Boards

[PrincessFiona]

Thomas always started about 3 months before the exams (USMLE, Boards, etc). He comes up with a fairly regimented study plan and usually studies for a couple of hours every night....then at the end of the week he reviews everything he did for the entire week.....At the end of the next week, he reviews everything he did for the previous two weeks, etc.....

kris

[DCJenn]

Rick and I drank a lot of wine and figured if he didn't know it, he never would...

and it's worked...Step 2, Step 3 and hopefully Boards... so far...

Jenn

My husband is always surprised when older students say that another two or three weeks wouldn't have helped their scores. It is something that he can't comprehend. He's always taking tests at the last possible time available to get all the study time he can. I think he would have a lot of regrets if he didn't study as much as he could have for the boards. Its not that he wants to get a perfect score, he just wants to do the best he can, I guess its something not measured by the tests. He never has been satisified with 'good enough' or 'fine' in his studies or anywhere else in his life. I don't know how he does the marathon sessions, but he has always been a heavy studier. Even in our undergrad days. I probably wouldn't know what to do if he decided he was only going to study for boards for three or four weeks!

[Amiens]

So when Matt took the USMLE Step 1, he studied probably a month in advance. Step 2, a couple of weeks. When he takes (finally!) Step 3 this spring, he said he will take a couple of days to review topics he doesn't feel confident on. Matt used the First Aid series.

There is a saying that Matt likes to quote in regards to the USMLE and studying for it- Two weeks (Step 1), Two Days (Step 2), Bring a number two pencil (Step 3).

As far as his anesthesia boards, Matt is constantly studying. Matt found out that he passed the boards on his first try this past July after one year of training, but it doesn't count. The department has all the residents take it each year before they are board eligible to prepare them, as well as have them participate in mock oral boards. When Matt passed his written his comment was "Either the exam was made so anyone can pass it or I do know something" I would like to think he "knows" something as he was one of 3 people who received a passing score with it being weighted. Not bad out of a class of 20. The person who received the highest score has been doing anesthesia residency training for 4 years- 2 in Canada, and almost 2 years here in the US.

Crystal