ITE and the interns taking it.

[Direct Laryngoscopy]

Are you guys studying for it? I know we don't do anesthesia daily, but I plan on going through baby Miller over the next few months. I also will be studying for Step 3 in March, so I'll be in test mode the month leading up to it. My program is 'interested' in are ITE scores.

What (if any) books are you guys planning on using for the ITE? Are you using retired ITE exams or at this point it's not worth it?

Thanks

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[narcusprince]

Do the best you can on the ITE. People will inquire about your scores when applying for fellowships. Also, the more you study now the less you are scrambling in the future to pass the boards. Plus, PD's get wind of the people who do well and those who do not cut the mustard. Bust your butt.

 

[DrDre']

My performances on the ITE have always paid big dividends- literally. We used to get paid for > 90% percentile performances.

Do the best you can on the ITE. People will inquire about your scores when applying for fellowships. Also, the more you study now the less you are scrambling in the future to pass the boards. Plus, PD's get wind of the people who do well and those who do not cut the mustard. Bust your butt.

 

[G0S2]

Done with Step 3 here so I can start focusing on what I will be doing.


I plan on reading M&M and doing some Q's from Hall, which is coming out with a new ed Dec 23. My next 2 months of rotations are pretty reading friendly.

Many upper-levels here advise to take it easy as an intern and improve on the ITE every year. First, I constantly have to review material to really know it so it shouldn't hurt by starting now. Second, there are a lot of incentives tied to our performance like $.

I plan on trying to do the best I can.

 

[narcusprince]

I wish our program tied ITE scores to $$$. I could use the scratch.

 

[lazylikeapanda]

my program has a "mandatory intern reading program" from morgan and mikhail and multiple daily topics for us to review. They would like us to score greater than the the 35th percentile on our ITEs. no financial incentives unfortunately. Though i suppose we get a nice pat on the back if we do ok.

 

[pgg]

The ITEs and AKTs are worth some effort and specific study just to do well on the tests ...

For one thing, if you sweat every test and do well on a few ITEs and AKTs, the real written exam will be that much easier, if not a breeze.

Second, every attending at the program is going to know who put up great scores and who put up awful scores. Word gets around. We all do boneheaded things in the OR from time to time. The 90th %ile resident who does something dumb is going to be viewed as "having an off day" while the reaction to the 10th %ile guy is more likely to be "he did something dumb because he's dumb."

The first 6 months of my CA1 year I was a regular on the M&M circuit. Some attitudes toward me were ... chilly. Then I smoked the AKT-6 and overnight, all of a sudden I'm "the smart one" ...

Residency's hard enough. Don't hand your attendings the cheap ammunition of low ITE/AKT scores.

 

[Narcotized]

The ITEs and AKTs are worth some effort and specific study just to do well on the tests ...

For one thing, if you sweat every test and do well on a few ITEs and AKTs, the real written exam will be that much easier, if not a breeze.

Second, every attending at the program is going to know who put up great scores and who put up awful scores. Word gets around. We all do boneheaded things in the OR from time to time. The 90th %ile resident who does something dumb is going to be viewed as "having an off day" while the reaction to the 10th %ile guy is more likely to be "he did something dumb because he's dumb."

The first 6 months of my CA1 year I was a regular on the M&M circuit. Some attitudes toward me were ... chilly. Then I smoked the AKT-6 and overnight, all of a sudden I'm "the smart one" ...

Residency's hard enough. Don't hand your attendings the cheap ammunition of low ITE/AKT scores.

Excellent excellent points. I'd like to add the ITE is the ONLY method of evaluation that is 100% objective. Every evaluation in the OR will have subjectivity, and many academic anesthesiology attendings are EXTREMELY immature and unable to be unbiased. They will have favorite pet residents that they will bend over backwards to evaluate highly even if the resident is lazy and dumb as rocks.

Your test score speaks for itself and has NO subjective input. Your least favorite attending will look like a fool if you score 90% and he vocalizes that you "aren't reading," "just aren't getting it," or "is slow to learn." But blow off the test and you just gave the program's top jerk attending another nail for your coffin.