I did not take a course. I did LOTS of practice cases with friends that were also taking the exam. Also found some more experienced faculty to give me practice cases. The thing with the oral boards is you have to learn how to play the game. Yes its a game, not realistic at all. Practice is really key. You need to learn what you will forget in the unrealistic exam situation. Are you the one that forgets the accucheck in the change in MS or seizure, the preg test, etc. Will you forget to put the patient on the monitor, ask for an IV, ask to speak with the family? Will you remember to keep pushing when the examiner will not answer a question, like list of meds, etc ...call family, call pcp, call pharmacy...it may be intergral to the case.
Although you might do something automatically in the ED, the test is very different, you cant see the patient. Getting in a routine, using practice cases is key. I bought the Rivers oral board book. Although I wasnt overly impressed by the discusson of the cases (I actually disagreed with some of the management) it did provide cases for practice. I also found the cases to be more complicated then those on the exam. I was very nervous just about taking an oral exam but once I got started and fell into my routine I was fine.
The other thing is, if you are in a routine you can get a FULL exam in very quickly. And if you do a full exam on everyone you wont miss anything. Start general when asking for your exam....cardiac, pulm, abdominal, extremities, skin, etc. If they simply say normal, move on. If they ask what you are looking for on a particular part of an exam, simple ask what do I see, what do I feel when I palpate, what to I hear when I auscultate? A little trick I learned from a friend.
Last piece of advice. If you find you forget the preg, accucheck, etc: the second you walk in the room write it down with a blank and make sure you get an answer if indicated.
Can anyone give up any tricks to help with doing well?
For example during residency we have been doing oral boards cases. One aid is that we immediately create a form to remind us to do a full H+P etc. As part of that form we usually draw a modified stick figure to remind us of physical exam findings. I have taken to drawing a giant penis on the stick figure as a reminder to do a detailed GU/rectal/pelvis exam on all patients. We have done a couple of practice questions and it always seems that they try to hide something in the groin so that if you don't look you get burned.
I also recall that every patient needs IV, O2, Monitor and advanced airway cart to the bedside.
Anyone got any other tips?
