Orals!!!

Started by Mofeen
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Mofeen

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15+ Year Member
Good luck to everyone taking the ABA oral exams this week.

I go Tuesday. I feel prepared, but still insanely nervous. If I did 20 more mock orals I would still be nervous!

Any last minute tips? I am burnt out and not looking at another book until after the exam.
 
One reassuring fact, according to one of our attendings who has been an examiner for decades, is that under the current scoring system it is impossible to fail on the basis of a single mistake, no matter how terrible it is.
 
Visualize the patient in front of you, imagine the equipment, etc. That helped me think things through logically and coherently.
If you get deep in the weeds, pause and gather your thoughts for a couple seconds and move on.
When you're looking at the stems, write down the few key anesthetic concerns on the side of the page. As the case changes gears, as it will, pause a moment and review the key anesthetic concerns on your list so you don't make a stupid mistake. Your mind will still be rethinking your last answers about the seizure, CVA, MI, exsanguination, etc. That's also true of the grab bags. You have to clear your mind of the baggage of the last patient and focus on the task at hand.
Don't be disturbed when things go wrong, they will no matter what you do. That's just the exam, not you're decision making.
Think through your plan, be flexible, but don't go changing things on the fly when "one of your colleagues/the surgeon suggests..." that's usually you're opportunity to explain why that's not a great idea for this patient. Of course it could also be the examiner trying to get you back on track when you're about to make a killing error. Not likely though.😉
As has been mentioned, just do what you do every day and don't try anything fancy. If you want to do blocks for the awake fiber, you better know how to do them.
Good luck.
 
Does anybody know, no guessing, can you totally bomb one of your two question stems and still pass the test?
 
Glad to be done. Just trying not to think about it now because I keep thinking of how I answered incorrectly or could have answered better.

So the guy who gave our orientation said scores wouldn't be out until June 4th. Is this consistent with previous years, or can we expect them earlier?
 
Multifidus said:
Glad to be done. Just trying not to think about it now because I keep thinking of how I answered incorrectly or could have answered better.

So the guy who gave our orientation said scores wouldn't be out until June 4th. Is this consistent with previous years, or can we expect them earlier?
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I think it was less than 10 business days from the last test session (Friday). June 4 seems long.
 
Took it today. First session kicked my ass hard. Hopefully doesnt end me. The second session was a bit more straightforward.

I said I dont know quite a bit.... poop....
 
Mofeen said:
Took it today. First session kicked my ass hard. Hopefully doesnt end me. The second session was a bit more straightforward.

I said I dont know quite a bit.... poop....
Click to expand...

I felt good walking out when I took my orals and then the second guessing started about how I could have answered better. It's not easy but you need to forget about it and move on. You can't change the results. I ended up passing BTW.

So relax and be glad it's done.
 
took them yesterday, had 4 really nice examiners (to my surprise) and 2 relatively straightforward cases (pneumonectomy and pedi emergent appy). have to say, the exam was much easier than i was anticipating. hope others had similar experiences...
 
behindthadeuce said:
took them yesterday, had 4 really nice examiners (to my surprise) and 2 relatively straightforward cases (pneumonectomy and pedi emergent appy). have to say, the exam was much easier than i was anticipating. hope others had similar experiences...
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I had a similar experience. Took it yesterday also and had the same cases, although there was a little more to the peds case 😉
And my examiners were pleasantly stoic, if not exactly "nice".
Walked out feeling pretty good. Certainly able to second-guess some peds answers but overall pleased. Fingers crossed.
 
I took mine Wed morning....my examiners were pretty good to me...but they now know that I'm not extremely familiar with an in-depth knowledge of polycythemia vera...to put it nicely...fingers crossed
 
rsgillmd said:
]I felt good walking out when I took my orals and then the second guessing started about how I could have answered better. [/B]It's not easy but you need to forget about it and move on. You can't change the results. I ended up passing BTW.

So relax and be glad it's done.
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Exactly my feelings, though I was mortified HOW COULD I MISS THIS ONE for a couple ones.

Passed.

And so I wish to this year examinees.
 
The oral ABA exam is scored on a points system. If you earn a lot of points on the main stems and have difficulty with the additional topics questions you may be ok. The opposite applies as well. The exam is fast paced to give you the best opportunity to get points. It is best to say you don't know an answer so you can move on to a question that you may know the answer to. Very few people come out of the exam thinking that they aced it. The funny thing is that most of you guys and gals will pass the exam.Statistics are in your favor


Cambie
 
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