Boards burn out

[Doc Samson]

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Written psychiatry boards now less than 2 months away, and I've finally realized... I cannot study anymore. I think after 25+ years of education I've finally burned out the "studying useless BS for a test" circuit. I can read an article or a chapter when I'm reviewing an unusual case, but reading a chapter on "peripheral nervous system disorders" is just not happening. The fun never stops kids, never.

 

[fiatslug]

In a similar state with PRITE prep now--I'm finding the best method of studying for me, which is admittedly piecemeal, is going thru old PRITEs and making my own answer key. It's a good way to force a review, and I'm actually learning, instead of waking in a pile of my own drool on top of my Neuropsychiatry textbook.😛

Doc S, how similar/dissimilar are the PRITEs and the board ?s? I've heard a range of opinions from recent grads--some saying it's very similar content, others saying the board ?s are actually easier than the PRITE ?s. What's your sense of it?

 

[Anasazi23]

Written psychiatry boards now less than 2 months away, and I've finally realized... I cannot study anymore. I think after 25+ years of education I've finally burned out the "studying useless BS for a test" circuit. I can read an article or a chapter when I'm reviewing an unusual case, but reading a chapter on "peripheral nervous system disorders" is just not happening. The fun never stops kids, never.

You'll do fine. If anyone here will...you will.

Take a 1/2 a week off. Your brain needs a little rest and time to digest what you've taken in. Then hit the books again when you're ready for the final cram. At least that's how I justified my undeserved breaks during med school.

On a related note, I walked past the Cornell Medical School this evening...saw all these troll-like figures studying through the window down in the underground, noses buried in such tomes as Netter's dissector, Acid-Base disorders made ridiculously simple (it wasn't [simple] according to my recollection), and endless handwritten notes.

I shuddered.

Imagine where you could be, DS, how far you've come, and how close you are to the final test (except for q10yr credentialing).

 

[Doc Samson]

You'll do fine. If anyone here will...you will.

Take a 1/2 a week off. Your brain needs a little rest and time to digest what you've taken in. Then hit the books again when you're ready for the final cram. At least that's how I justified my undeserved breaks during med school.

On a related note, I walked past the Cornell Medical School this evening...saw all these troll-like figures studying through the window down in the underground, noses buried in such tomes as Netter's dissector, Acid-Base disorders made ridiculously simple (it wasn't [simple] according to my recollection), and endless handwritten notes.

I shuddered.

Imagine where you could be, DS, how far you've come, and how close you are to the final test (except for q10yr credentialing).

Thanks for the encouragement Sazi. The $1650 non-refundable exam fee is probably what's fueling some of my angst... I'd hate to pay that more than once (with the even higher fee for the oral boards -plus travel expenses- on the horizon for 2007, and a similar amount for the psychosomatic medicine boards in 2008). The ABPN has quite a monopoly going.

Fiatslug... I'll let you know how the boards compares to the PRITE the last week of October. Until then, I'm as much in the dark as everyone else.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Thanks for the encouragement Sazi. The $1650 non-refundable exam fee is probably what's fueling some of my angst... I'd hate to pay that more than once (with the even higher fee for the oral boards -plus travel expenses- on the horizon for 2007, and a similar amount for the psychosomatic medicine boards in 2008). The ABPN has quite a monopoly going.

Fiatslug... I'll let you know how the boards compares to the PRITE the last week of October. Until then, I'm as much in the dark as everyone else.

Doc S, you'll do great. I agree about the money thing--I think they just do that to "raise the stakes" so candidates take it seriously. I took a PRITE a month before Boards Pt 1, and I thought that the tests were VERY similar. There won't be many surprises.

BTW-- for your orals and sub-specialty boards, the fee at least includes a handsomely framed certificate after you pass. That was a nice surprise! I felt really lucky that I was hired by a group that paid for both my oral boards and my addiction boards--so consider that in your job search!

 

[whopper]

I remember taking my first PRITE as a first year resident.

"Al-Anon"

No one told me what it was, none of my study materials ever mentioned it. Only time I ever saw it later on was Kaplan & Sadock--the book too thick to read.

I was thinking maybe Al Anon was a Zionist organization.

I've come to the conclusion that to study for the PRITE & Boards, you need to read K&S. All the other books might tell you what is clinically relevant, but the PRITE pulls zingers that you never see in practice, or terms that no one uses that are only mentioned in Kaplan & Sadock. Al Anon is a relevant group that is clinically relevant, but when you see other useless terms such as "Folie a Deux", a term no one uses clinically, and it just means shared psychosis (the term people do use), & you're tested on it, it bugs me. IMHO it doesn't enhance your effectiveness to know the jargon term so long as you know the clinically relevant term.

They ought to be testing us more in relevant stuff, stuff such as medical effects of psychiatric meds (e.g patient swallows bottle of lexapro, how many mg's will it take to see QT prolongation), up to date research stuff. Knowing the mg's for lexapro toxicity IMHO is deadly more important than knowing psyche trivia terms. I'll even admit we should know some history given that our profession is one that needs to self check more often than others.

As far as I know, psychiatry is the only field where we get so extensively tested on Psychiatry trivia. I've never heard of a medical or surgery resident getting tested on some archaic & out of date surgery methods such as use of leeches.

 

[Psyclops]

"Folie a Deux", a term no one uses clinically, and it just means shared psychosis (the term people do use), & you're tested on it, it bugs me. IMHO it doesn't enhance your effectiveness to know the jargon term so long as you know the clinically relevant term.

Are you serious? I would consider Folie a deux to be comparable to Multiple personality disorder. Both are outmoded term according to the DSM-IV, but not everyone goes by that, and I might even go so far as to say learning the history of the field is a worthwhile pursuit, yes, even for someone practicing in it.

 

[whopper]

Psyclops--how are your board examinations, being that you're a psychologist?

Yep, that PRITE exam really does bug me. OF course much of it is relevant, but a lot of it isn't. So much rides on it being that its supposed to be a simulation of our real boards.

The history is important for Psychiatry because lots of what we do in the field is only based on data that certain meds/procedures work. For that reason we need to know the history of how we got to where we are now, and why we need to know more. Knowing the history of Bipolar for example will make you realize that medical science still has a lot more to do to understand it, and for that reason, clincally, we have to be very clear & definitive when we diagnose a patient with it, and be able to justify why.

Anyways, I apologize because my posts here are part rant.

 

[Psyclops]

Fine thanks for asking, but not for a few years. didn't mean to touch a cord.