QE results out today. Luckily I passed. Here is my study strategy...

[CH52584]

First of all, I wouldn't call myself the strongest test taker. My absite scores averaged in the 43rd percentile, with a high of 55th and low of 21st. That said, I scored in the 72nd percentile on the QE.

Start early. Ideally, you're studying for the QE by preparing for the ABSITE every year, but by the start of your chief year, you should already have your fellowship (if applicable) and you shouldn't stress too much about the ABSITE, you should be focusing on a year long plan to ace the QE.

My residency program bought us Sabiston's, Greenfield, and Cameron over the last 3 years. If you aren't as lucky, I recommend buying one or two of these books, and plan on reading one cover to cover in a year. I chose Cameron, as it was easy to divide up since the chapters are relatively short compared to the others. It's 274 chapters, which means you have to get through 5-6 chapters a week. Pretty easy to do.

Every time I finished a section (for example, the Esophagus is covered by chapters 1-13) I would work all questions for that section on SCORE. It's better practice for the ABSITE (which is helpful, especially before ABSITE), but also reinforces what you read.

After graduation, I started a 4-5 week intensive study session using mainly SESAP. I have SESAP 12-15, and started with the earliest version (12). I would start a SESAP on a Monday and was able to work it in about 3-4 days. I took the total average and the average for each individual section, and any section that I scored below my total average on, I re-read those chapters in a different textbook (I chose sabiston) over the next few days. I then started the next SESAP the following Monday.

SESAP is MUCH harder than the actual exam. I was getting about 58-59% correct on SESAP 12 and was able to improve my score on each subsequent SESAP to 65% on SESAP 15. There are some incorrect questions on the earlier SESAPs (a question about axillary dissection after SLN biopsy with micrometastasis on SESAP 14 comes to mind), but overall I found that on subsequent SESAPs, the questions would emphasize major changes since the last one, which is why I recommend working them in order.

I had some extra time after I finished SESAP, so ended up working DeVergilio and the UNC ABSITE review questions, but found them less helpful. The questions on the QE are more similar to SESAP questions than any other practice questions I found.

There were 303 questions on the exam, and I found that I was 100% confident of my answers on half, 75%+ on about a fourth, and 50/50 or so on the other fourth. I felt well prepared, though I think everybody left the test with some expectation that they may have failed...for me, it was the same feeling as I had after ABSITEs.

Well, glad that's over, and good luck to those of you taking this test in the future. Hope this helps!

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[Star Dust]

I too passed and do not consider myself a good test taker. I've had some low ABSITE scores over the years but some improved ones towards the end. My highest percentile was 69th, my lowest was 11 (awful I know, but if I can pass you can too!) The trick is to do tons of questions. I did not have the time to read a textbook in my chief year but I had gone through text books previously in residency.

In the months before the exam (like end of April/May) I read review books. I used Makary, which is superficial but reminds you of topics you need to study. I also read General Surgery Board Review. That book was ok, also superficial but in paragraph form which was a break from the bullet point format of Makary, also this one had questions at the end of every chapter (~200 total.) Once I had done that and felt like I had brushed up on topics, I started questions. I did over 3500 in the 2 months before the exam.

I used SCORE and did all the questions, excluding the fellowship level ones. That was about 1900 of the questions, after doing all the questions my percent correct was 62%. Then I did SESAP 15. Which is about 800 questions. I also listened to the SESAP audio companion which really is quite a good resource to go along with the SESAP questions. I had the paper version because it was cheaper to buy used on Amazon than pay for the online access via the ACS website, so I don't know my actual percent correct. It was made 3 years ago, so I'm sure 16 is coming soon and that may not be an option for that version. Anyway, my percent correct I would guess was also around 60-some as these questions are quite challenging. Both score and SESAP questions include a lot of "Which one is true and which one is false" questions that require you to know multiple facts at once to get it right and making them more difficult then the actual exam. At least that's my feeling. In the end, I had a couple days left and went through my trusty DiVergilio question book, and got through about 600 questions. Fiser was always by my side and I would look over sections I felt were weak areas for me, to get a break from questions.

I ended up feeling confident about 73% (I actually counted, during the exam, I'm crazy) and the rest I worried about for 3 weeks. I was convinced I would fail by one question.

For the actual exam day, there was plenty of time to go through questions and I had time to spare (seriously, I counted my confidence questions.) I took all the breaks except the last one (just wanted to be done!) Of note, I did not start my fellowship until August 1st and was lucky enough to stick around where I did residency, study, take the test and then pack and move after the exam. I ended up in the 65th percentile on the actual exam. Not too shabby for a poor test taker who was in the hot seat for my ABSITE score more times then I care to count. The bottom line is, I passed. It required a fair bit of effort, but in the end, I'm happy with how it went. Questions are the way to go. Good luck to everyone taking this in the future! Hope this helps!

 

[SLUser11]

First of all, I wouldn't call myself the strongest test taker. My absite scores averaged in the 43rd percentile, with a high of 55th and low of 21st. That said, I scored in the 72nd percentile on the QE.

Start early. Ideally, you're studying for the QE by preparing for the ABSITE every year, but by the start of your chief year, you should already have your fellowship (if applicable) and you shouldn't stress too much about the ABSITE, you should be focusing on a year long plan to ace the QE.

My residency program bought us Sabiston's, Greenfield, and Cameron over the last 3 years. If you aren't as lucky, I recommend buying one or two of these books, and plan on reading one cover to cover in a year. I chose Cameron, as it was easy to divide up since the chapters are relatively short compared to the others. It's 274 chapters, which means you have to get through 5-6 chapters a week. Pretty easy to do.

Every time I finished a section (for example, the Esophagus is covered by chapters 1-13) I would work all questions for that section on SCORE. It's better practice for the ABSITE (which is helpful, especially before ABSITE), but also reinforces what you read.

After graduation, I started a 4-5 week intensive study session using mainly SESAP. I have SESAP 12-15, and started with the earliest version (12). I would start a SESAP on a Monday and was able to work it in about 3-4 days. I took the total average and the average for each individual section, and any section that I scored below my total average on, I re-read those chapters in a different textbook (I chose sabiston) over the next few days. I then started the next SESAP the following Monday.

SESAP is MUCH harder than the actual exam. I was getting about 58-59% correct on SESAP 12 and was able to improve my score on each subsequent SESAP to 65% on SESAP 15. There are some incorrect questions on the earlier SESAPs (a question about axillary dissection after SLN biopsy with micrometastasis on SESAP 14 comes to mind), but overall I found that on subsequent SESAPs, the questions would emphasize major changes since the last one, which is why I recommend working them in order.

I had some extra time after I finished SESAP, so ended up working DeVergilio and the UNC ABSITE review questions, but found them less helpful. The questions on the QE are more similar to SESAP questions than any other practice questions I found.

There were 303 questions on the exam, and I found that I was 100% confident of my answers on half, 75%+ on about a fourth, and 50/50 or so on the other fourth. I felt well prepared, though I think everybody left the test with some expectation that they may have failed...for me, it was the same feeling as I had after ABSITEs.

Well, glad that's over, and good luck to those of you taking this test in the future. Hope this helps!

Great job!

To people reading this, my personal recommendation is to start with the most recent SESAP (e.g. 16) and work backwards. That way you can exclude the least relevant SESAP (12) if you run out of time, you can go over the most recent SESAP a second time if time permits, and you have an updated framework for what's right and wrong, as older resources may have more controversial or contradictory answers, and this can frustrate you at the beginning of the study period.

 

[jperson]

I found the QE to be very similar to the absite. If you did alright on the absite you shouldn't have a problem. I went through the most recent SESAP once over a one week period and did pretty well. Now for the orals... anyone have advice on which region may be more difficult than others? This year is Philly, Salt Lake, St Louis...

 

[vhawk]

Why would any one region be harder, and how would anyone know that?

 

[vhawk]

Dumb response on my part sorry, serious answer.

Philly is always a tough place to play, inclement weather and the home fans are brutal. These are the guys who booed Santa. Tough to go in there and get a W.

Salt lake is known for its hospitality and mountains. But it's basicslly a dry city. That ain't gonna hack it for post exam. And you don't wanna compete at altitude if you aren't used to it, yer gonna get winded by the second room.

St Louis seems the obvious choice.

 

[VPDcurt]

I found the QE to be very similar to the absite. If you did alright on the absite you shouldn't have a problem. I went through the most recent SESAP once over a one week period and did pretty well. Now for the orals... anyone have advice on which region may be more difficult than others? This year is Philly, Salt Lake, St Louis...

According to the ABS website, location and/or timing does not matter.