Basic exam 2016

[ScarfTheVerb]

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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?

How'd you feel about shelling out another $800?

I don't mind studying and sitting for another test but the lack of perspective/empathy from the ABA about the financial situation of an average resident is going to be hard for me to forgive.

 

[vector2]

How'd you feel about shelling out another $800?

I don't mind studying and sitting for another test but the lack of perspective/empathy from the ABA about the financial situation of an average resident is going to be hard for me to forgive.

I'm pretty sure with the writtens you end up paying the same as the old system. Wasn't the cost of the old board just split into two for the basic and advanced?

 

[Laryngophed]

I'm pretty sure with the writtens you end up paying the same as the old system. Wasn't the cost of the old board just split into two for the basic and advanced?

Yep. My program paid for the cost of the exam. Residents just need to be good citizens to qualify.

 

[Green Grass]

Yep. My program paid for the cost of the exam. Residents just need to be good citizens to qualify.

Not mine! Damn that's nice.


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[otis86]

Passed, really thankful. I still believe that was a real pathetic exam, testing the most useless concepts of anesthesia.

 

[Laryngophed]

Anybody receive a letter today?

 

[Green Grass]

Anybody receive a letter today?

No sir


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[kidthor]

What was the pass rate this year?

 

[Laryngophed]

What was the pass rate this year?

I dunno. I suspect some of that will be in the letter.

 

[Laryngophed]

Letter did not contain pass/fail rate. At least mine didn't. Just a list of keywords.

 

[Green Grass]

Letter did not contain pass/fail rate. At least mine didn't. Just a list of keywords.

That's it? ****ty.


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[Green Grass]

I got nothin today.


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[Alejandrodizzle]

TWO questions...
A) Is there anyone that received an Honors letter from last year (or any year for that matter), who knows how many keywords they got wrong?
B) Does anyone know for sure if our programs find out who got top/bottom 10% from the ABA in July? Or are they also in the dark until the honors letter comes out in January?

 

[AdmiralChz]

Sigh. Isn't it enough to know you passed?

 

[Green Grass]

B) Does anyone know for sure if our programs find out who got top/bottom 10% from the ABA in July? Or are they also in the dark until the honors letter comes out in January?

My PD said they are in the dark


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[Green Grass]

Sigh. Isn't it enough to know you passed?

If you can reach for more, why wouldn't you?


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[RK.md]

TWO questions...
A) Is there anyone that received an Honors letter from last year (or any year for that matter), who knows how many keywords they got wrong?
B) Does anyone know for sure if our programs find out who got top/bottom 10% from the ABA in July? Or are they also in the dark until the honors letter comes out in January?

A.) Can't remember exactly how many, but it was less than one column on the keywords sheet.
B.) My program sent out the notifications in January, but our PD found out several months before that. Not sure what accounted for the delay.

Just be content that you passed. I heard this last exam was filled with ridiculous, irrelevant minutia. Congrats to you all!

 

[Green Grass]

A.) Can't remember exactly how many, but it was less than one column on the keywords sheet.
B.) My program sent out the notifications in January, but our PD found out several months before that. Not sure what accounted for the delay.

Just be content that you passed. I heard this last exam was filled with ridiculous, irrelevant minutia. Congrats to you all!

One column you say. According to the ITE this year, you'd have to get 74% correct on the Basic questions to be in the 90th percentile. I'd imagine we would all do better on the Basic exam after a few more months of studying compared to ITE, so maybe somewhere in the high 70s or low 80s percent correct would be top 10 percentile.


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[Alejandrodizzle]

Sigh. Isn't it enough to know you passed?

No...it is NOT enough to just know that I passed. I feel this way, not because I think I am better or smarter than anyone else, but because I put in hours of studying, every day, for several months just to try and reach that top 10%ile. If all I cared about was passing the test, then I would have had a much more nonchalant attitude and put in significantly less study time. Instead, I chose to complete the entire Hall qbank (twice) the truelearn ITE qbank, trulearn basic qbank and M5 qbank...I also read and took notes on most of morgan and mikhail...all at the expense of spending less time with my friends and family, who supported me through months of working all day and studying all night. If you are satisfied with receiving a passing grade and you did, then congratulations, you should be proud of achieving your goal, but don't discourage others that want to put in the extra effort to achieve greatness.

 

[weirdomikey014]

I don't remember how to find out the number of keywords missed on the exam. But honestly, I'm not sure that amount of studying was necessary to get top 10 % ile. It wasn't that serious of an exam to be honest. I felt like it was an exam where everyone let their guard down. I felt like most of the examinees who I took it with just read the questions once and didn't review their choices. I honestly left immediately after I quickly went through the exam cause I wanted a donut. So if you studied and double checked your work I'm sure you would have gotten top 10 % ile. But you won't find out for at least another six months. In the meantime, I would just relax. I feel like the ITE and these exams aren't meant to gauge the ability for greatness per se. It's just a random biopsy of knowledge. So I would take a bit more of a relaxed approach and enjoy residency. It's a marathon, not a sprint. I would just read to learn. But honestly I feel like that amount of studying really detracts from other aspects of your life (exercise, family, leisure, etc). You're going to get the fellowship / job you want with the scores you've gotten. I'd say just relax and enjoy learning from your patients.

No...it is NOT enough to just know that I passed. I feel this way, not because I think I am better or smarter than anyone else, but because I put in hours of studying, every day, for several months just to try and reach that top 10%ile. If all I cared about was passing the test, then I would have had a much more nonchalant attitude and put in significantly less study time. Instead, I chose to complete the entire Hall qbank (twice) the truelearn ITE qbank, trulearn basic qbank and M5 qbank...I also read and took notes on most of morgan and mikhail...all at the expense of spending less time with my friends and family, who supported me through months of working all day and studying all night. If you are satisfied with receiving a passing grade and you did, then congratulations, you should be proud of achieving your goal, but don't discourage others that want to put in the extra effort to achieve greatness.

 

[Ronin786]

No...it is NOT enough to just know that I passed. I feel this way, not because I think I am better or smarter than anyone else, but because I put in hours of studying, every day, for several months just to try and reach that top 10%ile. If all I cared about was passing the test, then I would have had a much more nonchalant attitude and put in significantly less study time. Instead, I chose to complete the entire Hall qbank (twice) the truelearn ITE qbank, trulearn basic qbank and M5 qbank...I also read and took notes on most of morgan and mikhail...all at the expense of spending less time with my friends and family, who supported me through months of working all day and studying all night. If you are satisfied with receiving a passing grade and you did, then congratulations, you should be proud of achieving your goal, but don't discourage others that want to put in the extra effort to achieve greatness.

Simmer down there Miller.

I'm sure the 10th-percentile is what's holding you back from greatness.

 

[Laryngophed]

Simmer down there Miller.

I'm sure the 10th-percentile is what's holding you back from greatness.

I assume your post was made tongue firmly planted in cheek, but his point remains. Why would you not push yourself to do the best that you can do? I don't think anyone on this board would argue that tests are a perfect proxy for a good doctor, but it is one measuring stick we used to assess knowledge. That isn't all that, but that is one component of being a solid clinician. So I wouldn't get too bent out of shape if people are pushing themselves for a very high score on the exam, and if they are disappointed but they don't reach it or elated that they do.

 

[Ronin786]

I assume your post was made tongue firmly planted in cheek, but his point remains. Why would you not push yourself to do the best that you can do? I don't think anyone on this board would argue that tests are a perfect proxy for a good doctor, but it is one measuring stick we used to assess knowledge. That isn't all that, but that is one component of being a solid clinician. So I wouldn't get too bent out of shape if people are pushing themselves for a very high score on the exam, and if they are disappointed but they don't reach it or elated that they do.

I've got no issues with going for gold. I do have issues with equating a 10th percentile on the BASIC with greatness.

 

[GasAllDay]

No...it is NOT enough to just know that I passed. I feel this way, not because I think I am better or smarter than anyone else, but because I put in hours of studying, every day, for several months just to try and reach that top 10%ile. If all I cared about was passing the test, then I would have had a much more nonchalant attitude and put in significantly less study time. Instead, I chose to complete the entire Hall qbank (twice) the truelearn ITE qbank, trulearn basic qbank and M5 qbank...I also read and took notes on most of morgan and mikhail...all at the expense of spending less time with my friends and family, who supported me through months of working all day and studying all night. If you are satisfied with receiving a passing grade and you did, then congratulations, you should be proud of achieving your goal, but don't discourage others that want to put in the extra effort to achieve greatness.

If this is true, then you sacrificed A LOT more than the cost we paid for the exam. I'm sorry you felt you needed to do that, I hope it gets you the 10th percentile. As residents, time is our greatest currency; good for you having the luxury to invest those precious hours that way.
However, if that's the type of greatness you're after, then it's really only greatness if you achieve 10th percentile based on your consistent efforts to prepare for residency/cases, rather than the hours and hours of daily studying you did.
Good luck to you, I'm sure you'll get the 10th percentile.

In general, the vast majority of us have made it this far because we're good and we work hard. If any program's residents collectively did not do well, it's clearly a reflection of the program's weakness, not (just) the residents' weaknesses. I think poor performance on the Basic Exam is also a burden programs need to pick up - to make sure they are preparing their CA-1s well, so residents can have time to focus on professional development in other ways.

 

[Major Payne]

Not tooting my own horn by any means but for those wondering when they would send out the top 10% letters, I got one in the mail today. I had 31 topics on my keyword sheet in case anyone was curious how many questions you had to get right. Obviously that number may not be the minimum you need but if you have less than that and haven't gotten a letter yet, you will probably be getting one soon.

 

[linkin06]

I got a top 10% letter too, and I think I had about ~80-85% correct, if each key word is a missed question

 

[Green Grass]

I got a top 10% letter too, and I think I had about ~80-85% correct, if each key word is a missed question

Any idea of number of keywords?


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[linkin06]

Any idea of number of keywords?


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I threw it away...

 

[Infexious]

.

 

[Green Grass]

37 keywords, no letter.

Congrats to those who earned it!


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[Turtlez]

I got a top 10% letter too, and I think I had about ~80-85% correct, if each key word is a missed question

What did you use to study?

 

[Bruzzi914]

Top 10% letter. 32 keywords.
Read half M&M select chapters in Barash and all of the true learn questions. Congratulations to everyone that passed

 

[linkin06]

What did you use to study?

I read Morgan and mikhail twice (no advance topics) from July through November. Then read hall and ace questions for ITE and got about 75th percentile.

Then I figured there's no point to read more books. Just started doing truelearn from March through June. I thought that was the best. For all the steps I was big on uworld, and this felt similar. It's not so much volume but the explanations that were more important to me. I did the whole qbank maybe 1.5 x

 

[Palash]

Does anybody know what was the percentage cutoff for passing this year?