Beat the Boards NEURO Qs

[Mkitties]

Anybody else having a hard time getting through the neurology questions on the beat the boards program? They seem way too hard....

Any suggestions on how to better prepare for the neuro part for the boards?
Ive heard the first four chapters of Kaufman's Neurology are a good start.

Thanks in advance!

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[Mkitties]

seriously???

not a single person out there who is willing to offer some advice????

 

[neurodoc]

Maybe we could help if you said a bit more about what you found particularly difficult about the Board's Neuro questions. I took the ABPN Board exam (in Neuro) back in 1997 and also renewed in 2006. I didn't find the Psych questions particularly difficult.

 

[keep]

where u saw these questions?

 

[psych2009]

They seem too hard and not so much clinical. I just finished all 10, got only 46% in last one..worse so far, now freaking out!

 

[wolfvgang22]

Yeah I've been averaging about a 54% on the Beat the Boards Neuro questions and a 76% on the psych questions. I was absolutely stoked to get a 64% on one block of Neuro Beat the Boards questions. I can't help but thinking that the Neuro questions are way too hard. Did anybody think the exam was like Beat the Boards?

Several Beat the Boards Neuro questions have asked about things not covered in the BTB lectures that I can recall. For example: I've seen like 8 questions on the Miller-Fischer variant of Guillain-Barre that has Ataxia, Opthomalplegia, and Areflexia and Anti-GQ1b antibodies. I sure as hell won't forget that now!
I seriously doubt it's on the test, and if it is it'll be one question. I think these neuro questions were written by a neurologist for the neuro boards, not the psych board exam. Maybe I'm wrong??
Should I be worried?

 

[alina_s]

I took the written test in 2009 but...I worked through Kaufmann (the whole thing, lighter reading than most textbooks) and used old PRITEs. I studied almost exclusively neurology because my psychiatry PRITE scores had been stable through residency but my neuro scores were coasting down. The questions I studied were vastly harder than the ones on the real exam. I think I was lucky to get 60% on the practice neuro tests and I sailed through the real test.

 

[jokerabc]

Relax guys, I posted about the same problem last year, maybe in the board thread that is a sticky.

The BTB neuro questions are way harder than the real ones. I took the Adult board certification test last year (2012). The real questions are much more fair -I was very happily surprised when I was taking the test.

It's better to do the questions at the back of each chapter in Kaufman than the BTB Nuero questions.

 

[kumar28]

Do all the questions and read all the answers in Kaufman and you'll be golden for neuro

 

[BobA]

The BTB Neuro questions are just a waste of time. Who cares about the inheritance pattern of hereditary hyperkalemia? There is no way that would make sense to put on the boards.

UPDATE: I took the boards today, and I want to say that the BTB Neuro lectures were right on the money in terms of content. The questions were much harder than the real thing, but they prepared me well.

 

[wolfvgang22]

The BTB Neuro questions are just a waste of time. Who cares about the inheritance pattern of hereditary hyperkalemia? There is no way that would make sense to put on the boards.

Yeah, that's sort of how I felt after doing 8 out of 10 neurology BTB question blocks. It was just crushing my confidence so I quit doing them.
I'm also doing the Speigle and Kenney book of questions. Still difficult and detailed but the questions seem much better. I have found three or four typos, though.
Anybody have an opinion on how the Kenny and Spiegle book compare to the real exam?

 

[Rhayven44]

Yeah, that's sort of how I felt after doing 8 out of 10 neurology BTB question blocks. It was just crushing my confidence so I quit doing them.
I'm also doing the Speigle and Kenney book of questions. Still difficult and detailed but the questions seem much better. I have found three or four typos, though.
Anybody have an opinion on how the Kenny and Spiegle book compare to the real exam?

Do you have the new Spiegel and Kenney book (2nd edition) that came out this year? I've found the questions so far to be great...UNTIL the vignettes. Quite honestly, it looks like they just tacked those on without proofreading the answers to make the book more relevant to the new exam.

Otherwise, most of the people I talked to who took it last year said the test is similar to Spiegel and Kenney, just easier.

 

[wolfvgang22]

Do you have the new Spiegel and Kenney book (2nd edition) that came out this year? I've found the questions so far to be great...UNTIL the vignettes. Quite honestly, it looks like they just tacked those on without proofreading the answers to make the book more relevant to the new exam.

Otherwise, most of the people I talked to who took it last year said the test is similar to Spiegel and Kenney, just easier.

Yeah, I have the new second edition.
I didn't even look at the vignettes in it, because I already did all the Beat the Boards vignettes. I felt the BTB vignettes were good, but the video pictures were too small.
I pass the Kenney Spiegle tests in the book, but of course struggle with neuro minutiae. I hope your friends are correct about the exam!

 

[psych2009]

Is it worthwhile to do prite questions?I know it's a bit too late to start doing them now...but I don't want to just leave something high yield.

 

[jokerabc]

The Kenney and Speigel book, even though the questions seem simple and too easy sometimes -they are great! Had several repeats from the book, or questions that were very similar.

If you are doing BTB, I would review like the latest or the last 2 Prites -they do repeat questions and topics from them.

 

[NJWxMan]

Ive consistently heard that neuro is bread and butter. Psych like prite. Vignettes are a wash...heard this from 4 or 5 people that took it last yr

 

[psych2009]

Thanks a lot for the replies. Kenny and spiegel it is for me until Wednesday!

 

[Mkitties]

Thanks for the replies. Just in case someone reads this in the future I'll go ahead and answer my own initial Q since I took the board exam a few days ago.

Dont use the 'beat the boards' neuro Qs. They are nothing like the real exam. Focus on what everyone else said such as the Kenny & Spiegel book and the first few chapters of Kaufman. I ended up doing the 'board vitals' Q bank and thought it was pretty helpful too.