how much micro?

[hzma]

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How much micro do i have to know to pass the boards. I have micro rotation now, dunno how much detail i should go into. step 1 stuff? or is that too much? any advice about studying.

 

[yaah]

Anything and everything.

You have to know speciation, plate characteristics, how to distinguish different pathogens (algorithms, etc), fungal characteristics, different and new assays, etc etc. It's not trivial. Look at a book like Henry or McClatchey, that stuff.

 

[CameronFrye]

Anything and everything.

You have to know speciation, plate characteristics, how to distinguish different pathogens (algorithms, etc), fungal characteristics, different and new assays, etc etc. It's not trivial. Look at a book like Henry or McClatchey, that stuff.

I'd have to agree. Although I haven't taken them, it sounds like the CP board exam is a beast like no other. You have no idea what is going to be asked and a lot of the questions are seemingly meant to just screw with you. Therefore, the best you can do is try to learn everything, and even that probably won't prepare you for everything that could pop up.

 

[dermpathdoc]

How much micro do i have to know to pass the boards. I have micro rotation now, dunno how much detail i should go into. step 1 stuff? or is that too much? any advice about studying.

agree with second post...a favorite question is IMVIC reactions......McClatchey is an excellent text....also if yoiu can borrow a recent version of Scott and Bailey's it would be very useful. You also need to know Parasitology and basic fungal speciation as well as how to differentiate Mycobacteria....

 

[LADoc00]

hmmm...the micro part is the most redundant from prior exams, the same worm, bugs and parasites reappear which is bread and butter in the Osler course. Almost none of it is revelant to actually running a micro lab, but oh well. Pretty straight forward in terms of studying. I would say the hardest area to prep for is Clinical Chem.

 

[deschutes]

I found the Osler course notes useful to keep me on track (i.e. treat them like study objectives) while going through my 3-month micro rotation.

Seniors have told me that a good microbio atlas with plates and microscopic morphology is invaluable when studying for boards.

 

[veo1]

hmmm...the micro part is the most redundant from prior exams, the same worm, bugs and parasites reappear which is bread and butter in the Osler course. Almost none of it is revelant to actually running a micro lab, but oh well. Pretty straight forward in terms of studying. I would say the hardest area to prep for is Clinical Chem.

I'm on clinical chemistry right now. Any suggestion on texts to use or study methods? I bought the compendium but heard there are lots of errors. Reading Teitz is out of the question. Is the McClatchey (sp?) worth looking at for Clinical Chem?

 

[Thaitanium]

I found the Osler course notes useful to keep me on track (i.e. treat them like study objectives) while going through my 3-month micro rotation.

Seniors have told me that a good microbio atlas with plates and microscopic morphology is invaluable when studying for boards.

Can someone tell me if copies of Osler course notes are available? How about the lectures? I am doing one year of research and have a lot of time to study. I'd like to hit the high yield boards material if I can before starting residency. I searched on ebay couldn't find it there. Is my only option taking the course?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Acremonium]

You can buy the MP3s of the "greatest hits" directly from Osler. This is all you really need. Attending the course is nice when you are there, but your ass gets numb and you start to tune out after a few hours of lecture. Even the AP MP3s can be helpful if you have a text with lots of pictures in front of you. I want to say the MP3s cost about $400 for the entire set. That is the way to go in my opinion.

 

[Thaitanium]

would anyone be willing to sell me their osler mp3s?

Price for mp3s consisting of 71 courses goes for a whopping $568.00!

Osler Review Course Materials

thanks.

 

[hzma]

How about "clinical microbiology made ridiculously simple" and an atlas of some kind. Good enough? Someone suggested the plates from Koneman as an atlas source.

 

[deschutes]

I can vouch for Koneman plates. Have seen "CMMRS" used, but that resident already had it from med school. I have no experience with it, so I can't say.

 

[DrBloodmoney]

Ask around your program.

Someone a few years back scanned all of the koneman plates and captions and so most of us have this on CD.

There's all sorts of stuff like that 'floating' around the pathology residents community.