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Gentlemen, tomorrow I depart for Tampa, FL. Wish me luck as I spend two days straight answering multiple choice questions and then drink myself into oblivion!
Good luck!!! I am sure you will do great! I go next week. Let us know what you think of the exam.Gentlemen, tomorrow I depart for Tampa, FL. Wish me luck as I spend two days straight answering multiple choice questions and then drink myself into oblivion!
Remember there's a mall with a large food court right next store. Some people think the only place to eat is the panera or the chipotle, and they get in long lines and then stress and miss lunch.
Gentlemen, tomorrow I depart for Tampa, FL. Wish me luck as I spend two days straight answering multiple choice questions and then drink myself into oblivion!
What a terrible two days. I couldn't fall asleep until about 1am on the night before AP. Luckily I was so tired after the first day that despite being anxious I went straight to bed.
Day 1:
The slides felt very fair overall. I looked at a lot of glass during residency and I think this prepared me well. There were definitely some odd balls, but only one or two cases felt like they were deliberately trying to trick you. Everything else on this part was really straightforward.
The second block of AP kind of freaked me out because I was halfway through the 120 questions after only 20 minutes. I made a mental effort to answer the questions more slowly and to read everything carefully. Because there were no images on this part I felt like everything was very straightforward, either you know it or you don't, type stuff.
The third part was hard, but fair. If I failed (hope not), then I know what to go back and review. On questions that I was unsure about I had at least heard of the entity or subject matter being discussed.
Day 2:
What a ****ty day. Part 1 was the "practical" CP test with a bunch of calculations and long complicated problems. I haven't seriously interpreted electrolyte panels since medical school, but apparently that is a necessary ability to practice pathology *eye roll*.
Part 2 was similar to AP, very direct factoid type questions that you either know or don't. I don't remember feeling too horrible after this part.
Part 3 is where the **** hit the fan. Oh my god, I have never felt so bad after an exam as I did after finishing this part. There was a ridiculous amount of heme which was super difficult and I'm good at heme (or at least I thought so). I was more worried about clinical chemistry when I walked in the door, but the heme stuff on this portion of the exam was insane. On many questions I had no idea what they were even getting at, which scared me because I can almost always at least figure out what the question writer is asking.
I left the exam feeling pretty numb and honestly not sure if I passed or not. There were parts that felt doable and parts that felt like I couldn't pass them even if I had 10 years to study. Over the past couple weeks I've had the pleasure of ruminating on questions I know I missed. I keep telling myself that everybody goes through this, but it is seriously such a terrible experience made all the worse by the specter looming over you that you might have to study and take it again.
Pretty sure everyone feels that way. That is why CP is the second day. If it was the first day, probably 1/2 of the people would not show up to finish the exam.I left the exam feeling pretty numb and honestly not sure if I passed or not. There were parts that felt doable and parts that felt like I couldn't pass them even if I had 10 years to study.
Thanks for the feedback, I take AP-only in a week and a half.
One question for you about the slide portion. Outside of the few tricky questions, did you feel like the diagnoses were readily discernible without IHC? So often there are 2 or 3 entities that fall within the same morphologic spectrum and in real life you would do IHC to confirm. Small round blue cell tumors, other soft tissue lesions, even many GYN tumors when not absolutely classic. Would love to hear your feedback. Thanks!
Appreciate the feedback on your experience, sorry it was rough, but you probably passed...
Can you elaborate a bit on the calculations? Did it require you to know formulas beyond what is in the back of the Compendium?
It is very important to be able to distinguish similar entities using only H&E. The boards heavily emphasized this. When you study entities pay attention to the histologic clues on H&E that are specific for that diagnosis. This is extremely important for the AP test.
Reminder: Please do not post specifics about the exam. This is a violation of the test taking protocol. If you are in doubt about whether anything is too specific, don't post it (or delete it).
Hey guys. Sorry for off-topic. Can someone be only AP certified (never apply for CP board) nowadays after AP/CP residency? Many thanks!
Hey guys. What would you recommend for the board prep ASCP vs Osler notes? Thanks!
Anyone know what the last testing date for the primary certs is? They said to expect results 6 weeks after testing is complete...
Used both. ASCP for lectures not covered well on Osler, and vice versa.Hey guys. What would you recommend for the board prep ASCP vs Osler notes? Thanks!
ASCP is more representative of the actually exam, IMO.Hey guys. What would you recommend for the board prep ASCP vs Osler notes? Thanks!