My personal ABA Board Prep, with PROVEN results!!!

[panetrain]

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The purpose of this thread is to spell-out my personal ABA board prep strategy. I started this strategy as a PGY1 two months before the ITE exam and have repeated it approximately two months before each ITE there after (10 months of essentially no reading in-between). I have scored in the mid 95% in my peer group for each of the past 3 ITE exams.

So here it is.

Read Anesthesiology Review by Faust at least TWICE over the course of the two months before the ITE and/or ABA and KNOW it WELL!

The following subjects are lacking in Faust and I read each of these subjects twice from the infamous book published by Lange (Clinical Anesthesiology).
(Fetal-maternal physiology, cardiac physiology, pulmonary physiology, major organ transplants, anterior mediastinal mass, burns, electricity, pheochromocytoma, neuroleptic malignant syndrome, anesthesia for the elderly and the anesthesia machine).

Additional readings:
statistics (4 pages from the crush the USMLE series)
Basics of pharmacology (two chapters at the beginning of baby miller)
EKG readings (last ten pages of Dubin's EKG reading)
ACLS (any current source)

This strategy has worked for me and I just started repeating it for the March 7'th ITE. I have no doubt that it will produce results.

I have personally witnessed the following board prep strategies result in terrible ITE scores or a failure on the ABA written boards.

1. Doing question books ONLY and reading the answers. Question books are not complete and lack the whole story on every subject!
2. Reading bits and pieces of Miller, Lange, Big Blue... You are bound to skip key subjects.
3. Just going over prior missed key words. Not a good idea if this is all you do.😱
4. Attending a prep course right before the exam without prior prep. These courses are not life savers. They are no better than reading a question and answer book.👎

I personally do not do any questions from any question books because they are always harder than the real test, never cover the entire topic, take time away from reading Faust and will hardly ever be seen in the exact context on the real test. I also don't think that expensive board prep courses are worth a dang.👎 A person of average intelligence (which describes me) can read this info while rotting in the OR during cases or in the comfort of their own home or local trendy coffee house.😉
Big Blue (Big Poo) is way over priced, over rated and inferior to Faust.


Questions and Comments are Welcome.

 

[guitarguy09]

Thanks for the book recommendations. Is there any talk of an updated version of Faust's book coming out (since the latest edition seems to be from 2001)??

 

[Arch Guillotti]

I also agree w/the Faust recommendation - I found it very useful. I scored very well on the ITE after my CA1 after reviewing Faust and doing a couple of question books.

 

[maceo]

1) what works for you does not work for everyone
2) i agree faust is not complete. actually i found the book useless
3) I found the questions out of question books to be too simplistic. the aba questions are more multi level thinking. and the english is written to trick you. so call the asa and get retired question books and do them

4)key words and focused studying is the essential. Reading miller like its a novel is USELESS for the exam because you wont retain anything.
5) memorization is key. study for the exam like you are studying for a med school class exam
i commend the OP for actually having a plan. and congratulate him/ her for scoring as high as he/she did. Find aplan that works for YOU and stick with it.


my cats name is MACEO
perry farrell

 

[panetrain]

I don't know of any new editions of Faust in the works. However, the material on the ABA boards is somewhat outdated and the 2001 edition should be fine for several more years. Besides, basic anesthesia knowledge/pharmacology/physiology has not really change in the past 20 years.

Thanks for the book recommendations. Is there any talk of an updated version of Faust's book coming out (since the latest edition seems to be from 2001)??

 

[urge]

I see your 95% and raise you to 99%.

Faust is very good. I like baby Miller too.

 

[pgg]

3) I found the questions out of question books to be too simplistic. the aba questions are more multi level thinking. and the english is written to trick you. so call the asa and get retired question books and do them

These are available free for download off the ABA web site.

http://www.asahq.org/continuinged.htm#in

They're old, but honestly not much has changed in the last 15 years. There were questions from the 94 & 95 exam that were repeated verbatim on last year's ITE. The same concepts get tested over and over.

i commend the OP for actually having a plan. and congratulate him/ her for scoring as high as he/she did. Find aplan that works for YOU and stick with it.

I think the plan doesn't really matter, so long as you have one.

My study plan has NOTHING in common with panetrain's. I don't like Faust, and I'm a big fan of dissecting old questions. Easily 80% of my directed studying begins with a question and ends by reading about that topic and fully understanding why the right answer is right and the wrong answers are wrong (or might be right in slightly different circumstances).

The rest of the time I just read whatever sounds interesting or is applicable to an upcoming case.

I'm convinced that any study plan will work if you put in the time. Success on the ITEs seems to have a lot less to do with what books you use (they all have basically the same info) and everything to do with the number of hours you routinely lock yourself up someplace quiet to use whatever book you picked.

I'd bet that panetrain scored that 95% because of his discipline and hours spent reading, not because he picked Faust over Big Blue.

 

[CambieMD]

1) what works for you does not work for everyone
2) i agree faust is not complete. actually i found the book useless
3) I found the questions out of question books to be too simplistic. the aba questions are more multi level thinking. and the english is written to trick you. so call the asa and get retired question books and do them

4)key words and focused studying is the essential. Reading miller like its a novel is USELESS for the exam because you wont retain anything.
5) memorization is key. study for the exam like you are studying for a med school class exam
i commend the OP for actually having a plan. and congratulate him/ her for scoring as high as he/she did. Find aplan that works for YOU and stick with it.


my cats name is MACEO
perry farrell

You should study every day. Read or discuss something every single day of residency. There is a certain level of curiosity that we should all have as physicians. On one passes the written ABA exam because they read this or that. They passed because they understood the material being tested. I am a visual learned so I have no use for Faust. I also hate the way that the book is laid out. Some people swear by that book.

Find out what works for you. Do not let anyone dictate what you should do. This is your test to pass or fail. Do it on your terms. I had my own unique strategy for the writtens. My strategy will not work for everyone.

I actually wanted to deviate from my plan late in the game but I realized that I was in too deep to turn back. I am happy that I stuck to my plan.

A lot of residents love Hall. I think that questions in Hall are poorly written. I did not realize this until I had gone through about 4,000 questions. Just about all of the questions in Hall are level one questions. The questions on the ABA exam are level 2-3. Questions help you to go from passive learning to active learning. I spent a couple of hours doing practice questions and the next day I would review my answers.

Key words are the exam. I reviewed my key words to make sure that I did not miss something in a particular topic during my reading. I had to google a couple of words because they were not in M & M. Both of them showed up on the exam.

The retired ABA questions are good but some of the answers that the board gives you are wrong.

 

[loveumms]

Does anyone know of any online question banks for anesthesia???

 

[racerx]

I am a visual learned so I have no use for Faust. I also hate the way that the book is laid out. Some people swear by that book.

Are there any specific texts or review books that you'd recommend for visual learners?😕

Thanks

 

[CambieMD]

Are there any specific texts or review books that you'd recommend for visual learners?😕

Thanks

http://www.trcc.commnet.edu/ed_resources/tasc/Training/Visual_Learning.htm

Visual learners like charts lists and graphs. They tend to underline, highlight and make notes in the margins of their books. They prefer books full of diagrams, charts and lists.

I read M & M, Starr and Big Miller. My primary text during residency was M & M. This book seems like a lot but it is full of graphs,charts and lists.

Cambie

 

[Precedex]

Does anyone know of any online question banks for anesthesia???

Etherprep. It has been discussed on earlier threads. I didn't find it particularly good and it is exceedingly overpriced.

 

[Arch Guillotti]

I read M & M, Starr and Big Miller. My primary text during residency was M & M.

Cambie

You read both volumes of Big Miller? That is some serious reading. All I could bear was a few chapter here and there as well as frequent refernces of the text. I agree M & M was a very good text that served as a basic foundation

 

[CambieMD]

Etherprep. It has been discussed on earlier threads. I didn't find it particularly good and it is exceedingly overpriced.

Etherprep is overpriced. A $65 review book would probably get you more questions and bang for your buck.

Cambie

 

[CambieMD]

You read both volumes of Big Miller?

I used Big Miller as a reference. I read the statistics chapter prior to taking the ABA exam.
I must say that Big Miller is easier reading than Barash. The DVD that comes with the book is also a nice plus.

Cambie

 

[Jeff05]

i got faust and have been using it and LANGE for extra reading while doing Hall. i must say, faust is inferior to Lange. for example it still claims that trismus patients have 50% incidence of MH, while the current, correct answer is less than 50% (miller and lange had it right). lange is better indexed, as well. i guess i'll use faust for a quick glance and to supplement, but it will definitely not be a primary read.

 

[Breezee]

Are there any other retired board questions that can be used/purchased by residents to prepare for the boards? I downloaded the old ITE questions from 1990-1996 from the asahq.org continuing education part of the website already. Just wondering if there were any actual old board exams available?

 

[CambieMD]

Are there any other retired board questions that can be used/purchased by residents to prepare for the boards? I downloaded the old ITE questions from 1990-1996 from the asahq.org continuing education part of the website already. Just wondering if there were any actual old board exams available?

The old ITE questions that you have are actual old board exams. The retired ITE questions were helpful but remember they have certain limitations.

Cambie

 

[Breezee]

Thanks, Cambie. I didn't realize that those were the actual old board questions. What do you mean by limitations with these questions? Some answers are wrong, some were not scored, no explanations to the answers..? Seems like they would be helpful to see if any trends exists as far as commonly asked topics.

 

[CambieMD]

Thanks, Cambie. I didn't realize that those were the actual old board questions. What do you mean by limitations with these questions? Some answers are wrong, some were not scored, no explanations to the answers..? Seems like they would be helpful to see if any trends exists as far as commonly asked topics.

The retired questions are helpful but remember that they are old. Some of the answers are wrong.

I think that the keywords that you get with your results is money in the bank.Some people make the mistake of not paying enough attention to them.

Cambie

 

[pgg]

The retired questions are helpful but remember that they are old. Some of the answers are wrong.

This year, again, there were questions on the ITE repeated verbatim from the published 1990-1996 ITEs.

After you've done the 995 questions in Hall, there's a shortage of good Q & A material out there. The ABA has almost 2500 actual board Qs available for download. I'm surprised more people don't use them.

(And speaking of old, Hall's getting long in the tooth too ...)

 

[hoyden]

This year, again, there were questions on the ITE repeated verbatim from the published 1990-1996 ITEs.

After you've done the 995 questions in Hall, there's a shortage of good Q & A material out there. The ABA has almost 2500 actual board Qs available for download. I'm surprised more people don't use them.

(And speaking of old, Hall's getting long in the tooth too ...)

The questions are verbalized a little differently - didn't you see today ( and last August)? And there are no type-K questions ( thanks God!) which are always present in all the retired exams. Hall is good by it's explanations - I hate to get an answer without actual explanation to it ( at least for some).

 

[jetproppilot]

I used Faust as well WAY BACK when I took my written.

Served me well.

Glad to hear its still the bomb.

 

[SleepIsGood]

Jensen----

I dont know guys, Jensen's getting a little dated too I think. Today's exam I felt almost had no questions, perhaps just one on the "ankle block".

I was surprised, it's a pretty popular topic traditionally.

 

[pgg]

Jensen----

I dont know guys, Jensen's getting a little dated too I think. Today's exam I felt almost had no questions, perhaps just one on the "ankle block".

I was surprised, it's a pretty popular topic traditionally.

Yeah, not much from the Lock & Load ** (R) (tm) bits this time around. The guy needs to stoke his campfire, boil some more water by the creek, brew up a big pot of coffee, and sit down to do a real update to his flagship product.

Even so, without risking the ire of the ABA by discussing specifics, I accidentally remember quite a few questions whose answers are specifically and concisely laid out in big blue - everything from mediastinoscopy to pediatric syndromes to blood products/components to fetal ABGs to myasthenia to ECTs ... I still think Big Blue is high yield and worth reading through. But I agree, I'm less impressed with it today than I was a couple years ago when I first read it and took my post-CA-1 ITE.

 

[Jeff05]

it doesn't matter what you study. big blue, m and m, faust, whatever. as long as you study and learn the basic stuff (the keywords/outline). this information is in EVERY BOOK.






QUOTE=pgg;7831765]Yeah, not much from the Lock & Load ** (R) (tm) bits this time around. The guy needs to stoke his campfire, boil some more water by the creek, brew up a big pot of coffee, and sit down to do a real update to his flagship product.

Even so, without risking the ire of the ABA by discussing specifics, I accidentally remember quite a few questions whose answers are specifically and concisely laid out in big blue - everything from mediastinoscopy to pediatric syndromes to blood products/components to fetal ABGs to myasthenia to ECTs ... I still think Big Blue is high yield and worth reading through. But I agree, I'm less impressed with it today than I was a couple years ago when I first read it and took my post-CA-1 ITE.[/QUOTE]

 

[pgg]

it doesn't matter what you study

I agree that it's more about the hours you put in than the source.

95% of the information is indeed in every reference. But there are substantial differences between them in style, format, focus, and presentation (particularly the review books). Those differences are worth discussing.

I used Faust as well WAY BACK when I took my written.

Probably the same edition, too. 🙂

 

[CambieMD]

95% of the information is indeed in every reference. But there are substantial differences between them in style, format, focus, and presentation (particularly the review books). Those differences are worth discussing.

I like M & M because there is a focus on anesthesia and co-existing diseases.
Our role as perioperative physicians is now being emphasized by the ABA. I expect this to be represented in the ABA exams. Learn your medicine well.

The truth is that M & M, Big Blue, Faust or Baby Miller cannot save you. Knowing your stuff will save you.

Cambie

 

[urdman]

I like doing questions. I read baby miller and have been doing questions since and i've gotten over 85 percentile in everyone

 

[panetrain]

I felt great about this years ITE, I have added a few subjects to my list that are lacking in Faust that I read right before the exam. It was my experience with this past ITE that the readings listed below covered 95-99% of the questions asked.

The following subjects are lacking in Faust and I read each of these subjects twice from the infamous book published by Lange (Clinical Anesthesiology or M & M & M). (Fetal-maternal physiology, What crosses the placenta, cardiac physiology, pulmonary physiology, major organ transplants, anterior mediastinal mass, burns, electricity, pheochromocytoma, neuroleptic malignant syndrome, anesthesia for the elderly,the anesthesia machine, GCS, APGAR, TPN, Deep hypothermic circ arrest, TEE pictures and arterial distribution).

Additional readings:
Herbal Medicine (2 pages from MGH handbook)
statistics (4 pages from the crush the USMLE series)
Basics of pharmacology (two chapters at the beginning of baby miller)
EKG readings (last ten pages of Dubin's EKG reading)
ACLS (any current source)

 

[panetrain]

This study regimen is now tested and true. I passed the ABA written exam on first attempt without reading one page of Big Blue. Those of you who choose to use Faust as your study guide may want to focus on the additional readings listed below.

The purpose of this thread is to spell-out my personal ABA board prep strategy. I started this strategy as a PGY1 two months before the ITE exam and have repeated it approximately two months before each ITE there after (10 months of essentially no reading in-between). I have scored in the mid 95% in my peer group for each of the past ITE exams.

So here it is.

Read Anesthesiology Review by Faust at least TWICE over the course of the two months before the ITE and/or ABA and KNOW it WELL!

The following subjects are lacking in Faust and I read each of these subjects twice from the infamous book published by Lange (Clinical Anesthesiology or M & M & M). (Fetal-maternal physiology, What crosses the placenta, cardiac physiology, pulmonary physiology, major organ transplants, anterior mediastinal mass, burns, electricity, pheochromocytoma, neuroleptic malignant syndrome, anesthesia for the elderly,the anesthesia machine, GCS, APGAR, TPN, Deep hypothermic circ arrest, TEE pictures and arterial distribution).

Additional readings:
Herbal Medicine (2 pages from MGH handbook)
statistics (4 pages from the crush the USMLE series)
Basics of pharmacology (two chapters at the beginning of baby miller)
EKG readings (last ten pages of Dubin's EKG reading)
ACLS (any current source)
Questions and Comments are Welcome.

 

[Jeff05]

also passed.


did all hall questions and essentially memorized the explanations by flashcards.
same with ALL available ACE questions, also flashcards.

used faust as a reference only.
read morgan a couple of times during residency.

oh yea, i did medtext 2006 and 2007 too.

 

[hoyden]

passed as well.

Have Faust but was never able actually to read it( do not like the way it is presented). M&M, old/new big Miller, Anesthesia Secrets, Physiology and Pharmacology in Anesthetic Practice, and a lot of questions - all of the retired exams, Hall, of course, Chantigian and a bit of MGH question book ( not very relevant for the real exam, though).

 

[Frank Rizzo]

In July, I went through Big Blue in detail twice, Hall in detail twice, medtxt questions from 2006 once, and read the stats section in one of the old USMLE books(like crush/first aid) the night before. Nothing more, nothing less. Passed.

 

[Dryacku]

any more suggestions

 

[usnavdoc]

any more suggestions

What more needs to be said? Big blue, hall, and ACE questions. Thats all you need.

 

[Arch Guillotti]

What more needs to be said? Big blue, hall, and ACE questions. Thats all you need.

If you can nail these 3 then you are well on your way.

 

[Narcotized]

.

 

[Breezee]

The old released questions on the ASA website from 1990-1996 or so. There were 6-7 of those questions on the test word-for-word.

 

[usnavdoc]

The old released questions on the ASA website from 1990-1996 or so. There were 6-7 of those questions on the test word-for-word.

I think those are great for a CA1 or 2 to use but they are just not that great when there is a time consideration to consider. You have to look up the explanations and all. Great way to add to you daily studying early in residency but not great for board prep IMO.

 

[hoyden]

I think those are great for a CA1 or 2 to use but they are just not that great when there is a time consideration to consider. You have to look up the explanations and all. Great way to add to you daily studying early in residency but not great for board prep IMO.

😕

I respectfully disagree - it is actually the best for the board prep - not much use in residency exactly because of the lack of explanations, but right before the exam - those questions are a must and one usually knows the explanations already ))))
Especially if you take into consideration that up to 10 of them were repeated verbatim in the real exam.

 

[usnavdoc]

That just goes to show you that there is more than one method to prepare for the test. Filtering through 2100 questions to hopefully remember a few verbatim answers to me isnt high yield. But to each his own.