Surgery oral boards , certifying exam

[chestsurg21]

For those of you who took the exam on an oral board and got a result

1 . How confident were you going into the exam
2. How confident were you after the exam
3. Did you pass?

I’ve never been nervous about a test in my life. I mean I worry about them but not in the “will I pass or not” sense more in the “did I get a high score”. I know I’m amazing at standardized testing. But after taking my orals I’m 100% certain I failed no question.

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[LucidSplash]

For those of you who took the exam on an oral board and got a result

1 . How confident were you going into the exam
2. How confident were you after the exam
3. Did you pass?

I’ve never been nervous about a test in my life. I mean I worry about them but not in the “will I pass or not” sense more in the “did I get a high score”. I know I’m amazing at standardized testing. But after taking my orals I’m 100% certain I failed no question.

Was convinced I failed. Both my Gen surg and vascular. Passed both. Most people I know were felt unsure of a pass. Most are wrong.

 

[Arkstudent]

Any idea when results are released? I have heard Friday after the exams (Nov 18th) and 1 week after the last test (Nov 23rd)?

 

[chestsurg21]

Any idea when results are released? I have heard Friday after the exams (Nov 18th) and 1 week after the last test (Nov 23rd)?

So looking at old threads. Most people got their results like the same week the test ended. But I spoke to some recent graduates who did it virtual and they said two weeks. I’m just hoping it comes out before thanksgiving. Good luck, how did it go?

 

[TypeADissection]

1 . How confident were you going into the exam?
- I felt pretty good going into the exam. Had the standard scenarios on lockdown, but still felt nervous because of the unknown.

2. How confident were you after the exam?
- As I was going through the exam, I had this realization that they hadn't asked me a scenario that I didn't know the answer to. After the exam, I went out for cheeseburgers with my family and had this massive panic moment where I thought I answered every single question wrong. My internal dialogue went something like: Wait! What if they weren't asking me about MALS and instead wanted me to discuss chronic mesenteric ischemia? Oh ****, I totally read that CT wrong and gave the wrong answer.
- The funny thing was that my wife was great at reassuring me that it all went fine and how she felt she bombed her orals in ENT when she took them. She'd ask me things like: Were you safe? Did you invent an operation? Ok, you're going to be just fine.

3. Did you pass?
- Yes. Last high-stakes exam for the rest of my life. Now I get to participate in the money shakedown every 3 years for re-certification.

 

[Arkstudent]

1 . How confident were you going into the exam: Very confident
2. How confident were you after the exam: Sure I had failed, started looking up what to do for a year since I was sure I had failed
3. Did you pass?: Yes!

 

[Severus21]

I was pretty confident going in. Felt like trash afterwards. Passed first time. I think most folks feel not so great afterwards.

 

[Doc320]

Oral exams are tough because they present artificially compressed time scales. Even if a patient were bleeding, even if the patient is coding, there are brief moments to compose yourself. The orals do not allow that. In that respect, they are testing non-surgical non-medical skills. Acting lessons can be beneficial. I am not kidding, sorry to say. Of course, there's the knowledge aspect, which is why an actor would fail, but it's not all knowledge.

There were two questions of note. One, I happened to prepare for out of sheer luck. Another, I prepared for the topic but not exactly what to say. For the first, it was smooth as a hot knife through butter. For the second, kind of disjointed and not smooth. For questions that I was not prepared for, it was "ah..ah..ah..uh. I would ...

The oral exam pass rate is highly variable among specialties. Urology has a written pass rate (2022) of 99% and an oral pass rate of 97%. Ophthalmology has a written pass rate of 79.4% and an oral pass rate of 82%. Low pass rates were a thing of the 1970's and 1980's but less common now.

 

[dienekes88]

Oral exams are tough because they present artificially compressed time scales. Even if a patient were bleeding, even if the patient is coding, there are brief moments to compose yourself. The orals do not allow that. In that respect, they are testing non-surgical non-medical skills. Acting lessons can be beneficial. I am not kidding, sorry to say. Of course, there's the knowledge aspect, which is why an actor would fail, but it's not all knowledge.

There were two questions of note. One, I happened to prepare for out of sheer luck. Another, I prepared for the topic but not exactly what to say. For the first, it was smooth as a hot knife through butter. For the second, kind of disjointed and not smooth. For questions that I was not prepared for, it was "ah..ah..ah..uh. I would ...

The oral exam pass rate is highly variable among specialties. Urology has a written pass rate (2022) of 99% and an oral pass rate of 97%. Ophthalmology has a written pass rate of 79.4% and an oral pass rate of 82%. Low pass rates were a thing of the 1970's and 1980's but less common now.

Not that SDN is going to change this, but you have to wonder if this artificial construct is even a useful way to test people.

1. Felt okay going in. More concerned about the timing as I knew I was going to feel rushed, and in the heat of the moment I would forget some details.
2. Didn't feel great coming out. A few missteps that I was able to catch myself on. The time crunch made me feel like I was talking super fast. Was maybe 50/50 on whether i would pass. Essentially figured that if the person before or after me sounded silly, I'd be in a better spot; however, if the person was super polished I'd be up a creek.
3. Passed.

Probably one of the most stressful things I've done.

 

[gensurg14]

For anyone who took CE via zoom, did results come out any sooner than 10 business days?