Board Certification in Psychiatry

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CAP people: what study material do you recommend for initial child certification?
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coyotelime said:
Scored well (2.5 SDs above) and finished with a lot of time to spare. Preparation method was a little overkill looking back. BTB (lectures twice through, and Qbank x 1 with incorrects repeated until I got them right), K&S x 3, and DSM casebook a few weeks before the exam that was pretty helpful. If I could do it again, BTB lectures once is plenty. K&S is great but the explanations are where it’s at, though I felt the isoteric neuro and other developmental stuff (Piaget, Erikson that most of us probably crammed) didn’t really show up on the actual exam anyway. Congrats to everyone who passed!!
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Do you recommend BTB? I'm prepping for the next board exam and I'm debating its cost.
 
psychboard said:
Do you recommend BTB? I'm prepping for the next board exam and I'm debating its cost.
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I honestly think it’s over rated over priced. There are other cheaper options that can help you pass such as K and S, old prite, board vitals and mypsychboard.
 
psychboard said:
Do you recommend BTB? I'm prepping for the next board exam and I'm debating its cost.
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I have not used it, but I echo @brainmedicine that it seems expensive. Maybe it is different if you have had problems with these types of exams before, have done poorly on the PRITEs, or went to a residency that didn’t give you good exposure. If you have a good foundation, though, my personal belief is that all you need is K&S. That’s all I used and I did great. Like 70 bucks on Amazon and you’re good to go.

The problem with these testing resources is that everybody is going to basically stand by whatever they used if they wound up passing. If someone spend however many hundreds of dollars on BTB, but they passed at the end of the day, they’re going to view that cost as worthwhile. The problem is that those people would have likely passed with equally great but far cheaper resources.
 
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Any recommendations for what to study for child boards? Thanks in advance.

Most posts suggest BTB and board vitals. Any additional recommendations?
 
I got the email from the ABPN about articles every three years vs 10 year exam. I am leaning toward the exam as I don’t want to these articles every 3 years. Any thoughts about this?
 
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Hi,
Any one interested to study and prepare for child and adolescent initial psych boards?
 
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psychdoc005 said:
psychdoc005 said:
Passed general psychiatry boards as well! Happy to talk about my preparation.
What is everyone doing about the MOC? Article pathway or plan to take the test?

For those that did not pass, do as many questions as you can - prior PRITEs, question banks.
Discussion with colleagues may be helpful. Please feel free to reach ou
psychdoc005 said:
Passed general psychiatry boards as well! Happy to talk about my preparation.
What is everyone doing about the MOC? Article pathway or plan to take the test?

For those that did not pass, do as many questions as you can - prior PRITEs, question banks.
Discussion with colleagues may be helpful. Please feel free to reach out
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do you mind sharing your preparation and tips ! What worked well for you ?
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psychdoc005 said:
psychdoc005 said:
Passed general psychiatry boards as well! Happy to talk about my preparation.
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What is everyone doing about the MOC? Article pathway or plan to take the test?

For those that did not pass, do as many questions as you can - prior PRITEs, question banks.
Discussion with colleagues may be helpful. Please feel free to reach out
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Is the MOC significantly easier than the initial certification exam or am I wrong?

I was thinking about just doing the MOC since its 10 years
 
psychdoc005 said:
Any recommendations for what to study for child boards? Thanks in advance.

Most posts suggest BTB and board vitals. Any additional recommendations?
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Psychiatry Genius has an impressive course worth looking at for Child & Adolescent board exam prep. One of my colleagues said it was her favorite of the three.
 
psychboard said:
Do you recommend BTB? I'm prepping for the next board exam and I'm debating its cost.
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I don't recommend BTB having tried it. I also don't recommend Board Vitals because there's better stuff out there.

There are only two board prep courses that my colleagues and I recommend because we used them and know that real psychiatrists write for them:
- Psychiatry Genius
- Psychiatry Boards Prep

Psychiatry Genius has top-level questions and excellent customer service in my experience. Questions are presented in blocks or modules for the sake of efficiency, and can be reset as many times as you like. Good prices, they have sales often. They seem to care about their customers, always on the side of the resident. Super helpful. A friend of mine cried after failing twice, and they talked to him a lot and gave him a big discount. He used their course and passed! They also have academic customers because one of my friends had her residency get everyone access ~ entire programs sign up with them.

Psychiatry Boards Prep is also very solid. It also has top-level questions. They made the actual testing environment look and feel similar to the real exam. Their vignettes are the best I've seen personally both in question quality, sequence of thought, and what appears to be professional actors like the real exam. Also reasonable prices. What's special about this one is the ability to create unlimited board exams. You can actually pick # of questions, subjects, and mix vignettes with multiple choice stand-alone questions and generate a practice exam. Some of my colleagues found Psychiatry Boards Prep extremely helpful because in crunch time you want to focus on your weak subjects and it lets you do just that. It's like UWorld if you know what that system is for the Step exams.

That's my two cents. Can't go wrong with either one. Good luck!
 
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I did very poorly on my PRITE (last year resident). Like 22% percentile or something, last in class lol. I'm pretty stressed about boards now. I have Beat the Boards and Spiegal book. I'm doing questions through Spiegal and I feel like there's stuff I just don't know. I have no clue how I made it this far in residency. I'm pretty nervous. How do I study????
 
Geraltofrivia said:
I did very poorly on my PRITE (last year resident). Like 22% percentile or something, last in class lol. I'm pretty stressed about boards now. I have Beat the Boards and Spiegal book. I'm doing questions through Spiegal and I feel like there's stuff I just don't know. I have no clue how I made it this far in residency. I'm pretty nervous. How do I study???
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1) you have tons of time

2) I’d recommend using Spiegel as a learning resources. That is, try to do the questions, but don’t be discouraged you’re getting them wrong and review every single question (even if you get them correct). I’d often make notecards from questions I got wrong as well to review why that answers was correct and the other answers wrong. I would do them in blocks of 10 and then review answers in blocks of 10 so I’d remember why I was answering questions certain ways.

I often utilize question banks as a learning resource rather than something to actually test yourself…because then you often end up getting discouraged and then people often tend to skip over the questions they get right because they think they already know that information without realizing there’s a lot of valuable info in the explanations for the other answer choices.
 
Dr.MONO said:
Congrats! Do you mind sharing what strategies or resources used?
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I used BTB and board vitals in the first two times and failed. I did more questions this time mainly K and S and Myspcyhboard. K and S is gold in my opinion and Mypsychboard is really good Q bank and covers video vignettes. I also had online tutoring to help me passing. So glad I am done with this test!
 
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Geraltofrivia said:
I did very poorly on my PRITE (last year resident). Like 22% percentile or something, last in class lol. I'm pretty stressed about boards now. I have Beat the Boards and Spiegal book. I'm doing questions through Spiegal and I feel like there's stuff I just don't know. I have no clue how I made it this far in residency. I'm pretty nervous. How do I study????
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Do as much questions as you can. Learn your psych stuff well especially geriatric psychiatry.
 
I am TERRIBLE at these standardized tests. I bombed PRITE each time, though I admit I studied almost zero. I used Beat the Boards (watched all lectures and did all questions twice) and I did Board Vitals. I passed comfortably first time.

Like all other tests before, review where you are weakest. Do lots of questions. Do more questions. And expect some weird $hit on the tests. Good luck.
 
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PsychEpathic said:
I am TERRIBLE at these standardized tests. I bombed PRITE each time, though I admit I studied almost zero. I used Beat the Boards (watched all lectures and did all questions twice) and I did Board Vitals. I passed comfortably first time.

Like all other tests before, review where you are weakest. Do lots of questions. Do more questions. And expect some weird $hit on the tests. Good luck.
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Congrats!

I also struggled on the PRITEs the first couple times I took it.
 
Nudexta said:
Do as much questions as you can. Learn your psych stuff well especially geriatric psychiatry.
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Resident Genius has a whole long section on geriatric psychiatry that's super helpful for both the PRITE and board exam. Stuff I saw on the PRITE. just FYI.
 
Geraltofrivia said:
I did very poorly on my PRITE (last year resident). Like 22% percentile or something, last in class lol. I'm pretty stressed about boards now. I have Beat the Boards and Spiegal book. I'm doing questions through Spiegal and I feel like there's stuff I just don't know. I have no clue how I made it this far in residency. I'm pretty nervous. How do I study????
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You will do well. I echo the previous responses of studying well during residency and doing as much as questions as you can. You don’t need something pricey to pass there are tons of good essential affordable choices like K and S, Mypsychboard, board vitals….etc
 
Geraltofrivia said:
I did very poorly on my PRITE (last year resident). Like 22% percentile or something, last in class lol. I'm pretty stressed about boards now. I have Beat the Boards and Spiegal book. I'm doing questions through Spiegal and I feel like there's stuff I just don't know. I have no clue how I made it this far in residency. I'm pretty nervous. How do I study????
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You have lot's of time. Keep doing questions.
 
Does anyone know how long it takes for certificationmatters.org to update?
 
Hi. Will be taking adult boards this year. Did poorly on PRITE's throughout residency. have done only 100 q/s from BTB so far and nothing else. What's the best strategy for preparing for boards, going forward?
 
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wolfvgang22 said:
Get the Kenny and Spiegel review book. Do all the practice test questions, timed. Review the questions you missed.
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So I shouldn't be doing BTB q/s?? My residency program gave online access to K&S, but it doesn't gives an option to do them in a timed mode.
 
Thank you. I do have printed book from the residency program. I will use that.
 
drdss2017 said:
Hi. Will be taking adult boards this year. Did poorly on PRITE's throughout residency. have done only 100 q/s from BTB so far and nothing else. What's the best strategy for preparing for boards, going forward?
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Do question banks like spiegel, mypsychboard and board vitals. You will be fine
 
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And how many questions per day on average, I should be doing? I work full time (M-F, 8a-6p).
 
I did about 25 to 30 questions a day, and made time to review weak areas. Be sure to leave time to cover areas where you're not up to par.

I was chatting with two residents who took the 2021 board exam and they used Psychiatry Genius saying it prepared them very well for whatever that's worth.
 
Shufflin said:
I did about 25 to 30 questions a day, and made time to review weak areas. Be sure to leave time to cover areas where you're not up to par.

I was chatting with two residents who took the 2021 board exam and they used Psychiatry Genius saying it prepared them very well for whatever that's worth.
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Thank you
 
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In a similar boat as you. I've been casually doing 10-25 questions per day of K+S and watching videos of BTB. Been doing random BTB questions before bed, in bed too just because but I think I'm going to stop this because I'm doing terribly lol. K+S seems to be very neuro and genetics heavy, whereas BTB is more psychiatry heavy if that makes sense. Hope this combo is good enough
 
Geraltofrivia said:
In a similar boat as you. I've been casually doing 10-25 questions per day of K+S and watching videos of BTB. Been doing random BTB questions before bed, in bed too just because but I think I'm going to stop this because I'm doing terribly lol. K+S seems to be very neuro and genetics heavy, whereas BTB is more psychiatry heavy if that makes sense. Hope this combo is good enough
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K and S is good for Neuro and Mypsychboard for psych questions and vignettes. Beat the board has some good lectures but was too slow for me.
 
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Geraltofrivia said:
In a similar boat as you. I've been casually doing 10-25 questions per day of K+S and watching videos of BTB. Been doing random BTB questions before bed, in bed too just because but I think I'm going to stop this because I'm doing terribly lol. K+S seems to be very neuro and genetics heavy, whereas BTB is more psychiatry heavy if that makes sense. Hope this combo is good enough
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I was told that neuro content is decreasing. I am using K and S for neuro and Mypsychboard for vignettes. One senior resident told me that vignettes appear to be the harder part of the exam.
 
The board has a good passing rate although it is getting harder each year. Spiegel is a must have for neuro although neuro is becoming less. I did some beat the boards lectures. MyPsychboard is the best Q bank out there.
 
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As someone who tutored two people who failed boards from my residency, take this for what it's worth but I think the majority of people who fail this exam don't know the basics. The exam is not hard. What trips people up is diagnostic criteria and things they may not have seen. Every psychiatry resident (hopefully) knows first line and second line and third line treatments for depression. Where people tend to have trouble is the more academic questions like distinguishing between the different types of depression, how many criteria is needed to make the diagnosis, what the difference is treatment is and why. This is all stuff from the DSM. Know it. Well. Like the back of your hand. There are going to be ridiculous questions like how many ADHD criteria do you need if the patient is being diagnosed over the age of 17. Or that you shouldn't make the diagnosis of DMDD before age 6 or after age 18. Or that DMDD symptoms have to be present for at least 12 months and if the patient went 3 mths in a row without all the symptoms, they don't meet criteria. All these nuances may be of little utility in real life, but it can be the difference between a pass and a fail if you miss enough of them. The other thing is epidemiology. How many people have schizophrenia? Is it male or female predominant? All these are in the DSM as well.

There are other reasons people fail but this is a major one. When I first started tutoring, I didn't realize that people get through residency without knowing the DSM. I learned the DSM first thing, before I ever picked up a peer review article. But I realized really fast that the ones who failed didn't know these little annoying things that won't make them a bad psychiatrist but will make them fail the exam.

LEARN THE DSM FIRST! All the other study materials are secondary.
 
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Mass Effect said:
As someone who tutored two people who failed boards from my residency, take this for what it's worth but I think the majority of people who fail this exam don't know the basics. The exam is not hard. What trips people up is diagnostic criteria and things they may not have seen. Every psychiatry resident (hopefully) knows first line and second line and third line treatments for depression. Where people tend to have trouble is the more academic questions like distinguishing between the different types of depression, how many criteria is needed to make the diagnosis, what the difference is treatment is and why. This is all stuff from the DSM. Know it. Well. Like the back of your hand. There are going to be ridiculous questions like how many ADHD criteria do you need if the patient is being diagnosed over the age of 17. Or that you shouldn't make the diagnosis of DMDD before age 6 or after age 18. Or that DMDD symptoms have to be present for at least 12 months and if the patient went 3 mths in a row without all the symptoms, they don't meet criteria. All these nuances may be of little utility in real life, but it can be the difference between a pass and a fail if you miss enough of them. The other thing is epidemiology. How many people have schizophrenia? Is it male or female predominant? All these are in the DSM as well.

There are other reasons people fail but this is a major one. When I first started tutoring, I didn't realize that people get through residency without knowing the DSM. I learned the DSM first thing, before I ever picked up a peer review article. But I realized really fast that the ones who failed didn't know these little annoying things that won't make them a bad psychiatrist but will make them fail the exam.

LEARN THE DSM FIRST! All the other study materials are secondary.
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You are right. DSM is very important for the boards
 
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Hello all. It’s been a while since I have posted on SDN. Now I am studying for the ABPN boards come September and was wondering if just BTB and spiegal was enough to hopefully pass this damn thing.
 
UCFMOP said:
Hello all. It’s been a while since I have posted on SDN. Now I am studying for the ABPN boards come September and was wondering if just BTB and spiegal was enough to hopefully pass this damn thing.
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This is what I was told by many people who have taken it in the last couple years. BTB for info and K&S for more "true to the test" questions.
 
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UCFMOP said:
Hello all. It’s been a while since I have posted on SDN. Now I am studying for the ABPN boards come September and was wondering if just BTB and spiegal was enough to hopefully pass this damn thing.
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Have no experience with BTB but K&S itself is enough to pass the test. That’s basically all I used and I did very well.
 
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I am starting my board prep for 2022 September but kind of freaking out, talking to colleagues who have been studying for a year!!!
I was planning to only go through spiegel but now having second thoughts because BTB or boardvitals seem like a rule rather than exception among first time takers. In prite exams, I have never been under 95th percentile throughout my residency and tend to be good in standardized exams but again It is hard to know I guess...
 
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