Failed 2013 WQE - Advice?

[NotAnOptom]

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I read a previous post asking a similar question recently, but wanted to mention my story and ask for any support/advice:

I took the 2013 WQE and unfortunately failed (15th percentile). I have never had problems with any standardized exam (OKAP, USMLE, MCAT, heck, even SAT and PSAT)

It was quite shocking because I studied hard during my residency and while I wasnt the greatest resident in the world, I'd like to think I was average at least. my OKAP scores for three years: 54 (PGY2), 50 (PGY3), and 82 (PGY4). A recent paper correlating OKAP and WQE makes it very low chance to fail the WQE in this scenario!

I studied nonetheless for 3 months for this WQE exam because I didn't want to take it lightly. I am currently doing a cornea fellowship but had enough time to study for a solid 3 months (averaging about 1-1.5 hrs on weekdays, 3-4 hours on weekends with kicking it up a month into the exam).

I read BCSC books in those areas that I had routinely scored low as a resident: Peds, Path and Neuro. Also read most of retina and lens/cataract. I did not read cornea, glaucoma, uveitis as I had done well in PGY-4 year (95, 90 and 87 respectively in those subsections in PGY-4 OKAPs)

I studied mainly from my Friedman that I had augmented with BSCS notes during 3 years of studying. I read Last Minute Optics. I did all of OQ (80+ percentile cumulative), all of Chern/Wright, BCSC back of book questions, and even did about half of the Mass Eye and Ear question book. I had old (unofficial) OKAP questions dating back 5 years as well to study from. I had questions from old review courses as well, especially optics. I went to the in-house review sessions offered for the residents at my program. The only thing I didn't do was take a review course (like Wills, UIC, etc)

So going into the exam, I was not arrogant but I felt confident that I would pass since I had a good track record and put in the required work.

I felt the exam was **NOTHING** like OKAPs. I felt the questions were very vague and I had a hard time figuring out what the test writers were trying to ask. I felt that after taking the OKAPs a few times, you figure out what the test writers are trying to get you to think, this seemed like a totally different animal. So I felt it was hard, didn't think I had aced it, but had not the wildest nightmare that I would fail.

I saw my breakdown and every single category was low(!). My highest was 70 in glaucoma. I'm a cornea fellow for crying out loud and scored an 11 in cornea?! I feel this is a nightmare that is unfortunately a reality.

I am very disheartened at this turn of events. I have seen colleagues who routinely scored low on OKAPs do very well on WQE this year. While I am happy for them, I have to wonder what happened to me? Did they make a mistake on grading the exam? Did I have the worst test-taking day of my life?

To summarize, let me end with a few questions:
1. Is it possible they messed up scoring my exam? Can I ask for a manual grading?
2. Has anyone been in my situation (ie good track record on OKAPs and failed WQE)? Any advice on how you got over this? It's disheartening that literally the last exam hurdle left and one fails it.
3. What else can I do for 2014? Review course and maybe read ALL of BCSC? Pray harder?

Any help/encouragement is appreciated!

 

[Dusn]

I'm sorry to hear that. My WQE score went down from my last OKAPS score by about 15 points. But I think if you did that well on your last OKAPS, you should have passed... based on the same logic that you said. It was a fluke or a grading error. Make sure there was no grading problem at your test site. Study again, hard; retake it. Think of it as a fluke; which it was.

What was your percent score? I've heard the percent score needed to pass is around 30% but I'm not sure about that.

 

[azzarah]

I am really sorry that you failed. Hang in there! Unfortunately, you are not alone. I know too many good, hardworking ophthalmologists who shockingly failed the WQE...The ABO has one of the highest failure rates unfortunately. I did fine on the WQE but there is a good chance I may have failed the oral board exam...You never know with these tests!

Beyond BCSC, the resources that I personally found to be most helpful were Friedman, AAO provision series (especially the explanations), and the MEEI question book, which I went through twice. I was advised to stick to one resource (such as Friedman or chern) and learn it in depth rather than utilizing a lot of different review books.

Hang in there and good luck! 👍

 

[NotAnOptom]

So I guess I will read all of BCSC series again. I felt my Friedman (with BCSC facts added) was good for OKAPs but apparently not enough for this. I will try this AAO provision series too.

Is there anyone here, or do y'all know of anyone, who was in similar situation? That is, they did well on OKAPs and still failed WQE? Were they able to pass 2nd time around?

 

[speyeder]

Judging from your post I would have thought that you did more than enough to comfortably pass the WQE. The odd thing is that your PGY-4 OKAP and Ophthoquestions percentiles were quite good, which I thought had a high correlation with the WQE. If I were in your position I would have felt fairly confident going into the test too.

The fact that you are a cornea fellow and scored in the 11th percentile on the cornea section supports what many of us feel, that the exam does not really test clinical knowledge. I too felt that much of the exam was vague and in some respects quite different from the OKAPS.

In my own preparation I re-read all of the BCSC books with the exception of general medicine, fundamentals, optics and path and took notes. I then re-read my own notes again before the exam. This is in addition to reading most of Friedmans, doing all the BCSC questions and OQ. It may have been overkill but I did fairly well on the exam. In my opinion the exam is looking for answers or associations found primarily in the BCSC books so they should be your main preparation source.