Destin Black, MD, FACOG
Dr. Black graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. at Wake Forest. She then completed medical school and residency at Louisiana State University. She left the comfort of her Southern roots temporarily and traveled north to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center for her GYN Oncology fellowship. She returned to her beloved Shreveport where she is Clinical Assistant Professor at LSU. Dr. Black has extensively published, but approached ABC "to join the 'A' team" because she was so impressed with the faculty's passion for teaching. She gives a new meaning to "true grit". Dr. Black will be lecturing at our November review course.
ABOG 2014 ORAL Exam Candidates
NOVEMBER Exam Candidates
It’s show time! A great way to pull it all together (or salvage what’s left if you procrastinated) is to take advantage of our Do or Die in Dallas private one-on-one sessions. We’re bringing our best, so you can be at your best. Dr. Quinn Peeper has decades of experience and will do whatever it takes to get you feeling confident just before your test. We can give you mock oral exams, test you with our signature Structured Cases, defuse those landmines on your case list, or even give you a crash lecture on a weak topic. You CAN do this!
Test Taking Technique
Just remember 70%. That’s all you need to pass the exam. You do not need, nor will you likely get, 100% of the questions correct.
The questions will come at you in rapid fire. Often times, the examiner will push you until you finally don’t know the answer. Don’t misinterpret this as failing the question. On the contrary, you probably passed it long before, but the examiner may simply want to explore the depth of your knowledge or at least reassure himself that you will acknowledge your limitations.
Let the last question go and focus on the question at hand. Do not let the worry about whether or not you got the last question correct distract you, and thereby compromise you getting a sure pass question correct. Remember, just 70%!
DECEMBER Exam Candidates
You MUST come to our November 16-20 review course! ---even if, or perhaps especially if, you’ve taken another review course or exam prep seminar. In just five sweet days, we will deliver a streamlined exam-focused review. Do you know that during the last 4 years at each of our courses we’ve covered 99% of the exam topics? There is absolutely NO WAY you can review a year’s worth of information in such a short time on your own. Furthermore, rest assured that the topics will be so fresh in your mind, it will be like pulling a rabbit out of your hat to recall the answer on your exam just two short weeks later!
A great way to finish strong (or salvage what’s left for you procrastinators) is to come to one of our one day Oral Exam Workshops. Don’t want to reinvent the wheel? Our Oral Exam FAQs itemize those questions most frequently asked for specific topics.
Half of your exam is structured cases. You can simulate the exam with either our Structured Cases Workshop CD or Structured Cases CD. These are invaluable study guides that can be used for self-study or even more effective is to have others quiz you so you can practice out loud. Speaking of practicing out loud, our Structured Cases Webinar is grouped into 3 monthly sessions conducted weekly and there’s still time to jump in. It’s a great benchmark to see if you’re ready, since these examiners don’t know you and are skilled in simulating the exam atmosphere. Brrrr - did it just get icy? Warm up by playing back the webinar archives, then jump right back into the hot seat with the next live webinar session.
Did we mention mock oral exams? The number one regret of past candidates is that they wished they had taken more mock oral exams. It’s time to call in the “A” team, as in the ABC faculty. ABC offers Case List Reviews, Mock Oral Exams, and our signature, one-of-a-kind Structured Cases by phone. We can take it up a notch by offering eye-to-eye mock oral exams on Skype, but you’ll need to provide the glaring, white light.
The icing on the cake is our Do or Die In Dallas session. Dr. Griffin will be in Dallas. He can warm you up for your big day with last minute polishing (or cramming for some) with private sessions on whatever you need … mock orals, structured cases, etc
Test Taking Technique
Make sure you know ALL the categories on each summary sheet, not simply the ones you have applied. This is especially applicable to the Office case list, where you may have strategically dodged those dreadful primary care categories. EVERY SINGLE category is fair game on the test. Our Oral Exam FAQs can spoon feed you those questions most frequently asked for each category.
JANUARY Exam Candidates
The exam is in two months – crunch time and holidays. You WILL and MUST budget time to spend with your family; remember them? Forewarned is forearmed, so don’t set yourself up for that guilt trip of studying vs. family. You can do both if you’re organized.
Half of your test is defending your case list. Send your case list NOW to your local/regional consultants or colleagues for recommendations in DEFENDING your case list:
Case list component Reviewer
OB MFM, generalist
GYN GYN ONC, Urogyn, generalist
Office Generalist, REI, FP, IM
Make sure you give them a strict deadline, say two weeks; and set a date now to discuss their recommendations. The ABC faculty can also review your case list one-on-one at the fall courses or can provide a Comprehensive Case List Review.
Have you already taken a general review course? Do you have a huge syllabus, but still have no clue what’s on your test? Our November 16-20 BOARD Review Course is perfect for you neglected January exam takers. Even, or perhaps especially if you’ve take another review course, this will be so well worth your while as for the past four years we’ve covered 99% of exam topics at each course. We offer a streamlined exam-focused review in only five days. There will be no doubt what you need to study for your exam.
Given this is an oral exam after all, only half the battle is learning the content. If you can’t persuasively articulate, then well you’re up a creek without a paddle. Let us throw you another lifeline with one of our one day Oral Exam Workshops. We offer one in Baltimore on November 15th, the day before our review course.
Half of your exam is the structured cases. You can simulate the exam with either our Structured Cases Workshop CD or Structured Cases CD. These are invaluable study guides that can be used for self-study or even more effective is to have others quiz you so you can practice out loud. Speaking of practicing out loud, our Structured Cases Webinar is grouped into 3 monthly sessions conducted weekly and there’s still time to jump in. It’s a great benchmark to see if you’re ready, since our examiners don’t know you and are skilled in simulating the exam atmosphere. Brrrr - did it just get icy? Warm up by playing back the webinar archives, then jump right back into the hot seat with the next live webinar session.
The icing on the cake is our Do or Die In Dallas session. You wouldn’t have any reason to know this, since this is your first time for taking the exam, but for the first time in the history of ABOG, they are having two oral exam sessions. Dr. Krishna Das, yes the lady who wrote THE book on the oral exam, will be right there with you. She can warm you up for your big day by offering last minute polishing (or cramming for some) with private sessions on whatever you need … mock orals, structured cases, etc.
Test Taking Technique This is an ORAL exam, so get used to talking out loud. Traditionally, the following topics are always on the test: vaginal breech delivery, management of shoulder dystocia and postpartum hemorrhage, the course of the ureter, and dictate a vaginal hysterectomy. Practice answering the questions to these "know cold" topics out loud and even better, in the mirror or with a trusted colleague.
Subspecialty Fellows Sitting for their 2014 ABOG General Oral Board Exam
Now that your case list has been turned in, you recognize how much you forgot in your off-specialty subjects. That’s where they get the expression, “If you don’t
use it, you lose it”. Our review course is IDEAL for fellows, as we tell you just what you need to know; then you can joyfully repress it again after your test. Even if your exam is not until January, there is A LOT to relearn - OK, for some of you, to learn. We strongly recommend you come to our November 16-20 Board Review Course to gather all the material you will need for 99% of your test. A great way to grab the bull by the horn is to come to our one day Oral Exam Workshop on November 15. Don’t want to reinvent the wheel? Our Oral Exam FAQs itemize those questions frequently asked for specific topics.
Half of your exam is the structured cases. You can simulate the exam with either our Structured Workshop CD or Structured Cases CD. These are invaluable study guides especially for subspecialists so you can challenge yourself with your off-specialty subjects – ouch! -better to find out now than on your exam! You should also have others quiz you so you can practice out loud. Speaking of practicing out loud, our Structured Cases Webinar is grouped into 3 monthly sessions conducted weekly and there’s still time to jump in. It’s a great benchmark to see if you’re ready, since our examiners don’t know you and are skilled in simulating the exam atmosphere. Brrrr - did it just get icy? Warm up by playing back the webinar archives, then jump right back into the hot seat with the next live webinar session.
You can always reach out for a Comprehensive Case List Review on all or just your off-specialty sections of your case list for anticipated questions on your cases. Finally, we encourage you to tap into our Do or Die In Dallas which provides an opportunity for last minute polishing or cramming.
Study Strategy
Our Structured Cases Webinar is perfect to challenge you on your off-specialty subjects. Not only can you interact live, but perhaps as importantly, you can access the archives. Not only can you review the case, but the faculty-led discussion will not just give, but also explain the answers. Heck, memorize them if you have to and then you can gleefully throw them out the window after the exam.
ABOG 2015 ORAL Exam Candidates
You cannot apply for the 2015 oral exam until February 1, 2015. However, if you wait this long to enter cases you’re already EIGHT months behind, since case list collections started July 1– BIG MISTAKE! Call or e-mail ABOG now to get your case list software.
For all GYN patients, start a habit of collecting H&Ps, operative notes, pathology reports, and discharge summaries. For all OB patients, keep a file of the prenatal form, delivery notes, discharge summaries, and postpartum notes.
Rest assured, we have Case List Construction Workshops scheduled for as early as April 2015. For those who are OCD, order your copy of Pass Your Oral Ob/Gyn Board Exam by Dr. Das for a complete step-by-step guide. Start today in creating a good habit of collecting and entering cases.
Case list Construction Tip
Don’t fret about the details of how to enter the data. You’ll change your mind at least a half dozen times before it’s all said and done. Take a stab at entering the data on the case list forms; then just use your common sense. Don’t worry about collecting patients for your office list yet. That will come later. For now, focus on the OB and GYN lists. Finally, brace yourself for this one, but you do not need to study yet. No that’s not a typo. OK, if you just can’t do that, then keep up with the Compendium, especially the updates in the back of the Green Journal. Seriously, if you start now, you’ll just burn out. Besides, you will want to study initially based on your case list topics… and those are still evolving.
ABOG & AOBOG 2015 WRITTEN Exam Candidates
The board exam is in 6 & 7 months respectively. For you ABOG folk, the application and $1470 application and examination fee was due October 18. You can still get it up to November 18th by paying a late fee. Thereafter, you can pay an even steeper fine, but no applications will be accepted after December 18. Come December 19, you can no longer sit for your 2015 exam. For those of you taking your AOBOG exam, the $2500 examination fee is due by February 1.
ABOG no longer reports your objective score on the exam. So folk have no idea if they sailed through or missed passing by one point. So unfortunately, now the only correlate is the CREOG in-service-training exam. If you’re a chief resident, you must use this as a gauge to predict board performance, so you must/should prepare for this.
For those wanting to score big on their CREOGs or to explode out of the gate for your written board exam, come to our November 16-20 Board Review Course. This is an excellent opportunity to gather your exam-focused study material and let us put you on a customized study plan for the next six months.
Test Taking Technique
Since ABOG no longer reports your score for the written board exam, unfortunately the only resource to gauge your performance is the CREOG in-service-training exam. Anyone, not just residents, can take the exam, and is STRONGLY advised for those who are repeating their board exam. Don’t worry; the results come only to you. However, the one page application and $120 examination fee is due November 9. Either e-mail Darya Valantsevich at DValantsevich @acog.org or call her at 202-863-2548 to arrange this and chose your testing center.
AOBOG 2015 Oral Exam Candidates
For those preparing for their May oral exam, if you really want to get a head start, then come to our November 16-20 Board Review Course. Did you know that our syllabus even highlights EACH core topic? We also have an evening session that puts each core topic under the microscope and painstakingly goes through potential exam topics.
You may have to forego holiday presents, as your $3250 application fee is due January 1. Happy New Year indeed. Bah humbug!
We are bringing back our Oral Exam Webinar just for those preparing for their May oral exam. So far, we are batting a 99% pass rate for webinar attendees. Perhaps one of the reasons why we’re the tops in the country is because our webinar is taught by a DO for DOs. Dr. Diane Evans, DO, passionately believes it takes one to know one. She will put you on a regimented study plan GUARANTEED to get through all ten core topics from February to April. Call 1-877-222-6249, as she is limiting the number of participants to assure an ideal student: teacher ratio. Talk about being spoon fed! You’ll be cooing like a baby when it’s time for your exam.
Chief Residents Planning A Subspecialty Fellowship
Subspecialty fellows are permitted to select 20 patients from their Chief resident year for their off specialty case list. In other words, GYN Oncologists, REI and Urogynecologists will need an OB list and MFMs need a GYN list. Therefore, make sure to hold onto that residency log! Refer to the ABOG Bulletin on how those 20 patients are selected. To be on the safe side, we recommend you collect at least 30, so you can strategically select the final 20 later. For those patients, keep a file of the following: for the GYN patients, collect the H&Ps, operative notes, pathology reports, and discharge summaries. For the OB patients, keep a file of the prenatal forms, delivery notes, discharge summaries, and postpartum notes. Don’t worry about the office patients at all, as you may compile this only during your fellowship.
Test Taking Tips
You’re almost half-way through your academic year. You will never rotate again on certain subspecialties. It’s critical that you track which ones you will need to collect cases and strategically chose those during the rotation. Better yet, keep a list of all the cases so you have the luxury to choose which ones you want to keep. Remember - once you leave your residency, it becomes a logistical nightmare to go back and collect cases.
Subspecialty Fellows Planning for their 2015 ABOG General Oral Board Exam
You can now sit for your general oral boards anytime during your fellowship. However, you can only take the general oral boards once during your fellowship. You will need all three case lists - OB, GYN, and Office. GYN Oncologists, REI and Urogynecologists will need an OB list and MFMs need a GYN list.
Test Taking Tips
You’re almost half-way through your case list collections. I’m not worried at all about your subspecialty cases, but rather about your off-specialty cases. Do you even have them? If you do, then well done! If not, begin figuring out how you’re going to get them. Ideally, see if you can get some cases that you actually manage, as in the present, not past, tense. See if you can take call or staff the residents on your off specialty. If that’s not possible, then start coordinating with your past residency on how to recapture these lists. Hopefully, you kept your case log, but it will still take months to get records. Procrastination on your part does not warrant an emergency on their part, especially since you’re old history.
ABOG Maintenance of Certification (MOC)
Part II Lifelong Learning
ALL 45 articles are due December 15. I know a rare few of you haven’t even done any. If you’re desperate, you need to pass 80% of 120 questions, so that’s only 30 of the 45 articles; however, you only get 25, rather than 35 Category I CME credits. Remember also that you must have enrolled in at least one practice module each year. If you have not, that can also be grounds to yank your certification - YIKES!
For those of you in your third year, you should have started the Safety Course. You cannot enter it until you have completed 60 questions from the 1st or 2nd quarter articles. The Safety Course is accessed only on-line, so if you’re one who likes to print out the articles and questions, you’re out of luck.
Part III, Secure Written Exam
For those of you in MOC Year 6, you must pass a written exam by Dec 15, 2014. We have three products to help you prepare for and pass your written exam. For those of you who have always tapped into a review course in preparation for your board certifying exams, you’ll take great comfort in our five day November 16-20 Board Review Course. This is not the same type of review course from the past. Just as you’ve evolved and practice evidence-based medicine, our course is designed for the adult learner, is exam-focused, and all lectures follow the national ACOG guidelines. Heck, you’ll walk away with loads of every day practice tips, too.
Our Annual MOC Manuals summarize each of the articles AND have written questions for the last five years. Think of them as Cliff notes, as they will save you oodles of time. You are also accountable for Safety and Professionalism. Remember you completed the Safety course in your third year, but you could not print out the articles. Fortunately, ABC had the foresight to create a Safety Course Manual as well.
Finally, the Board has acknowledged that an emphasis will be placed on both the Compendium and the articles. So don’t you think the highest yield will be those MOC articles that overlap with the Compendium? Lucky for you we offer a one day MOC Written Exam Workshop on November 15 in Baltimore. This provides that perfect review of those overlapping MOC articles AND written questions. Although we know you’ll get the most out of it by attending, if you just can’t, purchasing the MOC Written Exam Workshop Binder is the next best thing.
We must be doing something right, as so far 100% of those attending the MOC Workshop and/or the course have passed since the beginning of the MOC written exam!
Oh, just in case you think you’re coasting after you pass your written exam, think again. You still have to read the 2014 articles. No rest for the weary!
Test Taking Tip
You must pass the exam by Dec 15, 2014. You get a total of five attempts. SIGN UP FOR THE EXAM NOW or at the latest, for the day after our Nov review course. The written exam is on the computer. Many of you have never taken an exam on the computer, and it’s not the same as a beloved written book. You old friend, the pencil, is obsolete. Do not wait until the day of the exam to discover this. Go to www.pearsonvue.com/abog ahead of time for a tutorial to familiarize yourself with how to take an exam on the computer. If you’re still not one to be ill-prepared, try our computerized questions. Go to www.americasboardreview.com > written exam > test question bank > jolleytestprep.com/store > OB/GYN Diagnostic Tests. Many of the questions were based upon the MOC articles and are formatted like your ABOG board exam. The best part is each has a narrative explanation of the answer for instant gratification. Unlike most computer banks that require a year-long subscription, the ABC bank is a pay as you go. You may simply need only one bank of 105 questions to feel comfortable. It’s no coincidence that your exam is only 100 questions!
AOBOG Osteopathic Continuous Certification in Obstetrics & Gynecology (OCC)
Everyone has entered into the mandatory OCC cycle. Although the recertification written exam has now been phased out, you must take a formal proctored written exam starting as early as year four of your six year OCC cycle. The exam is offered only at the spring ACOOG conference.
For those of you who have always tapped into a review course in preparing for your board certifying exams, you’ll take great comfort in our five day November 16-20 Board Review Course. This is not the same type of review course from the past. Just as you’ve evolved and practice evidence-based medicine, our course is designed for the adult learner, is exam-focused, and all lectures follow the national ACOG guidelines. Heck, you’ll walk away with loads of every day practice tips too.
Additionally, you must complete 5 Practice Performance Assessments (PPA) in each 6 year OCC cycle. These 5 PPAs must be completed by September 15th of the year your certificate expires.
Not to be a pessimist, but some of you are already asking what happens if you fail to pass all 5 components of OCC by September 15th of the 6th year of certification. Well, obviously DON’T go there if at all possible, but since you asked. . . If it’s been within 3 years of expiration, you must request to re-enter, and if granted, you need to correct any outstanding OCC requirements. If it has been more than 3 years, then you must take the OCC written exam, followed by starting the PPAs. “Additional activities may be required” – whatever that means. Probably is a case-by-case basis.