December 2016 Tip of the Month

Bernard Taylor, MD, FACOG

Dr. Taylor is the director of Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery and Urogynecology at CMC. He is double board certified in general OB/GYN and Female Pelvic Medicine & Reconstructive Surgery. Dr. Taylor has received both the APGO and CREOG teaching awards so is a natural choice to lecture for our FPMRS Oral Exam Webinar which starts in January.  Interested in trying a free session? Contact us.

For FPMRS & MFM subspecialists preparing for their ABOG Oral Exam

This is the last month for case collection. You can do it!! Get those categories filled in, and start circulating your list to mentors and colleagues for their input – this is a great time to get a comprehensive case list review done by one of our MFM or FPMRS faculty. That way you have plenty of time to edit the list before the February 1st due date. For those planning on taking the exam in 2018, case list collection starts for you in January, 2017, so now is a good time to familiarize yourself with the categories and structure of the list so you can hit the ground running.

The big day in Dallas is 4 months away. Do you have a study schedule yet?

MFM Tip: As you start organizing your study time, consider using the case list topics as an outline for your studying. Use that outline to help you organize which resources you’ll rely on for studying. Is there a textbook you like that will be a good resource for maternal medical complications? What about fetal complications? Would the ACOG practice bulletins or committee opinions be a helpful resource for some of these topics? The SMFM Fellow lecture series or Expert Series of documents? Once you have a list of resources, you can start thinking about how you want to divide your time between all of these to round out your review of the important topics in MFM.  “Read everything” isn’t an achievable goal, but a concrete list of chapters and other sources is something you can divide over the coming months and tackle one step at a time. You’ve got this!

For ABOG 2016 ORAL Exam Candidates:
- DECEMBER Exam Candidates. . .

Were you feeling blessed on Thanksgiving because it will finally be over? Well, ask and ye shall receive!

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 service. We’re bringing our best, so you can be at your best. Dr. Zena Homan will be in Dallas from Sunday, December 4 to Wednesday, December 7. She will do whatever it takes to get you feeling confident just before your test. She can give 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. Candidates are now booking their flights and appointments with Dr. Homan.  Call today to reserve your space.

 

You can do it, we can help! 

JANUARY Exam Candidates…

Does it seem like the holidays will never end? Worse yet, are you thinking you’ll buckle down after the holidays? You must be disciplined and organized to stay on track during the holiday season. Promise yourself that just as you finish your last bite of Thanksgiving turkey, you’ll begin studying in earnest. Our Structured Cases Webinar Archives is divided into eighteen sessions. Each session covers four cases-of-the-day. The faculty-led discussion of the answers and grading gives you that ah-hah factor to totally nail this portion of your exam. You’ll end up with 72 cases.

Make sure to budget both study time AND family time or Santa will leave you lumps of coal. Strengthen your strengths, and review your review. Pull out your Test Topics Manual from the course. Now you know why they are yellow, as they are worth their weight in gold. Fill in the answers and voila! -you have condensed the 1200 page binder into 110 pages!

The #1 regret of exam takers is they wished they had done more Mock Orals. You have all kinds of resources to tap into - local and regional colleagues, academicians, subspecialists and generalists. An eye-to-eye encounter is the best, but don’t forget you can do them over the telephone, too. The ABC faculty is just a dial away for a telephone Mock Oral Exam to get the professional touch.  After each mock oral, figure out your new game plan and try it out with the next one.

If you promise to be good, Santa might drop by early. Although it’s best to target your studying based on your mock oral performance, you can also learn from others. Our oral exam Frequently Asked Questions, provides a checklist of questions to anticipate for each topic.

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 service. Dr. Quinn Peeper – author of ABC’s FAQ manual for the oral exam, will help you ring in the New Year in Dallas from Sunday, January 8 to Wednesday, January 11, before your exam. He will do whatever it takes to get you feeling confident walking into your exam. He can give 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. These spots fill very quickly, so call now to reserve yours.

Everyone on the day of your exam is asked the same case; thus we’ve nicknamed it Case of the Day. This portion of the exam reflects the Board’s attempt to standardize the exam. The cases are straightforward management down the algorithm pathway. Remember, everybody will be asked the same questions as you. So work on developing a depth to your differential diagnoses; try to come up with at least three working diagnoses. Also, start with the most logical- when you hear hoof beats, think of a horse before a zebra.  The next question, “How would you work her up?” is dependent upon how you answered the first.

Our signature Structured Cases and Structured Cases Webinar Archives cover 150 cases. They will impart that lovely deja vu feeling during your exam … ho hum. . can’t you ask me something that I don’t know?

For ABOG 2017 ORAL Exam Candidates:

Yikes, 2017, the year of your exam, is just a month away! Want a reality check of what you’ve gotten yourself into? Test drive the whole process with our Oral Exam Webinar which starts in February. Each session consists of four one-hour once-weekly interactive webinars of the highest yield topics. Sign up for one or if you register for all 3 sessions, you get a free ½ hour mock oral, which you can carry over to the fall before your exam. This webinar will not only motivate you, but give you a keen sense of the process and henceforth allow you to devise a more efficient study plan.

You cannot apply for the 2017 oral exam until February 1, 2017. However, if you wait this long to enter cases, you’re already EIGHT months behind. Remember, the collections started July 1, 2016.

New this year! You must now enter your cases through the abog portal. So there’s no longer any excuse that you haven’t ordered your software. 
Don’t fret about 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. For all GYN patients, you should have a file containing each patient’s H&P, operative notes, pathology reports, and discharge summaries. For OB patients, their file should contain their prenatal form, delivery notes, discharge summaries and postpartum notes. Don’t make it complicated - just enter the cases based on your clinical and common sense.

Rest assured, Dr. Das will facilitate our Case List Construction Workshop during our April, 2017 review course. For those who need a complete step-by-step guide, order your copy of Dr. Das’ book, Pass Your Oral Ob/Gyn Board Exam, the first and best selling guide on oral exam prep since 1998.

 

Subspecialty Fellows Sitting for their 2017 ABOG General Oral Board Exam

I have good news and bad news. Subspecialty fellows sitting for their general oral boards will be held to the same level of competence as the generalists. The good news is that the general oral boards are way easier than your subspecialty boards. It will require minimal work and your only preparation entails recapturing the generalist’s perspective of your specialty.

The bah humbug news is that you will be required to have the same level of competence as the generalists in your off-specialty topics, too. This is actually good news, but you specialists know so much about your specialty that you have forgotten how to put on the brakes. Thus, you have this ridiculous notion that you have to relearn your off-specialty topics to this extreme level as well. Take this as a gift from Santa that all you need to know are the basics. Have your chief resident help you out and quiz you.

 

For AOBOG & ABOG 2017 WRITTEN (Computerized) Exam Candidates

The exam is in 5 and 6 months, respectively. You can still apply up until December 16 for the June ABOG exam, but not without a late fee. The $1175 examination fee for the AOBOG exam is due by February 22.

If this is your first time to take the exam and you have historically performed at least average on your CREOG in-service-training exam, it’s now time to develop a study plan. Begin by doing some soul searching to develop a realistic plan. Make sure to plan to take at least two days off in order to avoid burn out and start first with the MUST KNOW topics. Our Test Topics Manual is a good resource to show you the way. Although it’s helpful to plan the big picture for the whole year’s study schedule, plot only December with the specifics. You will need this as a starting point to get a better feel for how to better budget subsequent months’ study plans. Limit yourself to a clinical review and don’t forget to budget time for written questions on each topic.

If this is at least your second attempt, you should have already implemented your study plan. If you have not done so, review the guidance above. By this time, you should have figured out realistically how to predict the time required to review a topic. Do more soul searching to develop a realistic plan through May.  

If you have traditionally struggled with the written exam format, we strongly recommend you attend our Test Taking Skills Workshop with education specialists, Jane and Martin Jolleys’ on April 20^th in Charlotte, NC

 

Chief Residents Planning a Subspecialty Fellowship

I know you’re excited to matriculate into your beloved subspecialty, but it’s time to also strategize for your general oral exam. Subspecialty fellows are permitted to select a minimum of 20 applied 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 you 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 cases later. Also, the more categories you chose, the greater depth and breadth. Not only does this bode well for a first impression, but more importantly, assures that the examiner won’t run out of time choosing cases from your list. The holiday spirit is ruined if he gets to now reload with his ammunition and make up hypothetical patients.

For prospective cases, 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 these only during your fellowship.

A word of caution – right now you are at your peak for general OB/GYN knowledge. Believe it or not, even one year from now, your knowledge base will regress to that of an intern. Yes it’s true, if you don’t use it, you lose it. So those really cool, esoteric, bizarre, once-in-a career cases now will be a nightmare to defend later. Talk about bah humbug! Your greatest allies are your junior residents. If they can’t easily defend that case, then cease and desist and “go fish” for another.

For AOBOG 2017 Oral Exam Candidates

For those preparing for the April oral exam, you may have to forego holiday presents, as your $3275 application fee is due January 16 (or when maximum is reached).

For those preparing for your fall exam, come to our September 13-17, 2017 Board Review Course, which is strategically timed just a few weeks before your exam. Did you know that our syllabus even highlights EACH core topic? Our course will provide a comprehensive review of those topics. Also, this is the ideal time to pull it all together with face-to-face mock orals exams. We also have an evening session that puts each core topic under the microscope and painstakingly goes through potential exam topics.

 

 

ABOG Maintenance of Certification (MOC)

Part II: Lifelong Learning

ALL the 45 2016 articles are due December 15, even for those of you who also took your written exam this year. 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. The holidays are rushed enough without having to also complete the articles while waiting in the shopping line. You don’t want Santa to stuff your stocking with a big fat late fee!

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 ALL in the MOC program

It’s time to pay to play. Your renewal for Part II or the articles for 2017 is

due January 15th.  The list of journal articles for the first quarter should be out by mid-January.

Welcome and congratulations to those who just passed their November primary oral exam. You thought you would have a long-deserved coast and goof-off time since you worked so hard for your oral boards, right? Well, think again… no rest for the weary! You must enroll in the MOC program by January, 2017. Come join the fun, as misery loves company.

Part III: Secure Written Exam

For those of you about to enter MOC Year 6 in 2017, you must pass a written exam by December 15, 2017. Incredibly, you get FIVE attempts to pass the exam and can take it practically any day of the year!

If you’re a gunner and trying to get on Santa’s “nice” list for 2017, take the exam on January 2 (the first Monday in 2017). We have several products that are great reading during your holiday travels. Our Annual MOC Manuals, since 2010, summarize each of the articles AND have written questions. 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.

Now for those of you who have never taken short cuts and want a 100% guarantee that you’ll pass your exam, come to our April 19-23, 2017 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.

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. You will no longer need to attend the Spring ACOOG conference to take your exam as next year it is switching to a computerized exam.   During the week of  March 6 through March 11, 2017 you can take your exam at any Pearson VUE Test Center.

Additionally, you must complete 5 Practice Performance Assessments (PPA) in each 6 year OCC cycle. These 5 PPAs must be completed by September 15^th of the year your certificate expires.

ABOG lists that exam topics may include, but are not limited to, the following: Medical conditions complicating pregnancy

Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy

Diabetes mellitus in pregnancy: screening and management

Ectopic pregnancy: diagnosis and management

Maternal antenatal screening for aneuploidy

HIV in pregnancy

Infectious disease in pregnancy: maternal and fetal effects/complications

Sexually transmitted infections

Labor management

Preterm labor: diagnosis and management including appropriate use of fetal fibronectin, cervical lengths, and antenatal steroids

HPV: infection, manifestations, vaccine

Abnormal cervical cytology and histology: diagnosis & management

Gynecologic procedures: indications, complications, peri-operative management

Menopause management

Low bone mass/osteoporosis: screening, prevention, management

BRCa 1&2: counseling and implications

Urinary incontinence

Abnormal uterine bleeding

Contraception

Pelvic pain

Endometriosis

Vaginitis

 Osteopathic Principles may be incorporated into any of the above areas.

 

For all Canadian Royal College Exam candidates

It’s soon the Holiday and you will probably want to spoil your loved ones. Do not forgot to consider the upcoming cost. We recommend registering and sending payment for your examination in December. The final deadline is January 13^th 2017 (4155$) but as mentioned on their website, it is better to not wait until the last minute.

Also, don’t forget the Early bird registration for the Canadian Obstetrics and Gynecology Review Program (previously known as “Making a Mark”). Most candidates taking the examination go to the review session, which is not intended to be a full review of the examination content, but more of a consolidation and assessment of your knowledge, as well as a practice to take the Canadian oral OSCE examination. Early bird registration is December 16, 2017 (save 200$). Otherwise, the cost of the review program is 1300$. (http://www.obgynreview.ca). You should, at the same time, make a reservation at the BMO institute of learning (where the course is held) for your room, as there are a limited number of rooms available. You can find the information on the website.

Finally, you will be sent a notice of registration once the Royal College has ruled you eligible to take the exams. If you have not received a notice of registration by December 20 for a spring specialty exam, or by April 30 for a fall subspecialty exam, contact: candidates@royalcollege.ca Telephone: 613-730-6278; toll-free 1-800-668-3740 ext. 278 or 419 or Fax: 613-730-8261