Thanks for your opinions! I really think I do want to do a review course, if for nothing else, to get me thinking about nothing but the anesthesia board material for a few days. Plus, I really havnen't done all that well on ITE's in the past, so I do have a lot of work to do. Anyone else have any opinions about Rashad? The one with dates I can actually go to is in DC. It seems REALLY expensive for 4 days. ($1500) Worth it? Any other opinons?
Thanks!
Well, there's no way to know if it is worth it. If you pass then maybe it was worth it but then again maybe you would have passed anyway. If you fail then it wasn't worth it. That's how these courses work. They feed on our insecurities. Is that a bad thing? I don't necessarily think so as long as it isn't intentional.
I did the Jenson Big Blue mostly b/c I had read everything else with the exception of Big Miller ( I did focused reading in Miller) and needed a change of gears. I don't know anything about the other courses.
When it came time for my orals I did Jenson's course b/c I was tapped out and couldn't make myself read any more. 4yrs of med sch and 4 yrs of residency, man I was done. I had one more test to take and I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Plus I was working like crazy and just didn't want to read anything when I got home. I did the Jenson Oral review course also to see how I would perform in front of a crowd (there were about 500 people in the audience/course). This proved to me that I could concentrate under pressure. Neil's stood up after my interrogation and shook my hand, "Son your ready". That helped confirm my position that I didn't need to do anything more. I definitely could have skipped the course and done well but I would have been wondering if I was ready all the way until the Orals. Now I knew I was ready and I could relax. I was able to go out and have dinner the night b/4 and the pressure was manageable. In the Orals I was again calm and relaxed. At the end, one examiner stood and shook my hand just like Neil's did and said, "nice job." Their not supposed to do that. They are not supposed to give you any feedback.
I could have saved $1500 but I made it up soon enough at work and I think the confidence it gave me was worth it. You never really know how well you are prepared and therefore, every little bit helps. At least this is how I looked at it.
