How much "studying" do you do in residency?

[AK_MD2BE]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I have read that the average number of hours worked/week in anesthesia residency programs is 61 hours. However, how much "studying" do you have to do at home/outside of that? Do you try to do 5-10 hours every week when you are not working that day or is it more of a cram session in the couple months prior to a certification exam of some type? Also, is passing these exams mere formalities (like Step 1) or is it a situation were people actually fail. Thanks for the information (and forgive the ignorance) 🙂

 

[Gern Blansten]

It is a formidable exam which consists of a difficult written exam followed many months later by a very difficult and intimidating oral exam.
In the late 90's the pass rate for the written dipped to 59% if I recall correctly. If you look at the pass rate for people retaking the exam, the pass rate is dismal ( a few years back the retakers passed an average of ~33% of the time)

The most current numbers I have seen are from 2006
88% of 1st time takers passed the written and 76% of 1st time takers passed the orals. For the orals, the numbers over the last 5 years have ranged from 71% to 82%(2005). For the written, the trend has generally been upward over the past 5 years. It was 71% in 2002 for first time takers.
For retakers in 2006, approximately 42% passed. If you combine retakers with 1st time takers, you get an overall pass rate of ~74% for 2006.
For the oral exam, retakers hit around 58% and combining both retakers and 1st time takers gives you an overall pass rate of ~72%
My gut feeling is that these numbers will go up as brighter people(better test takers??) choose our specialty.

The moral of the story is, study and pass the exam on the first try. You will be out in a busy practice working, perhaps, harder than you did in residency and you will have little time to prepare for retaking the exam. This is easily seen in the stats for the retakers. You would be surprised how much you can forget just being one year out of residency. You are learning the practical stuff, but forgetting the basic sience stuff that they will test you over.
Pass it the first time!

 

[173291]

I think he/she meant the in-training exams (AKT and ITE) and day to day studying during CA-1 to CA-3 years.

 

[jetproppilot]

I have read that the average number of hours worked/week in anesthesia residency programs is 61 hours. However, how much "studying" do you have to do at home/outside of that? Do you try to do 5-10 hours every week when you are not working that day or is it more of a cram session in the couple months prior to a certification exam of some type? Also, is passing these exams mere formalities (like Step 1) or is it a situation were people actually fail. Thanks for the information (and forgive the ignorance) 🙂

I went to all morning in-services during my residency. I read during down times and during long cases.

I didnt read much on my off time.

I did OK on the in-training exams....studied diligently when it came time for the real written-boards....passed on 1st attempt.

Studied for the orals when it came time.....flew to Atlanta Georgia (during Freaknik, no less) and passed on 1st attempt.

And I aint no rocket scientist.

I passed both on the first attempt.

Which means you can too...if you keep up.....not kill yourself, but keep up....AND are able to memorize an infinite amount of minutia for a very short period (read.. you can cram for a test)

 

[Gern Blansten]

I think he/she meant the in-training exams (AKT and ITE) and day to day studying during CA-1 to CA-3 years.

Maybe so, but those aren't "certification exams." The written and orals are, so that is the info I provided.
To further clarify, like Jet said, keep up with your reading and studying and you won't have nearly as much cramming to do at the end, right before the exams that count.

 

[cfdavid]

I went to all morning in-services during my residency. I read during down times and during long cases.

I didnt read much on my off time.

I did OK on the in-training exams....studied diligently when it came time for the real written-boards....passed on 1st attempt.

Studied for the orals when it came time.....flew to Atlanta Georgia (during Freaknik, no less) and passed on 1st attempt.

And I aint no rocket scientist.

I passed both on the first attempt.

Which means you can too...if you keep up.....not kill yourself, but keep up....AND are able to memorize an infinite amount of minutia for a very short period (read.. you can cram for a test)

How the HELL did you manage to pass the orals Jet, given the fact that you were out partying until 3 a.m. the previous night, during the Freaknik festivities???? 😀😀

 

[VentdependenT]

Just picked up a new book: Complications in Anesthesiology (by Lobato).

Rock solid text. Should help for orals. Or for the CA-3 looking to integrate knowledge this thing eases the boredom of reading and re-reading the same stuff/concepts over and over again.