September 2022 Tip of the Month

ABOG 2022 Oral Exam Candidates

Change to: Now that your case list has been submitted, we recommend you send it to your local/regional consultants or colleagues for recommendations in defending your case list:

            Case list component               Reviewer
                        OB                               MFM, generalist
                        GYN                            GYN ONC, Urogyn, Generalist
                        Office                          Generalist, REI, FP, IM
 
Make sure you give them a strict deadline - say two weeks; and set a date to discuss their recommendations. Also, consider utilizing ABC faculty. We'll help you defend those nightmare cases or, just as important, point out the usual exam focus for all your cases. The other half of the exam is the Structured Cases. We have a few products to help you get comfortable with this portion of your exam. Our Structured Cases product is grouped according to a subject, so they’re an excellent way to fill in topic gaps and practice the oral format. You get a great bang out for your buck if you purchase our set of 85 cases. ABC’s September 13-18 Interactive Board Review Course comes at the perfect time for you. This is the only live course being held, for the remainder of the year, with options to attend virtually or in person. We strongly encourage you to register sooner rather than later especially if you plan on attending in person. The course will be held at the MAHEC Education Campus in Asheville, NC. Our research consistently shows that your pass rate is higher if you incorporate strategy with content. Therefore, our Oral Exam Workshop, which is devoted to strategy, is included in the course. Our faculty is exceptionally knowledgeable about the oral exam and provides specific services, such as Mock Oral Exams, Case List Reviews, and Structured Cases. The earlier you utilize these services, the better off you'll be, as your studying will take far more time than you budgeted, so it is better to identify as early as possible the topics you need to prioritize. Regardless of the month of your exam, you must know your case list cold! For every patient, make a copy of the case from your case list, draft a clinical summary, identify the patient management issues and compile both the compendium references on the issues and your clinically oriented review. Viola! Now you know her stone cold.

Study Tip:
Another surefire way to learn your cases, as well as have some fun coloring, is to get out your four favorite-colored highlighters. Use the same color for ALL the cases with the following commonalities: labs, imaging, medications, and surgeries. For example, everything highlighted in blue is medication. Each area has characteristic features. In this example, for each medication, identify the generic/brand name, mechanism of action, indications, etc. Enter the data on a flash card or your phone and quiz yourself in between cases or awaiting delivery.  You can do it … we can help.

Subspecialty Fellows Planning for their 2022 ABOG General Oral Board Exam

Now that your case list has been turned in, you probably recognized how much you forgot in your off-specialty subjects. That’s where they get the expression, “If you don’t use it, you lose it”. Our review course is IDEAL for fellows, as we tell you just what you need to know; then you can joyfully repress it again after your test. No matter your exam month there is a lot to relearn…. OK, for some of you, to learn. We strongly recommend you come to our September 13-18 Interactive Board Review Course to gather all the material you will need for 95% of your test. We also encourage you to tap into D3 mock oral sessions which provide an opportunity for last-minute polishing or cramming. Our seasoned ABC faculty will be providing 55-minute mock oral sessions via Zoom during your exam week which provides an opportunity for last-minute polishing or cramming. 

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 the exhaustive, minute 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.

ABOG 2023 ORAL Exam Candidates

Congratulations for passing Go (or your Written Exam) and collecting your $200. No rest for the weary. If you took the exam as a resident, you may apply for the Accelerated Process. This is fancy talk; the simple translation is that this applies to you if you finished your residency in June 2022 and want to sit for your oral exam in 2023. For most of you taking the conventional route (in other words, you've been in practice for at least a year), you cannot apply for the 2023 oral exam typically until March. However, if you wait this long to enter cases, you’re already eight months behind –big mistake! For anyone taking their 2023 oral exams, go to abog.org now to start entering your cases online. Remember the collections started, as in past tense, in July 2022.

Case List Construction Tip:
Don't fret about details of how to enter the cases. You'll change your mind at least a half dozen times before it's all said and done. For all GYN patients, start a habit of collecting H&Ps, operative notes, pathology reports, and discharge summaries. For all OB patients, keep a file of prenatal forms, delivery notes, discharge summaries, and postpartum notes. Don't worry about the office patients yet. Take a stab at entering the cases online and just use your common sense. We recommend you tap into the recorded Case List Construction updated in April 2022 to get a head start. Make sure to cross-reference with ABOG for changes specific to 2023. However, the gold standard is our live Case List Workshop scheduled for April 2023 to get direct feedback that you're on track to creating a sure-fire pass list. Start today by creating a good habit of collecting and entering cases.

AOBOG Oral Exam Candidates

Are you scheduled to sit for your AOBOG oral boards this fall or spring of 2023? If you are sitting for the fall exam (October) then our September 14-18 hybrid review course is a very solid option for last-minute studying. For those that want to get a head start in preparing for the April 2023 exam, this course is a great option. This will be the only live course that we’ll offer for the remainder of this year, with options to attend virtually or in person. It will be held in Asheville, NC. Our live Review Courses and Home Study packages provide a comprehensive, exhaustive review of each core topic. All our mock orals are conducted by our osteopathic faculty, and we receive rave feedback that our structured cases closely simulate the AOBOG exam. Each is subject-based, including FPM, Oncology, OB, GYN, and REI. We also have a set that is specific for each core topic, including cases on ultrasound, pain, sexual dysfunction, and contraception. We are the only company that has a product that simulates the scenarios portion of your exam. Twenty different scenarios are displayed with subsequent questions. ABC has the guard rails to keep you going down the long and straight. We also have an evening session or a strategy video on our home study package that puts each core topic under the microscope and painstakingly goes through potential exam topics.

Test Taking Technique:
Practice makes perfect. This is an oral exam. You can study more, but if you can't persuasively articulate then all that work is for naught. Just reach out and touch, as in the phone. The number of private mock orals is limited only by your stamina.  You can do it … we can help.

ABOG and AOBOG 2023 Written Exam Candidates

The ABOG application will be available online at www.abog.org on January 2^nd, 2023. Don't shoot the messenger, but in case you need to budget, the $1,600 application and examination fee are both due by February 16^th, 2023, without a late fee. For those of you taking your AOBOG exam, applications are available in October for the spring exam. If this is your first time taking the exam and you have historically performed above average on your CREOG in-service-training exam, kick back and chill. If this will be at least your second attempt or you have performed at or below average on your CREOG in-service-training exam, you need to decide if you can, and will, truly commit to adequately preparing for this exam. If your answer is anything but an emphatic yes, you are setting yourself up for another disappointment. We strongly advise you to come to our hybrid September 14-18 review course or register for our Online Home Study Course. Not only will we provide you with the study materials that cover 90% of your exam, but we will help you develop a study plan to come out running at the six-month mark. Take charge with our Taking Skills Online Course. You will receive over 3 hours of videos focusing on test-taking methodology, strategy, and application.

Study Tip:
The CREOG in-service training exam is in January 2023. Since ABOG stopped reporting the actual score for the written board exam, our only benchmark is the CREOG score. You must score > 200 to comfortably pass your board exam. So, don’t just blow it off this year.
Although publicly fellowship directors will tell you that your score on CREOGs doesn’t affect your fellowship application; this is about as credible as medical schools saying MCATs don’t mean much … yeah, right. So maybe your scores don’t hurt you, but they sure could help you …a lot!
The exam is a few months away, of which two are holiday months. Time will slip away quickly. If your residency does not have a regimented CREOG prep course, you need to develop a study schedule now. Kill two birds with one stone by using the ABOG written board learning objectives as your guide. Simply go to the General OB/GYN Bulletin on your abog.org home page.
Anyone can take the exam, even non-residents, so we strongly recommend taking them if you failed your written board exam. Just contact Darya Valantsevich at dvalantsevich@acog.org.

ABOG Maintenance of Certification

Part II Lifelong Learning
ALL 45 articles are due December 15. 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, rather than 35 Category I CME credits. 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 - YIKES!
Part III Secure Written Exam
Those of you in MOC Year 6 who have not averaged 86% or higher on your articles must pass a written exam by December 15. We have a few products to help you prepare for and pass your written exam. For those of you who have always tapped into a review course in preparing for your board-certifying exams, you’ll no doubt benefit greatly by attending our five-day review course being held September 14-18. This will be the only live course that we’ll offer for the remainder of this year, with options to attend virtually or in person. The course will be held at the MAHEC Education Campus in Asheville, NC. 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, is exam-focused, and all lectures follow the national ACOG guidelines. Heck, you’ll walk away with loads of everyday practice tips, too.
Still, looking for more questions? Our Written Questions Manuals provide almost 1400 questions, plus a narrative explanation for each answer, along with references.  Additionally, our Q Banks for the OB/GYN are computer-based 50 multiple-choice questions. They are designed to simulate your written board exam.

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 allowing you 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 coming to one of our 5-day review courses.  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 with Category I CME hours and with loads of clinical pearls, too.