December 2021 Tip of the Month

For ABOG 2021 ORAL 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. 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 1400-page binder into 148 pages!
With you every step

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 succession. Often 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 previous question go and focus on the question at hand. Do not let the worry about whether you got the last question correct distract you, and thereby compromise you are getting a sure pass question correct. Envision your last answer just rolling off your shoulder and dropping onto the floor. When you gleefully skip out of the room, you will leave a heap of answers on the floor.
Remember, just 70%

For ABOG 2022 Qualifying Oral Exam Candidates

The last day to apply for the qualifying exam with late fees is December 17^th However, if you wait this long to enter cases, you’re already EIGHT months behind. 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 during our April 2022 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.

Case List Construction Tip
Study Strategy:
Time is short. Remember you are sitting for your general boards, NOT your subspecialty boards. Starting now, don’t study anything in your subspecialty - focus entirely on your off subjects. You do not need to study to the exhaustive, minutiae detail that you are used to for your subspecialty. It will not score you any more points and is a waste of precious study time. Our Test Topics Manual will provide you with a template for an exam-focused review.

Subspecialty Fellows Sitting for their 2021 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 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 must 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. 
With you every step…

Test Taking Technique  
Our signature Structured Cases are ideal for subspecialists for two reasons. Half of your exam is structured cases, so you’ll become very comfortable with this format. Additionally, the cases are grouped according to topic, so this is a fantastic study tool to fill in those gaps on your off-specialty topics. Also, our How to Do What You Don’t Do is a great resource for those general procedures that you’ve now forgotten.

For AOBOG & ABOG 2022 Certifying Written Exam Candidates

For ABOG folk, the $1600 application and examination fee were due by October 18th. A late fee of $360 kicks in until November 19th, followed by a swift kick of a $840 late fee until December 17th. No applications are accepted after December 17th. For those of you taking your AOBOG exam, the $1175 examination fee is due by March 16th. The final application deadline is April 15th with a late fee of $352. 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 June. If you have traditionally struggled with the written exam format, we strongly recommend our Test Taking Skills Online Course. In just 2 months you can perfect our CQRPE test taking methodology and test drive it on the January CREOG exam.

Test Taking Technique
The CREOG in-service-training exam is an excellent resource to gauge your performance for the written board 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. You can sign up the day of the exam with a $145 examination fee. Either e-mail Darya Valantsevich at  DValantsevich@acog.org or call her at 202-863-2548 to arrange this and choose your testing center.
For you AOBOG folk the exam is April 30 - May 7 at the Pearson VUE testing centers. You may choose any date, time, and location.
It’s always good to keep it all in perspective. Begin with the end in mind. Make sure you cross-reference to the AOBOG list of exam content before you launch or to monitor your studying.
               GYN                      39-43%
               REI                        7-11%
               FPMRS                 6-10%
               Oncology               4-8%
               OB & MFM            34-38%

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 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 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 2022 Oral Exam Candidates

For those preparing for the March oral exam you may have to forego holiday presents, as your $3275 application fee is due on December 27^th (or when the maximum is reached). For those wanting to be well prepared for the spring exam consider purchasing our Home Study Package. We provide 95% of current exam topics in our 44 hour lecture series.

Test Taking Technique
ABC’s OMM for the OBGYN question manual is designed specifically for our AOBOG candidates, covering topics for those preparing for their written, oral, or OCC osteopathic exam. It includes 25 multiple choice questions, 50 questions with write-in answers, visual clinical scenarios based upon osteopathic structural exams and related OMT/OMM techniques. Click on the link for more details.   

ABOG Maintenance of Certification (MOC)\ Part II: Lifelong Learning

All 45 articles are due December 15^th, 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 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.

Part III: Secure Written Exam
If you have not maintained at least an 86% average on your MOC articles and your about to enter MOC Year 6 in 2021, you must pass a written exam by December 15, 2021. Incredibly, you get FIVE attempts to pass the exam and can take it practically any day of the year!  Finally, the Board has acknowledged that an emphasis will be placed on both the Compendium and the articles. Come to our April 20-24, 2022, Board Review Course for fun!  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 everyday practice tips, too.
You can do it … we can help!

AOBOG Osteopathic Continuous Certification in Obstetrics & Gynecology (OCC)

The recertification exam has been replaced with the (ARC) aka Advanced Real-time Certification. The good news is that it is an online assessment system giving you the opportunity to fulfill your OCC Component 3 requirements. Each year you are to complete 24 assessments.  Go to the AOBOG website for additional details. 

ABC Tip:
Consider attending our 5-day review course April 20-24, 2022.  This is not the same type of review course as in the past.  Just as you evolve and practice evidence-based medicine, our course is designed for the adult learner and all lectures follow the national ACOG guidelines. Even better, you’ll walk away you’ll walk away with Category I CME hours and with loads of clinical pearls, too.

Royal College 2022 Exam Candidates

Holiday season has arrived, and you will probably want to spoil your loved ones. With the written exam being right around the corner in March and the applied oral exam April, we recommend that you check out our Royal College products page to help you better prepare. We offer a variety of practice exams and mock orals tailored to help you pass both exams.