Oral boards hotel full but good alternatives. Study plans?

[Twoeyes2020]

The oral boards is in 3 weeks.

The Westin O'Hare is full. However, the Chicago Marriott Suites O'Hare (6155 N. River Road) has rooms and at $10 less. It's across the street from the Westin and the Westin is a Marriott brand. That's where I'm staying. They won't be having 100+ people scheduled to take the exam at 1 p.m. trying to check out at noon and asking to store their luggage.

Everyone in panic mode? Or fairly relaxed? I'm going over thing daily although there are occasional days that there's not much time to cover more than a few practice questions.

I wonder if there are cases that are dependent on knowing a very specific fact to interpret the photo, like an OCT finding? A hypothetical example is CRAO. Everyone knows how a CRAO looks like. However, does everyone know how an old one looks on OCT (and no fundus photo given)? OMG!! I didn't know until yesterday though that might be too obscure a question to ask (or maybe fair game).

Day before yesterday, what if the question was (OCT shown) 50 year old man had visual loss but waited a month to see an optometrist, who sends you this OCT. The man is sitting in your exam lane. I would have said "ah...ah....ah...ah......(OMG I don't know!)......(panic)......may I skip this question?".

Or how about facioscapulohumoral dystrophy? I think that is too obscure a retina condition that too many people would get wrong. (Basically, it looks like Coat's Disease but less lipid exudation). I think they want a question where half of people get it wrong, not 90% of people getting it wrong.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Twoeyes2020]

OMG, there's so much to know. I think I'm forgetting things that I used to know. Either that or I cannot recall it in 1 second. In real life, you can think while doing the slit lamp exam. In an oral, there is no such opportunity.

Looking at the topics, the way they do the rooms is odd. There are 6 subjects. I would think they should be 1) Retina, 2) Neuro, 3) Glaucoma, 4), Cornea, 5) Peds, 6) Oculoplastics. Those were the 6 sub-specialities in residency. But noooooo.

Neuro gets paired with orbit, which is half of oculoplastics. The other half of oculoplastics (lids and lacrimal) is bunched with half of cornea (external diseases part). The other half of cornea is bunched with glaucoma

 

[hello lady!]

I think you may have passed the point of having lost your mind.

Just relax. The test is fair. You'll do fine. You're not going to get stupidly obscure topics. Faciocapulohumoral dystophy? Really? Are you just trying to intimidate other people who are nervous?

 

[TheLesPaul]

It's really quite an unfair test with such a high failure rate. Are 10% of graduating residents really unfit? It's a cash grab.

 

[Twoeyes2020]

I think you may have passed the point of having lost your mind.

Just relax. The test is fair. You'll do fine. You're not going to get stupidly obscure topics. Faciocapulohumoral dystophy? Really? Are you just trying to intimidate other people who are nervous?

I did conclude that FCHD was not going to be on the oral boards.

I've heard of people crying after the test. I've heard of people saying they didn't know a lot of the questions (even though they passed).

It's really quite an unfair test with such a high failure rate. Are 10% of graduating residents really unfit? It's a cash grab.

That is why I am concerned that I wouldn't be able to cover what I intended to cover. However, I am using the Pemberton book and I have made up many more hypothetical questions, sort of my own Pemberton. Now is too late but I wish that I had the cooperation of others studying for the orals. Together, we could have made up hundreds or even thousands of hypothetical questions and answers. It's simple, just time consuming. One finds a bunch of photos and outlines how one would answer to such photo.

With Pemberton, Friedman, Luviano books, one has over 200 questions. The Wills Eye Manual can be a source of 500 more questions, albeit with overlap with Pemberton.

 

[Slide]

It's really quite an unfair test with such a high failure rate. Are 10% of graduating residents really unfit? It's a cash grab.

The irony of it is that the ophthalmologists that really need to be tested are the ones that have been in practice for 10+ years who have refused to update their clinical practice patterns and have forgotten most of the things they’ve learned from residency.