If You Fail Ophth Boards...

[umsami]

So was filling out malpractice insurance forms for new job, and one of the questions was how many times have you taken the specialty boards... and how many times did you fail?

Got me to thinking that if I take it this March (am registered) and fail... will this affect me negatively going forward? Am I better off swallowing the cancellation fee and taking it next year when I hope I'll be better prepared?

Anybody know the general pass/fail rates for 1st time takers?

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[umsami]

I can respond to part of my own question. Found this article which said there was, on average, a 28% first time fail rate on the written boards.. and a 8% failure on the orals.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1809893/

 

[cme2c]

Failing can affect you. It looks worse to have failed than it does to have not even tried taking them. If you don't think you are fully prepared, I would consider taking the cancel fee and waiting. I have heard of malpractice companies using a single failure on the written as a reason to deny coverage until that person had passed. After you have passed, I doubt it would be a long term issue.

 

[Visionary]

I can respond to part of my own question. Found this article which said there was, on average, a 28% first time fail rate on the written boards.. and a 8% failure on the orals.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1809893/

These numbers are a bit outdated. The failure rate for the writtens seems similar, but I think the failure rate for the orals has increased significantly since the study you sited. See the recent ABO stats: http://www.abop.org/announcements/stats.asp

For the most recent session, the failure rate for the orals was 20.3%. Now, this clearly reflects more than just first-time failures; however, even if you were to carry the numbers forward for multiple failures, it still seems high. Also to be considered is the fact that some of those who passed were retaking the test. There's no way to tease out the true first-time failure rate from these numbers, but I would guess it is substantially higher than 8%.

 

[Mirror Form]

Given that 1/3 of people taking the writtens fail, I cannot imagine that it would be that bad for your long term career as long you passed them eventually.

 

[umsami]

Thanks everybody. OK, stupid question... no where can I find what score is necessary to pass. A friend told me he thought it was 60%, but I can't verify that. Back when I was in residency, I remember one would get put on academic probation of one's OKAPs were lower than 30%... but I seriously doubt it's that low.

 

[Mirror Form]

Thanks everybody. OK, stupid question... no where can I find what score is necessary to pass. A friend told me he thought it was 60%, but I can't verify that. Back when I was in residency, I remember one would get put on academic probation of one's OKAPs were lower than 30%... but I seriously doubt it's that low.

There is no hard percentage number that guarantees a passing score. It's all based on a curve (which is why it's so annoying). One third of the test takers will be failed, and 2/3 will pass.

I read that in some years, the percentage to pass has been as low as 70%. I'm not sure what the average is. Hopefully the passing score will be really really low this year!

 

[umsami]

There is no hard percentage number that guarantees a passing score. It's all based on a curve (which is why it's so annoying). One third of the test takers will be failed, and 2/3 will pass.

I read that in some years, the percentage to pass has been as low as 70%. I'm not sure what the average is. Hopefully the passing score will be really really low this year!

That's just evil... a forced curve. If the exam truly examined ophthalmology competency, that would make a heck of a lot more sense. I mean, if all of the residency programs are doing their jobs... one would want to see everybody be board certified.

So, was searching online regarding the exam and came across a totally different certification... http://www.abpsus.org/certification/ophthalmology/schedule.html

I had never heard of them.. is it a DO thing? I like that they give the written twice per year... but not so sure I'd like two guys standing over me in surgery. LOL Probably leads to a better picture on whose actually qualified, though.

 

[guttata]

has anyone used the AAO provision questions?
how do they compare to the actual test?

 

[Mirror Form]

has anyone used the AAO provision questions?
how do they compare to the actual test?

I wont' take the actual test until March, but I'm a little disappointed w/ the provision questions so far. I just finished the refractive/optics section and literally 10% of the questions (not an exageration) were on epikeratoplasty.

 

[guttata]

I wont' take the actual test until March, but I'm a little disappointed w/ the provision questions so far. I just finished the refractive/optics section and literally 10% of the questions (not an exageration) were on epikeratoplasty.

thanks, i guess i will stick to the MEEI qbook

 

[umsami]

thanks, i guess i will stick to the MEEI qbook

Chern is good too. In going through past threads on the exams, I read it can be heavy into pathology, neuro, and peds.