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Dr Grant

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Sorry if this has been addressed recently, but I didn't see anything recent. Where would one find these supposed ASRA pain exam questions I've seen discussed in the past? Is that still what people would recommend? If not, what resource(s) would you use to study for it? Thanks.

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Board vitals qbank > painexam.com

Dannemiller videos pretty good as well.
 
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So a buddy sent me the pdf of the dannemiller lectures. I downloaded it to my computer and noticed it was 1457 pages!! I'm seriously feeling overwhelmed and have no idea how in the world I'm going to get through even a fraction of it. Plus I prefer to make notes on paper but the thought of printing out 1457 pages makes me nauseous. Any suggestions/tips for studying?? This sucks
 
So a buddy sent me the pdf of the dannemiller lectures. I downloaded it to my computer and noticed it was 1457 pages!! I'm seriously feeling overwhelmed and have no idea how in the world I'm going to get through even a fraction of it. Plus I prefer to make notes on paper but the thought of printing out 1457 pages makes me nauseous. Any suggestions/tips for studying?? This sucks
You've been taking exams your whole adult life and have been successful- this will be no different, do some qbanks and maybe a board review book and you'll be fine.
 
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Suggest the following. divide 1457 by the number of days you have left before the exam. take that number and study/read that many pages every day until you finish. If 1457 is too big a number for you, obtain a source that is smaller. YMMV.
 
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So a buddy sent me the pdf of the dannemiller lectures. I downloaded it to my computer and noticed it was 1457 pages!! I'm seriously feeling overwhelmed and have no idea how in the world I'm going to get through even a fraction of it. Plus I prefer to make notes on paper but the thought of printing out 1457 pages makes me nauseous. Any suggestions/tips for studying?? This sucks
Print double sided? ;)
 
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video or audio. listen while driving to and from work.

and in evening while S.O. is watching latest Nicolas Sparks book made in to a movie...
 
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where can you get the Dannemiller lectures?
 
video or audio. listen while driving to and from work.

and in evening while S.O. is watching latest Nicolas Sparks book made in to a movie...
This. The PDF slides are varying in quality and are not high-yield without the accompanying video or audio.

I simply listened to the lectures while commuting and while seeing the slides would've helped some, the audio is good enough.
 
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So a buddy sent me the pdf of the dannemiller lectures. I downloaded it to my computer and noticed it was 1457 pages!! I'm seriously feeling overwhelmed and have no idea how in the world I'm going to get through even a fraction of it. Plus I prefer to make notes on paper but the thought of printing out 1457 pages makes me nauseous. Any suggestions/tips for studying?? This sucks
Can u send it here please? Been lookin for the pdf
 
dannemiller is great... but not all the videos are meaningful to the exam.

Yaksh lectures are interesting, and some of it comes up. fiber types, myelination etc
Candido talks on sympathetically mediated pain
Rana talks on peds/OB minor points


ASA Questions were helpful and free online. Boardvitals is good for your own knowledge.
 
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You don’t need to read these slides to do well on the exam. You just do a bazillion questions and/or make notecards and you’re golden. If you want to read the slides because you are personally interested, great, but nowhere near necessary.
 
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I think that whatever you study, the exam generally sorts out those who prepare from those who don't.

I thought BoardVitals and PassMachine were disappointingly low yield. But still, if you do enough, you can potentially get enough yield...
 
Anyone have a guess as to how many questions are in each of the Q Banks (Board Vitals and Pain Exam)? Thanks!
 
Got this the other day. Read carefully as it may not apply to you.

Today, the ABPMR is sharing great news: Starting in 2020, ABPMR pain medicine diplomates will have the option of using Longitudinal Assessment for Pain Medicine (LA-Pain) instead of the Pain Medicine Examination to fulfill the knowledge assessment requirement for maintaining certification.

After the success of our CertLink pilot this year demonstrating the value LA offers to physiatrists, the ABPMR Board of Directors is thrilled to be able to extend the offering of LA to our pain medicine subspecialty physicians. This change was made possible by the pain medicine subspecialty sponsoring board, the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA), whose team built a platform for sponsoring boards’ diplomates to participate in their longitudinal assessment process (called MOCA Minute® for anesthesiologists) starting in 2020.

What does this mean for me?

Instead of taking the secure Pain Medicine Examination by your certificate’s expiration year, you will have the option of participating in LA-Pain instead. Meeting the LA-Pain performance standard by the end of the year your certificate expires will fulfill your exam requirement for MOC. (If you’ve already passed the exam early, congratulations! We’ll have more details over the next year about when you’ll start participating in LA-Pain, but you won’t need to participate to fulfill your exam requirement.)

Due to ABPMR’s focus on implementing LA for PM&R using CertLink in 2020, we are limiting participation in LA-Pain in 2020 to those pain medicine diplomates with certificates expiring in 2020 – but don’t worry! It will open to other pain medicine diplomates starting in 2021, and after full implementation in the next couple of years, all pain medicine diplomates will be participating in LA-Pain on an ongoing basis. The annual enrollment fee for LA-Pain is currently $200.

Pain Medicine Examination Option

While we encourage diplomates to take advantage of the LA-Pain option for its continual learning benefits, we understand some physicians may prefer a secure exam option. The ABA will continue to offer the Pain Medicine Examination as an option for maintaining your certification in pain medicine; the 2019 exam application is currently open (regular deadline is June 30); the application period for next year’s exam will be from March 1 – June 30, 2020.
 
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So a buddy sent me the pdf of the dannemiller lectures. I downloaded it to my computer and noticed it was 1457 pages!! I'm seriously feeling overwhelmed and have no idea how in the world I'm going to get through even a fraction of it. Plus I prefer to make notes on paper but the thought of printing out 1457 pages makes me nauseous. Any suggestions/tips for studying?? This sucks

Ive thtake
where can you get the Dannemiller lectures?
Order them online- it is about $600. I have taken the exam three times and I have used the Danemiller review for the last two. The lectures change very little over the years. I use it also for CMEs, as you can generate a ton with it.

As stated above, you can listen to the lectures in your car. There are exam questions at the end of each section.

Have you already taken your boards once? If so, the MOCA questions every quarter are pretty decent and have references. If you have not taken your boards, have a buddy write down the MOCA questions as well.

Don't worry- the exam is easy and designed for anyone with a modicum of knowledge to pass.

The first round of exams in the early 90s were great. Then they started adding PM&R , neurology, ortho, and neurosurgeons to write many of the questions and the quality went way down. Bad mouth anesthesia all you want, but they usually put out a quality exam. The current test is easy, but there are several questions with incorrect answers (like medial branch nerve at L5 and visceral pain fibers being sympathetic nerve fibers). If you prepare at all, you will pass.
 
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Got this the other day. Read carefully as it may not apply to you.

Today, the ABPMR is sharing great news: Starting in 2020, ABPMR pain medicine diplomates will have the option of using Longitudinal Assessment for Pain Medicine (LA-Pain) instead of the Pain Medicine Examination to fulfill the knowledge assessment requirement for maintaining certification.

After the success of our CertLink pilot this year demonstrating the value LA offers to physiatrists, the ABPMR Board of Directors is thrilled to be able to extend the offering of LA to our pain medicine subspecialty physicians. This change was made possible by the pain medicine subspecialty sponsoring board, the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA), whose team built a platform for sponsoring boards’ diplomates to participate in their longitudinal assessment process (called MOCA Minute® for anesthesiologists) starting in 2020.

What does this mean for me?

Instead of taking the secure Pain Medicine Examination by your certificate’s expiration year, you will have the option of participating in LA-Pain instead. Meeting the LA-Pain performance standard by the end of the year your certificate expires will fulfill your exam requirement for MOC. (If you’ve already passed the exam early, congratulations! We’ll have more details over the next year about when you’ll start participating in LA-Pain, but you won’t need to participate to fulfill your exam requirement.)

Due to ABPMR’s focus on implementing LA for PM&R using CertLink in 2020, we are limiting participation in LA-Pain in 2020 to those pain medicine diplomates with certificates expiring in 2020 – but don’t worry! It will open to other pain medicine diplomates starting in 2021, and after full implementation in the next couple of years, all pain medicine diplomates will be participating in LA-Pain on an ongoing basis. The annual enrollment fee for LA-Pain is currently $200.

Pain Medicine Examination Option

While we encourage diplomates to take advantage of the LA-Pain option for its continual learning benefits, we understand some physicians may prefer a secure exam option. The ABA will continue to offer the Pain Medicine Examination as an option for maintaining your certification in pain medicine; the 2019 exam application is currently open (regular deadline is June 30); the application period for next year’s exam will be from March 1 – June 30, 2020.

Sounds like an improved process- good job!

I'm a little dense. Am I to understand that the MOCA minute or the LA-Pain option will take place of the re-cert exam every ten years? So one just participates in the process and there is no exam at the end of ten years? If so, it sounds like a good idea. I learn a lot more from the MOCA minute questions every quarter than I ever did from the ABA pain exam. I am in the MOCA process (but may retire before my fourth time is up) and actually like the questions. They are well referenced and usually applicable, unlike the straight ABA pain exam.
 
So I took my initial pain boards in 2009 and received a certificate good from 2009-2019. I am taking my recertification pain exam in Sept of this year which will then provide me with a certificate from 2019-2029. They better not make me also do the LA-Pain during this time period as I should be good until 2029. Is anyone else in a similar boat as me and just missed the cutoff??
 
So I took my initial pain boards in 2009 and received a certificate good from 2009-2019. I am taking my recertification pain exam in Sept of this year which will then provide me with a certificate from 2019-2029. They better not make me also do the LA-Pain during this time period as I should be good until 2029. Is anyone else in a similar boat as me and just missed the cutoff??
I just took mine last year and was told it was good for 10 years. It could change because I think I read that for the primary PMR boards they are only providing a 5 year "grace period" before mandatory enrollment into the CertLink program. That would be pretty annoying if they pull a stunt like that for pain. I paid a lot of money and invested a lot of time for that exam...
 
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I just took mine last year and was told it was good for 10 years. It could change because I think I read that for the primary PMR boards they are only providing a 5 year "grace period" before mandatory enrollment into the CertLink program. That would be pretty annoying if they pull a stunt like that for pain. I paid a lot of money and invested a lot of time for that exam...
I completely agree. It should start on the date your current 10 year cycle ends
 
So a buddy sent me the pdf of the dannemiller lectures. I downloaded it to my computer and noticed it was 1457 pages!! I'm seriously feeling overwhelmed and have no idea how in the world I'm going to get through even a fraction of it. Plus I prefer to make notes on paper but the thought of printing out 1457 pages makes me nauseous. Any suggestions/tips for studying?? This sucks
Sent you a message to your inbox. Please respond whenever you have time!
 
Sounds like an improved process- good job!

I'm a little dense. Am I to understand that the MOCA minute or the LA-Pain option will take place of the re-cert exam every ten years? So one just participates in the process and there is no exam at the end of ten years? If so, it sounds like a good idea. I learn a lot more from the MOCA minute questions every quarter than I ever did from the ABA pain exam. I am in the MOCA process (but may retire before my fourth time is up) and actually like the questions. They are well referenced and usually applicable, unlike the straight ABA pain exam.
I believe MOCA min replaces the pain boards. they count for both anesthesia and pain recert. at least it does for me.
 
Anyone have a guess as to how many questions are in each of the Q Banks (Board Vitals and Pain Exam)? Thanks!

To help anyone who is studying, Board Vitals is 680 questions and seems pretty solid. Have yet to start Pain Exam....
 
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So Pain Exam and Board Vitals QBank? Any good review Pain books someone recommends? Also, for those who used the Dannemiller PDFs, can anyone PM me to discuss if this is indeed good material and further discussion?
 
Any advice for the last week of cramming? I was planning to repeat BoardVitals incorrect Qs.
 
oh yes, people have failed (not me, but I know a few who have)

at this point, the best thing to do is to get plenty of rest, and during the test keep a look out for those questions/areas that you think you did poorly on, so you can study them for the "next time I take the test".

of course, you wont have to take it again....
 
Just took this exam today. Gotta say felt like I was taking a psychology/psychiatry exam. Such irrelevant stuff that even if I studied for 10 years, 30% of the questions would still be unanswerable. They really need to get better question writers.

Anyone else have any thoughts?
 
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I completely agree. I did boardvitals, huntoon, and Woodbury (50%) but felt I know correct answer for only less than 40-% q. I did a lot of guesswork for the rest of my exam.
 
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Many of the questions didn't give enough information to choose between two different answer choices. Also many questions had very subjective answer choices. MRI's were garbage too.
 
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Oh great....I take it in 2 weeks. Ughhhh... any tips for those of us that still have to take it (without giving answers away of course)??
 
Don't get thrown off when you see a horrible question because you will definitely see some of them.

For example:
What's the FIRST risk you should present to a patient when advising of the risks and benefits of a stellate ganglion block?
a) risk of stroke
b) risk of seizure
c) risk of infection
d) risk of horners syndrome
e) risk of bleeding

And of course the psychology questions can be worse and totally subjective.

When you look back at tests like this, you only remember the questions you wasted a lot of time on. You forget all the easy ones.

by the way: not a real question above - just made it up
 
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cracking up because that is literally how the test is:
A patient has leg pain what is the diagnosis ?.....
 
Results for 2019 Pain Boards for PM&R candidates are up :)
 
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That test was absolute garbage and I spent the last month convinced I'd failed. Not the modest "oh that test was hard" thing but I legit thought I'd failed...87th percentile. They must have tossed like 60% of the questions.
 
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That test was absolute garbage and I spent the last month convinced I'd failed. Not the modest "oh that test was hard" thing but I legit thought I'd failed...87th percentile. They must have tossed like 60% of the questions.



Just curious, where did you look to find the percentile? All I see on the ABA website is “pass.”

Good luck to everyone.
 
That test was absolute garbage and I spent the last month convinced I'd failed. Not the modest "oh that test was hard" thing but I legit thought I'd failed...87th percentile. They must have tossed like 60% of the questions.

yup, I’ve cried wolf enough times to my wife re: bombing exams that she brushed it off, but I legitimately thought I had failed. dont have percentile but w/e, passed.
 
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Just curious, where did you look to find the percentile? All I see on the ABA website is “pass.”

Good luck to everyone.

I'm not sure about the ABA, the ABPMR gave a percentile when you click results.
 
Got my score today! 99%! :banana:..... sorry had to brag somewhere
 
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I think the strategy is to make a horrible exam and make you think you failed so you feel less ripped off when you pass.
 
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Got this the other day. Read carefully as it may not apply to you.

Today, the ABPMR is sharing great news: Starting in 2020, ABPMR pain medicine diplomates will have the option of using Longitudinal Assessment for Pain Medicine (LA-Pain) instead of the Pain Medicine Examination to fulfill the knowledge assessment requirement for maintaining certification.

After the success of our CertLink pilot this year demonstrating the value LA offers to physiatrists, the ABPMR Board of Directors is thrilled to be able to extend the offering of LA to our pain medicine subspecialty physicians. This change was made possible by the pain medicine subspecialty sponsoring board, the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA), whose team built a platform for sponsoring boards’ diplomates to participate in their longitudinal assessment process (called MOCA Minute® for anesthesiologists) starting in 2020.

What does this mean for me?

Instead of taking the secure Pain Medicine Examination by your certificate’s expiration year, you will have the option of participating in LA-Pain instead. Meeting the LA-Pain performance standard by the end of the year your certificate expires will fulfill your exam requirement for MOC. (If you’ve already passed the exam early, congratulations! We’ll have more details over the next year about when you’ll start participating in LA-Pain, but you won’t need to participate to fulfill your exam requirement.)

Due to ABPMR’s focus on implementing LA for PM&R using CertLink in 2020, we are limiting participation in LA-Pain in 2020 to those pain medicine diplomates with certificates expiring in 2020 – but don’t worry! It will open to other pain medicine diplomates starting in 2021, and after full implementation in the next couple of years, all pain medicine diplomates will be participating in LA-Pain on an ongoing basis. The annual enrollment fee for LA-Pain is currently $200.

Pain Medicine Examination Option

While we encourage diplomates to take advantage of the LA-Pain option for its continual learning benefits, we understand some physicians may prefer a secure exam option. The ABA will continue to offer the Pain Medicine Examination as an option for maintaining your certification in pain medicine; the 2019 exam application is currently open (regular deadline is June 30); the application period for next year’s exam will be from March 1 – June 30, 2020.


any anesthesia/pain pain know if it's possible to do pain subspecialty MOCA, longitudinal assessment without doing anesthesia MOCA? It sounds like ABPMR is "borrowing" LA-Pain from ABA. I'd assume ABA would allow pain subspecialty MOCA to be separately available for ABA/pain subspecialty diplomat.

No need to have anesthesia certification anymore and don't want to be bothered with ABA quarterly questions on anesthesia-related questions.
 
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