Testimonials: Workshops and Services for Oral and Clinical Exam

Oral Exam Workshop

"So glad I spent the time and $. The lectures were insightful, thought provoking, and just made darn sense. I marvel how she got us to go from being competitive to collegial. I had a lot of fun and learned a lot with the partner and group exercises, but also appreciated the one-on-one help too. This made me keenly aware, that it's not just what you know, but how you say it too." -- JS Oct 08

"Thank you for creating an environment that was comfortable and collegial. I also learned a great deal from my colleagues too" -- Sep 08

"Great lectures, helpful, and insightful" -- Sep 08

"Very energetic, engaging, informative, supportive" -- Sep 08

"I appreciate her (Dr. Das) honesty" -- Sep 08

"The hands-on was my favorite" -- Sep 08

"She thought of everything, even down to the strategy/impact of your appearance and hand shake" -- Sep 08

"The personal attention was very nice and appreciated" -- Sep 08

"Presenting our nightmare cases to the group was most helpful, I think we left no stones unturned" -- Sep 08

"I marvel how she got us to go from being competitive to helping and having fun with each other. I made some great new friends today" -- Sep 08

"I really enjoyed practicing the Round Robin Case of the Day with my partner" -- Sep 08

"Thank you for all the attention to detail & technique. I'm ready to practice & apply it!" -- Sep 08

I just found out today....I passed!!! I attended the course in late October 08. I am thrilled with the course, as well as the workshop, and would recommend them to anyone studying for the oral boards. The lecturers were absolutely fantastic! The facility was great! The mock orals were valuable! They gave me confidence and also showed me the areas on which I needed to focus. JB Oct 08

I wanted to thank all of you for your help in this whole oral exam process. The workshop, the course, and the mock orals were extremely helpful to me and really made the difference in my confidence level during the test. My mock oral with Dr. Das was right on target-almost every question she asked on my gynecology case list was also asked in my exam. Thanks so much for helping me pass! I will be certain to recommend your course to others. -- EL Dec 08

I wanted to express how eternally grateful I am to Dr. Das and the rest of the ABC staff for the wonderful assistance and support that everyone unconditionally and infinitely demonstrated during my Board preparation. I will always so fondly associate you with my PASSING the General Boards...I am still elated about the news!!! -- NA Jan 09

Case List Construction Workshop

"The Chicago workshop was fabulous and so informative. I have all of my cases entered thus far, so Dr. Polite was able to guide me on how to make it flow. This workshop was invaluable!!! I can't wait until the review course in September. I hope all your faculty are this awesome!" - PL 5/09

"I have a much clearer picture of how a case list should be organized." - 4/08

"Very helpful for preparing my case list (I'm a 3rd timer). I now see many of the mistakes I made before." - 4/08

"Like many, I thought it was mandatory to use the ABOG software. You easily convinced me at the workshop that a custom case list was better. However I was shocked with how easy and quickly I could pull it off. Debbie was a huge help with technical support. I am thrilled with the night and day difference. My case list is sooo much easier now to edit. I'm coasting and it's only May; yawn - plenty of time until Aug 1." -- MT, 2008

Structured Cases

"Thank you for the great (September 2007) course. I really enjoyed the lectures, the atmosphere, and your dedicated staff and faculty. I attended other courses and none of them made me feel as comfortable and as confident as ABC. I loved those case list round robins -- I can't wait to try them out for real." -- KS 9/07

"The case of the days exactly simulated the questions (on the osteopathic clinical exam). As a matter of fact, after the endometriosis section the examiner said 'I'm not supposed to give you any feedback, but in my 14 years of giving exams, yours were the best answers.' Your evening session on dissecting the core topics and the case of the days was absolutely the PERFECT preparation. I am recommending ABC to all of my friends. See you for my recertification." -- JS 5/09

"Thank you for the great (September 2007) course. I really enjoyed the lectures, the atmosphere, and your dedicated staff and faculty. None of the other courses I took made me feel as comfortable and as confident as ABC. I loved those case list round robins! I can't wait to try them out for real." -- KS 9/07

"Those round robins case of the days are worth their weight in gold for preparing for my osteopathic clinical exam. Get this, Dr Martin had given me the Obstetrics one, and I essentially memorized the answer sheet. It was surreal as my preeclampsia question on my boards was essentially the same as the round robin. The examiner himself complimented me and said 'Doctor, you managed that patient beautifully'. I am so happy I passed; I'll be back for my recertification exam for sure." DC Sep 2008

Unfortunately I'm repeating my exam. The simulation on the computer and the type of cases gave me goose bumps as this was just exactly like my test; however, now I'm better armed" -- Sep 09

Do or Die in Dallas

"Now I know what you meant by perfect practice makes perfect. The Do or Die in Dallas session was the perfect practice for my exam the next day." -- MD Nov 2008

"The Do or Die in Dallas session was exactly what I needed to rehearse and warm up for my test the next day. It was just the boost I needed to walk in to my exam with confidence" -- KV Nov 2008

"Sooo glad I did the D3 session, as I think I would have surely rolled over and died without it!" -- JL Nov 2008

"I agree with your analogy of the Do or Die in Dallas session with an athlete who needs to stretch and warm up before the big race. It was not just a warm up, but a fine tuning. Bring 'em on" -- GL Nov 2008

"This was my last chance to pass the oral exam before having to start the 6 year cycle over again. Obviously I hadn't done so well in the past. The session in Dallas was truly do or die for me. Even though I was about ready to give up, Dr. Peeper refused to. He kept saying, 'You CAN do this. Let's go over it again...and again.' Well, I PASSED! I can't thank him enough. I have no doubt that session made all the difference." -- ST Dec 08

"I suffered post traumatic stress from my first oral exam experience. Although ABOG assured me that was the last exam for that malicious examiner, there was permanent damage. I just couldn't get back in the saddle again. I avoided any mock oral exams until two weeks before the test when I called ABC. I took several telephone mock orals, but Dr. Das gently, but firmly insisted we meet in Dallas. Through her encouragement, tough love, and Inderal I not only got back in the saddle, but was galloping at the end. I PASSED!! I'm sure I could not have accomplished that without those Dallas sessions." -- AP Jan 09

"Dr.Das, I would like to really thank you for the mock orals in Dallas. I had the cystotomy on my case list during a vag hyst (that I was confused about the location of injury).Let me tell you, I am so glad you reviewed this case and took the time to help me finally understand the anatomy. The Gyn examiner went right for it as you predicted and went into a lot of detail about this injury, repair,length of time for the foley to be left in. He asked all the questions you grilled me on. I PASSED!" -- CR Jan 09

"You are truly a blessing! In just 2 hours I can feel the difference, see the rise in my confidence and identify obstacles that I didn't realize existed. Amazing! Your email of encouragement gives me strength. -- Thank you sooo much!" -- AP Jan 09

Mock Oral Exams

"As you well know, I had taken the oral exam twice before. This time I know that your recommendations, mentoring, and review course helped me understand what I needed to do. I did mock orals and round robins. You were so supportive and gave me the confidence to continue in my journey to take the oral a third time and pass. If you ask me what was the difference -- well doing MOCK ORALS, knowing your case list well, and did I mention mock orals!! Well all this, and now at 40 years old and 9 years after completing my residency, I can finally say I am board certified. ABC was a part of this accomplishment and I will never be able to thank you enough!" KS 08

"I wish I had taken more oral exams."

"Dear Dr. Das--I PASSED! You convinced me to take a mock oral. I did poorly the first time, but knowing was helpful. I took as many mock orals as I could get when I got home. I feel this made all the difference." KC

"Dear Dr. Das--I PASSED! I honestly felt you gave the best, most representative fee for the real exam. I am forever grateful." RZ

"I failed my (ABOG) oral boards in 2006. I had gone to other programs. I took 3 mock orals with them, but still did not have a lot of confidence. After just 30 minutes of a telephone mock oral with Dr. Das, she said 'I think I know what the problem is.' I realized she was absolutely right -- the other three examiners had totally missed it. She gave me some specific recommendations. The next week, we did another mock oral -- it was a night and day difference. Finally I knew I was ready. Not only was I confident going IN to the test, but I KNEW I had passed right away. I would STRONGLY recommend mock orals specifically with Dr. Das. She had covered 80% of the questions that were asked on my exam, but she had empowered me to easily answer the remaining 20%." SL

"As you well know, I had take the oral exam twice before. This time I know that your recommendations, mentoring, and review course helped me understand what I needed to do. I did mock orals and round robins. You were so supportive and gave me the confidence to continue in my journey to take the oral a third time and pass. If you ask me what was the difference -- well doing MOCK ORALS, knowing your case list well, and did I mention mock orals!! Well all this, and now at 40 years old and 9 years after completing my residency, I can finally say I am board certified. ABC was a part of this accomplishment and I will never be able to thank you enough!"

Mock Oral Exams - Private at Course

"It was insightful to be able to now look at my case list from the examiner's--rather than just my--perspective."

"Dr.Das, I would like to really thank you for the mock orals. I had the cystotomy on my case list during a vag hyst (that I was confused about the location of injury).Let me tell you, I am so glad you reviewed this case and took the time to help me finally understand the anatomy. The Gyn examiner went right for it as you predicted and went into a lot of detail about this injury, repair, length of time for the foley to be left in. He asked all the questions you grilled me on. I PASSED!" -- CR Jan 09

Mock Oral Exams - Private Telephone

"Thanks to ABC, especially Dr. Das and Peeper, I passed my oral exam on my third attempt. Mock orals were definitely the key to success. I know I heard that all along, but I didn’t embrace it the first two times. There is just no substitute; you can study all you want, but you can’t get the words out and in an organized fashion, without practice. - HS Nov 2009

"I failed my (ABOG) oral boards in 2006. I had gone to other programs and took 3 mock orals with them, but still did not have a lot of confidence. After just 30 minutes of a telephone mock oral with Dr. Das, she said 'I think I know what the problem is.' I realized she was absolutely right -- the other three examiners had totally missed it. She gave me some specific recommendations. The next week, we did another mock oral -- it was a night and day difference. Finally I knew I was ready. Not only was I confident going IN to the test, but I KNEW I had passed right away. I would STRONGLY recommend mock orals specifically with Dr. Das. She had covered 80% of the questions that were asked on my exam, but she had empowered me to easily answer the remaining 20%." SL

Case List Review

"Dr. Das' review of my case list predicted almost all of the questions; there were no surprises." -- M. C. 2007

"It was insightful to be able to now look at my case list from the examiner's--rather than just my--perspective."

"A friend recommended Dr. Das review my case list. I was expecting the digital recording of each case, but I was floored by the phone consult (of the review highlights). It's like she had all the time in the world to answer any of my questions. But it didn't end there. I even e-mailed her some of the changes in formatting for her review. It wasn't a simple e-mail response back, so she called me again. Actually she even talked with my husband, who was primarily inputting the data, to make sure he knew exactly what to do. Talk about going above and beyond!" -- E.G

"What a difference Dr. Das' phone consult (of the review highlights) made. Dr. Das' phone consultation was a conversation that made it crystal clear her concerns and especially made the recording so much more helpful. The exchange allowed each of us to clarify each other's questions. For your money's value, definitely go with ABC." S.C.

"I didn't pass last time. This time I have three different people reviewing my case list. Dr. Das was great and so helpful; this has been the best money I have spent." -- GL, 7/07

"I hold Dr. Das single-handedly responsible for pulling me through this exam... Your review of my case list predicted almost all of the questions; there were no surprises." -- M. C.

"Unfortunately I failed my 2006 oral exams. I had my case list reviewed prior to submission by an expert from another company. After I failed, I asked Dr. Das to look at my case list to see if she could help me figure out where I went wrong.

Right away she beelined to the case that created such a problem for me on my GYN case list. Her line of questioning was uncannily similar to the examiners. She pointed out it stemmed from the way it was worded, that the pre-op diagnosis didn't make sense with the treatment. I shared with her that I completely agreed and my gut feeling beforehand was that it was wrong. Turns out, the so called expert doesn't even operate anymore. I knew more than he did!

Please help others avoid my same mistake. Don't ignore your hunches. Get several opinions. Don't be victimized by claims of expertise. Make sure your reviewer actively practices medicine. Book knowledge is no substitute for surgical hands on, let alone making recommendations on how to construct/defend your case list." -- S.C., 2007