Prep courses for Oral and writtens

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intubator

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Here is my two cents....

I just passed the orals (Yahoo!!!!) and so did about 4 or 5 other people at my institution. None of us did prep courses. There are about 9 people here that are currently examiners or have been at one time - and most of them say the prep courses are not worth the money and time. The makers of these courses are feeding on the fear and anxiety that the test-taker has. They even said that the prep courses can hurt you because your answers start to sound like everyone else that went to the course and examiners HATE this (don't ever say "beat to beat blood pressure" for a reason to place an a-line, or "graded induction").

Here is what I did and most of the others did - we read Yao and Artusio's well written book, and I think a must read is Board Stiff Two - and the main message in this book is to practice, practice, practice - and you can easily accomplish this without an expensive prep course. My buddy also used Faust for oral board prep - and I think that is an excellent idea.

I agree with what some others have written, that big blue/red is way to expensive for what you get. Seriously, if you read Faust 2 or 3 times before the writtens, there is NO WAY you won't pass, and this book is probably like 60 dollars. jensen's crap book is close to $1000. The courses are ridiculously expensive.

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I think a prep course for the orals is something that should be considered, but is not essential. The key is to practice, practice, practice, as stated above. For me, since I moved to a city with no anesthesiology residency, I did not really have anyone to practice with since I was away from all my resident friends, so I took a course. My partners gave me a couple of mock orals, but the rest was reading out loud, talking in front of a mirror, and the course.

The course helps you practice out loud, but it also helps in the sense that you see how others answer questions too. Of course you can accomplish this with a good study group, but if you don't have access to one, a course is not a bad idea. Hey, I passed, so I don't really care about the added expense. You can deduct these expenses against your taxes anyway.
 
I agree with gas....the cost of failing is much higher than Jenson's $1000...some would estimate that failing costs somewhere near $10000 when you factor in the direct and indirect costs of taking that dreaded beast again..


many anesthesiologist easily pass the orals without taking a single review course...some decide to take many....some fail after taking many. It really is a personal decision. If you are in a rural busy private practice, you may consider a course to get practice and confidence. If you are in the midst of academia (and hence probable board examiners) then you may not need it..


I do agree that the yao and artusio book is excellent. there is also a personalized mock oral course at justoralboards.com. they will call you and conduct oral boards exams over the phone...almost as expensive as jenson but you never have to leave your home...i ended up taking the jenson course. to be honest I feel that I would have passed without it..to me Yao was more helpful. There is however some benefit to watching others stumble or coast..


good luck to all who are travelling this road....personally, i think that the whole oral board system should be scrapped. it is way to subjective....If you think about it the candidates are already in practice and already have jobs...What does failing someone actually prove? Most of the anesthesiolgists who ultimately make a bad decision adversely affecting patient care ARE board certified. The real reason that we are all jumping through these hoops is for MONEY for the board. This is why they added that ridiculous second part to step 2 as well. Ok, i am getting off of my soapbox...good night......
 
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