Passing scores for the Boards

[Cytologica]

Can we predict the passing score for the Boards?

The number of questions answered correctly on each section (written and practical) is converted into a three-digit score of 500. Those who score 500 and above pass the section. Both sections have to be passed in order to pass the entire exam.

I wonder what percentage of Qs should be answered correctly in each section order to pass that section?

Similar to the USMLE, the passing score corresponds to a percentage of 60-70% of correct answers. Is it the same for the Boards? I just wonder..

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[deleted314957]

Can we predict the passing score for the Boards?

The number of questions answered correctly on each section (written and practical) is converted into a three-digit score of 500. Those who score 500 and above pass the section. Both sections have to be passed in order to pass the entire exam.

I wonder what percentage of Qs should be answered correctly in each section order to pass that section?

Similar to the USMLE, the passing score corresponds to a percentage of 60-70% of correct answers. Is it the same for the Boards? I just wonder..

Damn, I hate to sound like such a cynic, but if you have, or have real true concerns about passing the boards you are a loser and we don't need any more of you in the field. The boards should be a cruise. If you are a bottom 75-80 %er, adios.

 

[Patho2009]

This was discussed before. No body knows. The guess is 60%, however. Good luck.

 

[2121115]

Damn, I hate to sound like such a cynic, but if you have, or have real true concerns about passing the boards you are a loser and we don't need any more of you in the field. The boards should be a cruise. If you are a bottom 75-80 %er, adios.

LOL. So if you are not in the top 20% of pathology residents at a test then you don't deserve to work? No profession can survive like that. Imagine if only 20% of surgery residents or internal medicine residents were fit to work. Sheesh.

 

[Patho2009]

Don't worry much about the minimum passing score. If you are well-trained and well-prepared for the exam, you can answer 50% of the Qs easily. The rest are meant not to be easy (difficult, odd, rare scenarios, tricky choices..etc) but you can answer many of them if you studied enough. Sometimes it happen that you miss easy questions due to several factors (lack of concentration, fast reading, misunderstanding the question, stupid mistake..lol), but you still can easily pass if your overall performance is above the set number/percentage.

Passing the exam does not mean you are a good pathologist and failing the exam does not mean you are a bad pathologist either. You may fail because of lack of good preparation (e.g. not enough time or not using the good review books), not having skills on answering multiple choice questions, not having the remembrances compilation that your colleagues had (lol), not having enough sleep the night before the exam day...and the list is long...

I personally knew people who were not good residents but they were very good exam takers. They passed the exams easily and they struggled in the real life.. I also knew good residents who failed the exams because of lack of good preparation. They passed them easily on the subsequent attempts ...

 

[deleted314957]

LOL. So if you are not in the top 20% of pathology residents at a test then you don't deserve to work? No profession can survive like that. Imagine if only 20% of surgery residents or internal medicine residents were fit to work. Sheesh.

I seriously mis-spoke and I apologise. If you are a bottom 20-25th percentile person, we do not need you.

 

[2121115]

I seriously mis-spoke and I apologise. If you are a bottom 20-25th percentile person, we do not need you.

Oh, ok. That makes more sense.

 

[zao275]

I personally knew people who were not good residents but they were very good exam takers. They passed the exams easily and they struggled in the real life.. I also knew good residents who failed the exams because of lack of good preparation. They passed them easily on the subsequent attempts ...

I have seen the same in some of my colleagues. Really competent pathologists who had difficulty passing boards due to lack of preparation.

 

[yaah]

Don't worry about the "score" you are getting because it doesn't really matter. When you take the test you aren't going to be analyzing things and counting questions right and wrong. It is not worth trying to predict. If you do well enough to pass, you will do well enough to pass.

 

[mdinstead99]

Is there anyone out there that took the FALL 2010 Boards of Pathology???

 

[twentyone]

Don't worry about the "score" you are getting because it doesn't really matter. When you take the test you aren't going to be analyzing things and counting questions right and wrong. It is not worth trying to predict. If you do well enough to pass, you will do well enough to pass.

I totally counted questions during CP. During that long "written" section, I added up the ones I knew, plus 1/2 of the ones I narrowed to two answers, and that percent was above 70% so I thought I would pass. I did. Your experience may vary.

 

[HRantz]

Is there anyone out there that took the FALL 2010 Boards of Pathology???

Yes, of course. What do you need?

 

[yaah]

I totally counted questions during CP. During that long "written" section, I added up the ones I knew, plus 1/2 of the ones I narrowed to two answers, and that percent was above 70% so I thought I would pass. I did. Your experience may vary.

I did that too but that doesn't mean I knew the answers. I had a similar experience, I went back through it at the end at checked off ones I was either unsure about or not sure at all and got a rough percentage.

 

[zao275]

I totally counted questions during CP. During that long "written" section, I added up the ones I knew, plus 1/2 of the ones I narrowed to two answers, and that percent was above 70% so I thought I would pass. I did. Your experience may vary.

Glad to know I am not the only one who did this. I marked any that I was not fairly confident about on both AP and CP and felt that I was comfortable with between 65-75% on CP and closer to 80% on AP. I have no idea what I actually got correct, but I passed. For what it is worth.

 

[mdinstead99]

Was it just me or was the CP portion difficult? It was a lot more challenging than I expected. Should scores be posted by December 1?

 

[KCShaw]

Almost everyone I've spoken to who gave an opinion over the years has thought the CP portion seemed more difficult than the AP portion, except for me. And there was really no logical reason for that. Like most people, my focus was primarily AP. I can't imagine this year being much different.

 

[HRantz]

I'm expecting scores around Thanksgiving. I found parts of CP difficult, but overall I thought it was manageable. I'm more worried about AP, since we have to pass both the practical and written parts to be certified.