What is the big deal about ITEs

[codeb1ue]

I don't get it. Why are my coresidents so stressed out about this exam.

Just as a sidenote, I am a transfer resident from a previous residency in Internal Medicine. We also took these inservice exams every year as well and NO ONE studied for them. In fact many didn't even show up for the exam cause they were either post call or just too tired.

Now that I am in anesthesia, for the past 3 months or so, it's all I hear people talking about. Study groups, passing out ACE exams for "more" questions to do. Is it for respect? I hear some fellowships look at these scores but I also hear it's really only the more competitive ones... and half the people I talk to aren't even applying for fellowships. Our department has been on our case to do well on this exam. While it would be nice for them to see me as a star resident, it wouldn't be the end of the world if they looked down on me either. It's residency. So what is it? Enlighten me.

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[lushmd]

Frankly, there's no advantage to doing poorly on the ITE:

(1) As you mentioned, fellowships will look at it. As I recall, every fellowship program that I applied to (for cardiac and CCM fellowships), asked about ITE scores. Some even wanted copies of the score reports.

(2) Like it or not, faculty members at your program will know about your ITE scores (perhaps not the exact score, but certainly if you did well or poorly) and this can affect their perceptions of you and thus, potentially, your training opportunities. Also, even if you don't apply for a fellowship, you will likely want a job some day for which you'll need references. Naturally, people's perceptions of you will be reflected in such letters and ITE performance can affect that (as above). Additionally, your scores may be listed in summative letters written by your residency program director (letters from my residency PD resemble medical school Dean's letters).

(3) Some programs give incentives/disincentives for performing well or not on the ITE. At my residency program, we were unable to moonlight if we did poorly on the ITE (as it was thought that we should spend more time studying) and they would pay for a portion of the written board fee if we scored above the 50th percentile on the ITE as CA-2s.

(4) Finally, this is largely information that you should know/learn. Sure, there's some esoterica but you should learn these things during residency, not only to pass the boards (I don't know if its true or not, but I've heard that the ITE is generated from the same question bank as the written board exam) but also to be a good anesthesiologist.

 

[lushmd]

Our department has been on our case to do well on this exam. While it would be nice for them to see me as a star resident, it wouldn't be the end of the world if they looked down on me either. It's residency.

Spoken like a champion. Residency is an adult learning opportunity where you can learn to be a competent anesthesiologist. Sure, there's a service obligation that's not always educational. In any case, perhaps its not my place, but I'd encourage you to have a more pro active approach to maximizing your training experience.

 

[codeb1ue]

Frankly, there's no advantage to doing poorly on the ITE:

(1) As you mentioned, fellowships will look at it. As I recall, every fellowship program that I applied to (for cardiac and CCM fellowships), asked about ITE scores. Some even wanted copies of the score reports.

(2) Like it or not, faculty members at your program will know about your ITE scores (perhaps not the exact score, but certainly if you did well or poorly) and this can affect their perceptions of you and thus, potentially, your training opportunities. Also, even if you don't apply for a fellowship, you will likely want a job some day for which you'll need references. Naturally, people's perceptions of you will be reflected in such letters and ITE performance can affect that (as above). Additionally, your scores may be listed in summative letters written by your residency program director (letters from my residency PD resemble medical school Dean's letters).

(3) Some programs give incentives/disincentives for performing well or not on the ITE. At my residency program, we were unable to moonlight if we did poorly on the ITE (as it was thought that we should spend more time studying) and they would pay for a portion of the written board fee if we scored above the 50th percentile on the ITE as CA-2s.

(4) Finally, this is largely information that you should know/learn. Sure, there's some esoterica but you should learn these things during residency, not only to pass the boards (I don't know if its true or not, but I've heard that the ITE is generated from the same question bank as the written board exam) but also to be a good anesthesiologist.

Your points are well taken. Having said that my goal, as are most people here, is definitely to become the best anesthesiologist I could be. For me, that is to be engaged in every case I do, reading up on them the night before, and picking my attending's brain about everything relevant to the case we are involved in. It is not trying to get done with the day as early as possible so I can sneak off to a cafe and start reading baby miller from page 1 to 300, retaining maybe 5% of the material.

Don't get me wrong. I am definitely studying as much as I can, although it is probably nothing compared to my co-residents. I have done about half the Hall questions and read bits and pieces of baby miller here and there.

 

[kazuma]

I agree with lushmd. From interactions I have had with other residents, it seems like the residents who blow the ITE off or say that the ITE doesn't matter are the ones that are trying to justify their poor performance on the exam. IMO it makes more sense to study hard now and smoke the ITE's so that when it comes time to take the written boards it will be a relative walk in the park. Imagine how much easier it will be to verbalize intelligent answers in the oral exam if this stuff is second nature to you. I really wish I had the chance to take the ITE during intern year because all I have as a baseline are the AKT 1-6 which were pretty straight forward and easy exams IMO.

I agree that most anesthesiology programs and residents take the ITE more seriously when compared to other specialties. I did a transitional intern year and I took the FP ITE with the family medicine residents. The FP residents didn't care about the ITE and their scores reflected it. Perhaps we care more about the ITE because the ABA boards are reportedly some of the most difficult specialty board exams.

 

[IlDestriero]

Where I trained, all the faculty knew how everyone did on their AKT and ITE exams. Do well, get respect and autonomy, do poorly and you get **** on.
Doing poorly on the ITE will label you as a failure risk, hurt your chances for a fellowship (they don't want someone who's potentially not going to pass the boards as getting you a job will become their problem, and it means you don't know the basic material as well as other applicants. Who wants to trust/supervise a known poor performer?) And finally you will take yourself out of the running for chief resident. Being selected as a chief opens doors, doors you're closing by being lazy.

 

[pastafan]

Your points are well taken. Having said that my goal, as are most people here, is definitely to become the best anesthesiologist I could be. For me, that is to be engaged in every case I do, reading up on them the night before, and picking my attending's brain about everything relevant to the case we are involved in. It is not trying to get done with the day as early as possible so I can sneak off to a cafe and start reading baby miller from page 1 to 300, retaining maybe 5% of the material.

Don't get me wrong. I am definitely studying as much as I can, although it is probably nothing compared to my co-residents. I have done about half the Hall questions and read bits and pieces of baby miller here and there.

It's like the old saying "you can pay now and play later or play now and pay for the rest of your life". This may sound trite but when I was a resident I studied almost every night for three years. My program was heavy on experience and weak didactically. I saved up my vacation, ended residency "early", started working in June and then did extremely well on my written and oral boards. I did not study for the ITE per se, I just studied for my boards. As a wise attending used to say to us: the boards mean absolutely nothing.........................


once you have them. 😉

 

[pgg]

A good score on an AKT or ITE can transform a resident from an anonymous chump or target of abuse ... into a golden child who can do no wrong.

The flip side of that is true too. If you're a hard worker, good resident, solid clinically ... you don't want staff to start reconsidering their positive opinions of you because you put up a 17th %ile on an exam.

There's no downside to smoking those exams. Especially since stringing a few good scores together sets you up to cruise through the real thing.


My program leaned on us HARD to do well on those tests. It sort of annoyed me at first, possibly because I did downright awful on my AKT-0 and got a raised eyebrow or two 🙂, but when the day came that I took my official ABA written, it was just another day. (Orals are another story. Everyone sweats that, no matter how good they are.)

 

[Gern Blansten]

Maintain the status quo. Somebody has to fill the lower percentiles for those who do care about the exam results.

 

[urge]

Anesthesiology is a competitive field. It's the nature of the beast.

IM not so much.

 

[Impromptu]

I would like to state the following personal anecdote in support of what others have already posted. I got the CA-2 high score for my class last year, which announced as an award at the seniors graduation ceremony last year. Ever since then every attending and resident thinks I am some sort of genius. The attendings who were notorious for riding residents hard eased up a bit on me. It gave me renewed confidence, too.

To add another point, our program director liked to tell us that if residents remained below a certain point during their intraining exams, they were more than likely to not score enough on the actual board exam to pass. It is tough to make up 3 years of not stuyding in the 2-3 months you'll have after you get your scores back before the board test.

Another mentor at our program liked to tell us that he could take any IM resident and with adequate study over the 3 years of their residency they could pass the written anesthesia board exam without ever having set foot in the operating room. You can be a pretty good anesthesiology resident, prepare for your daily cases every night, and have most people think you are pretty competent, and then totally bomb the written test.

Be glad you are not taking the surgery ITE, where failure to obtain a good score may mean not advancing to the next year or even being let go from the program. It is too late this year to study enough to improve your score, so good luck next year.

 

[gasattack3]

I've done very well clinically. My scores have been more average however. I've decided to focus on board prep from here on out. Some of us have a tendency to be defiant in the face of what could be considered perhaps not clinically relevant. But, that's the info (as well as the relevant stuff ofcourse) which will get you a job down the road (or allow you to keep it).

I've done a lot of reading this year, not always super consistently, but in the aggregate quite a bit. I've decided, however, that it's time to STRATEGIC study which I've never been a fan of but I'm embracing reality now, as I sit on "vaca" doing review questions.

I think you need to find a STRATEGIC study source which will make it easy for you to study from. I've always preferred Q-banks with explanations (preferably electronic). Memorizing old ITE questions (without explanations) is brutal for me and I'm not doing that. But, strategic studying is something I'm going to do almost exclusively from here on out save some focused text reading on cases etc.

After all, it's not just knowing the information but rather how the information will be presented to you. Hence the "strategic studying".

It's true, you're not going to do well in this field if you fumble-f.ck around with procedures and can't get along well with people. It's also true that you should be board certified which requires, obviously, that you need to study FOR THE BOARDS..... Pretty simple.

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

is it the end of the world if you dont kick ass on the ITE as a CA-1?

im trying my darnest, been reading throughout the year and read all of Faust and a little bit of Big Blue here and there, and doing the M5 Qs (did most in the 3 weeks I've had it, but not all) and now im cramming some high yield review a faculty member gave to us, but cardiac has been my nemesis, in addition to some other random tid bits, like formulas and whatnot.

My advisor told me to strive for 50th %ile. My goal is 75th%

Thoughts?

 

[IlDestriero]

My advisor told me to strive for 50th %ile. My goal is 75th%

Thoughts?

90th.

 

[Colba55o]

will echo what everyone else has said about taking this seriously.

The ITE is really just another standardized test, of course we have been stressing out over these things since high school.

I think what makes this one a little bit different is unlike the USMLEs your score report shows your rank, which makes this one seem much more "competitive" if you will, in the sense that I think more emphasis is placed on how well you do compared to others. Theoretically, everyone could have scored in the 140s on step 1. We obviously all can't break the 70th% on the ITE. In order for you to shine,someone else has to crash and burn.

I'm surprised that anyone in any program regardless of specialty can blow off these exams. We would not have become physicians unless we were perfectionists. And that personality trait doesnt die down once we get past step 1.

The most annoying thing about exam threads is how many of the posters seem to kick ***** on them. 🙄

Good luck everyone, and figure out how wasted you are going to get the night this is all over

 

[whoube]

100th

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

90th.

Ideally, 99th.

But, if I don't get a score that high, is it a big deal?

I know I'd have CA-2 as well.

 

[DrRobert]

I trained at a "Top 5" program and out of the 20 residents in my class, 3 actually "studied" for the ITEs. The other 17 of us probably read less than 100 pages cumulative over our 3 years in training. Most of us were in the 20-50th percentile on these scores. I hovered around 20-30th percentile throughout. Not one time did faculty ever discuss these scores with us.

I don't know about other programs, but we were too busy working our butts off in the OR (70 hours/week) getting the best clinical training you can find anywhere. No one had time to read. Ever.

And in case you're wondering, 20/20 passed ABA Step 1 on the first attempt.

My advice... don't read a lick during residency (except looking up things for a particular case) and focus on your clinical training. Unless you're at a cush program working 50 hours/week, there's really no time to read. Don't sweat it. Cram before the ABA Step 1 like everyone else.

 

[Mr FancyPants]

My advice... don't read a lick during residency (except looking up things for a particular case) and focus on your clinical training. Unless you're at a cush program working 50 hours/week, there's really no time to read. Don't sweat it. Cram before the ABA Step 1 like everyone else.

Although you're an attending and I, just a resident, this sounds like really bad advice.

How can you possibly learn the minutiae and basic CA-1 stuff (i.e. pharm and phys) that the ABA loves by doing 8 hour back cases and 5pm lap chole's?! (yes, I realize I'm oversimplifying here, but you get the idea).

 

[DrRobert]

I learned by doing cases... everytime I pushed a drug... I knew its mechanism, effects, common side effects, onset, duration, etc. That's easy stuff... and we only use about 50 drugs in anesthesia. Same thing goes for hemodynamics, bypass, clamping/unclamping, laryngospasm, bronchospasm, etc, etc. You see this stuff everyday in the OR... I just learned by osmosis.

The minutiae can be memorized a couple weeks before the ABA Step 1. Physicians are masters at cramming and memorizing. Same strategy most students use for USMLE 1 and 2. Study 12 hours/day for the 4 weeks before the exam.

 

[Arch Guillotti]

My advice... don't read a lick during residency (except looking up things for a particular case) and focus on your clinical training. Unless you're at a cush program working 50 hours/week, there's really no time to read. Don't sweat it. Cram before the ABA Step 1 like everyone else.

You seem like a smart guy. Probably a lot smarter than me. I think this is bad advice though.

 

[DrRobert]

I'm actually not that "smart". Got a 30 on ACT, 29 on MCAT. 220 USMLE 1, 228 USMLE 2. Ranked 20/88 in my med school class.

I consider myself to be of average intelligence. I will admit that I am good at cramming and short-term memorization.

BTW, I'm not giving advice here. The original poster wanted to know what the big deal about the ITE is. In my experience and opinion I didn't take it seriously and didn't think it was a big deal. But that doesn't mean that it should be that way for everybody. I've heard some programs take these exams very seriously... in that case I guess you actually have to "study" for it. I'm glad I wasn't in one of those programs... I wouldn't have done well 🙂

 

[B-Bone]

At my program, we were brought in for a "talking to" with the PD if we got less than 75th %ile on the ITE. We had a relatively cushy daily schedule with "protected reading time" on call during CA1 year. Most (in my class, at least) stayed above 75th %ile, including one who got the highest score on the ITE in the country CA-2 year, and another girl who got the highest score in the country on the actual written boards. One guy was an outlier, hovering 15-20th %ile. One guy failed the written boards. Wanna guess which one? The reason programs place value on ITE success is that it predicts success on the written boards. If that isn't good enough reason for you to value on ITE success, than good luck to you.

 

[Arch Guillotti]

IBTW, I'm not giving advice here.

Uh, what are you doing then?😎

 

[DrRobert]

Uh, what are you doing then?😎

I'm just trying to give some hope to those who don't have time to read during residency and are not doing well on the ITE. I was in their shoes and still managed to get board certified and land a great job. And the same goes for my residency classmates.

 

[codeb1ue]

I appreciate each and every response here. I have to ask though, Is the board pass rate for anesthesia really that low? That they have to force residents to study nonstop during residency to make sure they pass as opposed to other specialties that simply "learn by doing" during residency and cram at end for boards? I definitely understand and know that the dept will look much higher of me and write stellar letter of recs if I rocked the ITE but i guess what i didnt get across in my original question was why the dept harped on it so much that they would care so much about these exams, stressing all of us out to this point.

I will of course continue to study hard these last few days and do the best I can on this ITE. I am hoping it will be similar to the akt-6 as I managed to do ok on that.

 

[DrRobert]

Step 1 pass rate has been mid-80% the last few years. The way I look at it, if you are above 20th percentile on ITE, then you will pass Step 1 🙂

 

[Bertelman]

The minutiae can be memorized a couple weeks before the ABA Step 1. Physicians are masters at cramming and memorizing. Same strategy most students use for USMLE 1 and 2. Study 12 hours/day for the 4 weeks before the exam.

That strategy would not have worked for me, between moving several hundred miles and starting a fellowship. I count myself fortunate to have had a couple days off from clinical duties before the exam.

And for the record I wish I had taken that exam, and many others, more seriously. Would have made landing a fellowship much easier. In the end I was happy with my spot, but a little more choice would have been nice.

 

[pgg]

Step 1 pass rate has been mid-80% the last few years. The way I look at it, if you are above 20th percentile on ITE, then you will pass Step 1 🙂

This is IMO a dangerous line of thinking. 20th %ile on the ITE just means you scored better than 1 out of 5 people in the country who also weren't studying. In the 5 months between the CA3 ITE and the real thing, everyone in every quintile goes into cram mode - the people on top out of habit, the people on bottom out of fear.

If you cruise along those last 5 months because you think 21% is golden, you're likely to find that the bottom 20% passed you.

The written exam has an ~80% or better pass rate. A 21st %ile showing on the March/CA3 ITE is not a passing level of knowledge though.

we were too busy working our butts off in the OR (70 hours/week

That's 10 hours short of even the modern kinder, gentler work hour limit. Residency isn't supposed to be easy and cushy.


Also:

My advice... don't read a lick during residency

BTW, I'm not giving advice here

Heh. 🙂 Glad it worked out for you, but I disagree with your advice non-advice. 🙂

 

[Masseter Spasm]

The ITE does not matter, unless you think it will prepare you to pass the written boards. The written boards do not matter unless you plan on becoming a board certified anesthesiologist. Being board certified does not matter unless you care about gaining meaningful long term employment as an anesthesiologist (if such a thing even exists anymore).

Medicine is about jumping through hoops. This is another hoop you will need to jump through.

P.S. One of the first questions you will be asked during a trial for malpractice: Dr. X are you board certified in Anesthesiology? Do you think things will go well when your answer is no.

 

[Southpaw]

I knew this would happen as soon as DrRobert gave his perspective. It's unfortunately the nature of this board. Just another perspective here, but my program is perfectly well respected judging by rank lists and the type of applicants we interview, and we also seem to care very little for the ITE. I'm not saying no one studies, and I'm not saying people should not study. I'm just saying, that for us, the very large majority of people at my program don't get worked up about what %ile we're in on this yearly exam.

We learn with our didactic schedule, we learn and gain reputation by our work ethic (not by %ile on a yearly exam), and we all do fine on our writtens. I haven't heard of anyone failing the writtens leaving my program in a very long time (like 8-10 years).

 

[periopdoc]

You know my history, chief resident, cardiac fellow yada, yada, yada. Had a chance to look at actual cases that bore out the statistics that poor performance on the ITEs is predictive of poor performance on the boards.

In selecting fellows, directors look not only at the candidate's ITE scores, but the boards pass rate of the candidate's program.

Boards pass rate is also one of the big factors Med Studs look at to compare and choose programs. If i had a dollar for every time a Stud asked me about the boards pass rate...

If you are a PD looking to recruit the best Studs, you want your residents to have the best boards pass rates possible and you want to show how successful you have been at placing them in good fellowships.

If you are a PD looking to advance your career, you need to demonstrate effectiveness at achieving key metrics like ITE scores, boards pass rates, and fellowship placement.

So you see why there is so much emphasis on the ITEs.

Of course these statements are generalizations, but they are accurate generalizations. Of course there are people here who did poorly on the ITEs then blew up the Boards. There are people here who didn't care about the boards pass rates of programs when choosing a residency. There will always be outliers, and the smaller programs will be more likely to have residents and PDsin the outlier category than the bigger programs like he one that I came from.

- pod

 

[Southpaw]

I'm a chief too, and fellowship bound. I know the drill. In absolutely zero of my interviews (everywhere I applied I was offered an interview, including all the big names) did my lowish (relative to some of the numbers tossed out in this thread) ITE score come up. I was offered a spot out of the match where I wanted to be. I'm 100% sure this was due to well written letters from big names in the field, and these letters were written on my behalf based on a reputation I built by working with these attendings for 3-4 years. Not on an exam score.

We haven't had a resident since I've been in training not get their fellowship of choice in the location they wanted. We haven't had a resident fail the written in an extremely long time. And I don't feel an overemphasis, or much emphasis at all, being placed on our ITE. None of the faculty know or seem to care how we do. And our chiefs are voted in by the residents.

I'm not disagreeing with much of what has been written, as much of it I agree with. I'm just offering a different perspective. I think we should all strive to do our best simply because it's what our patients deserve.

 

[bigdan]

Perhaps all that needs to be said has been, but:

1) I just can't, personally, go into something (or anything) that has my name attached and know that I haven't done my best, and this includes the ITE. Globally, that philosophy has worked for me thus far.

2) I'm at a large-ish program (20 res/yr, > 80 anesthesiologists), and somehow folks seem to know who does well and who doesn't. My opinion is you want to be on the "does well" side when it comes to giving benefit of the doubt.

3) The second question (after "Where are you doing your residency?") in my first interview for cardiac fellowship at CCF was "How are your in-training scores?". Perhaps not everyone gets that question, and perhaps not every program cares, but what would you like to say if you're on the receiving end of such an inquiry?

I think the ITE matters.

 

[anes]

At my program the expectation is that you score above 40th percentile in both the AKT and ITE. If you don't score above 40th percentile, you go to extra classes and are placed on probation. If you score less than 40th percentile on the next exam to come up, your residency is prolonged by 6 months automatically.

We've had residents placed on probation. We have also had residents have their residency extended.

So yea... the ITE is a big deal.

 

[IlDestriero]

I think the take home point is that the importance of the ITE is residency specific. If they're harping on it, etc., it's probably important where you're a resident.
If you bombed it at my shop everyone knew, and they'd ride your ass until you graduate. You'd also be out of the running for chief.
It sounds like they care where you are. It's never too late to get cracking.

 

[Gashog]

I thought that was "illegal" to use the ite to extend a residency, etc. sounds like they are looking for excuses for free labor. I want to walk into the boards knowing I should most probably pass so I studied a lot for the ite, but that is totally f'd up

 

[Southpaw]

At my program the expectation is that you score above 40th percentile in both the AKT and ITE. If you don't score above 40th percentile, you go to extra classes and are placed on probation. If you score less than 40th percentile on the next exam to come up, your residency is prolonged by 6 months automatically.

We've had residents placed on probation. We have also had residents have their residency extended.

So yea... the ITE is a big deal.

My humble opinion is that this is overemphasis on the work aspect of residency, rather than the education aspect. I would avoid your residency program as much as possible. And I mean no offense to you by that. If you score 40%ile every year, you know what'll happen? You'll pass your boards.

 

[anes]

My humble opinion is that this is overemphasis on the work aspect of residency, rather than the education aspect. I would avoid your residency program as much as possible. And I mean no offense to you by that. If you score 40%ile every year, you know what'll happen? You'll pass your boards.

No offense taken. I know it seems like our program is harsh, but really it's not. In the last 5 years, I think only 1 resident has had their residency extended for low ITE / AKT scores. However this resident was poor clinically as well.

We're at a completely non-malignant mid/large university program in California. I can't think of a single resident who isn't happy in our program. I did, and would still, rank this program number 1 during the match.

 

[Outrigger]

I had a distinct feeling that the attendings in my residency program thought I was an idiot because I wasn't as talkative as a lot of the other residents. I noticed a definite difference in how they treated me once I had the top ITE score in my class. They must have all gotten the score reports for each resident after the exam.

 

[Osteoimperfecta]

90% of the time no attending sees or cares about your ite score. It is YOU who sees the score and decides you are "the man" or not. Your confidence or lack thereof determines how you carry yourself and ultimately how you get treated. So for psychological reasons ITE does matter.

 

[kazuma]

While it's debatable whether or not it's worth studying specifically for the ITE as evidenced in this thread, for the incoming CA-1 class (c/o 2016) studying for and passing the "BASIC" exam will be absolutely necessary unless one doesn't mind having their residency extended.

I feel bad for the incoming CA-1 class, not necessarily due to the two part written, but due to the "staged" oral exam complete with OSCE's akin to the USMLE CS/COMLEX PE. But in the end even my class will have to do some sort of simulation type examination when we are due for maintenance of certification circa 2025.






http://www.theaba.org/Home/TrainingPrograms

Staged Examinations:

The first group of residents involved in this transition includes those beginning their internship year in July of 2012 and their CA-1 year in July of 2013. Rather than taking the Part 1 Examination at the conclusion of residency, this class will take a staged Part 1 Examination that will consist of two separate examinations. The first of these examinations, the BASIC Examination, will be offered in July 2014. It will be followed by the ADVANCED Examination after the conclusion of residency training in 2016.

The ABA’s current Part 2 (Oral) Examination will become the APPLIED Examination. Beginning in 2016, its content and format will change to include elements of Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) in addition to the traditional oral examination questions.

Content Outline:

The content outline for the BASIC and ADVANCED Examinations is available here.

The transition to the new assessment program will be implemented as follows:

ABA candidates who complete residency training between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2015 must satisfy all requirements for Board certification, including successful completion of the traditional Part 1 (Written) Examination and the Part 2 (Oral) Examination, within 7 years of the last day of the year in which residency training was completed.


ABA candidates who complete residency training after December 31, 2015 must satisfy all requirements for Board certification, including successful completion of the BASIC, ADVANCED and APPLIED Examinations, within 7 years of the last day of the year in which residency training was completed.

 

[IlDestriero]

That's interesting. 7 years to complete board certification. Or what?
I just missed the lifetime cert. 🙁
And now there's the peds anesthesia boards $$ grab as well.

 

[kazuma]

That's interesting. 7 years to complete board certification. Or what?
I just missed the lifetime cert. 🙁
And now there's the peds anesthesia boards $$ grab.

I believe you would have to go back to a training program and do some sort of remediation since the ABA has revised it's requirements to meet the ABMS policy that no more than 7 years can elapse between graduation from residency and achievement of board certification.



http://www.theaba.org/Home/notices#eligible

New ABA Policy on Duration of Candidate Status for Primary Certification in Anesthesiology
The ABMS is striving to establish consistency amongst its 24 Member Boards regarding the time frame in which a physician must complete the requirements for certification relative to the physician’s satisfactory completion of an ACGME-accredited residency program. On September 21, 2011, the ABMS created a new policy mandating that no more than seven (7) years can elapse between a physician’s completion of residency training and achievement of Board Certification.

Revised ABA Policy on Duration of Candidate Status
In order to meet the requirements of the ABMS policy, the ABA's policy on the duration of candidate status has been modified. Effective January 1, 2012:

Candidates completing residency training prior to January 1, 2012, must satisfy all requirements for certification by January 1, 2019.
Candidates finishing residency training on or after January 1, 2012, must satisfy all requirements for certification within 7 years of the last day of the year in which residency training was completed.
The ABA will declare the candidate’s application void if the candidate does not satisfy the certification requirements within the time described above.
Further, at its Spring 2012 meeting, the ABA Board of Directors approved eliminating all limitations on the number of opportunities to satisfy the Part 1 and Part 2 Examination requirements for all candidates currently in the ABA’s Primary Certification Examination System. Candidates now have one examination appointment a calendar year until January 1, 2019 to successfully complete the ABA’s Part 1 and Part 2 Examinations and satisfy all other requirements for ABA certification.


"Board Eligible" Status Not Recognized by the ABA
The ABA does not recognize "Board Eligible" as a physician status relative to the ABA examination system for primary certification in anesthesiology. Physicians with an active application are considered candidates in the ABA examination system, not "Board Eligible." Therefore, physicians should refrain from making any representations of being "Board Eligible."

 

[bigdan]

Kaz -

The BASIC is set to be done during or just after CA1 year, right?

Have you heard of any plan for residents who fail that BASIC? I'm under the impression that there might be a finite number of times a resident can take the BASIC before having to do some sort of remediation, or perhaps not advancing through the CA years. Every year, we have at least one person well below the ITE "Mendoza Line", and that would suck to be a PGY4 but a CA1 because of your exams. Or maybe you just get the axe after a certain number of failures?

It'll be interesting to see how this unfolds...

 

[Philosiraptor]

Kaz -

The BASIC is set to be done during or just after CA1 year, right?

Have you heard of any plan for residents who fail that BASIC? I'm under the impression that there might be a finite number of times a resident can take the BASIC before having to do some sort of remediation, or perhaps not advancing through the CA years. Every year, we have at least one person well below the ITE "Mendoza Line", and that would suck to be a PGY4 but a CA1 because of your exams. Or maybe you just get the axe after a certain number of failures?

It'll be interesting to see how this unfolds...

I was told the following by a PD on the interview trail, who happens to be on the commitee that writes the BASIC exam:

1. The cut-point for the exam is yet TBD, but he/she thinks that it will be somewhere <= 24%ile, as that is the point where residents in his/her program get "remediation". The PD said that if the cut point to pass was raised to the 30-40th %ile, that would screw many many programs and residents over.

2. PD said that if the resident fails the BASIC exam taken in the January (I believe) of the CA-1 year, it must be taken again and passed during the January of CA2 year (the exam, at the moment, is only given once a year). But obviously this is a crappy situation for the said resident as they wont be focusing on their CA2 year but trying to make sure they pass this high-stakes exam.

3. If the resident passes the BASIC in their CA2 year, they are credited the time retroactively so that their training doesn't get extended.

4. If the resident fails the BASIC during the second attempt, then the program has the option to terminate said resident (resident cannot be promoted to CA2 until they pass it, in this case, in what would have to be the second half of their CA3 year).

Looks like unless they offer the exam more times, its a pretty high-stakes, crappy situation all around. Then again, if they keep the cut-point low, maybe it wont be.

 

[IlDestriero]

The exam is taken before all of the specialty rotations, and is called BASIC. How hard can it be? If your knowledge base is so deficient that you can't pass the "basics of anesthesia" exam by January of the CA2 year, I wouldn't want you to come rotate through my Children's hospital anyway.

 

[Orin]

1. The cut-point for the exam is yet TBD, but he/she thinks that it will be somewhere <= 24%ile, as that is the point where residents in his/her program get "remediation". The PD said that if the cut point to pass was raised to the 30-40th %ile, that would screw many many programs and residents over.

That would mean anywhere from 20 to 40% of the residents taking the test would by definition fail. I assume that it will be set equivalent to a score at that percentile, because otherwise they are just goina be flunking residents.

I feel sorry for the new comers, but IMHO, that isn't a very high bar, not that it should be. I'm sure they'll do fine if programs actually allow time for studying.