Pathology Boards (CP only) 2020 fall

[Hakkunamattata]

Hi
I'm preparing for upcoming CP boards in fall 2020. I have done path primer questions. Wanted to utilize another resource for quality CP question bank. Anyone who can comment on "PathDojo VS Boardsvitals"? which one would you suggest and why?

Thanks

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[KeratinPearls]

Path primer are the same questions from Leftkowich and Spitalnik?

 

[coroner]

PathPrimer draws from Lefkowitch and Spitalnik. It is advertised as questions designed by pathologists using those sources as well as other pathology texts. Whereas pathologyboardreview.com are verbatim questions directly from those books. I never used PathPrimer, Boardvitals, or PathDojo, but Spitalnik is excellent for CP, imo. So many sources out there now. I remember when I was a med student/junior resident, the 4th years were memorizing Robbins and Konemann plates...ughh

 

[deleted314957]

PathPrimer draws from Lefkowitch and Spitalnik. It is advertised as questions designed by pathologists using those sources as well as other pathology texts. Whereas pathologyboardreview.com are verbatim questions drawn directly from those books. I never used PathPrimer, Boardvitals, or PathDojo, but the Spitalnik is an excellent source for CP, imo. So many sources out there now. I remember when I was a med student/junior resident, the 4th years were memorizing Robbins and Konemann plates...ughh

Konemann’s plates, what memories

 

[coroner]

I heard stories from older colleagues/attendings what it was like when you took boards, back when it was handwritten (as in No.2 pencils, not the 'written' section on boards now). Instead of breaking it up in small groups (30-40) each person in a computer cubicle like they do now, it was every single 4th year graduate crammed into a hotel conference center room. They were recommended to get a seat as close to the front row as possible, because they used a projector screen to put Kodachrome images on. And if you got stuck in a back row, you had to be prepared with binoculars in case you were too far away!

 

[ccous]

Between dojo and board vitals I thought dojo had better CP questions. Both were helpful. Spitalnik is really good, just hard to motivate yourself to read all the explanations, but it really helps. Do the compendium several times. I took the exam last year.

 

[deleted314957]

I heard stories from older colleagues/attendings what it was like when you took boards, back when it was handwritten (as in No.2 pencils, not the 'written' section on boards now). Instead of breaking it up in small groups (30-40) each person in a computer cubicle like they do now, it was every single 4th year graduate crammed into a hotel conference center room. They were recommended to get a seat as close to the front row as possible, because they used a projector screen to put Kodachrome images on. And if you got stuck in a back row, you had to be prepared with binoculars in case you were too far away!

That’s how it was in my day.

 

[alpinebrook]

I like the ASCP resident question bank.

 

[Med Director New England]

Pay attention during your CP rotations work hard and you’ll be fine. No need to study for a test

 

[coroner]

Pay attention during your CP rotations work hard and you’ll be fine. No need to study for a test

The last part is "turrrible" advice (as Charles Barkley would say). No one would disagree with working hard and paying attention. But, unless someone is gifted with genius level intellect or a bona fide pathology savant, they would never blow off studying for CP or AP. More so for CP because of the written section and all the factoids and minutiae one needs to know vs AP where excellent morphologic/image-recognition diagnostic skills could be enough to pass. In those cases, I've heard of some people focusing on CP prep more than AP, because they are more comfortable with their AP skills. But, everybody does at least some studying.

I would also say most CP rotations suck as far as board prep (at least most of mine did). However, this is program dependent. But, the variance in quality of education in CP rotations relevant to board prep is far greater than that of AP, imo. The residency programs that are more likely to be deficient are those that do not have fellowships in particular CP specialties. Either way, when I was a fellow and compared my residency program to my fellowship program (different institutions) and talked with other fellows who came from all over the country, the quality of their CP rotations was all over the place. Less so for their AP training.

From my anecdotal experience (I feel like this has to be a disclaimer on everything in the Pathology forum), I've never met or heard of a resident or recent fellow walk in and take CP boards with zero prep and pass, nor any who willingly chose to not study because they thought they'd "do fine" and passed. Even the best & brightest I met did some studying. Could they have passed without studying?...maybe. But the point is they still studied.

Lastly, the OP said he's taking the boards this fall, so he's obviously graduated at this point. So, "paying attention during rotations" is a moot point. They're either in fellowship or beyond; and, at this point with boards coming up, they should be hunkering down and studying hard. Their career and future is on the line. Probably doesn't matter for the OP because they peaced out after all the other posts...hopefully future test takers take this into consideration.

 

[KeratinPearls]

The last part is "turrrible" advice (as Charles Barkley would say). No one would disagree with working hard and paying attention. But, unless someone is gifted with genius level intellect or a bona fide pathology savant, they would never blow off studying for CP or AP. More so for CP because of the written section and all the factoids and minutiae one needs to know vs AP where excellent morphologic/image-recognition diagnostic skills could be enough to pass. In those cases, I've heard of some people focusing on CP prep more than AP, because they are more comfortable with their AP skills. But, everybody does at least some studying.

I would also say most CP rotations suck as far as board prep (at least most of mine did). However, this is program dependent. But, the variance in quality of education in CP rotations relevant to board prep is far greater than that of AP, imo. The residency programs that are more likely to be deficient are those that do not have fellowships in particular CP specialties. Either way, when I was a fellow and compared my residency program to my fellowship program (different institutions) and talked with other fellows who came from all over the country, the quality of their CP rotations was all over the place. Less so for their AP training.

From my anecdotal experience (I feel like this has to be a disclaimer on everything in the Pathology forum), I've never met or heard of a resident or recent fellow walk in and take CP boards with zero prep and pass, nor any who willingly chose to not study because they thought they'd "do fine" and passed. Even the best & brightest I met did some studying. Could they have passed without studying?...maybe. But the point is they still studied.

Lastly, the OP said he's taking the boards this fall, so he's obviously graduated at this point. So, "paying attention during rotations" is a moot point. They're either in fellowship or beyond; and, at this point with boards coming up, they should be hunkering down and studying hard. Their career and future is on the line. Probably doesn't matter for the OP because they peaced out after all the other posts...hopefully future test takers take this into consideration.

Yeah after I read “you don’t have to study” for CP, I thought MedDirector must be a genius or something.

 

[Med Director New England]

I didn’t study at all for The combined AP/CP boards. No time - my residency was demanding and had a lot going on in life when I was in residency. Most at my program did not study at all for AP. A handful didn’t study at all for AP or CP. those who studied CP at my program would have passed w/o any preparation imo just too nervous to do it, many of my co-residents really were geniuses. when I took the boards the pass rate for ALL test takers was around 75-80 % If I remember correctly and a bit higher than that for first time test takers. I knew even w/o studying I was not in the bottom quartile of all test takers - so I didn’t study.

I am not a genius but tend to recall things I have read, particularly if reinforced by daily activities on the CP rotations. This was how my program was set up.

My CP training was very good - most of the faculty contributed test questions to the ABP and actually expected you to really learn about their lab. I was comfortable signing out spep’s, reviewing peripheral blood, handling micro questions, blood banking, etc after the various rotations. They tended to emphasize these important concepts that would likely be on the boards. So yes it is program dependent. But I stand by what I say - if you actually learned the material and concepts during your CP months it is quite possible to be prepared enough to pass the boards w/o extra studying.

 

[KeratinPearls]

I personally don’t know anyone who did not study. No matter how great my rotations were, I would have to study. Your attendings aren’t going to spew board questions at you for four years so you are able to ace the boards but that seems to be the case with your program.

CP rotations at mid to lower tier programs stink. I mean stink as in CP was a vacation time where residents just socialized. I have friends who dropped CP because they had no clue with CP, because the training sucked. AP was decent but CP was weak. Residents failed AP. Some failed CP. Some failed Cytopath boards.

I think thats one way to weed out programs to help with the oversupply. Those with weak CP training should be axed.

 

[KeratinPearls]

I didn’t study at all for The combined AP/CP boards. No time - my residency was demanding and had a lot going on in life when I was in residency. Most at my program did not study at all for AP. A handful didn’t study at all for AP or CP. those who studied CP at my program would have passed w/o any preparation imo just too nervous to do it, many of my co-residents really were geniuses. when I took the boards the pass rate for ALL test takers was around 75-80 % If I remember correctly and a bit higher than that for first time test takers. I knew even w/o studying I was not in the bottom quartile of all test takers - so I didn’t study.

I am not a genius but tend to recall things I have read, particularly if reinforced by daily activities on the CP rotations. This was how my program was set up.

My CP training was very good - most of the faculty contributed test questions to the ABP and actually expected you to really learn about their lab. I was comfortable signing out spep’s, reviewing peripheral blood, handling micro questions, blood banking, etc after the various rotations. They tended to emphasize these important concepts that would likely be on the boards. So yes it is program dependent. But I stand by what I say - if you actually learned the material and concepts during your CP months it is quite possible to be prepared enough to pass the boards w/o extra studying.

Sounds like you were at a good academic program. Most programs where I did residency and fellowship weren’t like that. I mean you can tell when you have a great rotation where you learn a lot and have some great teachers. That’s not the case at some programs.