February 2020 Subspecialty News

MFM 2020 ORAL Exam Candidates

It’s February! Take a deep breath – your list has been submitted. Excellent work!  Now it’s time to really crack down and study.  Do you have a study plan yet? Take the next two months to fill in any gaps in your knowledge and reinforce your strengths. Although your case list is a great source of topics to study from, and you should know the details about every diagnosis and treatment you have listed there, remember that there are several cases of the day that will be spanning all sorts of topics which may not show up on your list.

Our  MFM Oral Exam Webinar starts Feb. 19th and perfectly timed for your April exam!  Dr. Stephanie Martin kicks on the first session on  Study Design, key stats and an overview of how and what to study. 

Test Taking Technique:   
This is an ORAL exam, so get used to talking out loud (our webinar will give you lots of practice). You need to be ready to defend your thesis by 1) articulating the hypothesis, 2) study design, 3) statistics choices, 4) limitations and results. Also, be prepared to explain how to redesign your study.

 

FPMRS 2020 ORAL Exam Candidates

Congratulations on submitting your case list! If there is an issue at all, ABOG will be contacting you shortly. Don’t panic if more information or reformatting is needed. They will give you a few days to regroup without a late fee charged. 

Next on to the bulk of your studying.  The ABOG study guide gives a nice outline to start from, and if you haven’t yet, start organizing reading material into categories such as urinary and fecal incontinence, prolapse, pain syndromes, sexual dysfunction.  Include reading lists from ACOG publications, up to date or doximity reviews, and textbooks.  Also, it is not too late to sign up for our Oral Exam Webinar which starts February 20th. All webinars are archived for our candidates so if you’ve missed a few, catching up is simple. Each is an hour in length and all lectures are case-based reviews of all the most important topics.  Being able to participate in live conversations gives a slightly more relaxed mock oral feel as well as the ability to hear your colleague's approaches to cases to further develop more concise and professional answers.

Most importantly, now is the time to start treating yourself with care.  Studying balanced with regular life events, kids, work, etc. is highly stressful. Make sure you make a little downtime for yourself. A rested candidate is always going to think more critically than a frazzled one.

Test Taking Tips
The #1 regret of past candidates is that they wished they had done more mock oral exams. We suggest you start about 6 weeks before your exam. Certainly, tap into your local colleagues and past academicians.  However, you need to quickly rev up to those who can simulate the exam. Give ABC a call for a telephone mock oral with one of our FPM faculty. 

REI 2020 ORAL Exam Candidates

Your case list has been submitted, congratulations! Take a moment to breathe and re-focus yourself.  Now is the time to start studying. Have you developed a study plan?  Sign up our Oral Exam Webinar, which starts February 20th.  Each 1 hr session will tackle those high-yield structured cases with candidates answering followed by faculty feedback.  Each session is recorded and accessible for listening within 24 hours. 

Test Taking Tips:
Get a head start with ABC’s REI’s Structured Cases. These cases will be exceptionally valuable for you as you become familiar with, and ultimately perfect this mode of the exam, as well as to assess your knowledge of a specific topic.
Back to blog