesthesiologist. Now these poor residents can't even get to the starting gate of their careers unless they pass this test. The sadists at the ABA know no bounds.

http://www.blog.greatzs.com/2013/03/the-aba-screws-anesthesia-residents.html

 

[BLADEMDA]

The ABA has phased out the traditional Part 1 written exam. Residents graduating after June 30, 2016 now take the Staged Exams.

Median pass rate for first time takers of the Part 1 exam (2009-2015) was 88%

The BASIC exam is offered twice a year: June and November. To be eligible for the June exam, one must have completed 6 months of CA-1 training by March 31.

The first ADVANCED exam will be administered in July 2016. Starting in 2017, it will be offered twice a year: January and July. To be eligible for the July exam, one must have completed 6 months of CA-3 training by March 31.

 

[AdmiralChz]

Hah don't forget the nebulous APPLIED exam which will be incorporated as part of the Oral Boards starting in 2018 :/

 

[BLADEMDA]

Hah don't forget the nebulous APPLIED exam which will be incorporated as part of the Oral Boards starting in 2018 :/

The hoops just keep coming and coming. The current CA-3 class has to pass the applied exam:

http://www.theaba.org/PDFs/APPLIED-Exam/APPLIED-OSCE-ContentOutline

Future classes will have basic exam, advanced exam, applied exam and an oral exam.

http://www.theaba.org/PDFs/APPLIED-Exam/APPLIED-OSCE-Admin-Schedule

Oral exam and applied exam occur on the same day (at least that was reasonable).

 

[Green Grass]

The hoops just keep coming and coming. The current CA-3 class has to pass the applied exam:

http://www.theaba.org/PDFs/APPLIED-Exam/APPLIED-OSCE-ContentOutline

Future classes will have basic exam, advanced exam, applied exam and an oral exam.

http://www.theaba.org/PDFs/APPLIED-Exam/APPLIED-OSCE-Admin-Schedule

Oral exam and applied exam occur on the same day (at least that was reasonable).

Man, I should have been a CRNA...

 

[Arantius]

Does anyone know what this applied exam will be like? Equivalent to Step 2 CS? If we have actors as patients what will we do with them? A pre-op? Induce them? I'm confused about how an actor will fit well into testing our competency?

 

[Green Grass]

Does anyone know what this applied exam will be like? Equivalent to Step 2 CS? If we have actors as patients what will we do with them? A pre-op? Induce them? I'm confused about how an actor will fit well into testing our competency?

It's OSCEs, because all of our clinical time means nothing apparently.

 

[AdmiralChz]

Can only hope that it's as big of a joke Step 2 CS was.

 

[criticalelement]

The hoops just keep coming and coming. The current CA-3 class has to pass the applied exam:

http://www.theaba.org/PDFs/APPLIED-Exam/APPLIED-OSCE-ContentOutline

Future classes will have basic exam, advanced exam, applied exam and an oral exam.

http://www.theaba.org/PDFs/APPLIED-Exam/APPLIED-OSCE-Admin-Schedule

Oral exam and applied exam occur on the same day (at least that was reasonable).

This is absolutely the most insane misguided effort that ive heard of in a long while.. Clearly though up by some guy in a laboratory who has no idea what clincal medicine is like..... This does not improve resident performance.. it hinders it.. This is why residents have to do fellowships now. Because they are spending too much f***ing time doing this B.S..

Every Anesthesiologist should drop the ASA until they start listening to us. Cmon guys. This has gone too far.. They will continue to treat us like sheep if we continue to be sheep. THis should clear out the residencies.

 

[Green Grass]

It's sickening how little the ABA and ASA care about the people they represent. Leadership is severely lacking.

 

[vector2]

The ABA has phased out the traditional Part 1 written exam. Residents graduating after June 30, 2016 now take the Staged Exams.

Median pass rate for first time takers of the Part 1 exam (2009-2015) was 88%

The BASIC exam is offered twice a year: June and November. To be eligible for the June exam, one must have completed 6 months of CA-1 training by March 31.

The first ADVANCED exam will be administered in July 2016. Starting in 2017, it will be offered twice a year: January and July. To be eligible for the July exam, one must have completed 6 months of CA-3 training by March 31.

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I honestly have no problem with the BASIC exam. For a lot of residents (such as myself) who were a bit lackadaisical about the CA-1 ITE, the implications of failing the basic were good motivation to bust ass, acquire knowledge, and not put off some hardcore studying until after residency graduation. There is likely nationwide evidence for the midtraining knowledge bump if the program where I trained is any indication. For the last two years, average CA-2 ITE scores have essentially equaled or bested the concurrent CA-3 scores, and this is likely attributable to the ton of studying that was done for basic.

Also, since the basic exam isn't curved (correct me if I'm wrong), I'm absolutely of the opinion that a resident who fails it twice, i.e. can't answer 60ish% of basic anesthesia questions correctly, should have some kind of remediation.

The applied exam, however, is a crock of **** and I'm glad I don't have to waste my time on that nonsense. Isn't the whole point of the ACGME making sure that your practical residency experience is adequate?

 

[criticalelement]

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I honestly have no problem with the BASIC exam. For a lot of residents (such as myself) who were a bit lackadaisical about the CA-1 ITE, the implications of failing the basic were good motivation to bust ass, acquire knowledge, and not put off some hardcore studying until after residency graduation. There is likely nationwide evidence for the midtraining knowledge bump if the program where I trained is any indication. For the last two years, average CA-2 ITE scores have essentially equaled or bested the concurrent CA-3 scores, and this is likely attributable to the ton of studying that was done for basic.

Also, since the basic exam isn't curved (correct me if I'm wrong), I'm absolutely of the opinion that a resident who fails it twice, i.e. can't answer 60ish% of basic anesthesia questions correctly, should have some kind of remediation.

The applied exam, however, is a crock of **** and I'm glad I don't have to waste my time on that nonsense. Isn't the whole point of the ACGME making sure that your practical residency experience is adequate?

i dis agree with you..

Studying for a test does not a good doctor make.

 

[POW16]

Passed ! What a relief.

 

[vector2]

i dis agree with you..

Studying for a test does not a good doctor make.

I'm pretty sure I didn't say studying for a test is all you need to be a good doctor.

However, you've never taken the basic exam so you really don't have a frame of reference when evaluating my assertion. IMO, the basic exam was like three orders of magnitude easier than the ITE in regard to scope and individual question difficulty. We as physicians claim that it's not solely technical skills which separate us from midlevels, but rather it's our medical knowledge and experiential knowledge that places us a notch above. Experiential knowledge needs to be built on a solid foundation of medical knowledge, else what separates the neuroanesthesiologist from the CRNA who's been stoolsitting aneurysm clippings for 20 years?

From a pedagogical standpoint, exams certainly do have intrinsic problems with regard to biases against certain test-takers' cultures, primary language, dialect, geographic location, training differences etc, but at the moment there is simply no better alternative to exams to objectively determine who has acquired enough medical knowledge and who hasn't. Some of you may disagree, but I think the "I'm a bad test taker" line is a load of BS unless you happen to have some lifelong bonafide learning disability or a major language barrier, and I think a strong argument could be made that those who repeatedly fail the basic exam do not have a grasp on the fundamental concepts and scientific principles behind the practice of anesthesia.

 

[dannyboy1]

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I honestly have no problem with the BASIC exam. For a lot of residents (such as myself) who were a bit lackadaisical about the CA-1 ITE, the implications of failing the basic were good motivation to bust ass, acquire knowledge, and not put off some hardcore studying until after residency graduation. There is likely nationwide evidence for the midtraining knowledge bump if the program where I trained is any indication. For the last two years, average CA-2 ITE scores have essentially equaled or bested the concurrent CA-3 scores, and this is likely attributable to the ton of studying that was done for basic.

And now, when the CA-1's pass the exam they become overconfident, complacent; and don't open a book for another year and a half. I"m not sure this is an improvement.

 

[vector2]

And now, when the CA-1's pass the exam they become overconfident, complacent; and don't open a book for another year and a half. I"m not sure this is an improvement.

Disagree. CA-1s who did well on basic are probably the type of people who will do well on advanced. CA-1s who failed basic got a big wakeup call in the middle of their residency instead of being caught off guard after finishing.

 

[dannyboy1]

Disagree. CA-1s who did well on basic are probably the type of people who will do well on advanced. CA-1s who failed basic got a big wakeup call in the middle of their residency instead of being caught off guard after finishing.

There is no "doing well". straight pass/fail with no score received. you could barely scrape by and you wouldn't even know it.

 

[vector2]

There is no "doing well". straight pass/fail with no score received. you could barely scrape by and you wouldn't even know it.

Everyone gets a list of keywords, or at least they did when I took it a couple years ago. ****ton of missed keywords is probably bad, minimal is good, excellent and you got a top 10% letter (not sure if they stopped doing this). Regardless, you could substitute "did well on basic" with "systematically studied for basic and passed" and my point still stands about being caught off guard with the advanced.

 

[OTCAwesome]

Understand this and agree, but we have found in our program the average applicant's statistics have been steadily going up over the past few years - our average step scores are now fairly high and above average - my point being, we simply don't look at marginal pass students. I do not know if this is a nationwide trend reflecting increasing Anesthesiology competitiveness, but it is pretty striking when we compare 2013 application cycle to the one we finished up with in the Spring.

Same here, but at my institution they've started skim off the top of the US/Canadian Caribbean grads so everyone has scores >240/250, and we're all pretty hardworking, chill people.

 

[Swizard210]

I've started using AnesthesiaQBank, and it has good questions, so far. Looks like they redid the front end stuff recently. TruLearn has been around for while, but it's pricier for me.