I thought the test was very tough too. I didn't study very hard, but my last in-service score was 897 in third year and ~740 in second year and I thought this would be smooth sailing, and it certainly was much tougher than I expected.
I agree that the test was rough, much rougher than I expected. The questions and the wording seemed very ambiguous and tricky. Definitely much harder than ACCSAP 9. The only other exam that is as hard as this one is the echo boards. Let's see what happens.
Agree. It was much more difficult than I thought it was going to be. Some questions were straight forward and others seemed random. I thought the hardest part by far was the EKG/Imaging day. In previous years people had said the EKGs were straight forward. I didnt think that was the case at all. The EKGs/images were often ambiguous and realistically who knows how you are supposed to code. It is crappy you could fail the whole thing just by a few miscodes.
I think knowing the sheets for coding is important in terms of timing (and knowning the possibilities that you may need to code)
What I used to study:
Mayo general board videos
Brunwald questions
ACCSAP9 questions
Okeefe + ECGsource for EKGs and for images
Studied recently for echo boards so didn't do anything for echos
Reviewed what I thought would be high yeild caths on the internets
Agree with all above. I also thought this would be the most straightforward smooth-sailing board ( I guess after Nuclear boards, which was ok but not super easy). ACC9 was more similar to in-service and easier than the exam.
Used:
ACC Board Prep 2015
ACCSAP9
Okeefe
Nothing special for Echo or Cath
I felt horrible as I took the exam. Began to second guess my answers and totally psyched myself out. EKGs and images were brutal. Not what I expected based on prior feedback from former fellows. Overall, was pretty sure I was going to do poorly. To make things worse, my new boss comes into my office this morning and says that he really needs me to pass. I guess I'll be looking for a new job and prepping for the exam next year if I fail. No pressure.
Last year's results came out on 1/5/2016. I expect they will come out sooner for this year because the exam was held a few weeks earlier. Anyone else know anymore?
Last year's results came out on 1/5/2016. I expect they will come out sooner for this year because the exam was held a few weeks earlier. Anyone else know anymore?