Board Certification in Psychiatry

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Dr.MONO said:
You need to get at least 70 percent on BTB to show good knowledge, but I found their questions not representing the actual test.
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Got it thanks. How is it not representative? Like too easy?
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The board tests diff subjects and has a diff question styles. BTB was too easy, non related and lectures were super slow!
 
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Spiegel- must have
Mypsychboard is closest to the real thing. Excellent video vignettes
 
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KnightofBaldMt said:
Do you have a recommendation or a link for the Anki deck?

Our program provides BtB but the videos are a bit underwhelming, maybe more of a necessity in my weak areas than anything else. Seems that you found the BV Qbank more helpful?
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I caution you that this is several years too old now. I would recommend doing this and reviewing Ninja Prite with it and adding whatever new information is present. I think there were multiple direct questions from this deck

 
Geraltofrivia said:
I caution you that this is several years too old now. I would recommend doing this and reviewing Ninja Prite with it and adding whatever new information is present. I think there were multiple direct questions from this deck

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Thanks for your response Witcher. What is several years too old now? I used some of the Ninja Anki Deck to half study for PRITE probably a total of 3 months during residency. I just wish there was a UWorld equivalent!
 
KnightofBaldMt said:
Thanks for your response Witcher. What is several years too old now? I used some of the Ninja Anki Deck to half study for PRITE probably a total of 3 months during residency. I just wish there was a UWorld equivalent!
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Winds howling...

It's from 2021 I think. The boards will be reflective of whatever happened in-between. IMO it's going to be a great resource still so long as you augment with Board Vitals and Spiegal. Results may vary. Previous outcomes do not guarantee future success.
 
Zyprexa100 said:
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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Hi, what tutor did you get?
 
I am a PGY3 but I am going to take the boards with zero resources and zero studying. When I take the test I will report my results here.

I will be an N=1 experiment of a good test taker / decent PRITE score resident who will go in without studying at all. My hypothesis is that if you do well on PRITE, do well in residency, you can pass without any dedicated studying. Wish me luck.
 
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I did poorly on PRITE in PGY1. Got scared I didn't know anything.

Studied the text books, but scored low in PGY2 and freaked out. Then I caved in and bought a test prep and then did super got like top 10% on the PRITE in PGY3 lol. Did my knowledge change that much? Maybe. But glad for the outcome.
 
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Oh I think I forgot to comment here- only used Beat the Boards, ended up 81st percentile on the exam with decent scores across the board. Almost 10 years after starting on SDN I've finally become a board-certified physician.
 
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quiet pines said:
I did poorly on PRITE in PGY1. Got scared I didn't know anything.

Studied the text books, but scored low in PGY2 and freaked out. Then I caved in and bought a test prep and then did super got like top 10% on the PRITE in PGY3 lol. Did my knowledge change that much? Maybe. But glad for the outcome.
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What resource did you end up using? Congrats by the way, that's a great score.
 
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Yale Medicine said:
What resource did you end up using? Congrats by the way, that's a great score.
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Psychiatry Genius.

They have a PRITE review with hundreds and hundreds of questions and explanations with additional study material. It was really good. The following year our residency program bought their course for all the residents. Scores went up. Good times.
 
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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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Are you still hearing about current residents using Psychiatry Genius? Seems to be less chatter on here about them and I wonder if they're still considered to be one of the best board exam prep courses out there.
 
Is anyone using Mypsychboard for child psychiatry question bank?
 
Dr. ADT said:
Is anyone using Mypsychboard for child psychiatry question bank?
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This is my second attempt for the child psych boards. Last year I failed by 1 point. I was so dissapointed. There were SO many psychological test qeustions. Mind you I only saw one psychological test when I was in fellowship. Last year I used board vitals only. This year I'm still using board vitals but purchased beat the boards as well. Beat the boards is better than Board Vitals for the simple fact that they have VIDEO VIGNETTES something that board vitals does not have, which put me, I felt, at a huge dissadvantage. Last year I remeber it asking a lot about programs stuff that I did not have any exposure to nor any knowledge base about becaue I am not a social worker lol. I can't believe that the child-psych boards are not fully reflective of actual practice and relevant topics pertenant to be an excellent child psychiatrist.
 
Kinda curious what people who are taking it in a few months are using. I only have K & S currently. BTB seems super expensive but there are so many other options and I don't really know what to go with.
 
I am telling you K&S, Board Vitals, and old PRITE are all you need. BtB is useless.
 
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CAP people who have taken it in the last 1-2 years -- what seemed the most helpful? I'm burning through Board Vitals currently. I felt that BTB was good for adult boards last year but didn't want to spend the small fortune on it again this year. Any other golden resources for CAP boards?
 
Kinda curious what percentages people are getting on the Spiegel tests and seeing how they correlate with passing. Just started my studying last week and got 67% on test 1 and did worse on test 2, 61%. Weirdly felt like test 2 was easier (the questions I got right I knew instantly, but the ones I got wrong I either misread or was able to narrow down to 2 answer choices and then picked wrong).

Anyone have an idea? Hoping these obviously progress into the 70s at least as I go through the other 4.
 
You should be aiming to get 80% in Spiegel by the end of your second pass. It's the top learning resource you have so you should be emphasizing learning the material the first time. I do understand the high score dopamine rush though. This is also just my opinion so please remember that too
 
AtlasCarraway said:
CAP people who have taken it in the last 1-2 years -- what seemed the most helpful? I'm burning through Board Vitals currently. I felt that BTB was good for adult boards last year but didn't want to spend the small fortune on it again this year. Any other golden resources for CAP boards?
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I failed the child board last year. I am using Mypsychboard this year for CAP.
 
Geraltofrivia said:
You should be aiming to get 80% in Spiegel by the end of your second pass. It's the top learning resource you have so you should be emphasizing learning the material the first time. I do understand the high score dopamine rush though. This is also just my opinion so please remember that too
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Yeah I definitely understand the high score rush but I get that Spiegel is a great resource of learning. I'm going through all of my incorrects over the first two tests and brushing up on some knowledge before test 3 so we'll see how that goes.
 
Got in the 60-70% range on spiegel test 3 as well, but instead of focusing on the score I'm going through the answers and making flashcards and taking notes on the explanations. Honestly things are starting to stick now and it's getting better. Realizing my mistakes etc. Spiegel is a great resource for info lol. Gotta keep at it....

I also think I'll invest in a 2nd resource, probably either Board Vitals or Mypsychboard for more questions. Between those two, have people had a better experience?
 
Cascade22 said:
Got in the 60-70% range on spiegel test 3 as well, but instead of focusing on the score I'm going through the answers and making flashcards and taking notes on the explanations. Honestly things are starting to stick now and it's getting better. Realizing my mistakes etc. Spiegel is a great resource for info lol. Gotta keep at it....

I also think I'll invest in a 2nd resource, probably either Board Vitals or Mypsychboard for more questions. Between those two, have people had a better experience?
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Spiegel is the best source for single-item multiple questions, Mypsychboard is the best for vignettes. Doing both and getting 70 percent significantly increases the chance of passing.
 
kiranth said:
Are you interesting is studying together, may be going over the concept that we are getting wrong?

Thanks and good luck!
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Might DM you some time if I'm up for it.

Curious, did most people do Speigel timed or study mode? I've been using study mode for the digital edition for the first few tests.
 
kiranth said:
Congratulations! What you recommend that is most useful to do 50 some days before the exam; keep doing and reviewing questions from BTB and BV. I am feeling overwhelmed, and going back and forth want to open the text book to review and than the panic of not having enough time and massive anxiety when I don't get questions right lol

I am also puzzled because a few people that I know and who passed the exam last year, said "do BTB but the exam is nothing like that." Are questions more like the PRITE, S & K. I understand that there is no straightforward answer and each person has their own strengths/weakness/study habits etc.

Any and all suggestions are highly appreciated!
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The exam is getting more complex. Every year I know many people who did not pass because they did not take it seriously. It is doable, but I would not underestimate it. Old Prites are helpful, although the exam has a different format. Learn the DSM V very well. Please do not waste your time on BTB and BV questions because they are not similar to the test. They may be helpful for expanding your knowledge but not much after that.
 
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Some of the neurology questions on Spiegel are insanely specific and for diseases I've never heard of, a bit rough. For example, on test 4, I feel there have been more neuro questions than psych questions lol
 
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kiranth said:
Would you say S & K is fairer representation for both the content and type of questions. There seems to be a lot of neuroanatomy, first order recall on it, sure I haven't done all the questions yet. I am feeling overwhelmed.
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Yes, K and S is good but supplement it with an additional good high yield resource
 
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Anyone have any experience with the TrueLearn ABPN qbank? Would love your thoughts on it, especially those that have taken boards and how it compares.
 
What percentages have people been getting on the different Qbanks that correlate with passing the boards?
 
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I've been using BoardVitals because I get it for free, but 1/4 of the way through the Qbank I've found 3 answers that were incorrect/poorly written and submitted them for review. All of them were updated and changed, so I guess that's good but doesn't instill a ton of confidence. To be fair, for one question Stahl and Schatzberg were the referenced material and they were both incorrect on the half-life of a certain med.

I've also started BtB which I'm doing more for the CME than actually studying as well as K&S which I haven't started yet.
 
I've been getting 60-70% first pass on the Spiegel tests but retaking them I'm scoring much higher. A mixture of knowing the answers but I'm definitely retaining info at this point. I was able to get BTB for a discount and I'm about 25-30% through the entire qbank and I'm at a 73% so far, which is hopefully good enough to pass?

In terms of the vignettes on Spiegel, I feel I can at least get 60% on most of them if not higher, my scores kinda fluctuate based on the subject matter. I am doing way better on the video vignettes, but I feel those questions are much simpler anyway. The BTB vignettes feel kinda weird, they ask some esoteric stuff compared to Spiegel.
 
I did Spiegel averaging 75% on their tests, and fared much better on the board exam than my scores suggested from that source. Was able to score quite high actually.

But I do think Psychiatry Boards Prep came the closest to what I saw on the real board exam as compared to what I saw trying various other sources of questions including BtB, BV, and MyPsychBoard that my colleagues let me use. I appreciated especially the quality of questions and answers on PBP for what its worth.
 
Dr. ADT said:
I am using BTB but considering supplementing it with Board Vitals or Mypsychboard. Undecided yet.
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The further into the BV Qbank I'm getting, the less and less impressed I am with it, but it's free where I work so why not. For the price and per reviews on here, if you're going to pay for another Qbank I'd probably go with MPB, but I have no experience with it.
 
Stagg737 said:
The further into the BV Qbank I'm getting, the less and less impressed I am with it, but it's free where I work so why not. For the price and per reviews on here, if you're going to pay for another Qbank I'd probably go with MPB, but I have no experience with it.
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I second that. I used Mypsychboard for general boards which was the best and is considering it for child psych.
 
Oh my god, I wasn't really paying attention when I was setting up a test and reset my qbank on BTB. I was already 35-40% through it. Huge facepalm...ugh...
 
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Psychiatry Genius website has been down today per my colleague... bad timing for those studying for the exam next month.

As for child boards, I just read some books and did the questions in Psychiatry Board Prep and those were enough.
 
OK so I bought MyPsychBoard based on what I read on here. Is this what people actually use? There's no interface for tracking your progress, the test setup doesn't even work (I keep asking for new questions and get repeat questions, sometimes the same question multiple times within the same test), and formatting is bizarre. Sometimes there up to 6 answer choices, sometimes just 2, but the feedback will list answers that aren't even there). Do people actually find this helpful?
 
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dumadr. said:
OK so I bought MyPsychBoard based on what I read on here. Is this what people actually use? There's no interface for tracking your progress, the test setup doesn't even work (I keep asking for new questions and get repeat questions, sometimes the same question multiple times within the same test), and formatting is bizarre. Sometimes there up to 6 answer choices, sometimes just 2, but the feedback will list answers that aren't even there). Do people actually find this helpful?
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Okay, I've actually really been wondering this. I keep seeing it mentioned buyt the statements are really brief and almost look like bot or paid advertising. You aren't finding it helpful?

Anyone else want to weigh in on this?
 
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KnightofBaldMt said:
Okay, I've actually really been wondering this. I keep seeing it mentioned buyt the statements are really brief and almost look like bot or paid advertising. You aren't finding it helpful?

Anyone else want to weigh in on this?
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I did a couple more tests, here's what I've found so far

- It actually does track your overall percent correct. It's under "Previous Tests" and not on the main page. It doesn't show what percent of people got particular questions correct or where your overall score compares. Depending on what you like in a Qbank this can be fine or not.

- They have questions labeled "New" and questions labeled "Unanswered." Since I've sorted that out I haven't seen any repeat questions. *EDIT: Nevermind, it's still doing this*

- The questions themselves are basically fine for the most part, but are highly variable in that you can have a two-sentence first order question, or a question stem that takes multiple paragraphs. There is a variable amount of answer choices as well. Sometimes as little as two, sometimes up to eight. Sometimes they discuss incorrect answers that aren't listed. They also have some identification pictures that have no consistency between labels (i.e. they include both numbers and letters: A:1 B:2 C:f D:3)

- The "linked cases" are not inserted into tests together which is very frustrating as these are meant to build off each other and you may get question 3/5 in one test and 1/5 in the next one. This happens pretty much on every test. The videos or initial presentation stem are the same, but it can be hard to start right in the middle of the question set when it presented more information in an earlier question that you don't have access to.

Overall its probably fine. It's probably just that my expectations were higher based on the glowing reviews I read on here. It seems slightly easier than TrueLearn (my other Qbank) only less user-friendly and polished, but without the odd OMT question shoehorned in.
 
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dumadr. said:
OK so I bought MyPsychBoard based on what I read on here. Is this what people actually use? There's no interface for tracking your progress, the test setup doesn't even work (I keep asking for new questions and get repeat questions, sometimes the same question multiple times within the same test), and formatting is bizarre. Sometimes there up to 6 answer choices, sometimes just 2, but the feedback will list answers that aren't even there). Do people actually find this helpful?
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I used it for general boards. I think their content and question difficulty were similar to the board. I remember doing the questions subject-wise back then.
 
dumadr. said:
I did a couple more tests, here's what I've found so far

- It actually does track your overall percent correct. It's under "Previous Tests" and not on the main page. It doesn't show what percent of people got particular questions correct or where your overall score compares. Depending on what you like in a Qbank this can be fine or not.

- They have questions labeled "New" and questions labeled "Unanswered." Since I've sorted that out I haven't seen any repeat questions. *EDIT: Nevermind, it's still doing this*

- The questions themselves are basically fine for the most part, but are highly variable in that you can have a two-sentence first order question, or a question stem that takes multiple paragraphs. There is a variable amount of answer choices as well. Sometimes as little as two, sometimes up to eight. Sometimes they discuss incorrect answers that aren't listed. They also have some identification pictures that have no consistency between labels (i.e. they include both numbers and letters: A:1 B:2 C:f D:3)

- The "linked cases" are not inserted into tests together which is very frustrating as these are meant to build off each other and you may get question 3/5 in one test and 1/5 in the next one. This happens pretty much on every test. The videos or initial presentation stem are the same, but it can be hard to start right in the middle of the question set when it presented more information in an earlier question that you don't have access to.

Overall its probably fine. It's probably just that my expectations were higher based on the glowing reviews I read on here. It seems slightly easier than TrueLearn (my other Qbank) only less user-friendly and polished, but without the odd OMT question shoehorned in.
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How did you like TrueLearn Q bank? i m doing BV for now and read few people mentioned TrueLearn and Psychiatry boards prep. Planning to check them out for doing more question. If you can please share your experience with TrueLearn here, it will be appreciated.
 
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