My experience with Anesthesiology consultants

[HAA]

Hello,
I am a Regional Anesthesiology & Acute Pain fellow and took my Anesthesia oral board exam and passed.
I used Anesthesiology consultants to prepare for it and I can confidently say that it is such an amazing course, the videos were very helpful and the materials covered are very relevant and high yield.

Yes it’s not cheap but it’s worth every penny, it definitely played a big role in helping me pass the exam. I felt like it was a lot more like the real exam compared to the other courses out there.

Thank you to Dr. Ho who by the way personally contacted me by text and was available to answer any questions I had!
Highly recommend.

Please note that I’m not receiving any compensation for the review, I’m simply sharing my experience.

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[aneftp]

You don’t really need the course if you are English speaking and practice practice practice to be honest. Ho course is good. But it’s inserts a lot of fear into people. If you want to take the course it’s ok. But i would suggest to take any of those courses months in advance. It’s pure stupidity to take a crash course the days or weeks before the exam.

The best advice is just to Find a friend to practice with over video. Is free. And you can do on ur own time

 

[UscGhost]

I just read the Ho practice cases, samples cases from the various study guides.

Practice with a friend or practice actively speaking in front of a mirror is the most important step. The examiners are generally reasonable people

The hardest part is verbalizing your thoughts coherently.

Expensive course likely not needed

 

[TeslaCoil]

You don’t really need the course if you are English speaking and practice practice practice to be honest. Ho course is good. But it’s inserts a lot of fear into people. If you want to take the course it’s ok. But i would suggest to take any of those courses months in advance. It’s pure stupidity to take a crash course the days or weeks before the exam.

The best advice is just to Find a friend to practice with over video. Is free. And you can do on ur own time

During fellowship I purchased UBP and a co-fellow purchased Michael Ho’s course. We practiced with both but stopped using Ho because we felt it was overly intense. I was really impressed with the UBP course. It was spot on preparation that translated well to test day. Passed first time with flying colors.

 

[neutro]

It has nothing to do with being a native English speaker, etc.
Many candidates have failed this exam, including one of my colleagues who did his undergrad at Harvard and his residency at a prestigious program. He is a brilliant doctor, but unfortunately got over-confident and did not pay attention to the nuances and nature of the exam. Thats enough to fail you. It's not just a knowledge exam as you know.

Dr. Ho's course does not just teach how to pass the boards (although that is the ultimate goal). His course teaches you important skills like how to be direct in your answering, when to give clarity and how much, when not to give clarity and when to be brief. Also, keep in mind, not every residency program will have all the strengths. My particular residency program did not have in-house OB or Peds. We were sent to different sites for these rotations. I firmly believe that continuous exposure is better than intermittent and periodic exposure.
On the flip side, I had no problem with cardiac, ICU, neuro, trauma and pain medicine etc.

Dr Ho's course actually helps iron out some of these deficiencies and weaknesses. He fills the knowledge gap when needed.

I did both JOB as well as Dr Ho.

JOB - I still remember, one of the examiners had their screen turned off and was on the phone texting the whole time during a "live exam". He was distracted and inattentive. I mean I am paying them $200/ practice exam? I actually complained about this and after that it turned me off from JOB.
Other than that, 90% of their examiners were very good, esp. their pediatric anesthesiologist who does a peds heart case (I forget her name).

Dr. Ho on the other hand is a scholar, and this is his passion. This is what he does.
He is always available and responsive. You're essentially paying for his time and mentorship with the course.

I also did UBP when I first started out - besides being long essay type explanations which will not really help you on the exam, I also thought that it was formulaic. Its good to gain knowledge and read, but not helpful during a 25 minute oral exam.

Practicing with friends - yeah tried that. That only works toward the end of your prep, not in the beginning.
In the beginning, it's a waste of time since neither of you know how to give or perform an exam in a timed manner.
Faculty etc and other anesthesiologists, same - thats a good option, but then again, it can be challenging to schedule their time and your time and you may not get consistency.

*Dr. Ho did not ask me or give me any renumeration for this review and the above reflects my thoughts on this topic. Short answer - go with Dr Ho and attend his course 6 weeks before. And if you want to do more cases, sign up for JOB.

Also do the ABA oral exam sets - I felt that the pace and type of were verbatim on the actual exam.

 

[JiPo]

I haven't done any of these courses. I've just paid for the UBP, and read the content once. I don't think there is substitute for mock exams for preparing for this exam. You just need to do a few with the real examiners so you get a feel for the exam, and do as many as possible with friends.

I can only see these courses adding value if you don't have access to the real board examiners.

Edit: Wow, I just checked out the Ho course price and it is $4000 + more.

 

[epidural man]

Hello,
I am a Regional Anesthesiology & Acute Pain fellow and took my Anesthesia oral board exam and passed.
I used Anesthesiology consultants to prepare for it and I can confidently say that it is such an amazing course, the videos were very helpful and the materials covered are very relevant and high yield.

Yes it’s not cheap but it’s worth every penny, it definitely played a big role in helping me pass the exam. I felt like it was a lot more like the real exam compared to the other courses out there.

Thank you to Dr. Ho who by the way personally contacted me by text and was available to answer any questions I had!
Highly recommend.

Please note that I’m not receiving any compensation for the review, I’m simply sharing my experien

Good job on passing.

Lots of people take courses. Lots of people don’t. What is the best? Who knows.

I passed and Im an idiot. I didn’t take a course and was in the middle of a rigorous pain fellowship. I practiced with my co-fellow (a lot) and read Faust.

I disagree with your later statement that practicing with another resident doesn’t work because you don’t know what you are doing. I know a few that passed and were deployed in Ass-crackistan while studying who had the surgeon give them stems.

Obviously doing a course is better. But truth be told, you really don’t know if you would have passed without it. My guess is, if you put the same amount of effort in without the course, it would have been the same outcome.

Probably the real value of a course is forced time with the material.

It’s like getting a mortgage. Historically, buying a house is a horrible investment, but it is a forced investment so it is recommended.

 

[neutro]

"Ass-crackistan"

wow.

Poor from you.

 

[coffeebythelake]

UBP and practice. I did a couple mock orals. The test is about organizing your thoughts coherently and explaining your plans with rationale. Not sounding like a blabbering fool when dealing with a high stress situation is not easy!

As others have said, it isn't really a knowledge exam. If you went to a reasonable anesthesiology residency and didn't slack off you should know how to deal with the clinical situations presented.

 

[TeslaCoil]

UBP and practice. I did a couple mock orals. The test is about organizing your thoughts coherently and explaining your plans with rationale. Not sounding like a blabbering fool when dealing with a high stress situation is not easy!

As others have said, it isn't really a knowledge exam. If you went to a reasonable anesthesiology residency and didn't slack off you should know how to deal with the clinical situations presented.

This. To the T. My co-fellow and I took turns with UBP cases and got through all of them 3 whole times. After we did our practice we debriefed with the explanations. The explanations are longer than what is expected of you on the actual exam because they are meant to be a comprehensive reference to you in your practicing. We also timed the cases to get an idea of how long our answers should be. Honestly, studying for this exam pulled together my anesthesia knowledge in a more applicable way than any other test.

 

[linkin06]

I think UBP prompts are good, but there is a lack of explanation. Plus they put a PA catheter in everyone, not practical. When I encountered a topic I felt a lack of depth of knowledge to somewhat educationally bs through a question, I read the anesthesia topic on uptodate.

 

[Iso4ane]

The hardest part is verbalizing your thoughts coherently.

And in an efficient manner. Different people have different barriers to achieve that goal. Knowledge base shouldn’t be the main one (they passed the Advanced they have some knowledge).

It’s not a bad idea to have someone more experienced give on first. But, I think practice with other people early on could be important. Because, both can start to look at the faults and strengths of how a question is answered. It’s hard to know where to begin, but everyone begins somewhere.

 

[OptionOffense]

It has nothing to do with being a native English speaker, etc.
Many candidates have failed this exam, including one of my colleagues who did his undergrad at Harvard and his residency at a prestigious program. He is a brilliant doctor, but unfortunately got over-confident and did not pay attention to the nuances and nature of the exam. Thats enough to fail you. It's not just a knowledge exam as you know.

Dr. Ho's course does not just teach how to pass the boards (although that is the ultimate goal). His course teaches you important skills like how to be direct in your answering, when to give clarity and how much, when not to give clarity and when to be brief. Also, keep in mind, not every residency program will have all the strengths. My particular residency program did not have in-house OB or Peds. We were sent to different sites for these rotations. I firmly believe that continuous exposure is better than intermittent and periodic exposure.
On the flip side, I had no problem with cardiac, ICU, neuro, trauma and pain medicine etc.

Dr Ho's course actually helps iron out some of these deficiencies and weaknesses. He fills the knowledge gap when needed.

I did both JOB as well as Dr Ho.

JOB - I still remember, one of the examiners had their screen turned off and was on the phone texting the whole time during a "live exam". He was distracted and inattentive. I mean I am paying them $200/ practice exam? I actually complained about this and after that it turned me off from JOB.
Other than that, 90% of their examiners were very good, esp. their pediatric anesthesiologist who does a peds heart case (I forget her name).

Dr. Ho on the other hand is a scholar, and this is his passion. This is what he does.
He is always available and responsive. You're essentially paying for his time and mentorship with the course.

I also did UBP when I first started out - besides being long essay type explanations which will not really help you on the exam, I also thought that it was formulaic. Its good to gain knowledge and read, but not helpful during a 25 minute oral exam.

Practicing with friends - yeah tried that. That only works toward the end of your prep, not in the beginning.
In the beginning, it's a waste of time since neither of you know how to give or perform an exam in a timed manner.
Faculty etc and other anesthesiologists, same - thats a good option, but then again, it can be challenging to schedule their time and your time and you may not get consistency.

*Dr. Ho did not ask me or give me any renumeration for this review and the above reflects my thoughts on this topic. Short answer - go with Dr Ho and attend his course 6 weeks before. And if you want to do more cases, sign up for JOB.

Also do the ABA oral exam sets - I felt that the pace and type of were verbatim on the actual exam.

I am actually happy to hear that Mike Ho is still in business and thriving. I took his course (multiple) before the iphone came out. This is the only reason when I went into the oral exam it was child's play to me. I memorized Ho's entire workbook, then right before the exam I took 2 back-to-back "20 must know cases" from Ho and it was golden. Best 4 or 5 thousand I spent ever. There was NO doubt that I passed the exam. I was THAT confident.
I can confidently say nobody does it better than Mike Ho.

Can you do it w/o a course? Sure. BUt 20%, last I checked, fail this exam. DO you want to chance it?

 

[banister]

I took his course too. Don't regret it a bit. The 4-5k was well worth the stress of thinking of needing to retake it. The package I got came with 10 or so mock orals, including 4-5 with Ho himself. He knows his stuff and beats you down in the mocks, but makes you better for it.

 

[Beeftenderloin]

Spending 4-5k on test prep for this exam seems nuts in hindsight. No offense to those that did, glad it gave you peace of mind. I just don’t want people to think that’s what they need to do to pass.

I went to a VERY average residency, maybe even below average by some of y’all’s standards. Got through maybe 80ish% of UBP, lots of verbal self practice, did 3 mock orals with staff. Passed first go and frankly felt a little short changed by the experience. Everyone made it seem like I was supposed to walk out feeling like I got ****ed in the ass but It all seemed pretty reasonable. Maybe I just got lucky? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Andy2445]

I spend 3-4k with Ho’s course, no regrets. Hospital paid for all of it from my CME. Felt very prepared. Found the exam to be reasonable. I studied for like 5 months.

 

[epidural man]

"Ass-crackistan"

wow.

Poor from you.

Off all the places I’ve been, it ranks the lowest - I mean way down there.

When I was their, I heard a Master Guns refer to it as such —-I thought that was hilarious (and accurate), so I will forever refer to it in the same manner.

What is the worst place you have ever been?

I actually take it back. Kuwait was worse. Imagine someone throwing sand in your face as hard as they can at the same time shooting a very hot blow dryer in your eyes - that is Kuwait.

 

[Gern Blansten]

I know Dr. Ho. Good guy. Very good course. Inflation has hit hard. The price has gone up. Probably for all. Just not something I have looked at in years. Ho emphasizes over preparation, so not surprising that some think it is overkill.
Despite their best efforts to make the exam fair, some of it depends on which stems and grab bag topics you get and if they are part of your knowledge set. There is no doubt that some stems are tougher than others and if it happens to be in an area that is weak for you, the tone of the exam can change for the worse very quickly. Over preparation minimizes that risk.
If you do enough practice exams, you will likely be fine. In my opinion, it does not matter if your non-medical spouse reads the questions, it can still be useful. A fellow resident is even better because they have skin in the game if they are also prepping for the exam. Even better is getting your own faculty to do exams with you. Even better than that is if they happen to serve as an examiner for the ABA.
A paid course is just a bit of added insurance. If you got 85th percentile or so on your ITEs and written exam, you may not need it. If you struggled on the written, your knowledge deficit will likely also be exposed on the oral exam.

 

[TeslaCoil]

I haven't done any of these courses. I've just paid for the UBP, and read the content once. I don't think there is substitute for mock exams for preparing for this exam. You just need to do a few with the real examiners so you get a feel for the exam, and do as many as possible with friends.

I can only see these courses adding value if you don't have access to the real board examiners.

Edit: Wow, I just checked out the Ho course price and it is $4000 + more.

I can agree with that, but I had a $10k fellows grant to spend on “academic persuits” so I just bought UBP. I felt the explanations and videos helped. I could see somebody easily getting by with just grinding practice tests with a partner if you have the cases.

 

[nimbus]

I took the Ho course over 25 years ago and thought it was excellent. It sounds like the cost and the format may have changed over the years. I think it was about $1500 at that time which included his study guide/book.

Back then we met for one weekend in a hotel. First day we had lectures about testing strategy in the morning followed by 3-4 practice exams in hotel rooms in the afternoon.

The second day was gold. Everyone got together in a smaller ballroom and we all took practice exams given by Michael Ho in front of an audience. Watching other people make mistakes, fall into traps, and noting what not to do all day was very high yield.

The actual exam was fairly chill compared to his practice exams.

 

[Arch Guillotti]

The second day was gold. Everyone got together in a smaller ballroom and we all took practice exams given by Michael Ho in front of an audience. Watching other people make mistakes, fall into traps, and noting what not to do all day was very high yield.

Made me feel a whole lot better about myself.

 

[neutro]

Off all the places I’ve been, it ranks the lowest - I mean way down there.

When I was their, I heard a Master Guns refer to it as such —-I thought that was hilarious (and accurate), so I will forever refer to it in the same manner.

What is the worst place you have ever been?

I actually take it back. Kuwait was worse. Imagine someone throwing sand in your face as hard as they can at the same time shooting a very hot blow dryer in your eyes - that is Kuwait.

Thank you for your service and your sacrifice.

However, it still does not excuse you from using that language.

Keep in mind, that the local population in Afghanistan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Syria etc have suffered many times more because they were involved in these endless wars on terrorism/oil/installing "democracy" (which will never work in Muslim countries btw simply because the structure of governance is very different and "we the people" concept of government is inherently rejected).

Thats a longer debate I do not want to get into, but thats the gist of it.

Anyways, worst place I have been too thus far?

Van Wert Ohio.

The amount of racism was incredible.

 

[neutro]

People are complaining about cost of these courses without realizing the cost of exam.

This is just cost of doing business, investing in yourself and achieving board certification status. That is by far the most important part of your application when you apply for privileges to work at a hospital. Fail your boards, and many questions will be raised.
So yes. It's important.
Yes, people should spend money on it to increase the probability of passing. As a side effect, they may learn few additional things. All good.

 

[coffeebythelake]

People are complaining about cost of these courses without realizing the cost of exam.

This is just cost of doing business, investing in yourself and achieving board certification status. That is by far the most important part of your application when you apply for privileges to work at a hospital. Fail your boards, and many questions will be raised.
So yes. It's important.
Yes, people should spend money on it to increase the probability of passing. As a side effect, they may learn few additional things. All good.

agree 100%
cost of doing business
and probably can pay for it using professional funds from work
(I didn't take a course nor did I feel it was necessary, but I can understand how some could benefit from the structure and stressful simulations)

 

[GassYous]

People are complaining about cost of these courses without realizing the cost of exam.

This is just cost of doing business, investing in yourself and achieving board certification status. That is by far the most important part of your application when you apply for privileges to work at a hospital. Fail your boards, and many questions will be raised.
So yes. It's important.
Yes, people should spend money on it to increase the probability of passing. As a side effect, they may learn few additional things. All good.

It is a huge waste of time and money

 

[neutro]

It is a huge waste of time and money

Not to those who took the course and passed...

 

[Beeftenderloin]

People are complaining about cost of these courses without realizing the cost of exam.

This is just cost of doing business, investing in yourself and achieving board certification status. That is by far the most important part of your application when you apply for privileges to work at a hospital. Fail your boards, and many questions will be raised.
So yes. It's important.
Yes, people should spend money on it to increase the probability of passing. As a side effect, they may learn few additional things. All good.

Success on this exam has nothing to do with the amount of money spent on prep. I spent exactly zero dollars on oral boards prep materials and got the same result you did. It’s about putting the requisite time into thoughtful preparation, not dollars spent.

If you’re an attending and won’t feel it financially, great, but a large proportion of exam takers are in fellowships, and suggesting to trainees that they need to drop 5-10% of their annual income on a prep course and if they don’t, they’re not taking it seriously is just silly. Almost as silly as trying to internet-splain to a veteran how they’re supposed to talk about/process what was probably one of the worst and most traumatizing experiences of their life.

 

[JiPo]

I can agree with that, but I had a $10k fellows grant to spend on “academic persuits” so I just bought UBP. I felt the explanations and videos helped. I could see somebody easily getting by with just grinding practice tests with a partner if you have the cases.

Damn 10k?? I am jealous 😂

 

[neutro]

Success on this exam has nothing to do with the amount of money spent on prep. I spent exactly zero dollars on oral boards prep materials and got the same result you did. It’s about putting the requisite time into thoughtful preparation, not dollars spent.

If you’re an attending and won’t feel it financially, great, but a large proportion of exam takers are in fellowships, and suggesting to trainees that they need to drop 5-10% of their annual income on a prep course and if they don’t, they’re not taking it seriously is just silly. Almost as silly as trying to internet-splain to a veteran how they’re supposed to talk about/process what was probably one of the worst and most traumatizing experiences of their life.

Disagree on both thoughts above.

 

[TeslaCoil]

Success on this exam has nothing to do with the amount of money spent on prep. I spent exactly zero dollars on oral boards prep materials and got the same result you did. It’s about putting the requisite time into thoughtful preparation, not dollars spent.

If you’re an attending and won’t feel it financially, great, but a large proportion of exam takers are in fellowships, and suggesting to trainees that they need to drop 5-10% of their annual income on a prep course and if they don’t, they’re not taking it seriously is just silly. Almost as silly as trying to internet-splain to a veteran how they’re supposed to talk about/process what was probably one of the worst and most traumatizing experiences of their life.

This is true but I dont regret compensating UBP with my grant money one single bit. They deserve it. That course is well thought out. Its clearly an evolved conglomeration of many years of experience and success. Zero regrets on the money. I probably would have found a way to pay for it even without the grant. The greatest thing is that I feel like it actually made me a better physician. If residency programs had any clue they would be paying to start their residents on this course early in residency.

 

[Gern Blansten]

I took the Ho course over 25 years ago and thought it was excellent. It sounds like the cost and the format may have changed over the years. I think it was about $1500 at that time which included his study guide/book.

Back then we met for one weekend in a hotel. First day we had lectures about testing strategy in the morning followed by 3-4 practice exams in hotel rooms in the afternoon.

The second day was gold. Everyone got together in a smaller ballroom and we all took practice exams given by Michael Ho in front of an audience. Watching other people make mistakes, fall into traps, and noting what not to do all day was very high yield.

The actual exam was fairly chill compared to his practice exams.

Watching others take the exam is useful in some regards, however, some of the exam takers were sooo bad that it was detrimental. You need to hope that your cohort at a meeting is a good mix of people who will take excellent public mock oral exams as an example of someone who is well prepared and will easily pass. If the mix in your cohort is all repeat test takers who are awful, the exams just serve as horrible examples of a tragic exam. Then, when things that they have said do not get discussed at the debrief (you can't cover everything), then some in the audience may mistakenly think that the candidate's answer was "ok" and then carry that forward to the real exam. Watching several bad exams is anxiety inducing. Almost every review course is littered with repeat takers who are not very skilled and their exams are very painful to watch. The course I took was a nice mix. I was so happy to see the handful of excellent exams. You can really learn a lot by watching a peer take an exam when they are well prepared and have mastered the content. Lots of pearls to take away from those public exams. You always hope that, when it is your turn, you can be one who impresses the rest of the group.
That was all such a stressful time in my life. Glad I never have to do it again. My friend told me, "I have been through a bitter divorce and I have been through the oral boards...I would rather go through a bitter divorce."

 

[Twiggidy]

I took the Ho course over 25 years ago and thought it was excellent. It sounds like the cost and the format may have changed over the years. I think it was about $1500 at that time which included his study guide/book.

Back then we met for one weekend in a hotel. First day we had lectures about testing strategy in the morning followed by 3-4 practice exams in hotel rooms in the afternoon.

The second day was gold. Everyone got together in a smaller ballroom and we all took practice exams given by Michael Ho in front of an audience. Watching other people make mistakes, fall into traps, and noting what not to do all day was very high yield.

The actual exam was fairly chill compared to his practice exams.

I second this. Likewise it was about 10 years ago when I took the Ho course and I think I would've been a disaster if I didn't, even with one of my prompts being a case related to my fellowship.

The orals cover pretty much the basics of the field and they're really measuring 1) do you know the basics? and 2) can you coherently and intellectually explain the basics and be a "consultant" and not just some bozo that pushing propoful, neo, and inserts ETTs. I think doing the Ho course and the practice sessions and watching what to do and what not to do was 100% worth the money. The practice sessions with the attending at my institution were absolutely worthless and I hope they've improved that since then.

 

[abolt18]

Personally, I listened to examples of what to do/not to do on the ACCRAC podcast's mock oral boards. I read almost all of Yao and Artusio. I did about half of the UBP cases with a friend over zoom in the 2 months leading up to the test; we attempted to mimic reality the best we could based on exams with real examiners. We interrupted each other, took each other down the rabbit hole of questions at times. I did 2 mock exams with faculty who are oral board examiners (this helped immensely).

Going through the cases helped me identify knowledge gaps which I then reviewed in Yao&Art or on UpToDate. But most of all it helped me practice sounding less like an idiot.

 

[Gern Blansten]

Personally, I listened to examples of what to do/not to do on the ACCRAC podcast's mock oral boards. I read almost all of Yao and Artusio. I did about half of the UBP cases with a friend over zoom in the 2 months leading up to the test; we attempted to mimic reality the best we could based on exams with real examiners. We interrupted each other, took each other down the rabbit hole of questions at times. I did 2 mock exams with faculty who are oral board examiners (this helped immensely).

Going through the cases helped me identify knowledge gaps which I then reviewed in Yao&Art or on UpToDate. But most of all it helped me practice sounding less like an idiot.

Yao and Artusio is a very underrated book that not many talk about. It is a great resource.

 

[neutro]

Success on this exam has nothing to do with the amount of money spent on prep. I spent exactly zero dollars on oral boards prep materials and got the same result you did. It’s about putting the requisite time into thoughtful preparation, not dollars spent.

If you’re an attending and won’t feel it financially, great, but a large proportion of exam takers are in fellowships, and suggesting to trainees that they need to drop 5-10% of their annual income on a prep course and if they don’t, they’re not taking it seriously is just silly. Almost as silly as trying to internet-splain to a veteran how they’re supposed to talk about/process what was probably one of the worst and most traumatizing experiences of their life.

Please explain how "trainees are spending 10% of salary on oral boards"?
I hope you can attest to the fact that all, if not majority of candidates take this during their first or second year as an attending with attending pay.
If they are smart, they will use CME funds and or, write off as a business expense from 1099 compensation. I used my sign on bonus from my job and the practice I worked for paid for it. I never paid for it. You're acting like its either paying for this course or grocery money. lol.

Your logic is similar to saying well I do not want to spend 10s of thousands of dollars in flying, hoteling, preparing for residency interviews or giving money to ERAS because I'm a broke medical student.

Let's stop exaggerating basic facts please.

It's part of business, and these courses exist because they have a track record of getting candidates through this exam in a time efficient manner. i personally found Ho > JOB >> UBP. For someone else, the oder may be different. Thats not the issue.

Otherwise, if you fail, you wait one more year and go through the stress and turmoil of studying again. For some of us, money is not as important as wasted time.
BTW, in my cohort that attended the live 4 day Dr. Ho's session 6 weeks day prior to the exam, all 16 passed.

As for your second point, I was pointing out an obvious bigoted statement. I'm curious, in what sense is "ass-crackistan" acceptable? This is an ethnic slur.
Are you saying that undergoing traumatizing experiences in your life now gives you the right to say and do what you want?
Its never an excuse, and I am surprised at the moderators just not editing/deleting that specific part of that post.

 

[neutro]

Yao and Artusio is a very underrated book that not many talk about. It is a great resource.

Yes, it was my go-to resource during residency. Great book.

 

[pgg]

Thank you for your service and your sacrifice.

However, it still does not excuse you from using that language.

Keep in mind, that the local population in Afghanistan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Syria etc have suffered many times more because they were involved in these endless wars on terrorism/oil/installing "democracy" (which will never work in Muslim countries btw simply because the structure of governance is very different and "we the people" concept of government is inherently rejected).

Thats a longer debate I do not want to get into, but thats the gist of it.

Anyways, worst place I have been too thus far?

Van Wert Ohio.

The amount of racism was incredible.

I can see where you're coming from, and applaud your respect for the people of Afghanistan. I spent ~15 months of my own life there, and nearly all of the people I met seemed decent enough.

I do take exception to your characterization of muslims being inherently anti-democratic, however. Plenty of Afghans who got their purple-stained fingers chopped off before their heads were chopped off might disagree, too.

On the whole, Afghanistan apparently wants the Taliban to be in charge. I think that's stupid, and a path that will result in the country remaining a hot mess, but it's their country. I won't pretend that it's a nice place, and I specifically reject your accusation that the terrible state of affairs there is now my fault, or the USA's fault, for meddling in their affairs.

 

[coffeebythelake]

Yao and Artusio is a very underrated book that not many talk about. It is a great resource.

So is Openanesthesia...

 

[neutro]

Please list out of 56 Muslim majority countries - those which are democratic, stable and not involved in conflict?

With the exception of Malaysia and Indonesia you won’t find many. And the history of those countries and development is different than major Muslim countries.
The overwhelming issue is lack of Justice and corrupt leaders. At times colonial influence and foreign interference esp USA.

Spending 15 months may give you enough perspective on Muslims in your opinion, but I was born and raised in one. So please. We can debate this further.

USA may have its issues but it’s the best place to live for many reasons. You can follow your faith, follow rules and laws and generally expect an outcome based on merit and live with respect.

 

[Beeftenderloin]

Please explain how "trainees are spending 10% of salary on oral boards"?
I hope you can attest to the fact that all, if not majority of candidates take this during their first or second year as an attending with attending pay.
If they are smart, they will use CME funds and or, write off as a business expense from 1099 compensation. I used my sign on bonus from my job and the practice I worked for paid for it. I never paid for it. You're acting like its either paying for this course or grocery money. lol.

Your logic is similar to saying well I do not want to spend 10s of thousands of dollars in flying, hoteling, preparing for residency interviews or giving money to ERAS because I'm a broke medical student.

Let's stop exaggerating basic facts please.

It's part of business, and these courses exist because they have a track record of getting candidates through this exam in a time efficient manner. i personally found Ho > JOB >> UBP. For someone else, the oder may be different. Thats not the issue.

Otherwise, if you fail, you wait one more year and go through the stress and turmoil of studying again. For some of us, money is not as important as wasted time.
BTW, in my cohort that attended the live 4 day Dr. Ho's session 6 weeks day prior to the exam, all 16 passed.

As for your second point, I was pointing out an obvious bigoted statement. I'm curious, in what sense is "ass-crackistan" acceptable? This is an ethnic slur.
Are you saying that undergoing traumatizing experiences in your life now gives you the right to say and do what you want?
Its never an excuse, and I am surprised at the moderators just not editing/deleting that specific part of that post.

I am a fellow, currently. I took oral boards a month ago (as a fellow). I didn’t take a formal poll but more than half of the folks I spoke with at oral board were also fellows. 6 of my former co-residents are also in fellowships this year and took oral board this year (as fellows). The Ho course would constitutes over 7% of my annual income this year (as a fellow). Some fellows make more than me, some fellows make less than me, hence the range I quoted previously. Maybe no one is making little enough for it to be 10% pre tax. But 7-8% is still a serious chunk of income at that pay scale.

 

[neutro]

I don’t want to derail this further from the topic but add that governance in Islam based on caliphate and central source of jurisprudence as opposed to maps and countries and republics. It’s not that democracy is outright rejected, it’s just a different politics.
Think Ottomans and Abbasids etc.

Thank you. Please pm me if you want to chat on this topic. Again I don’t want to take it away from board review courses.

 

[pgg]

I am a fellow, currently. I took oral boards a month ago (as a fellow). I didn’t take a formal poll but more than half of the folks I spoke with at oral board were also fellows. 6 of my former co-residents are also in fellowships this year and took oral board this year (as fellows). The Ho course would constitute approximately 7.5% of my annual income this year (as a fellow). Some fellows make more than me, some fellows make less than me, hence the range of 5-10% I quoted previously.

Also, fellows have other academic expenses. When I was a CT fellow, I also paid for
- PTE Masters exam review for echo boards
- SCA meeting
- Echo week meeting

My academic fund/allowance from my fellowship program covered SCA, more or less.

 

[neutro]

I am a fellow, currently. I took oral boards a month ago (as a fellow). I didn’t take a formal poll but more than half of the folks I spoke with at oral board were also fellows. 6 of my former co-residents are also in fellowships this year and took oral board this year (as fellows). The Ho course would constitutes over 7% of my annual income this year (as a fellow). Some fellows make more than me, some fellows make less than me, hence the range I quoted previously. Maybe no one is making little enough for it to be 10% pre tax. But 7-8% is still a serious chunk of income at that pay scale.

I thought it was common knowledge that the minute you enter January of your last year in training, you get a 0% APR credit card for 1year to 15 months, to get you through relocation and big expenses for job and then pay it off by the end of the year with attending salary?

Again congrats on passing - it worked for you without Dr Ho. But many people fail first time due to nature of this exam.

 

[Beeftenderloin]

Also, fellows have other academic expenses. When I was a CT fellow, I also paid for
- PTE Masters exam review for echo boards
- SCA meeting
- Echo week meeting

My academic fund/allowance from my fellowship program covered SCA, more or less.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. My educational stipend for the year was only $1000. I got another $1000 to present at SCA but that barely covered my flight. I was on the hook for:

Echo week $450
SCA $550, plus another $600-700 for food/hotel
PTE masters $600 (IIRC)
APTE exam $1000
Oral boards exam $2400
Flight/hotel in Raleigh $1000

It adds up fast.

 

[JiPo]

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. My educational stipend for the year was only $1000. I got another $1000 to present at SCA but that barely covered my flight. I was on the hook for:

Echo week $450
SCA $550, plus another $600-700 for food/hotel
PTE masters $600 (IIRC)
APTE exam $1000
Oral boards exam $2400
Flight/hotel in Raleigh $1000

It adds up fast.

I also spent like $6000 on necessary board/conference stuff. Imagine adding $4000 for the Ho course. That would be 15% of my PRE-TAX PGY-5 salary right off the bat.

I am not saying the course is waste of money. I am sure it is very helpful, and some people need the course to pass. But I don't think anyone should jump straight to signing up for the course especially if you are tight on money like most fellows are. Thoroughly evaluate your resources first, be realistic about how much time you can put into studying and decide. For what is worth, none of my co-fellows signed up for these courses and we all passed.

 

[MirrorTodd]

I did a couple phone interviews with him and a few people he recommended, Then panicked and bought the 4 day crash course which helped ease my tension about the whole thing and I felt better prepared. I came away from it thinking that Dr Ho is either the greatest salesmen in the course of human history (I typically DO NOT buy anything that I don't feel is absolutely necessary or that I didn't want already) or he is a great clinician who really and truly cares that we pass the oral boards. Personally, I think that his courses are way overpriced. Are they good? Sure of course they are. But that still doesn't change the fact that they are severely overpriced. After all, med schools are ridiculously overpriced even if they are still "good" to go to.
Odds are that I didn't actually need the course, so ultimately I paid $2400 for some reassurance.

 

[OptionOffense]

I did a couple phone interviews with him and a few people he recommended, Then panicked and bought the 4 day crash course which helped ease my tension about the whole thing and I felt better prepared. I came away from it thinking that Dr Ho is either the greatest salesmen in the course of human history (I typically DO NOT buy anything that I don't feel is absolutely necessary or that I didn't want already) or he is a great clinician who really and truly cares that we pass the oral boards. Personally, I think that his courses are way overpriced. Are they good? Sure of course they are. But that still doesn't change the fact that they are severely overpriced. After all, med schools are ridiculously overpriced even if they are still "good" to go to.
Odds are that I didn't actually need the course, so ultimately I paid $2400 for some reassurance.

Ho demystifies the process. Before taking the exam I had no idea what to expect and thats how the ABA wants it.

Enter Dr. Ho.

 

[Gern Blansten]

Ho demystifies the process. Before taking the exam I had no idea what to expect and thats how the ABA wants it.

Enter Dr. Ho.

They actually post quite a few videos on their site to try and give examples of good and bad exams. At least they used to. Is that not the case any longer? You can learn the process from anyone who has been through it. If you’re lucky enough to know an examiner or former examiner, they will spell out the process in detail. Lots of books that cover it as well.
The thing that leads to most people failing is knowledge deficit. Some have the knowledge but do a poor job conveying it. But mostly, it’s knowledge deficit.
Everyone has an area of weakness (or two or three…). Sometimes that area of weakness is the core subject of the stem question you get in one of the rooms for the exam. That’s unlucky. Completely blow one room and it doesn’t matter how you did in the other. Scrape by in one room and ace the other, you’ll likely pass.
As one author says, “Everyone knows an idiot that passed on their first try and everyone knows a genius that didn’t pass on their first try.”
People take courses to try and adjust the odds in their favor. It adds some structure if you feel a bit lost in how to best prepare. I believe that all courses increase your odds. For some, the increase is dramatic and for others it is likely imperceptible.

 

[ranvier]

I took a Niels Jensen course years ago to get away from the family and practice. Passed first attempt but agree that it’s just like an “at bat” and you just hope to see some decent pitches to hit.

 

[Gern Blansten]

I took a Niels Jensen course years ago to get away from the family and practice. Passed first attempt but agree that it’s just like an “at bat” and you just hope to see some decent pitches to hit.

Jensen had a corner on the market for quite a while. I never hear about him any more. Nice guy but his material had too much fluff and weird military references. A little would have been good, but he went a bit overboard.