Oral boards -- advice for Day 0

[linac1]

Hi everyone -

I am finally joining SDN after being a casual reader for 4+ years. Thank you to my peers for all the help over the years. SDN has been especially helpful to me personally as I'm the first (yay!) graduate in a relatively new program with essentially non-existent didactics and weak clinical training. BUT, next month, I am starting at a small community practice of what seems to be 6 wonderful colleagues.

I fortunately passed my written (clinical) boards, though received bottom quartile scores ("1s") in 6/10 categories, and then a sprinkling of 2s 3s and a 4 in the remainder. My inservice scores were always in the bottom 10-20% range, so maybe this isn't much of a surprise.

NOW, I am really worried about oral boards and am seeking advice / pearls from some of the veterans here (Neuronix, GFunk, etc).

1. Despite my so-so residency training, I have a wonderful group of peers from other programs. Should we start our study group now?

2. How much time / day do most folks budget for study? I have 3 small kids and will have a growing practice, but want to plan and budget accordingly.

3. Do you need to recite specifics of clinical studies (e.g. what was the pCR rate in CROSS?, tell me about DAHANCA, what was the dose of chemo in MacDonald gastric?). Or is this mostly clinical written boards trivia?

4. How cold do you need to know AJCC staging?

5. Do I still need my Rad Onc Questions subscription?

Thank you!

Linac1

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[medgator]

Any advice for the oral boards?

Oral Board Advice

 

[psy3]

Check other discussions , but for your specific questions, I can just share my recent experience.

1. My group study got started around Jan, I think. And it was sufficient for me. If you are planning on going to some of mock oral like UCSD or Maryland, those are in March, so you would want your group to get through 8 systems on board by then. Until Jan, focusing on your job, peer review, and tumor board will be good enough preparation. Also get those board recalls and just get the hang of how things go on real test early.

2. For group study, need to block good 2+hrs on weekend to get through cases and 1-2hrs per day minimum per day for self study. At some point, I started recording myself going through random cases, and that took decent amount of time good preparation though.

3. Once you get going studying, you will realize that you are better off memorizing most chemo doses and schedules. Also have general number for disease control and survival. If using neoadjuvant regimen for any cases, just assume you will be asked about pCR rate.

4. Just know it cold.

5. Probably no.

Good luck

 

[Corgi4Prez]

Im in a similar situation starting to think about oral boards studying. Also would recommend checking out the Estes Tables.

RadOnc Tables

 

[LovinMedicine77]

I would love to join a study group. I was unfortunately the only one in my graduating year so don't know any study buddies.

I'm from a pretty well known academic medical center and have some good experience and am super organized. I have a lot to offer. Anyone interested? I wouldn't mind starting early (even now) and increasing meeting frequency as it nears boards time.

 

[samysmiley]

Sure, I would love to be in a study group too

 

[isrradonc]

I would love to join a study group. I was unfortunately the only one in my graduating year so don't know any study buddies.

I'm from a pretty well known academic medical center and have some good experience and am super organized. I have a lot to offer. Anyone interested? I wouldn't mind starting early (even now) and increasing meeting frequency as it nears boards time.

Thanks for your post. I would also like to join if you still have room in your group!

 

[nguyencuong9102]

Also would recommend checking out the Estes Tables.

 

[xrt878]

I would love to join a study group. I was unfortunately the only one in my graduating year so don't know any study buddies.

I'm from a pretty well known academic medical center and have some good experience and am super organized. I have a lot to offer. Anyone interested? I wouldn't mind starting early (even now) and increasing meeting frequency as it nears boards time.

Thanks for posting- I am also looking for a study group for oral boards and if you still have room, please can we connect? If anyone else is looking for study buddies feel free to message me.

 

[cartonka]

I know its a little late in the game, but my previous study partner has decided to defer taking the boards for another year. Is there anyone that still has room in their study group?

 

[RadOncDoc21]

I know its a little late in the game, but my previous study partner has decided to defer taking the boards for another year. Is there anyone that still has room in their study group?

My question is why defer? Even if he/she isn’t quite ready, they can at least shoot to condition 1-2 sections. If anything gain some experience. To waste a year of eligibility is a lot. I can understand personal or financial issues but the boards don’t care.

 

[radoncradonc]

Did people think that oral boards was harder this year than before? I've heard through word of mouth that more people failed this year. I was surprised by some of the people that conditioned or failed.

 

[medgator]

Did people think that oral boards was harder this year than before? I've heard through word of mouth that more people failed this year. I was surprised by some of the people that conditioned or failed.

Certainly would fit the conspiracy theory/sinister plot of the ABR trying to fail more residents. Will be interesting to see the pass rate when it's finally published

 

[gmsquid]

I took this year. Almost everybody I knew passed. About ten people. I only heard of one condition on one section.

 

[ioa8992]

I took this year. Almost everybody I knew passed. About ten people. I only heard of one condition on one section.

Same for me. I also took it this year. Out of the ~12 people I knew taking it, there was 1 condition on one section.

 

[ramsesthenice]

I know 7-8 people that took it. They all passed. One of them was really worried about it (who wasn’t) and confided making a couple mistakes that absolutely could have been grounds for conditioning. They passed. I’m not seeing a master plan here. Nothing on the scale of P/RB from last year at least.

 

[RSAOaky]

I passed and everyone I know passed as well.

 

[Lamount]

Same I here... I felt like I got kicked around a bit, but I guess a lot of people feel that way... ultimately passed. I've heard second-hand of people failing but don't know anyone personally who did.

 

[ramsesthenice]

I talked to a couple regular examiners (one H&N, one GYN). They didn’t get the sense the pass rate was any lower than normal.

 

[RSAOaky]

It's very easy for me to say this now that I'm on the other side of the fence but what the hell. As brutal and depressing as it was to spend 4 months studying during most of my free time, especially after enjoying a few months of attending bliss, it was a worthwhile endeavor that I believe has made me a better radiation oncologist. There were some cases on some sections that were pretty obscure/esoteric which can mentally be really tough on an examinee that only has 25-30 minutes to prove they're worthy, but other than that I felt it was fair. This is far more than I can say about any of the preceding exams.

 

[evilbooyaa]

Congrats to all of those who passed! For those claiming no conspiracy theory/systematic attempt at failure - remember that those who just took oral boards are not part of the class that was all of a sudden 'stupid' enough to warrant low pass rates. That class will be taking clinical writtens (and repeating physics/rad bio as necessary) in July