January 2015 Tip of the Month

Krishna Das, MD, FACOG
     When we say, “We’re with you every step”, we mean that literally. Dr. Krishna Das -yeah, the lady who wrote THE book on the oral exam,will be right there in Dallas the week of your exam. She will do whatever it takes to get YOU feeling confident just before your test. It’s too late and certainly not helpful to hide within a group or camp just days before your test. Whereas examining is a team effort, unfortunately, being examined is solo.  

ABOG 2014 ORAL Exam Candidates

JANUARY Exam Candidates
     The holidays are finally over. You’ve known you were the last group since July, and you thought January would never get here. Well, it’s here! You can sure identify with your patients who go into labor. Be careful what you wish for, right?
     The #1 regret of exam takers is that they wished they had done more mock orals. You have all kinds of resources to tap into - local and regional colleagues, as well as 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 are 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.
      A great way to pull it all together (or salvage what’s left if you’ve procrastinated) is to take advantage of our Do or Die in Dallas service. We 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.You need to eat, drink and sleep OB/GYN and set the stage for your big day.

 ABOG 2015 ORAL Exam Candidates
     Happy New Year! The Chinese calendar says 2015 is the year of the exam. Make a resolution to not procrastinate preparation for your exam. You can finally apply for the 2015 oral exam starting February 1^st at www.abog.org. Your application and the application fee of $840 are due by March 15^th. If you delay, you will incur stiff late fees.
     By now, you should have a system for organizing your data for the case list. For all GYN patients, collect the H&Ps, operative notes, pathology reports, and discharge summaries. For all OB patients, keep a file of the prenatal forms, delivery notes, discharge summaries, and postpartum notes. 
     Since you’re now halfway into collecting your cases, it’s time to start adding to your Office case list. Keep a list of all 40 categories on your desk. Collect no more than 6 names for each category. The bread & butter categories will fill up quickly. Start keeping an eye out for those categories that you want to talk about. It is unlikely, and unnecessary, to fill all 40 categories. Remember, you can only apply two patients per category.Also, don’t forget you have to provide the overall number of ultrasounds that you personally performed in the office, as well as on hospitalized patients. Just keep a tickler file for OB, GYN, and Office.
     Take a stab at entering the data on the case list forms - just use your common sense. Rest assured, we have Case List Construction Workshops scheduled as early as April. For those who are OCD, order your copy of Pass Your Oral Ob/Gyn Board Exam by Dr. Das for a complete step-by-step guide. You’ve been collecting cases since the summer. It’s cold outside and you’ve nothing better to do, so start today create a good habit of collecting and entering cases on a weekly basis at a minimum.   If you’re really anal, come to our April 15-19 Board Review Course. The advantage of starting in the spring is that you have a good idea of the topics on your case list. You don’t have to do any heavy duty studying until August, as your only priority from May to August 1^st  is to get that case list done and to design your strategy. However once August 1^st hits...ee gads! -there is precious little time to study if your exam is the first month (November). Thus, coming to a review course in the spring greatly facilitates exploding out of the starting block.

Chief Residents Planning A Subspecialty Fellowship
     Subspecialty fellows are permitted to select 20 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. Thus, make sure to hold onto that residency log!
     Refer to the ABOG Bulletin as to 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 20 later. For those patients, 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 at all about the office patients, 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, two years 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. Your greatest allies are your junior residents. If they can’t easily defend the case, cease and desist and “go fish” for another.

Subspecialty Fellows Planning for their 2015 ABOG General Oral Board Exam
     You can now sit for your general oral boards anytime during your fellowship. Unfortunately it’s true -if you don’t use it, you lose it, so try to con your fellowship director into letting you take your exam your first year. Remember though, 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, begin to piece meal how to gather those cases from your residency institution. 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? 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 are excellent step-by-step guides. 
     Our review course is ideal for sub-specialists. It’s too risky to wait until a few months before your exam, so come to our April 15-19 Board Review Course. For the past five years, we’ve covered 99% of exam topics! We’ll spoon feed you on your off-specialty topics and you will not need to go beyond your course binder.

 AOBOG & ABOG 2015 WRITTEN Exam Candidates
     The ABOG June 29^th, 2015 exam is now closed. Have you reserved your Pearson-Vue testing center yet? The AOBOG May 2^nd, 2015 exam application is due February 23^rd (March 9^th if you want to pay a penalty late fee). The exam is in five and six months, so it’s “over the hump” time. Your free time to study will be usurped by end of year stuff as you finish your residency. Therefore, you must take advantage of JANUARY and FEBRUARY to “kick butt” and crank out a bunch of topics on your study plan.
     You must be candid as to what you can/cannot accomplish on your study plan. If you haven’t already finished, prioritize those MUST KNOW topics. Our Test Topics Manual  is a great resource to show you the way, as it covers 90% of the exam topics.  Limit yourself to a clinical review and don’t forget to budget time for written questions on each topic.
     We strongly advise taking a review course. Obviously we’re a bit biased, as we feel we have the ideal course; however, you should look for the following features. There is precious little time to wade through the volumes of material to figure out what to prioritize. Our next course is April 15-19, 2015. You also want a faculty with extensive speaking experience. The fact that they research and publish is irrelevant, as their lectures should be based on ACOG clinical guidelines. The faculty especially needs to be knowledgeable in the written board exam. Every ABC lecture concludes with written questions.
     For those who have traditionally struggled with written exams, or if you have failed the written board exam, you cannot continue with modus operandi. It didn’t work before, so why set yourself up for the same outcome? We have found that knowledge is rarely the problem. You couldn’t have made it this far is that was the case. It’s typically a processing problem. The Jolley’s have a brilliantly simply and effective PROCESS with proven success. They offer their Test Taking Skills Workshop one evening at our April course. 

AOBOG 2015 ORAL Exam Candidates
     Applications for the May 1^st and 2^nd, 2015 are due by January 12^th. You can still get it in no later than January 19^th, but with a late fee. The May 2^nd & 3^rd, 2015 exam application is due by January 3^rd. Brace yourself for the $3250 examination fee which is due by February 1^st.
     We’ve got a great way to start out the New Year. Dr. Diane Evans, DO, Marc Jean-Giles, DOand Dr. Chetana Okasi start our Oral Exam Webinar on February 1^st. We guarantee to get through all ten core topics by the end of April. For every month of registration, you will receive a FREE ½ hour telephone mock oral exam!  Since its debut in 2011, we’ve been batting a 99% pass rate for webinar attendees.
     Our April 15-19 Board Review Course is perfect for a streamlined exam focused review just weeks before your exam. Did you know our syllabus even highlights the ten core topics? Don’t be lulled into thinking your exam just covers ten topics. Each core topic is just an umbrella for many other spin off topics. Then of course, there’s that “surprise topic” they save for the end. The course is also an excellent opportunity for face-to-face private Mock Oral Exam

ABOG Maintenance of Certification (MOC)
Part II: Lifelong Learning
    It’s time to pay to play. Your renewal fee of $295 for Part II or Annual Board Certification is due with your application.  You must apply every year and access to the MOC assignments will not be allowed until your application and fee are received. The list of journal articles for the first quarter should be out mid-January. Make a New Year’s resolution to finish the first quarter just before you file your taxes in April.

Part III: Secure Written Exam. 
     For those of you in MOC Year 6, you must pass a written exam by December 15^th, 2015. We are batting 100% pass for those who attended our review course and one-day workshop since the exam started two years ago! We’re so confident that you too will pass, that we’ll refund your course registration fee if you don’t. Our next course is April 15-19 and the workshop is the day before on April 14 in Charlotte, NC. Since you are an adult learner, we strongly recommend you take your exam the DAY AFTER or at the latest, one week after the course!

AOBOG Written Exam Osteopathic Continuous Certification in Obstetrics & Gynecology (OCC) 
     If you want to take the April, 2015 exam, you can still register by February 1^st, but you also need to send your $1200 application and exam fee.Unfortunately, the exam is now offered only once a year at the spring ACOOG conference. You can take it as early as year four of the six year cycle.
     This exam is usually a piece of cake; that is, if you are a generalist. If you’re a specialist, then it’s tough as in includes ALL of OB/GYN. We strongly recommend that you consider getting our DVD course recordings to refresh you on those off topics.