How I passed the boards (after failing the first time)

[pedidoc999]

Hi folks.
I've gotten many private messages and thread posts asking me about studying for the boards, so I figured I'd cut and paste it for everyone to read - and so I can stop typing it out 🙂

I'm sorry this is so lengthy, but last year after I failed I remember being so desperate for details on how to pass the test. This post is for those people who need the details. I'll try to use a bullet format so it's easier to follow.

If you failed this year, I know exactly how you feel. I felt hopeless, frustrated, and dumb. But then I went to work and saw the kids and realized that, no, i'm not dumb...i'm a great doctor. This test isn't about how good of a doctor you are. It's about how well you take a test.

When I took the test the first time, i had just started my new job and couldnt really dedicate a lot of time during the day to studying. I only took maybe 4-5 days off beforehand. I studied decently hard for 2.5-3 months - nights and weekends were dedicated to studying. I read over the Pedi MedStudy books, but truthfully...I mostly skimmed. Looking back, I can't say that I'd recommend the MedStudy books. They're dense, detailed, overwhelming at times. The full pages of text were boring to me. But I know people who swear by them.

The year I failed, I took a month to review those books, then a month to take PREP tests. I did 5-6 years of PREP. I scored between 62-68% on them. I felt good because people on the forums were saying that's what they got, too, and they passed. IThen, of course, that didn't happen for me. I was determined to take the test again this year, and completely changed the way I studied for it.

First, I came to terms with the fact that I am not a good test taker. Sure I did fine on my Steps and throughout med school, but this test really separates the men from the boys. So while these folks on SDN were claiming they studied for a few hours each night for maybe a month, or "crammed" and passed with flying colors, I knew that wouldnt work for me. I knew i'd have to make up my crappy test skills with a really in-depth, solid knowlege base. Something that sticks out in my mind is on another thread, someone told me, "you really need to KNOW the material well". Really really well. You can't just hope that the PREP materials are the same as what's on the test - it's really not. It's very different material in many ways. So that's what I set out to do - know the material as best I could.

MOST IMPORTANT THING I DID: stuck my failing score report on the wall. highlighted the subjects where I got lower scores (aka anything below 400-450) and focused like hell on those subjects throughout my studying. It's amazing how much I truly didn't know, looking back.

- I started in January. Honestly, that was probably overkill, but I knew I needed to review the material as many times as possible by October to get it in my brain.
- Instead of the MedStudy books, I used Laughing Your Way. It's a good review/outline book and good for hitting the high points, and I used it as my main study source, but it is missing some details, which I got from other sources (First Aid, Nelsons, MedStudy DVDs, internet) and wrote in the margins.
- I made a 5 month calendar dividing up the subjects and slowly, from Jan-June, dedicated maybe 3 nights a week, 2 hrs/night to reading certain chapters, taking notes in a thick, subject-partitioned spiral, and making lots of flash cards. I did this slowly and over time. It's not something I could pull off in a few weeks.
- I slowly made maybe 400-500 flashcards total, and stuck them in a box separated by subject.
- I didn't try to memorize anything during those months because I knew I wouldn't remember anything. I took my time, only worked on it three nights a week to maintain my sanity, and didn't study on weekends.

- Starting in July-August, I got more "hardcore". Studied almost every weeknight and all weekends. Took weekend nights off. I watched the 2010 MedStudy DVDs. Great review. I added more info to my notes spiral while watching those DVDs, and made a few more flash cards. I paid special attention during the lectures of my "highlighted" subjects (the ones I did crappiest on the last test). I read through LYW again. This time faster, reviewing my notes and flash cards once again.

-The month of September was all PREP. I did years 2006-2011 (6 tests). My scores were better this time around. I ranged from 72%-80% (totally bombed the 2011 test, lol, with a 65%...that one was hard!). When I missed a question, I jotted that info down in my spiral so I could be sure to review it later. Remember that the PREP questions are not a great representation of actual test questions. But they get you thinking in the right direction.

- Important: I took FOUR WEEKS OFF OF WORK. TRY TO DO THIS. YOU NEED SOME TIME OFF TO STUDY. Your failing this test has proven that to you. Take the time off if at all possible!! I know it's hard to do, but it is worth it if you are able. I studied 8-10 hours these days.

- During the first two weeks of October, all I did was follow the content specifications written for the test recertifiers. This was info cram time. I noticed the content specs for the first-time takers (general exam) is different than the re-certifiers (recert exam). The prior is an outline form with absolutely no detail. The other content specs, for re-takers, is more precise and detailed. I'm not sure if this is good advice, but it was a good review for me. I took 10-14 days to go through these specs with my spiral and my flashcards by subject. I crammed. Did flashcards and notes only, and looked up anything extra that was on the contect specs that I hadn't reviewed.

- Two days before the exam, I spent a few hours doing three things: 1) skimming the pages of Zitelli (literally sat on a couch and looked through the pages over 2-3 hours). 2) Crammed development milestones, and 3) Crammed vaccine info.

- The day before the exam I did not study. This is important. This was really hard for me to do - I've always studied right up to the test. But I did it, and it works. Your brain needs rest - the test is exhausting and you need to build up your stamina.

Basically I did:

- Laughing Your Way (reviewed 2-3 times total)

- MedStudy lecture DVD's

- 6 years PREP

- reviewed content specs

- Made a killer study spiral full of charts, pneumonics, graphs to help myself memorize the tough stuff. Reviewed this stuff many times.

- flashcards

This study system definitely may not work for you, but it did for me. It is a "marathon" approach. I know this may seem like overkill, but it worked. I scored over 200 points higher this time around, and was a full standard deviation above the mean. Those "highlighted" subjects - I doubled my score in nearly all of them (i.e. 300s to over 600s).

I hope this helps 🙂 Sorry so long.

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[wellchild]

This is a great post. Thanks for sharing your methods!

 

[Member 111111]

Thank you so much for your post. I know how you felt last year, because I am there this year.

I hope that next year, I will post my methods after passing. I am taking your advice and modifying them just a tad. Did you really think the medstudy videos were helpful? Do you think the UCLA or Osler audios would be good as well. Trying to decide.

 

[pedidoc999]

Yes, I thought the MedStudy DVDs were good. They came with an awesome book too which you could follow along with each lecture. I used this to supplement my LYW. Some of the lectures were total crap though (nephrology comes to mind. plus the GI guy was so annoying I couldn't make my way through it) - if I felt like the first 15 minutes were annoying or the lecturer wasn't great, I'd turn it off and just review the material in my books. No need to waste 2-3 hours. But that only happened in like 1-2 subjects. Overall very happy with the series.

The MedStudy books are so text-dense and you REALLY don't need to know all the details (i.e. all the metabolic dz details). I used my old Medstudy books to merely supplement the parts of LYW which I felt needed more specific info - like a reference.

I can't give any opinions since I didn't use either of those audio resources, but I've heard nothing but good things about the UCLA reviews.

 

[needhelptopass]

Thanks for the post and going to get started in the next few days.
When you did the PREP questions did you take it in the test format or did you read the explanation after each question?

 

[pedidoc999]

That is a good question. The year I failed, I went through the questions one at a time, and reviewed the answers as I went. I never took a test under testing conditions (all the way through with no stopping).

This past year, the year I passed, I decided to do the first three tests question-then-answer. The last three tests (2009,2010,2011), I emulated testing conditions. I took each 250-question test in about 6 hours with no stopping. I did this in order to get my brain "used" to thinking really hard for a long amount of time. I tend to tire out mentally pretty quickly, and get tension headaches during long tests. This was a great way to help prepare for these things and work around them. I then spent the following day reviewing the answers one-by-one, both correct and incorrect, and taking notes.

 

[pedidoc999]

bump

 

[pedidoc999]

bump

 

[jennsmithmd]

bump

huh?

what does "bump" mean?

 

[Stitch]

huh?

what does "bump" mean?

By posting, it 'bumps' the thread to the top of the forum list, and hopefully rekindles discussion.

 

[generic]

In this case, more of the former and less of the latter... 😉

 

[faith2013]

Hi, I'm new to this forum. Any advise on passing the peds boards? I failed this year and I'm trying to figure the best approach to study. I have a FT job and a 2 kids, Last year I did the med study course, which was good and prep 2008-2012, LOW but failed by a few points.Very discouraging when you have so much going on already.

 

[Member 111111]

I thought I would share how I passed after failing the first year. I got a 400 the first year. I have a husband and child and am in a fellowship.

After failing I was devastated. I knew I didn't do well when I left that test but hoped I did enough. My first year, I outlined medstudy, did medstudy questions and 3 years of prep. It wasn't enough. After I got my score, I started studying in Jan. I did laughing your way for 6 Hr/week. I also got the UCLA ped board review audio. I listened to these on my way to work. By the end of March I got through laughing your way. In April, I got serious. I studied 2 hours each weekday and a few hours on the weekend. Started each section by listening to the audio, reading laughing and finished by doing all the prep questions in that section. I finished all this by the end of July. I then heard of the pediatric board review and bought it. I read this and laughing again. I listened to the audios that I thought were particularly good again. Last 3 weeks I concentrated on memorization. I also took 2 weeks off before the test. This was so helpful. I did not do that the first year.

To add, I did what the first poster suggested. I printed out my original score and started with the subject I had the most trouble with. Anything that I scored 450 or below were my weak subjects.

I am happy to say that I passed this time with above average score. I was a very difficult year and I missed my family, but it is over.

 

[rabite]

I thought I would share how I passed after failing the first year. I got a 400 the first year. I have a husband and child and am in a fellowship.

After failing I was devastated. I knew I didn't do well when I left that test by hoped I did enough. My first year, I outlined medstudy.did medstudy questions and 3 years of prep. It wasn't enough. After I got my score, I started studying in Jan. I did laughing your way fir 6 Hr/week. I also got the UCLA ped board review audio. I listened to these on my way to work. By the end of March I got through laughing your way. In April, I got serious. I studied 2 hours each weekday and a few hours on the weekend. Started each section by listening to the audio, reading laughing and finished by doing all the questions in that section. I finished all this by end of July. I then heard of the pediatric board review and bought it. I read this and laughing again. I listened to the audio that I thought were particularly good again. Last 3 weeks I concentrated on memorization. I also 2 weeks off before the test. This was so helpful. I did not so that the first year.

To add, I did what the first poster suggested. I printed out my original score and started with the subject I had the most trouble with. Anything that I scored 450 or below were my weak subjects.

I am happy to say that I passed this time with above average score. I was a very difficult year and I missed my family, but it is over.

Wow, that is really great! Congratulations on passing! You have just given me some motivation to really get my act together with studying 🙂. Out of all of the review materials you listed, which did you find most helpful and which did you find least helpful? I am taking my exam this October.

I'm hoping this , but feel like this !!!!!!

 

[Member 111111]

Wow, that is really great! Congratulations on passing! You have just given me some motivation to really get my act together with studying 🙂. Out of all of the review materials you listed, which did you find most helpful and which did you find least helpful? I am taking my exam this October.

I'm hoping this , but feel like this !!!!!!

All of the materials were good but PBR was great. However, what got me to pass was the time I gave myself to study. I am a marathon studier. If I had to drop one resource, I guess I would have dropped the CDs maybe. Although some of the CDs were excellent like the Derm section and some of the cards as well as neuro. I think doing LYW and PBR was helpful as they use different mnemonics. By the time I added PBR, I felt comfortable with the material and used it to aid memorization. The medstudy questions were good as well. The explanations are shorter and easier to read then prep. I did medstudy questions last and got 75% and felt good about that.

I think having a plan is important and consistent time to study. If you are in a time crunch with only 3 mo to study, get PBR.

 

[rabite]

Great! Thanks for responding. I just purchased the package for LYW but am now looking into PBR.

In general, I find myself to be someone who thrives on self study and also cannot afford a course right now :-(

What actually pushed me towards buying the package was all of the pediatric board review questions and answers especially the vignettes. Also, a few people in my residency program told me that their board review books were a must to go through.

However, they also told me that medstudy was must... so I don't know because I hear about PBR also. I think I will continue to try the package and let you know how it comes along.

 

[Member 111111]

Sounds great. I started with LYW first and just read through it in 3 mo. Don't memorize yet. I did 3 chapters a week (1 chapter m/w/f) which took between 1-2 hours. Good luck. I got more serious in April.

 

[Jessipeds]

Thanks for posting this. And congrats on passing!