Arch Guillotti
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OFFICIAL fall 2009 oral boards thread
- Thread starter Arch Guillotti
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It is an amazing feeling to pass. As far as advice, practice exams are key. If you go to a course, pick one that offers real test simulations. I went to Board Stiff Live. Can you pass w/o a course, absolutely.
Yao & Artusio is a great prep as well as the Board Stiff books.
Good luck to all taking it in the future. If you did not pass, hang in there and good luck next time.
Yao & Artusio is a great prep as well as the Board Stiff books.
Good luck to all taking it in the future. If you did not pass, hang in there and good luck next time.
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PASS!
Now, I can breathe.... I have a house FULL of old oral mock exams/study materials.
Time for some cleaning!
I also haven't fired up the Playstation 3 in about 3 months because of prepping for the oral boards... time to get back at it!
I agree, went to Jensen course (despite the many SDNers that went to Ho), but thought that after the exam in Minneapolis that no matter what you studied, it was more about Defense than Offense. You know more minutia than the examiner just by being closer to residency training and a whole lot of reading for the 'writtens'. Therefore, I could ask you a question about the color of an apple. You'd say red.... the board examiner would stare at you for 10 seconds, then ask why not crimson? could half be red and the other half crimson? is it mostly red and a little crimson?.... u get the idea.
I recommend a stack of old oral board mock exams, a colleague with some medical knowledge that isn't afraid to offer criticisms of your technique (i practiced with any docs that I could find and many had no problem telling me to speak slower/answer quicker/sit up straighter/etc.).
Personal study strategy: went to Jensen's oral board review (had used his blue book materials in residency for all 3 years so it only made sense to me...), went through the B. and C. sections of Yao and Artusio, went through about 15 full length oral board exams.
Anyway, congrats to our group of newly BOARD CERTIFIED anesthesiologists!!! Woohoo!!!!!!!
Now, I can breathe.... I have a house FULL of old oral mock exams/study materials.
Time for some cleaning!
I also haven't fired up the Playstation 3 in about 3 months because of prepping for the oral boards... time to get back at it!
I agree, went to Jensen course (despite the many SDNers that went to Ho), but thought that after the exam in Minneapolis that no matter what you studied, it was more about Defense than Offense. You know more minutia than the examiner just by being closer to residency training and a whole lot of reading for the 'writtens'. Therefore, I could ask you a question about the color of an apple. You'd say red.... the board examiner would stare at you for 10 seconds, then ask why not crimson? could half be red and the other half crimson? is it mostly red and a little crimson?.... u get the idea.
I recommend a stack of old oral board mock exams, a colleague with some medical knowledge that isn't afraid to offer criticisms of your technique (i practiced with any docs that I could find and many had no problem telling me to speak slower/answer quicker/sit up straighter/etc.).
Personal study strategy: went to Jensen's oral board review (had used his blue book materials in residency for all 3 years so it only made sense to me...), went through the B. and C. sections of Yao and Artusio, went through about 15 full length oral board exams.
Anyway, congrats to our group of newly BOARD CERTIFIED anesthesiologists!!! Woohoo!!!!!!!
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Wow I am so happy to finally be done. This one was not easy by any means. I could have practiced more, but like it or not it is a knowledge test. I blanked on some stuff but still passed.
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thank goodness thats over.
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Felt pretty bad after exam...Passed! You don't have to know everything, just be safe and don't get flustered. Good luck!
Just passed on second attempt. What a great feeling of relief.
First time I studied some, but not as much as I know I should have...
Took Board Stiff before first attempt and didn't like it much.
Studied much harder second time and took Ho's 4-day crash immediately before up in MN. This course is content review mixed with mocks. He covers some subtle points that you may gloss over on your own, but have been known to be topics of discussion on the orals. Overall, I felt this put me in the appropriate frame of mind and "ready".
In the end, I came out knowing that I had scored well in some areas, was less sure about some others, and still had a couple of "I don't knows" in each room.
This weekend: Guiness!
First time I studied some, but not as much as I know I should have...
Took Board Stiff before first attempt and didn't like it much.
Studied much harder second time and took Ho's 4-day crash immediately before up in MN. This course is content review mixed with mocks. He covers some subtle points that you may gloss over on your own, but have been known to be topics of discussion on the orals. Overall, I felt this put me in the appropriate frame of mind and "ready".
In the end, I came out knowing that I had scored well in some areas, was less sure about some others, and still had a couple of "I don't knows" in each room.
This weekend: Guiness!
Arch Guillotti
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Here is my advice in no particular order.
FWIW I passed on the first try. I took the Ho review course and would NOT recommend it but that is discussed in a different thread.
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Dress like a professinal for chrissakes. Don't be the dude who wears khakis, skechers and a dress shirt. Sounds unbelievable but it is true.
Leave your cell phone somewhere else. The ABA instructions CLEARLY state no pda's or phones or whatver yet at least HALF of the people in my group brought a cell phone with them. *******ess. Do you really want that thing going off in the middle of the exam when you think it is off?
Go to a good residency where attendings teach you to think critically about cases and you discuss academic minutiae/mental masturbation on a regular basis.
Pick the mind of oral board examiners if you are around them.
Be flexible and admit when you are wrong.
Say "I don't know" rather than posturing.
Do what you would do everyday in practice. If you give sux to SCI patients and burn patients I would suggest rethinking your practice.
Whatever the hell you do, have a damn good reason for it and be able to defend your choice.
Make eye contact and be courteous.
Don't blow the exam off.
Practice. I did very little verbal practice (other than the Ho course and mock orals during residency and did fine though). But if you have trouble articulating, PRACTICE!
Party like a rock star when you are BOARD CERTIFIED.
That's all I can think of for now. The exam was certainly fair. It ain't easy though. At least two of my residency classmates haven't made it through yet. Caveat emptor!
