Rad (and Cancer) Bio/Physics 2019

[Grubbe-a-dub-dub]

There needs to be an explanation the the delay. We cannot just allow them to keep pushing back the release dates. It used to take 4 weeks. Now 8? What changed in 2 years?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[thecarbonionangle]

They have know the results for a long time. They are just weighing all possibilities and discussing regarding how many people will be failed. Lots of behind the scenes politics going on. Lots of people “hearing” things from people involved with the process. They ruined July 4th for most, they clearly even hate America, now they also hate lobour to “release” results supposedly the day after. Have a beer, chug a beer this three day weekend, you are going to need it!

 

[Tekbright510]

Source: They have the results, will not be released until a higher up, who is away, returns and authorizes their release, likely after Labor day.

I agree, just insulting.

 

[scarbrtj]

Source: They have the results, will not be released until a higher up, who is away, returns and authorizes their release, likely after Labor day.

I agree, just insulting.

“Away” in every sense of the word.

 

[Haybrant]

I wanted to express my anxiety over this. Man it sucks. I keep having recurring thoughts that all my training is out the door and I'll be unempolyable because of one test that I just can't seem to pass, despite how good my raphex scores were before or how well I thought I grasped the information. I know scores aren't out yet, but I am scared of what is going to be released.

Hard to see it but try not to sweat it too much, yes easy for me to say now but really, don’t trip. All your training is not out the door and you won’t be unemployable. Literally nobody will ask or care, we all know what it’s like. 100% of people that failed one of those exams has never been questioned on a job interview if they didn’t pass a board exam. Those of us that hire don’t even remember that exam or any of them really.

 

[radbioistheworst]

Hard to see it but try not to sweat it too much, yes easy for me to say now but really, don’t trip. All your training is not out the door and you won’t be unemployable. Literally nobody will ask or care, we all know what it’s like. 100% of people that failed one of those exams has never been questioned on a job interview if they didn’t pass a board exam. Those of us that hire don’t even remember that exam or any of them really.

This isn’t exactly true. I was asked, but evidently it didn’t matter

 

[AnonymousRadOnc]

In the time it has taken the ABR to get our results I have forgotten most of the pointless minutia we had to memorize. I do appreciate ARRO trying to advocate for residents and improve what was a painful experience that does not make you a better radiation oncologist.

 

[deleted956486]

Supply and demand. Anyone who doesn't see these exams as a mechanism to control supply is either lying or dumb. Circa 1 year ago: History - American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) - American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO)

Paul Wallner: Well, I’ve raised concerns I had shared. At the request of the board, I chaired a task force with Kevin Camphausen of the NCI, looking at the radiation oncology research enterprise. We were concerned that we were not training our young people for the next generation, that we were not looking at targeted therapies well enough. We were not developing agents that were specific for radiation, whether they were sensitizers or protectors. We were looking at agents that were in the pipeline developed by medical oncologists for medical oncologists or by drug companies for drug therapy. And we were taking them to see if they were were beneficial or not so beneficial for radiation. But we weren’t looking at things that really maximize the inherent properties of radiation. That was one concern.

Another concern I think is that whether we are training our young people for those, that kind of multimodality care. I mean, we talk about multimodality care but it’s really at the macro or gross level with surgery and chemotherapy. I think we need to look more to the molecular level. I think that we have not yet scratched the surface, and I’m not sure I can prophesize all this but where scientific developments will take the specialty. I mean, we already see that hyperfractionation is having an impact on the number fractions we treat. That’s having an impact on reimbursement and having an impact on workforce. We don’t know how minimally invasive surgical procedures and disruptive technologies and disruptive targeted therapies will impact the profession.

I was very active in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s when the medical oncologists thought that CMF, cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and fluorouracil, would cure breast cancer. So there was a period of years where patients had surgery and then CMF therapy. We were just never seeing them until they had their recurrences, their local recurrences, and then we got back into treating early-stage breast cancer. But now we see that with the changes in DCIS and LCIS and active surveillance in prostate cancer, the field is changing and I’m not sure that we are ready for it. I’m ready for retirement but I’m not sure with the specialty.

When I talk to young people around the country, which I do in my ABR role primarily, they always say, you know, do you have any good news? I say, yes, I’m close to retirement and my pension is funded.

 

[xrthopeful]

So your grand theory is that Wallner is trying to cut the supply of rad oncs by making so many of them fail boards enough times that they do not pass in the six year limit and then leave the field to pursue other residencies or leave medicine?

Amazing theory man! You really fleshed it out.

 

[deleted956486]

No one I know would pursue another residency. All my friends are thinking about malpractice law.

 

[xrthopeful]

I do agree with the last paragraph haha.

 

[medgator]

The ironic part, if there is truth to it, is that the same people on this board who most closely share his concerns have also been trashing him for taking action on them.

Can't say I'm thrilled to see current grads become cannon fodder in the war over the specialty of RO, but for those who make it out on the other side BC, the specialty will be a lot healthier.

Wallner might be taking action given the impotence to deal with this on the part of ASTRO/ARRO/RRC etc

 

[thecarbonionangle]

WOW!! PW a “very good guy” ah? Okayyyyyrrr.

 

[deleted941485]

Also, he’s ready to retire and well into the DNGAF phase of his life. Maybe he sees this as his parting gift to the field.

Basically he’s not gonna stick around to see this through. Who else shares his sensibilities on the issue? Nobody important.

He’s probably right in his assessment but also exemplifies the real lack of leadership.

 

[medgator]

WOW!! PW a “very good guy” ah? Okayyyyyrrr.

You prefer this?

The Residency Training Landscape - ASTRO Blog- American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) - American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO)

A look at the overall training and oversight system that trains medical students to provide specialized care as a licensed physician.

www.astro.org

 

[RO28]

Hard to see it but try not to sweat it too much, yes easy for me to say now but really, don’t trip. All your training is not out the door and you won’t be unemployable. Literally nobody will ask or care, we all know what it’s like. 100% of people that failed one of those exams has never been questioned on a job interview if they didn’t pass a board exam. Those of us that hire don’t even remember that exam or any of them really.

Well, I’ve already failed physics twice and have a job where my colleagues have been supportive. All that being said, people are only going to be supportive for so long if you can’t get yourself board certified. So here’s hoping the third time is a charm, but the anxiety is pretty crippling.

 

[Haybrant]

Well, I’ve already failed physics twice and have a job where my colleagues have been supportive. All that being said, people are only going to be supportive for so long if you can’t get yourself board certified. So here’s hoping the third time is a charm, but the anxiety is pretty crippling.

Ah ok sorry didn’t realize your personal situation. If I employed someone good that was easy to work with and responsible but didn’t pass twice tbh I would not give one ounce of care. Yes, the person would need to be good at their job bc that’s who I want working for me and there is nothing wrong w that. If they weren’t good and was failing boards that’s a different situation.

 

[sb xrt]

8 am in Tucson

 

[RO28]

Ah ok sorry didn’t realize your personal situation. If I employed someone good that was easy to work with and responsible but didn’t pass twice tbh I would not give one ounce of care. Yes, the person would need to be good at their job bc that’s who I want working for me and there is nothing wrong w that. If they weren’t good and was failing boards that’s a different situation.

It's alright, its a tricky one. I believe i am easy to work with !

 

[deleted605854]

Still nothing. Maybe in a few hours? Next week? After ASTRO? Thanksgiving? Christmas?

 

[sb xrt]

Maybe they will post the results on a bulletin board at ASTRO

 

[ramsesthenice]

Supply and demand. Anyone who doesn't see these exams as a mechanism to control supply is either lying or dumb.

Pretty bold statement to make after an N of 1. You theory will either be strengthened or weakened with this years results. If the pass rate is back up in the 90s it will be pretty hard to argue its being used as a mechanism to curb supply.

If its low again though I think the theory will carry some weight. It would also be highly immoral. Curb demand by keeping people from even starting residency not by f@!ng over the next generation who played no part in making this mess.

Again, I hope this isn't the case. There has been substantial grumbling from (non-clinician) folks involved with the exam who feel it is too easy for years. A viable alternative theory is that they wanted to flex their muscles and make sure people know they still matter and can make our lives hell if they want to.

 

[medgator]

If its low again though I think the theory will carry some weight. It would also be highly immoral. Curb demand by keeping people from even starting residency not by f@!ng over the next generation who played no part in making this mess.

ASTRO, RRC etc have basically washed their hands of this responsibility by letting expansion go unchecked the last decade, throwing the specious "antitrust" argument as cover for individual program chairman to continue to contribute to this problem, which is highly immoral as well by wasting training dollars unnecessarily training too many ROs and screwing the bargaining power of graduating ROs into both academics and pp.

 

[deleted956486]

Pretty bold statement to make after an N of 1. You theory will either be strengthened or weakened with this years results. If the pass rate is back up in the 90s it will be pretty hard to argue its being used as a mechanism to curb supply.

Agree wholeheartedly

 

[radOresident]

ABR has posted scores

 

[dieABRdie]

Good news for me this time around.... though I think I'm a bit too worn out to be happy. But definitely relieved....

 

[RO28]

Oh F*$% yes. Finally!

 

[taserlaser]

Good news for me too. Passed my redo of radbio, and passed the clinical written. Hopefully pass rates are up across the board.

 

[deleted605854]

Still have to redo physics, sadly. I'll soldier on. Congrats to all those that passed. For those that didn't, don't give up. Don't let these guys break your spirit.

 

[deleted947887]

I failed all three. This is absolute nonsense.

 

[evilbooyaa]

Got by on radbio and physics, phew!

I'll be first to post my quartiles so we can try to get some consideration of what the fail rates will be this year:

Wish they just gave overall quartiles to make life easier I guess. Results are summarized rather than by section for sake of anonymity.

Physics: a 1, a 4, and three 2s.
Rad Bio: five 1s, a 2, two 3s, and two 4s.

For the record, quartile 1 means in the lowest 25%, quartile 4 means in the highest 25%.

If you showed me just my quartiles on Rad Bio I'd think I failed TBH.

 

[5040cGy]

Passed Physics re-do! (last year: two 3's, two 2's, one 1; this year: three 3's two 4's)
Resources this time: Last 5 yrs RAPHEX x 2, Physics in Rad Onc Self Assessment Guide (Xia) x 2-3
To those who got bad news: I know it may feel like the worst day of your life, but the feeling will dissipate. Focus on learning as much as you can as a Chief. Attending life is much better; you're almost done. Attack the re-do with everything you have the next time. No one ever asked me if I passed written's when I was applying for jobs so please don't worry about that. The self-assessment guide I mentioned above was incredibly helpful for this exam and I'm surprised more people haven't used it.

 

[Radium Dial Painter]

2019 graduate. Did not pass rad bio or physics on my first attempt. Decided to go all in to get back on track, so to speak. Passed all 3 this time. On to oral boards!

For those who did not pass: it feels like the end of the world, especially when everyone is posting and tweeting and generally patting themselves on the back. It's almost definitely not. I'll be honest, it may negatively impact your job hunt but you need to know that going in and have a plan on how to address it. I had an interview offer rescinded when I was asked about my first time rad bio and physics results, which really stung, but life isn't fair. Ultimately, I think you can still find a job that works for you and I really think most people understand these two exams aren't indicative of the type of doc you'll be.

Here is how I prepared, in what I would consider to be the rough order of importance/relevance to the test (or at least the tests I took):

Physics:
- Caggiano notes and audio (listened probably 5 times)
- RAPHEX x12 years
- RadOncQuestions physics questions; repeat incorrectly answered questions
- Joiner text to fill in gaps
- UMaryland as overview/review to keep things fresh (as I was studying for two other exams)
- Did not read Khan (a bridge too far)
- Flashcards for task groups and relevant equations

Rad Bio:
- Read all of Hall and took notes (laborious but helpful)
- RadBio study guide x10 years including 2019 x2
- In-house review course taught by PhD
- RadOncQuestions rad bio questions; repeated incorrectly answered questions
- Read/summarized all the secondary articles from ABR study guide
- UMaryland course (good overview)
- Flashcards for relevant equations

(Clinical study plan posted in the clinical boards thread)

Overall, I started in January 2019 but having felt like I should have passed last year (i.e. quartile scores seemed consistent with passing in any year that wasn't 2018), I knew it was more likely to be re-learning facts and fillings in knowledge gaps than starting from zero.

For terrified PGY2/3/4s reading this, I would highly recommend starting with a casual read through of Hall in Fall of your PGY4 year, taking notes as you go. For Physics, try to spend an hour or two a week listening to Caggiano in the Fall. Once the new year rolls around, you'll have a solid understanding and a good set of notes from which you can build. Hopefully your program affords you some time off to study, which is helpful.

Feel free to PM with questions.

 

[deleted774703]

Thank you all for sharing your experiences, especially those that didn’t do well. Very brave and really helps us youngins while studying.

Echo above, these tests are stupid and don’t mean anything! Don’t let the haters keep you down.

 

[w00tz]

2019 graduate. Did not pass rad bio or physics on my first attempt. Decided to go all in to get back on track, so to speak. Passed all 3 this time. On to oral boards!

For those who did not pass: it feels like the end of the world, especially when everyone is posting and tweeting and generally patting themselves on the back. It's almost definitely not. I'll be honest, it may negatively impact your job hunt but you need to know that going in and have a plan on how to address it. I had an interview offer rescinded when I was asked about my first time rad bio and physics results, which really stung, but life isn't fair. Ultimately, I think you can still find a job that works for you and I really think most people understand these two exams aren't indicative of the type of doc you'll be.

Here is how I prepared, in what I would consider to be the rough order of importance/relevance to the test (or at least the tests I took):

Physics:
- Caggiano notes and audio (listened probably 5 times)
- RAPHEX x12 years
- RadOncQuestions physics questions; repeat incorrectly answered questions
- Joiner text to fill in gaps
- UMaryland as overview/review to keep things fresh (as I was studying for two other exams)
- Did not read Khan (a bridge too far)
- Flashcards for task groups and relevant equations

Rad Bio:
- Read all of Hall and took notes (laborious but helpful)
- RadBio study guide x10 years including 2019 x2
- In-house review course taught by PhD
- RadOncQuestions rad bio questions; repeated incorrectly answered questions
- Read/summarized all the secondary articles from ABR study guide
- UMaryland course (good overview)
- Flashcards for relevant equations

(Clinical study plan posted in the clinical boards thread)

Overall, I started in January 2019 but having felt like I should have passed last year (i.e. quartile scores seemed consistent with passing in any year that wasn't 2018), I knew it was more likely to be re-learning facts and fillings in knowledge gaps than starting from zero.

For terrified PGY2/3/4s reading this, I would highly recommend starting with a casual read through of Hall in Fall of your PGY4 year, taking notes as you go. For Physics, try to spend an hour or two a week listening to Caggiano in the Fall. Once the new year rolls around, you'll have a solid understanding and a good set of notes from which you can build. Hopefully your program affords you some time off to study, which is helpful.

Feel free to PM with questions.

Good job passing all 3. Looks like a pretty rigorous study plan. How much time per week were you studying?

 

[Radium Dial Painter]

Short answer: too much.

Longer answer: probably 10 hours/week starting in January, up to 50-60 hour a week during vacation weeks I used and the time between graduation and test day.

Too-long answer: it's frustrating to have spent this much time on an activity that will very likely yield no real advantage to my patients. I don't think I'm the first person to say this, but there are a lot of things PGY4s/5s have to contend with, including the job hunt, moving, finishing research projects, not to mention normal life things like taking a vacation or spending time with loved ones. Suffice to say, nearly all of these things took a back seat to exam preparation. I'm glad it worked out, but it remains one of the more frustrating experiences of my academic life.

 

[RO28]

To sum up my breakdown: two 4's, the rest 2's.

Compared to what I did when I didn't pass: this year I added Khan, which I had previously relied on McDermott. I read Khan cover to cover and highlighted pertinent things, which I then turned into flashcards. I have no idea how many times I went through those. I used raphex back until 2011 or 2012 and one of the physicists in our clinic very generously volunteered time to help me review items I didn't understand. I also used the Self Assessment course from Xia and went to Maryland. I though Maryland was okay, would have appreciated them doing more practice questions because that is what works well for me in terms of learning. I also used the ROQ and did all the physics questions twice.

What I did not use: Caggiano, McDermott.

What I could have done more of: I think I could have spent some more time on the task group reports, but I really tried to get through them and they were just too boring.

I started studying in January and took two weeks off right before to give myself a bootcamp and take raphex on fresh brain power (as opposed to a post-clinic brain).

Please DM me if you want more specifics, I want to help because I know how trying this can be.

 

[goodbyeABR]

Felt pretty confident I did not pass, yet shockingly passed both physics and rad bio on my first attempt this year - probably just barely though based on my quartile breakdown, but I do not care in the slightest. Grateful and lucky to be done with this, and now can move on to clinically relevant studying as we should all be doing rather than dealing with this insanity. Take my advice with a grain of salt though, since I consider myself incredibly lucky.

Quartiles - physics: 3, 2, and three 1's; radbio: four 2's and six 1's

Studying - started casual review towards the end of 2019. Started heavy studying around Feb/March (evenings and at least one full weekend day). Did not have any time off from my program for studying and had full clinic and didactics in the months/weeks leading up to the exams. I used a few vacation days to study in addition to the nights/weekend. I used the following resources:
- McDermott and Hall that were useful for understanding the underlying concepts - I took notes while going through our physics and rad bio courses, and studied based off those
- did not do ANY additional McDermott practice questions outside of our physics course (and even then, I did only some), and did not feel they would have been useful or added much to my studying based on what was asked on the exam
- Caggiano - a couple of high yield ideas, but overall not particularly useful or representative of this year's exam content
- completed approximately 10 years of Raphex exams - overall found these to be useful and reasonably representative of style and content of exam questions
- ASTRO rad bio study guide - did all questions from the 2019 study guide, reasonably useful
- RadOncQuestions: completed nearly all questions for physics and radbio, scoring around 60% on each (only went through once, did not have time to repeat wrong questions) - found this to be the most useful though and would probably have liked to have completed more of these and done a second run-through of incorrect questions. Still felt as though I was able to learn from both correct/incorrect questions by spending a lot of time reading through and learning from their explanations

 

[RadOncDoc.]

Passed both boards what a relief!

Physics: one 3, two 2’s, two 1’s
Rad bio: four 4’s, one 3, three 2’s, two 1’s

Read hall front to back
Rad onc questions x 3 database resets
McDermott (just as reference)
Raphex x10 years with repeat most recent 2 years
Caggiano physics review
Astro study guides x 3

Was lucky had almost 2 months out of clinic to study (research + vacation)

 

[Pointless]

Congrats to all who passed and can put this garbage behind you. Condolences to those who didn't but I would echo what has already been said by others: these are stupid tests and no one in the real world would second-guess a good doctor over them.

 

[AnonymousRadOnc]

Supply and demand. Anyone who doesn't see these exams as a mechanism to control supply is either lying or dumb. Circa 1 year ago: History - American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) - American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO)

Paul Wallner: Well, I’ve raised concerns I had shared. At the request of the board, I chaired a task force with Kevin Camphausen of the NCI, looking at the radiation oncology research enterprise. We were concerned that we were not training our young people for the next generation, that we were not looking at targeted therapies well enough. We were not developing agents that were specific for radiation, whether they were sensitizers or protectors. We were looking at agents that were in the pipeline developed by medical oncologists for medical oncologists or by drug companies for drug therapy. And we were taking them to see if they were were beneficial or not so beneficial for radiation. But we weren’t looking at things that really maximize the inherent properties of radiation. That was one concern.

Another concern I think is that whether we are training our young people for those, that kind of multimodality care. I mean, we talk about multimodality care but it’s really at the macro or gross level with surgery and chemotherapy. I think we need to look more to the molecular level. I think that we have not yet scratched the surface, and I’m not sure I can prophesize all this but where scientific developments will take the specialty. I mean, we already see that hyperfractionation is having an impact on the number fractions we treat. That’s having an impact on reimbursement and having an impact on workforce. We don’t know how minimally invasive surgical procedures and disruptive technologies and disruptive targeted therapies will impact the profession.

I was very active in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s when the medical oncologists thought that CMF, cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and fluorouracil, would cure breast cancer. So there was a period of years where patients had surgery and then CMF therapy. We were just never seeing them until they had their recurrences, their local recurrences, and then we got back into treating early-stage breast cancer. But now we see that with the changes in DCIS and LCIS and active surveillance in prostate cancer, the field is changing and I’m not sure that we are ready for it. I’m ready for retirement but I’m not sure with the specialty.

When I talk to young people around the country, which I do in my ABR role primarily, they always say, you know, do you have any good news? I say, yes, I’m close to retirement and my pension is funded.

Based on reported passing rates and quartile breakdowns I think this theory is most likely dead. Last year probably had more to do with incompetence in making and administering tests and less to do with a sinister master plan to limit residency expansion.

 

[evilbooyaa]

I'm curious as to what official pass rates were this year. I think if it's back above 85%-90% we can all put our pitchforks down on a national level.

 

[radbioistheworst]

Happy to have also redeemed myself. A couple 4s, 4 3s, 2 2s, 2 1s. Pretty much echo what others have said.

In retrospect I’m not sure I would have done Hall. Not that it doesn’t have what you need but there is just so much fluff. I really liked the David Chang book and did all of radonc questions. I like the ASTRO study guides but be warned that they are considerably easier than the actual exam in my opinion. Not because they’re devoid of content or detail but because they’re actually too detailed. The actual exam is poorly written and you don’t get a lot of clues to help you reason your way to an answer like you can with the astro guidelines. With all that said they are still probably the most indispensable resource.

Whereas last year I would have said to memorize as much minutiae as possible, this year I would say to know the fundamentals cold, which probably the most time-proof strategy. I really hope there’s a push towards consolidating all the exams. Still a joke that the margin of error is so small.

 

[Telorad]

Physics - Two 4's, Two 3's, One 2 - composite 3.2
Biology - Five 4's, three 3's, One 2, One 1 - composite 3.2

I agree with the above post about really liking the David Chang book - I think 85-90% of the test material is in that book. I supplemented that by doing all the radonc qbank questions for bio and physics, the last three ASTRO study guides for radbio, and RAPHEX exams from 2011-2019 for physics. I only used Khan/McDermott and Hall as a reference for physics and biology when I did not grasp a concept but did not prioritize reading either of those texts from cover to cover. I did listen to the Maryland review course which I found to be incredibly helpful and great high-yield review in the last couple weeks leading up the exam.

 

[beamseyeview]

Passed on first attempt! What a relief. I felt pretty good after the test -- felt that I had probably gotten at least 70% correct on both exams. Felt that radbio was easier than physics, but way more "do you know it or not" minutiae. Agree with the above poster that said exams are super poorly written. Very simple questions (but often with terrible phrasing, multiple possible correct answer choices, etc), especially radbio, so you either know it or you don't.

Here is my breakdown:

Physics - 4, 4, 4, 4, 3
Biology - 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 3, 3, 3, 2, 1

Hopefully this provides some hope to my future colleagues. I slacked off in physics/radbio, as the course quality was fairly poor at my institution. Honestly, I really should have given more effort to the courses but it was hard. It was somewhat difficult for me to follow since I do not have a physics/bio background.

My study style is "cram hard." It worked out well but was pretty stressful. I started studying the last week of May. For 5 weeks or so, I studied approx 8-10 hours a day, Monday-Friday. We have a research year, so my program was supportive of this. The last two weeks before the exam, I added a weekend day as well.

Resources used, listed in descending order of usefulness per category:

Miscellaneous:

1) ARRO Gayle Woloschak webinar and Powerpoint - this was SUPER high yield, especially for memorizing the dumb radiation safety stuff

2) David Chang book - great for learning concepts, very simple explanations; I supplemented anything I didn't understand in the other resources with the chapter from the Chang book; easily digestible and portable

Physics:

1) Raphex x 9 years, completed one pass through

2) Caggiano - actually attended a physical course, highly recommend if you get the opportunity, or if you can't, try to find someone with the Caggiano audio file; the course is basically him reading his book to you (except that he tells you what to focus on, as his book is super comprehensive but hard to digest)

3) Did not read McDermott

Physics take-home advice:
1) just do Raphex's over and over again until you figure out how they ask all of the questions
2) you will realize that there is a lot of stupid physics QA stuff that you need to memorize (e.g. what dosimetric device to use for what, random numbers from TG reports); ASK your physics department to help you with this. Find your friendly neighborhood physics resident and ask him/her questions about when he/she does what (e.g. when do you QA the lasers, can you show me a farmer chamber, etc). This will help the minutiae stick better

Radbio:

1) ASTRO study guides - did 4 years, you will notice that there are 3 different versions of the ASTRO study guides with minor changes made from year to year. No need to do more than 1 or 2 tests from each version, but do them enough to know the questions cold. There were actually a few verbatim questions from the study guides. Here are the different versions based on the year:

Version 1: 08, 11, 14, 15, 17
Version 2: 07, 10, 13, 16, 19
Version 3: 06, 09, 12

2) Hall summary notes - my program had a copy of this. Basically a bunch of residents from an unknown program distilled Hall in the early 2000's into a word document. I went through it a few days before the exam. Unclear if it was helpful or not, but did make me feel better

3) Did not read Hall or Joiner, but see #2

4) Do not waste time on ASTRO secondary resources

Radbio take-home advice:
1) Know ASTRO study guides
2) Make sure you have the conceptual stuff and major pathways down cold, for much of this I basically just stared at the Woloschak ARRO high yield powerpoint until I had all the figures memorized

Probably like everyone else, I was super freaked out about last year's reports, so I memorized a lot of random minutiae about pathways. This ended up being useless. Looks like boards has shifted back to the standard advice from previous years. Thank goodness.

 

[ramsesthenice]

Congrats to all that passed. Its such a good feeling to know this is over with. Talking to a few PDs from mid-tier programs (who got hit hard last year) it looks like the pass rate has to be pretty much back to normal. I actually have not come across anyone who had a resident fail (including retakes). At least no one who would own up to it

It means more to you guys but let me tell you we are all breathing a sign of relief too. I know some of you have PDs that you think are indifferent to your success but a lot of us in academics really are invested in your futures and it hurts us a lot when we see you give it your all and have setbacks like last year.

 

[WVXRT]

Passed on first attempt! What a relief. I felt pretty good after the test -- felt that I had probably gotten at least 70% correct on both exams. Felt that radbio was easier than physics, but way more "do you know it or not" minutiae. Agree with the above poster that said exams are super poorly written. Very simple questions (but often with terrible phrasing, multiple possible correct answer choices, etc), especially radbio, so you either know it or you don't.

Here is my breakdown:

Physics - 4, 4, 4, 4, 3
Biology - 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 3, 3, 3, 2, 1

Hopefully this provides some hope to my future colleagues. I slacked off in physics/radbio, as the course quality was fairly poor at my institution. Honestly, I really should have given more effort to the courses but it was hard. It was somewhat difficult for me to follow since I do not have a physics/bio background.

My study style is "cram hard." It worked out well but was pretty stressful. I started studying the last week of May. For 5 weeks or so, I studied approx 8-10 hours a day, Monday-Friday. We have a research year, so my program was supportive of this. The last two weeks before the exam, I added a weekend day as well.

Resources used, listed in descending order of usefulness per category:

Miscellaneous:

1) ARRO Gayle Woloschak webinar and Powerpoint - this was SUPER high yield, especially for memorizing the dumb radiation safety stuff

2) David Chang book - great for learning concepts, very simple explanations; I supplemented anything I didn't understand in the other resources with the chapter from the Chang book; easily digestible and portable

Physics:

1) Raphex x 9 years, completed one pass through

2) Caggiano - actually attended a physical course, highly recommend if you get the opportunity, or if you can't, try to find someone with the Caggiano audio file; the course is basically him reading his book to you (except that he tells you what to focus on, as his book is super comprehensive but hard to digest)

3) Did not read McDermott

Physics take-home advice:
1) just do Raphex's over and over again until you figure out how they ask all of the questions
2) you will realize that there is a lot of stupid physics QA stuff that you need to memorize (e.g. what dosimetric device to use for what, random numbers from TG reports); ASK your physics department to help you with this. Find your friendly neighborhood physics resident and ask him/her questions about when he/she does what (e.g. when do you QA the lasers, can you show me a farmer chamber, etc). This will help the minutiae stick better

Radbio:

1) ASTRO study guides - did 4 years, you will notice that there are 3 different versions of the ASTRO study guides with minor changes made from year to year. No need to do more than 1 or 2 tests from each version, but do them enough to know the questions cold. There were actually a few verbatim questions from the study guides. Here are the different versions based on the year:

Version 1: 08, 11, 14, 15, 17
Version 2: 07, 10, 13, 16, 19
Version 3: 06, 09, 12

2) Hall summary notes - my program had a copy of this. Basically a bunch of residents from an unknown program distilled Hall in the early 2000's into a word document. I went through it a few days before the exam. Unclear if it was helpful or not, but did make me feel better

3) Did not read Hall or Joiner, but see #2

4) Do not waste time on ASTRO secondary resources

Radbio take-home advice:
1) Know ASTRO study guides
2) Make sure you have the conceptual stuff and major pathways down cold, for much of this I basically just stared at the Woloschak ARRO high yield powerpoint until I had all the figures memorized

Probably like everyone else, I was super freaked out about last year's reports, so I memorized a lot of random minutiae about pathways. This ended up being useless. Looks like boards has shifted back to the standard advice from previous years. Thank goodness.

Congrats you did great. Having time off from clinic and a supportive program can be big help as shown by your score. If i had a year of research where i could study for weeks solidly instead of exhausted after clinic that would have really helped. Unfurtunately the current system will continue to promote this huge difference in opportunity and thereby outcomes. I’m keeping clinic very warm tho, and my program could care less.

 

[CancerSucks!]

Well, I passed both radbio and physics. And with flying colors. However, I was going through my notes last night to pass down to my more junior co-residents and was deeply disheartened by the 6 MONTHS of my research elective I used for endless preparation for these board exams, and now I remember and use hardly any of it. Our field has some of the most brilliant minds (top of their medical school, top Step scores) who are using the vast majority of their 6-12 month research blocks during their PGY 4 year to prepare for boards. Too bad we were not able to commit our time to actual, meaningful research and advances in our field. This is a real shame.

Multiple Choice Accomplished. Advancing cancer research discouraged.

 

[KHE88]

While it appears pass rates are back to normal, and that's a good thing, the ABR needs to provide a real explanation for the "multifactorial" anomaly both year on BOTH exams, and they need to issue an apology for the hurt and pain they caused.

Scored mostly 4s on my radbio retake. But of course I also consistently scored top 10%-tile on inservice radbio throughout residency, yet scored 2s on last years rad bio and was failed. Interesting that people are scoring mostly 1s and passed (I suppose as they always have with passing rates above 90%). Of course we actually had a rad bio exam this year and not the molecular/cancer biology monstrosity that was given last year.

Also unclear how much overstudying affected pass rates this year. Absurd that people are starting dedicated test prep 6 months out and putting 500+ hours into preparing for these tests. Enormous waste of time during residency training and harmful to the mission/purpose of residency. People don't even study that much for orals.

Bottom line they still need to be held accountable for last year.

 

[deleted956486]

While it appears pass rates are back to normal, and that's a good thing, the ABR needs to provide a real explanation for the "multifactorial" anomaly both year on BOTH exams, and they need to issue an apology for the hurt and pain they caused.

Scored mostly 4s on my radbio retake. But of course I also consistently scored top 10%-tile on inservice radbio throughout residency, yet scored 2s on last years rad bio and was failed. Interesting that people are scoring mostly 1s and passed (I suppose as they always have with passing rates above 90%). Of course we actually had a rad bio exam this year and not the molecular/cancer biology monstrosity that was given last year.

Also unclear how much overstudying affected pass rates this year. Absurd that people are starting dedicated test prep 6 months out and putting 500+ hours into preparing for these tests. Enormous waste of time during residency training and harmful to the mission/purpose of residency. People don't even study that much for orals.

Bottom line they still need to be held accountable for last year.

Damned if you do...