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intoxicatedtiger

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Results are online.

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How are the dates of oral boards determined. Random or Geography? Anybody on the east coast get a San Francisco June 2012 dates?
 
not sure how they are determined but I got a oct 2011 date
 
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I'm in midwest state, got Boston 2011, my friend in our neighboring state got san fran in June 2012. We live about 1.5 hours from each other. Not sure what the deal is😕
 
For those that got an October Oral Exam date, when is the registration deadline?
 
For those that got an October Oral Exam date, when is the registration deadline?

July 15, 2011 registration deadline with August 1, 2011 deadline to send in your photo form.

Congrats everyone. I'll see some of you in October in Cambridge.

For the west coast test-takers, June is a nice time to visit San Francisco. Try to tack on a few extra days and give yourself a little vacation! You'll be close to some wineries (which may come in oh so handy after the test).
 
Since they don't have the stats up yet, 71.72% passed this time, with 28.28% failing.

It still amazes me that ophthalmology is the only program that I know of that fails roughly 30% year after year--and these are people who must complete a US based residency and are some of the most competitive candidates out there.

I have to wonder if the Osteopathic Ophthalmology Boards are as difficult--or have such a high failure rate. Since to the public...and increasingly to employers/insurance companies... board certified is all the same... doesn't matter MD/DO...or specialty...why does the ABO put its people at a disadvantage? I'd think differently if I thought the exam was clinically relevant. LOL
 
As an above post shows, on Friday, May 6, 2011, the results were back. Today is that first Friday in May.

You can check your results here http://www.abop.org/plain/log.asp
If you passed the written, it will say you can schedule the orals. If you failed, it says you can't take them. From what I heard, they send you the results by snail mail in mid to late May.

FAILURE 😱

I didn't pass. :scared:

I have a stomach ache. I have a headache. 🙁
 
What was the most difficult section? Kind of ridiculous that they keep failing 30%!
 
As an above post shows, on Friday, May 6, 2011, the results were back. Today is that first Friday in May.

You can check your results here http://www.abop.org/plain/log.asp
If you passed the written, it will say you can schedule the orals. If you failed, it says you can't take them. From what I heard, they send you the results by snail mail in mid to late May.

FAILURE 😱

I didn't pass. :scared:

I have a stomach ache. I have a headache. 🙁

Perhaps it wasn't released this year at the same time? I would wait to worry until a few more people say the results are online.
 
As an above post shows, on Friday, May 6, 2011, the results were back. Today is that first Friday in May.

You can check your results here http://www.abop.org/plain/log.asp
If you passed the written, it will say you can schedule the orals. If you failed, it says you can't take them. From what I heard, they send you the results by snail mail in mid to late May.

FAILURE 😱

I didn't pass. :scared:

I have a stomach ache. I have a headache. 🙁

I don't think they are out yet. I would expect them this week, though. Don't freak out yet...nobody has reported passing as far as I know. 🙂

There was only a 1-2 day lag between online and receiving them in the mail last year.
 
Don't freak out yet...nobody has reported passing as far as I know. 🙂

.

I feel better. We both failed or maybe the results are not back. Based on my own calculations, I did fail. I didn't have a clue for about 40% of the test so I probably got an automatic 25% wrong. That plus getting 80% correct for 60% of the test means a failure, in my estimation.

When I mean no clue, a question could seem to me like:

A patient has polyandico loganico disease. The best treatment is
a. cambunko
b. demrokilm
c. xronicom
d. surgery of the rominicus muscle

😱
 
I feel better. We both failed or maybe the results are not back. Based on my own calculations, I did fail. I didn't have a clue for about 40% of the test so I probably got an automatic 25% wrong. That plus getting 80% correct for 60% of the test means a failure, in my estimation.

When I mean no clue, a question could seem to me like:

A patient has polyandico loganico disease. The best treatment is
a. cambunko
b. demrokilm
c. xronicom
d. surgery of the rominicus muscle

😱

Not unless most others taking the test struggled with the same questions, then perhaps the scaled score will be in your favor. Remember, you get more points for a question you get right that most people DIDN't get right (unless they throw it out) than you do for a question you get right that EVERYONE else got right.
 
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Not unless most others taking the test struggled with the same questions, then perhaps the scaled score will be in your favor. Remember, you get more points for a question you get right that most people DIDN't get right (unless they throw it out) than you do for a question you get right that EVERYONE else got right.
This is part of the reason people don't have faith in the board. Grading seems hocus pocus. Throwing out a question will usually cause a few people to fail. This is because a few people got it correct but then it's thrown out. Throwing out a question also causes a few to pass. However, we are talking about people's livelihoods and careers so causing failure is bad.

If your statement is correct, some questions are worth more than others. I thought they are worth the same, which is why some say not to spend 5 minutes on an optics question if it is very hard.

Does anyone know how the cut-off to pass is calculated? I thought it was the number of questions that first time test takers who scored in the 25th percentile got correct 2 or 3 years ago. It is not a straight 30th percentile or then every year the pass rate would be 70.00%.

All of this doesn't matter probably because most of the time I do my calculations, I come up with a failure 😱. There were two questions that I mistakenly answered wrong, which is a bummer. Answering those would, according to my calculations greatly increase the chance of passage since it could have raised the percentile score by 3-5 percentile, which is something. There is a journal article from the 1970's about the written boards which give a hint to how many questions you need to pass
 
I seem to remember it had something to do with the 2006 boards, but I don't remember exactly. It is not a straight forward you need to get 75% of the questions correct to pass, but then again, the exam is not straight forward either.

There's obviously some hocus-pocus going on or else why don't they give you your results immediately after? A friend took the GMAT recently and he left knowing his score all except for the written essay. One would think that if the board was straightforward they'd do the same.

Today is six weeks. They say eight weeks to get results out. You'll know when they're out when people start talking about where they're taking Orals. Until you see a bunch of posts, don't fret yet. I can't remember if they linked you to re-register for the WQE if you failed or not. I seem to remember something like that. It was pretty obvious, though. Not like the screen looks if results are not released yet.
 
Are the results up??
 
There is no way you know that. Eyeuser.

For the record, I called the ABO. (Friday, May 11th...11:30a.m. ESt) The lady I spoke with said I do not know when we will release the results, but probably next week.
 
I agree. I wouldn't rush to judgement if it doesn't explicitly say "fail" or "click here to re-register for the WQE". It's all gloom and doom on these forums, but remember the pass rate for 1st time test takers is about 85% not 70% Re-takers have a pass rate of about 35% and this drags the overall rate down. If you haven't received the option to register for the orals, I would not panic (yet).
 
Flashbacks of medical school when all these gunners try to freak everyone out. Dude needs to chill out.

Gunner?

I am so stupid that I am going to fail.
I am so stupid that I thought the results were already out and I had failed.
This is unusual for an ophthalmologist to admit they are stupid. Most boast about themselves.
 
Gunner?

I am so stupid that I am going to fail.
I am so stupid that I thought the results were already out and I had failed.
This is unusual for an ophthalmologist to admit they are stupid. Most boast about themselves.

Dude/Dudette...you need to chill out and wait for the results to come out before you lose it. Calm down, go to your happy place, and wait patiently like everyone else. Chances are you did a lot better than you think. You've taken standardized tests before, you know the drill. This is no different.
 
Check your mail. They are back, postmarked yesterday.

😱 :scared: 😡 😕 🙁 :bang:
 
Check your mail. They are back, postmarked yesterday.

😱 :scared: 😡 😕 🙁 :bang:


I checked the abop website and nothing has changed. Has yours changed to reflect your result?
 
I haven't found anything online either, nor have I heard anything from colleagues.
 
Has anyone found the results on the website? I guess they want us to find out through the mail this year.
 
Nothing online for me either.
 
Has anyone found the results on the website? I guess they want us to find out through the mail this year.

If results have been posted, the ABO site will either say you need to register for orals (fail) or you are certified with your certification number at the top and MOC instructions at the bottom (pass). If it's unchanged, they haven't been posted.

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Check your mail. They are back, postmarked yesterday.

😱 :scared: 😡 😕 🙁 :bang:

Either you are the only one that got this in the mail or you are lying. Which is it
 
called ABO Friday and they said mailed out on Friday night and online status will change Monday. It's conceivable that someone could have gotten it in the mail already if they lived close enough to where it was posted from.
 
Results are online.

Oral boards are June 2013 in Chicago for me.

Good luck everyone!
 
I usually just read but am posting because I have a request. Anyone want to consider a study partner? Pacific or Mountain time zone, preferred but even Eastern time is do-able. Also preferred is someone who needs to re-take the test, not a current 3rd year resident (but that may be ok, too). Send me a message if interested. There can be discussion before deciding if it will work. If you are embarrassed, you can remain anonymous.

 
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I checked the website. How do you know the date of the oral exam?
 
I checked the website. How do you know the date of the oral exam?

Click on oral examination, it'll lead you to a new screen with your date and location and fee
 
I usually just read but am posting because I have a request. Anyone want to consider a study partner? Pacific or Mountain time zone, preferred. Also preferred is someone who needs to re-take the test, not a current 3rd year resident (but that may be ok, too). Send me a message if interested. There can be discussion before deciding if it will work.

They give a percentile score for each subject but my guess is that one question can really boost or lower your score for that section, maybe by 8-10 points. Let me give you an example. For optics, I scored in the 88th percentile. My guess is that nobody scored in the 83-87 percentile nor in the 89-93rd percentile. Anyone want to validate this theory by sharing your optics score, particularly if it is in the high 70's? The theory would be dispelled if someone got an 84 or 85 percentile in optics. Alternately, you could share your score for another section.

If the theory is correct, one probably has to either get 100% of fair and standard questions correct that the standard resident would get right or get a number of tricky or hard questions correct. That statement is a little subjective, though.

Another observation that I see is that you really have to score close to average in every section or risk failure. In other words, if you scored in the 50th percentile in each section, your overall score would be in the 50th percentile. However, if you scored in the 40th percentile in every section, your overall score will be lower than 40 and you risk failure. Score a 10 in one section and failure is likely. By my optics theory above, get one more question right and you're at 19 or 21. Similarly, if you scored in the 60th percentile in every section, your overall score would be quite high, maybe over 70.

I don't pretend to know how this stuff works but I presume it has to do with the diagnostic level that you achieved in each level.
 
Just wondering if anyone here used our website, and if so...whether you felt like the website helped you prepare for the written boards.

Hope everyone received good news today!

-OQ
 
I just want to thank ophtho ?'s for providing such a valuable tool when studying for the boards. I just missed passing the writtens the first time (mainly due to a low optics score). I had never found a good resource for doing optics ?'s until I used ophtho ?'s. I found the other sections to be very helpful as well, but the optics really helped me. I did pass this year and primarily used ophtho ?'s for review. Thank you so much for providing such a great service!!!

From one happy customer
 
Just wondering if anyone here used our website, and if so...whether you felt like the website helped you prepare for the written boards.

Hope everyone received good news today!

-OQ

I did use ophtho questions as my primary review for the test and I definitely felt more prepared for the test. I did pretty well on the boards and thought it was well worth the price!
 
Just wondering if anyone here used our website, and if so...whether you felt like the website helped you prepare for the written boards.

Hope everyone received good news today!

-OQ

I used the website and found it useful...a computer question bank has been my preferred study method throughout the education process (USMLEWorld etc.), so I was really glad there was finally an Ophtho version.

And honesty? Everyone I knew was using this. When the test is scored in relation to your peers, I think it makes sense to do all you can to level the playing field and get this.
 
In response to 4424' question regarding optics score: 94. So your theory may be true.

As for OQs, both my co-fellow and I used it heavily (>90% of questions) and both score greater than 90th percentile. It was an incredible investment and so much better than staring at a book and trying to make it soak in. I learn by missing questions...and I'd rather do it on OQs than on the WBE.
 
So what's your status Eyeuser?? Been quiet since results were released.
I'm guessing he/she is already studing for next year's exam! In all seriousness though Eyeuser I hope you did pass. Really wish the ABO wouldn' automatically fail 1/3 of the test takers every year.
 
Check your mail. They are back, postmarked yesterday.

😱 :scared: 😡 😕 🙁 :bang:

That's the thing. What we got in the mail was our score. So why would he or she been scared. They would have already known they passes or failed.
 
Other than the importance of passing or putting that you score in the 99th %ile on your CV, does the score on the WQE matter at all? Is there some recognition for superb WQE scorers? Will prospective interviewers ask me my WQE score like OKAP for fellowship interviews or just be pleased to know that I am BC? Just curious. 🙂
 
Other than the importance of passing or putting that you score in the 99th %ile on your CV, does the score on the WQE matter at all? Is there some recognition for superb WQE scorers? Will prospective interviewers ask me my WQE score like OKAP for fellowship interviews or just be pleased to know that I am BC? Just curious. 🙂

Heck no! Doesn't matter one iota...just pass.
 
I'm guessing he/she is already studing for next year's exam! In all seriousness though Eyeuser I hope you did pass. Really wish the ABO wouldn' automatically fail 1/3 of the test takers every year.

Does anyone know a good reason for failing 1/3 of examinees? I cannot find the logic in that besides money.
 
Other than the importance of passing or putting that you score in the 99th %ile on your CV, does the score on the WQE matter at all? Is there some recognition for superb WQE scorers? Will prospective interviewers ask me my WQE score like OKAP for fellowship interviews or just be pleased to know that I am BC? Just curious. 🙂


It may help get you a spot as an examiner for orals.
 
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