NDB II, how to do well

[Nina2003]

Hello everybody
Can anyone offer some advise on how to prepare for part II. I heard it is very different from part I and it is very hard to do well in it. Any suggestions are appreciated.

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[DrRob]

Did not find it much different that part 1. I did the decks 2X and old test questions and scored 88. I did this over a couple month periods - did not cram or study more than 1 - 2 hours a day. Actually I found more repeat questions from old tests on part 2 than part 1.

 

[JTLUK001]

The best way to do well on this exam is to get a good nights sleep so that when you read the questions you will read them and understand them clearly. I didn't study too hard for this exam. Decks once. Old exams once. Flipped through my oral path txt once to look at pics. I scored pretty well. Surprisingly!
I would suggest going through your own notes once just to refresh your memory. I wish I did because the rat facts always come up! A lot of the clinical stuff you tend not to remember to the same detail as you prepared for in your pre-clinical courses. Also review your oral medicine well. Good luck.
James Luk

 

[UBTom]

I think the key to doing well on the NBDE II is time.

I scored well above the national average of 82, but I think I would have done even better if I started earlier. What I would have done a second time around (no thanks, though, LOL) would be to start looking at the dental decks about 2 months before the exam-- Carry a section of cards with me whereever I go and look at them whenever I had some time. Then do the old exams for a week before the exam.

The oral path handbooks by LexiComp (for soft and hard tissue pathology) helped a lot too for the case portion of the exam-- Lots of nice photos and radiographs, good descriptions, lists of differentials, and very well-organized.

Good advice from James and DrRob.

 

[organic]

Part 2 exam, in my opinion was better designed than part I, there are some questions that are really good, but there are some too that you can just guess. Most questions are quite clinical oriented, and or theory based applied on clinical settings.

Dental material is a major part, and there are some questions with basic statistics. If you have learned the basics of statistics, you don't need to go through the books to review them all.

The way I studied for NBDE was that I started from question papers, I did the questions, mark those that I have doubt with and then study " extensively" on the relevant topics of the questions that I am not sure about. THere are very few repetitive quetsions in my part II exam, but the old exams really helped a great deal, they guide you to the field that you are suppose to cover, if you just memorize down the answers, you will find the questions are similar in the exam, but they are DIFFERENT!!! so do pay attention to old questions, for example, if the old question asked about what kind of congenital disease could cause this kind of sign on X-ray, you should go through all the congenital diseases that would have dental/ oral signs. THe similarities and differences between them, the differential diagnosis etc...

you also " NEED" to have some kind of references, but I personally think it is a waste of time to study the entire book " for the exam" the textbooks are great to study on, but they are not designed for exams, so you may ignore the important things asked in exams if you study the entire book. But You do need some type of references, textbooks, so that you can look them up when you are studying extensively on the questions. In other words, you should be creative in terms of studying for exam,.....when a question ask about one thing, try to imagine all the related stuff, anything that can have something to do with this topic asked, make sure you are familiar with them or check them up!!!

I felt that was my most efficient way of studying to get a good score in a short time.

I studied for a month, got 95 on average.
I was a full time student at the time, though I had graduated from dental school already

PS, I took computer based exam, and I definitely recommend it
hope it helps

 

[gryffindor]

Ditto on everything Tom said, especially the Lexi-Comp handbooks, I think they were really good for Oral Path.

Define "well." According to the stats on the back of the score sheet, only 4% of students taking the Part II exam score above a 90. That's a lot different from the Part I, where almost 22% of students score above 90.

I studied for a week total for this exam. I got through the decks probably about 1.5 times, at best. Our school gave us the week prior to the exam off for this purpose. I tried the carry-a-stack-of-Decks-around idea, but I never seemed to have the time or energy to seriously look at them. I scored above the average, but certainly didn't get organic's 95.

If I had to do it again, I think all it would take for me to score even higher would be to put in more time. Also, I would review some of my class notes b/c I really didn't think the decks covered everything. I did the old exams, although I can't really remember if they helped or not.

 

[dentalstudent]

Hello everyone,

Those above are all great advices. I have noticed for the lastest exam for the NB II is the 1993 paper, which is almost a decade old. Did anyone of you find these paper of value when you took the your exam? Are they worth studying from them? thanks
DS

 

[organic]

Those above are all great advices. I have noticed for the lastest exam for the NB II is the 1993 paper, which is almost a decade old. Did anyone of you find these paper of value when you took the your exam? Are they worth studying from them? thanks
DS

Yes, they are worth spendinig time

 

[preeth]

hello friends I am a foreign dentist.I wolud be very grateful if anyone frm Uof M is willing to share the class notes.I am having trouble with case based studies and oral path.



BTW would u plse tell where to get Lexi-comp handbooks for ora path.

thank you

 

[smiledentist]

hey organic,

i think u gave a VERY good review of part 2. great going with ur scores!!

has certainly helped me a lot to clear up my approach to part 2!
thanx a ton buddy!
might send u a PM in future as i m in the process of preparing.

smiledentist

 

[preeth]

hello
anyone plse??

 

[UBTom]

Originally posted by preeth

BTW would u plse tell where to get Lexi-comp handbooks for ora path.

thank you

Hi,

This is the Oral Soft Tissue Diseases book: http://www.lexi.com/lexistore/marketing/prodinfo/books/BKOSTD0000000/index.jsp

This is the Oral Hard Tissue Diseases book: http://www.lexi.com/lexistore/marketing/prodinfo/books/BKOHTD0000000/index.jsp

Hope this helps!

 

[preeth]

Thanks for replying UBTom

 

[Doggie]

I have a questions for those of you who have taken the part II.........

I kind of plan on taking the part 2 in a few months so that I can get it out of the way. Since it's part 2, I really dont give much of a hoot about it; I really dont plan on busting my balls studying for this. However.....assuming students have completed the part 2 prior to interviews for post-grad speciality programs, would any of the admission ppl ask for your part 2 scores? Btw...I am currently a 3rd year dental student. Thanks for any help in advance.

 

[molarsupport]

anybody who has dental deck part 2 for sale. pls email me at [email protected]. thnx

 

[DocDrtySanchez]

I took the computer based part II exam...studied the decks (barely) for a week, looked at the pictures in the lexi-comp book during that time, and I didn't even look at the old exams. I thought I got slammed on the second day...patient cases etc. but I ended up doing pretty well...90% overall. I wouldn't study too much because it tests your overall knowledge of patient management etc....accumulated over four years of study and not likely to change with a couple weeks of cramming. Good luck.

 

[anajali]

hi congrats on such a lovely score in part2...
i am plannign to take part2 in a couple of months...
can u please let me knwo if u have any material for part2/
thank u for ur time
bye
anjali








QUOTE=organic]Part 2 exam, in my opinion was better designed than part I, there are some questions that are really good, but there are some too that you can just guess. Most questions are quite clinical oriented, and or theory based applied on clinical settings.

Dental material is a major part, and there are some questions with basic statistics. If you have learned the basics of statistics, you don't need to go through the books to review them all.

The way I studied for NBDE was that I started from question papers, I did the questions, mark those that I have doubt with and then study " extensively" on the relevant topics of the questions that I am not sure about. THere are very few repetitive quetsions in my part II exam, but the old exams really helped a great deal, they guide you to the field that you are suppose to cover, if you just memorize down the answers, you will find the questions are similar in the exam, but they are DIFFERENT!!! so do pay attention to old questions, for example, if the old question asked about what kind of congenital disease could cause this kind of sign on X-ray, you should go through all the congenital diseases that would have dental/ oral signs. THe similarities and differences between them, the differential diagnosis etc...

you also " NEED" to have some kind of references, but I personally think it is a waste of time to study the entire book " for the exam" the textbooks are great to study on, but they are not designed for exams, so you may ignore the important things asked in exams if you study the entire book. But You do need some type of references, textbooks, so that you can look them up when you are studying extensively on the questions. In other words, you should be creative in terms of studying for exam,.....when a question ask about one thing, try to imagine all the related stuff, anything that can have something to do with this topic asked, make sure you are familiar with them or check them up!!!

I felt that was my most efficient way of studying to get a good score in a short time.

I studied for a month, got 95 on average.
I was a full time student at the time, though I had graduated from dental school already

PS, I took computer based exam, and I definitely recommend it
hope it helps[/QUOTE]

 

[niti kalsi]

hello friends I am a foreign dentist.I wolud be very grateful if anyone frm Uof M is willing to share the class notes.I am having trouble with case based studies and oral path.



BTW would u plse tell where to get Lexi-comp handbooks for ora path.

thank you

HI I M FROM MN TOO .PLEASE DO LET ME KNOW IF U GET THM

 

[niti kalsi]

hello friends I am a foreign dentist.I wolud be very grateful if anyone frm Uof M is willing to share the class notes.I am having trouble with case based studies and oral path.



BTW would u plse tell where to get Lexi-comp handbooks for ora path.

thank you

 

[2thdoc]

calling all those who are planning to take part II in/after december.....have started a study goup.......planning to start discussion from scratch.....pls see the thread titled Part II Study Group.......please do join.

UBTom and Henna pls consider taking up post of special advisors.....too early for Gavin to study for Part II?If not you are most welcome to join.

 

[aman]

my frnd took comp. part 2 last week,and got his results the next day,he didn't do too hot,why is that,does that mean it wasn't curved,i'm really scared,i'm taking this exam in october...any advise..

 

[ItsGavinC]

I have a questions for those of you who have taken the part II.........

I kind of plan on taking the part 2 in a few months so that I can get it out of the way. Since it's part 2, I really dont give much of a hoot about it; I really dont plan on busting my balls studying for this. However.....assuming students have completed the part 2 prior to interviews for post-grad speciality programs, would any of the admission ppl ask for your part 2 scores? Btw...I am currently a 3rd year dental student. Thanks for any help in advance.

I'm bumping this up to see if anybody can answer Doggie's question.

If Part 2 is taken prior to application to post-grad programs, would any adcoms ask for your Part 2 scores, and how much weight would they carry?

 

[robf]

I don't know if this is true, but I've part 2 is more important than part 1 if you want to do endo? Any truth to this?

 

[ItsGavinC]

For Endo that could be entirely true. In fact, I've emailed many endo programs (10+) over the last week or so and they've all responded with the fact that Part I scores are only important if you are applying directly out of school. If you have any practice experience or GPR/AEGD experience, then they look at class rank, letters of rec., and Part 2 scores along with research.