Oral Boards - Failed

[Iladelphia]

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I can't believe it

I've never felt worse in my life. This can't be happening

Help me SDNers - feel like ****

 

[Pinkertinkle]

Keep it in perspective, much crappier things happen to people all the time. You probably see them in the clinic. Its a waste of money and effort but you'll make it next time. They gotta fail a certain percentage of people no matter what.

 

[JMK2005]

the fail rate is unfairly high for this test. its hard, but don't take it personally.
pass it the next time and move on.

 

[Iladelphia]

Thanks for the support everyone

Guess I should shell out for the Osler course? Is this course worth it? I imagine that's what most repeat test takers end up doing....?

 

[backrow]

Thanks for the support everyone

Guess I should shell out for the Osler course? Is this course worth it? I imagine that's what most repeat test takers end up doing....?

I think the key is to be honest with yourself about what happened. Don't do this today, sit down next week or this weekend and think back to your test strategy.

(The "you" here is really anyone in a post-test situation)

Did you have a study strategy? Did you stick to it? Was your time useful or was it distracted time?

Knowledge...was it a knowledge failure or was it a systems failure. Did you feel like you knew each case or where there many that you really struggled identifying?

Was it a systems failure, as in you didn't have a systematic approach? Or shut down in the situation? Did you practice the format before, did you do practice questions with a partner or with a timer?

Did you have prior exposure to mock orals in residency or was this a completely new entity for you?

These are a good starting point to figuring out what you need to change. I feel that most people probably have the knowledge bc they passed the WQE so it's likely something else. If someone doesn't have prior exposure to the experience then the Osler course may be beneficial. (There are two versions: one runs six-ish days and includes lectures and then you can also step out to see the mock orals, the other version is 3 days and only includes mock orals over and over and over again). If someone feels they need to better develop their "system" then the Osler course may be beneficial too, but I don't think it's 100% necessary even for repeat takers.

In the end the key is to figure out where things went wrong and build on the experience. Remember that you have a very high likelihood of passing it next time so don't stress too much.

 

[trail doc]

That is a real drag, but not unprecedented. I know a surprisingly high number of people, smarter than me, who have failed the orals.

Compared to the WQE, I think the material on the orals is pretty straightforward, but the challenge is to be able to present it off the cuff in a confident manner. Confidence goes a long way and will make up for holes in your knowledge to a degree. If you start to flail, your examiner may smell blood in the water and it goes downhill from there. Since pretty much none of us start studying for the orals with this kind of skill set, it is tough to build up from scratch. That is where I think the Osler mock oral course is useful, but do everything you can to prepare ahead of time. I studied the Wills manual and made sure I knew it well, and drilled myself with the Freidman and Pemberton vignette books. There are a few high yield vignettes that are not accounted for, so anticipate them and prepare them yourself. I think that the value having someone to drill with cannot be understated, and hopefully you can find a candidate to prepare with.