Taking Heme or Onc board exam in 3rd year - which should I choose?

[Ubba]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

I'm a rising 2nd year fellow and haven't had much chance to study for boards this year. Senior fellows who have chosen to take one of their boards in 3rd year are pretty split, so I wonder which one people think would be smarter to take first. FWIW, my tentative plan for studying for both boards in aggregate is to read ASH-SAP and ASCO-SEP, do the ASCO and ASH qbanks, do the HOQ bank 1-2x, and probably watch a review series from MDACC or the like.

 

[gutonc]

You can do that now? I had no idea.

I’d probably choose the Onc boards if I was going to do this. It not an easy test, but it’s much more straightforward than the heme boards and actually reflects what you’re learning and will see in practice than the heme boards do.

Having said that, my training was hyper disease focused but my job was ultimately as a generalist. I didn’t take my boards until my 2nd year as an attending and the amount I learned on the job that first year was invaluable to my studying and test taking.

 

[CatFactorial]

That’s odd to split like that. Taking both simultaneously after finishing fellowship is doable and simpler