Best obgyn shelf resources

[Spetzler-Martin]

I'm curious what everyone found to be the best resources for the ob shelf exam. I've been reading threads from a few years ago but as expected, many of those resources have quickly become dated.

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[FalconSlice]

I'm curious what everyone found to be the best resources for the ob shelf exam. I've been reading threads from a few years ago but interestingly many of those resources have quickly become dated.

I did this write up in the not-too-distant past. I hope it helps: OB-Gyn Shelf Exam

 

[Spetzler-Martin]

I did this write up in the not-too-distant past. I hope it helps: OB-Gyn Shelf Exam

Thanks! So you basically just used UWise + Uworld + Blueprints? Impressive that you finished blueprints all in a week before the rotation. Looks like it's nearly 500 pages long.

 

[FalconSlice]

Thanks! So you basically just used UWise + Uworld + Blueprints? Impressive that you finished blueprints all in a week before the rotation. Looks like it's nearly 500 pages long.

I didn't actually intensely read the whole thing. If anything I really read the first 3 or 4 chapters and skimmed the rest of the book for salient points. It was my last rotation and I def wasn't gonna go into OB/GYN so I focused on the first several chapters to get a good foundational base. The vast majority of the rest of the book was minutiae (that I'd def read if I were actually interested in ob/gyn)

 

[crimsonly]

What order do you recommend doing the obgyn shelf questions? UW -> UWise -> UW incorrects?

Also why blueprints > williams or case files?

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I used amboss for the obgyn shelf and it was my highest shelf score. Got one of the highest shelf scores in my class on that one. I thought uwise was worthless. They made us do them and I felt like it was just a huge waste of time. I listened to creogs over coffee and did amboss and that was it (and the NBME practice exams).

 

[ciestar]

I used UWise and some UWorld and i got a near perfect score on that shelf

 

[Spetzler-Martin]

I used UWise and some UWorld and i got a near perfect score on that shelf

Just the questions? You didn't use a primary source?

 

[ciestar]

Just the questions? You didn't use a primary source?

I used OME now that i think about it.

No, i didnt use much of Case Files. I used a little bit of it, but i dont learn as well by reading a book. OB came to me so naturally.

 

[stickgirl390]

I did Cheesy Dorian Anki deck + Uworld and it was my highest shelf score

 

[Spetzler-Martin]

Has anyone ever used Boards and Beyond for Step 2. I just looked through a few videos and the quality seems pretty good. However, nobody ever seems to talk about their Step 2 videos. Their video library was only recently complete so perhaps it hasn't gained enough traction yet?

 

[cptsam]

Has anyone ever used Boards and Beyond for Step 2. I just looked through a few videos and the quality seems pretty good. However, nobody ever seems to talk about their Step 2 videos. Their video library was only recently complete so perhaps it hasn't gained enough traction yet?

I am. Currently cramming through it and making flashcards since I've been getting wrecked on UW for OBGYN (like mid 50's average so far). I like it for sure so far, I'll update when I finish most of it with how I've been doing on NBME's and the actual shelf.

 

[Captain_Falcon]

Amboss and Anking deck. Ended up being my worst Shelf but still close to H , but I absolutely hate OBGYN and my heart was not into the material at all

 

[FalconSlice]

I should add that in my experience (and most other people I know), the actual resource matters less than the amount of mastery you have over the material. I honestly think you could get a great score with "only" UWorld if you know it well enough.

There are many resources that everyone else have mentioned, pick 1 or 2 and know them really well. Also make sure UWorld is one of those resources

 

[tulsajoe94]

I’ll second UWorld, UWise, Cheesy Dorian! Also, I really loved the PIMPED OB/GYN podcast. Digestible, maybe 10 minutes. A lot of it in vignettes. Things discussed were asked of me on the rotation and during the shelf

 

[cptsam]

I should add that in my experience (and most other people I know), the actual resource matters less than the amount of mastery you have over the material. I honestly think you could get a great score with "only" UWorld if you know it well enough.

There are many resources that everyone else have mentioned, pick 1 or 2 and know them really well. Also make sure UWorld is one of those resources

I think this may be where I'm getting stuck, how do I obtain mastery? For UW, I'll do the questions and ask myself why each choice is wrong, but should I be doing more when I'm reviewing? Should I be making flashcards for every point I didn't know?

 

[tulsajoe94]

How many questions have you done and how deep into your rotation are you? Theoretically, you should learn a lot of the things from reading ACOG guidelines or just observing clinical practice.

There are only so many variations on a theme they can ask, the OB/GYN content just isn't *that* diverse, so prioritize seeing lots of question stems. The UWise questions were really challenging but offered great clinical explanations, so maybe give those a go if UWorld doesn't seem to be hitting home just yet. I also feel like the practice shelves were really nice for OB/GYN, because there is truly like 200 possible shelf questions in the whole field, so the practices make it really clear what gets asked on the reg.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I don’t know what uwise questions you all did, but I thought they were worthless. The hundred question uwise test our school made us do provided no explanations for the questions and didn’t even tell you which ones you specifically got wrong.

 

[tulsajoe94]

UWise is an entire learning platform. It has like 50 something topics, each with a 10 question quiz afterwards. These quizzes provide explanations afterwards, though I think I remember them only giving the explanation (right or wrong) for the answer you chose. Either way, it was beneficial for me to see 10 questions on endometriosis or ectopic pregnancy back to back. My school made us "pass" 20 UWise quizzes and I just did them while on nights and I didn't want to read long UWorld explanations (beneficial, rough at 3am).

@Matthew9Thirtyfive I can't understand why your school would even assign you that. Unfortunate.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

UWise is an entire learning platform. It has like 50 something topics, each with a 10 question quiz afterwards. These quizzes provide explanations afterwards, though I think I remember them only giving the explanation (right or wrong) for the answer you chose. Either way, it was beneficial for me to see 10 questions on endometriosis or ectopic pregnancy back to back. My school made us "pass" 20 UWise quizzes and I just did them while on nights and I didn't want to read long UWorld explanations (beneficial, rough at 3am).

@Matthew9Thirtyfive I can't understand why your school would even assign you that. Unfortunate.

Yeah I know what it is. We had to do uwise for obgyn. I saw all the different topics and quizzes and stuff. At the bottom there are like multiple 100 question practice tests. We were required to do one of the 100 question practice tests. Those don’t tell you which questions you got wrong or provide answer explanations, even within the uwise platform. So to get the answer explanations, you’d have to also go through and do all the questions in the individual sections.

I also didn’t use uworld. I used amboss, which has brief explanations that link to the more in-depth library entry if you want more detail. I thought that was way better than uworld or uwise. Maybe if I hadn’t been using amboss or hadn’t been forced to do the 100 question test, I would have used uwise more. But the few questions I did outside the 100 question test didn’t impress me. Glad some people got something out of it.

 

[Spetzler-Martin]

I used amboss for the obgyn shelf and it was my highest shelf score. Got one of the highest shelf scores in my class on that one. I thought uwise was worthless. They made us do them and I felt like it was just a huge waste of time. I listened to creogs over coffee and did amboss and that was it (and the NBME practice exams).

Just following up on your post 4 weeks into my rotation, I definitely agree with you on Amboss. The question bank is amazing and the answers go into appropriate detail compared to UWorld which, in my personal opinion, has unnecessarily long explanations (I get it. Fish is bad for pregnant woman. I don't need to know all the different types of fish that are bad). Love how Amboss highlights pertinent information in the question stem. Also, after finishing the Amboss questions, these UWorld questions are a piece of cake.

Regarding UWise, the questions don't seem to be reflective of NBME style/difficulty. However, I'll respond back here in a few weeks regarding my actual shelf score.

 

[cptsam]

I did both Amboss and UW. Got a mid 80 on the NBME 6 and got a low 70 for the actual shelf. Questions were strange, but I just wanted to pass lmao