I failed the orals, now what

[CambieMD]

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The sky will not fall. It just feels that way. Figure out why you failed. People fail for a few reasons. Some have a poor fund of knowledge. Some have difficulty organizing their thoughts and some may have a combination of the two.

I failed the orals last year. This year things went a lot better for me.
Here is what I did. This is not the gospel but it worked for me. We are all different so we have different strengths and weaknesses.

1. I told all of my colleagues and a few church members that I failed. You can't study the way that you need to if you are trying to keep this a secret.

2. Board Stiff Three is a great book. I have read negative reviews of that book on this forum. The book is simple. Some people probably think that it is too simple. The truth is that the test is simple. The questions are very basic. That is why you will fail the exam if you give poor answers.

3. The hand book for Anesthesia and Co-Existing Diseases is complete
I read this book four times

4. I did about 15 high quality mock orals. I had a friend go over the Ho mock orals with me. The critique after the mock exams was very helpful. Mock exams do not have to be the entire exam. A colleague can ask you what you would do if the BP were too low or high. That is less time consuming and they may be more willing to help. Ask yourself. How does the pulse ox work? How does a defib
work.

5. Film youself view the recording with a friend or SO

6. Do not become discouraged. Others have been in your shoes and passd the exam.

 

[Jay K]

What a great thread. It takes a lot of courage and humility to step forward and help others in this manner, especially in the field of medicine where any admission of prior failures or weakness is highly discouraged or scorned (without due cause). Congrats on your success, and I applaud you for sharing.

 

[Planktonmd]

And always remember that people who fail the oral boards represent extra money for the ABA.
So some people have to fail, and in this dire economic environment probably more people have to fail.

 

[urge]

I failed the orals, now what

Look at the positive side, you get more air miles...

😀

 

[Arch Guillotti]

Are you trying to make Cambie feel better?

Because I think your statement is nonsense.

Cambie has a lot of gumption to come on the forum and post something like this and I give him props.

And always remember that people who fail the oral boards represent extra money for the ABA.
So some people have to fail, and in this dire economic environment probably more people have to fail.

 

[Planktonmd]

I didn't say he wasn't brave!
My statement is accurate and the ABA makes more money when people fail and come back, why is it nonsense?
I think your reaction to my statement is silly on the other hand.
I think that you sometimes have these bursts of energy that make you want to moderate which is OK but try to react to things that deserve reaction rather than turning something benign into a big deal.

Are you trying to make Cambie feel better?

Because I think your statement is nonsense.

Cambie has a lot of gumption to come on the forum and post something like this and I give him props.

 

[CambieMD]

Hi everyone,

the purpose of my post was to encourage anyone who did not pass the orals. Failureville can be a lonely place. You feel like your are the only one who is in transit there.

I think that the oral exam process is fair and necessary. No one failed me , I failed myself. I actually would have been dubious of the ABA if I was passed on my first attempt.

My take home message is that the orals is a speaking test so you should prepare for it by speaking. We somtimes spend too much time reading material that we already know and not enough time figuring out how to package and apply the material that we know.

If you have the correct approach to the orals you can answer any question that you are asked. I hate to see ads for review courses that promise to teach you how to say " it on the orals." There is no magic to the orals.


Cambie

 

[Sergio99]

Hola,

Something important is to know the mechanism of the board exams. In a previous thread I had posted a description of the oral exam, which I think is worth rereading.

I couldn't pass the boards until I went to see Jack Frumin, yes, the famous Jack Frumin of the 60s and 70s, professor at Columbia at first, and later I think he was at Stanford or UCSF, or both, and he taught me what to expect, how to react to the questions and how to answer them. I think he had a two or three-day private course, very expensive for those days' standards, but very worth every penny of it. It was almost one-on-one, no more than three students at a time. In my session we were two, and the sessions were very intense, from 8 am to 6 pm. I don't think he is alive any longer, or else he must be over 100 years old. He was a great guy and he knew everything!

Here is the link to my posting: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=9308792#post9308792

You may want to read that whole thread, because many contributors gave very valuable pointers and advice.

Greetings

 

[Arch Guillotti]

I didn't say he wasn't brave!
My statement is accurate and the ABA makes more money when people fail and come back, why is it nonsense?
I think your reaction to my statement is silly on the other hand.
I think that you sometimes have these bursts of energy that make you want to moderate which is OK but try to react to things that deserve reaction rather than turning something benign into a big deal.

My point is that I believe that your assertion that more people are failing the oral board exam because the economy is bad and the ABA needs more money doesn't make any sense. On what basis are you claiming this assumption?

The 2009 ABA newsletter indicates that the pass rate for first time takers increased fro 81% to 85% for first time takers from 2007 to 2008. Also the total pass rate appears to have increased (though the percentage of repeaters did go down).

I doubt any test takers (especially first timers, who make up the bulk of testers) are going to forego the exam because of a bad economy.

 

[Sergio99]

Hello,

I don't think Arch disagrees with Planktonmd in that the ABA makes more money, but in that Planktonmd seems to imply that they intentionally make people fail for that purpose.

Even though I don't have facts and numbers, I think that the ABA exams are pretty fair. I doubt that they make people fail intentionally.

Greetings

 

[Planktonmd]

My statement that they had to fail more people because of the economy was said with tongue in cheek and I thought that was obvious!
But we do agree that they make more money when people fail don't we?
As for the fairness of the ABA exam I like to agree that it is fair since I passed on the first attempt, but I know some very marginal anesthesiologists who also passed on the first attempt and some really good clinicians who did not pass.
It is a game that has certain rules that you need to understand, if you do you will pass.

 

[Sergio99]

My statement that they had to fail more people because of the economy was said with tongue in cheek and I thought that was obvious!
But we do agree that they make more money when people fail don't we?
As for the fairness of the ABA exam I like to agree that it is fair since I passed on the first attempt, but I know some very marginal anesthesiologists who also passed on the first attempt and some really good clinicians who did not pass.
It is a game that has certain rules that you need to understand, if you do you will pass.

In that light, I have to agree with every word you said. I apologize for having missed your humor: that was a serious gaffe on my part.

 

[Arch Guillotti]

My statement that they had to fail more people because of the economy was said with tongue in cheek and I thought that was obvious!

My apologies, I missed the humor. I wasn't expecting a tongue-in-cheek response to a long time user posting about failing the oral boards.