February 2012 Tip of the Month for Subspecialty Fellows Planning for Their 2012 ABOG General Oral Exam

You cannot sit for your general oral boards until at least your second year of your fellowship. Furthermore, you can only take the general oral boards once during your fellowship.

If you neglected to collect cases in your off specialty from your chief year, you must get back to your residency institution to gather those cases AND enter them into your software. GYN Oncologists, REI and Urogynecologists will need an OB list and MFMs need a GYN list. If you currently have to take call for these off services, you can use those cases.

If you are retrospectively collecting cases, go with your comfort zone. Dang, how could you have forgotten so much in such a short time? Unfortunately it's true: if you don't use it, you lose it. Go with the bread-and-butter cases. Remember this is your general boards. We recommend you chose those cases that reflect high-yield topics. Our Test Topics Manual and Pass Your Oral Ob/Gyn Board Exam by Dr. Das will be an excellent step-by-step guide.

You can do it...we can help.

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Test Taking Technique

For many candidates, Oncology is a love/hate relationship. Commonly, many don’t even have any oncology on their GYN case list, since most generalists refer the patient to the gyn oncologist upon the diagnosis or even suspicion of cancer. Nonetheless you will be held accountable for oncology on your oral exam.
If you will be using cases from your chief residency log for your GYN case list, make sure to choose some oncology cases. Just go with the bread and butter cancers, such as ovarian, uterine, and cervical cancers. You’ll be glad you did, as it will be easier to retain or relearn these topics if you have a specific patient prototype.

With you every step...