Osler review for orals in ophtho

[exoflo]

Hi,
I believe this is my very first post. I have enjoyed looking through this forum for a few years now. I want to put a question out to all of you out there. (Forgive me if this has already been hashed out in previous posts; but I was unfruitful in my search.)

I'm wondering how many of you thought that the Osler review for the oral exam was worth the $1000+ and how many of you wished that you had not attended the course.

For those of you have that have attended, how were the sessions taught? Were they conducted in groups? I noticed also that there is a lecture review for the orals vs the mock exam. For their 3 day mock exam option (not lecture), do they actually conduct mock exams the whole day for the whole duration?

Also, are there any other oral reviews out there? If so, what are your thoughts on them...

Much thanks!

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[odieoh]

Hi,
I believe this is my very first post. I have enjoyed looking through this forum for a few years now. I want to put a question out to all of you out there. (Forgive me if this has already been hashed out in previous posts; but I was unfruitful in my search.)

I'm wondering how many of you thought that the Osler review for the oral exam was worth the $1000+ and how many of you wished that you had not attended the course.

For those of you have that have attended, how were the sessions taught? Were they conducted in groups? I noticed also that there is a lecture review for the orals vs the mock exam. For their 3 day mock exam option (not lecture), do they actually conduct mock exams the whole day for the whole duration?

Also, are there any other oral reviews out there? If so, what are your thoughts on them...

Much thanks!

Some discussion about this here:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=742257&highlight=osler

There are 2 different osler courses--the written review which is presumably similar to the wills course or the san antonio course--basically a week of review lectures. The oral review is 3 days of sitting in a room full of people, with people taking turns on the "hot seat" doing mock orals. There are 7-8 rooms going at a time, each of them focusing on different subjects. When you sign up you end up assigned to be in certain rooms at certain times for your mock orals (30 min slots I believe), but other than those times you are free to wander to any of the rooms you like. There is a schedule of what is happening in each of them. Yes it is mock orals all day for the 3 days.

If you don't want to do a mock oral in front of everyone you can pay extra and have some private sessions. I'm not aware of any other oral review.

 

[exoflo]

Thanks for your reply odieoh. very helpful.

 

[bucknut101]

Question regarding the registration for the mock orals. On the Osler webpage it states that 3 public mock orals are included in the registration fee but you may pay for up to additional 6 public mock oral exams if you wish.

Does this mean that you get put on the hot seat 3 times in front of everybody and then pay extra if you want more than that? And if you don't pay extra you still get to sit there and listen to everybody else talk? Or are you paying for each topic you want to review? Really all I want to do is just learn how to take the test properly and spend the least amount of money possible doing it.

 

[CCOMER]

if you guys are looking for Osler review course, I have the full original series. This is not a copy, original CDs. This is the same set that is currently being sold by osler. $300 shipped.

 

[200UL]

I did not take either live, but I have a collection of CDs for the writtens. Here are my thoughts.

Osler for writtens: Worthless. Study the chern or friedmann books + last minute optics + look at the photos in your BCSC books. Basically study the same stuff you studied for okaps. I never understood why some people felt the need to go to wills, osler, san antonio - what more are they going to teach you at these locations that is not in the same review books you have at home? Regarding osler, some of the lecturers on the CDs are not helpful - especially the retina guy! i.e. He rambles on about why he left san fransisco when aids was not understood because he was scared - I would not want to pay to hear stuff like this.

Osler for orals: Again, did not take it. However, when I was sitting in the actual exam, I kind of wish I had! You have to know your stuff and be efficient in the orals. This format is unlike any test any of us have taken before. All legit diagnoses to be tested, but osler probably provides a chance to learn to be efficient. I have never talked to anyone who thought osler was a poor use of their time for the orals.

 

[JMK2005]

I did not take either live, but I have a collection of CDs for the writtens. Here are my thoughts.

Osler for writtens: Worthless. Study the chern or friedmann books + last minute optics + look at the photos in your BCSC books. Basically study the same stuff you studied for okaps. I never understood why some people felt the need to go to wills, osler, san antonio - what more are they going to teach you at these locations that is not in the same review books you have at home? Regarding osler, some of the lecturers on the CDs are not helpful - especially the retina guy! i.e. He rambles on about why he left san fransisco when aids was not understood because he was scared - I would not want to pay to hear stuff like this.

Osler for orals: Again, did not take it. However, when I was sitting in the actual exam, I kind of wish I had! You have to know your stuff and be efficient in the orals. This format is unlike any test any of us have taken before. All legit diagnoses to be tested, but osler probably provides a chance to learn to be efficient. I have never talked to anyone who thought osler was a poor use of their time for the orals.

Good advice.

Here's my take on boards review. I went to the San Antonio Review course as a resident but didn't do anything special before the writtens. If you did well on the OKAPs, you should do well on the writtens by studying the same way.

The oral exam is a completely different test. The Wills manual is probably the best review for this. You need to know key points in the history, differential, labs/imaging, follow-up. The Singh book is great. I didn't take a review course for the orals, but wish I had since I was fumbling through every question. Seriously thought I failed. Fortunately, I passed. In retrospect, a review course may have made the test less stressful.

I've known people who have failed the orals despite taking the Osler course. So, definitely no guarantees. Respect the test and you should do well.