hi friend
I never post on here either but have been reading for years and thought I would pay it forward by helping someone else if I can.
WHAT I DID TO PASS AFTER FAILING LAST YEAR:
After I failed my first attempt at the pediatric boards I was really discouraged, felt down, like a failure- etc. Shortly after receiving my score, I tried to identify exactly where I went wrong, and correct my issues. so unfortunately, I know how you feel.
For my first attempt I did the following:
Started studying in august- (was working full time)- after work I would read the medstudy books- they are thin and there are about 5 of them- lot of material, in paragraph form. I didn’t like the way they were laid out and felt that I didn’t have a good source as my main go to. These books were really dense and felt more like a text book than a review book. I had to tease out the info that I needed. I also had to look at other sources- nelsons, lange, internet, etc because I felt that I didn’t have a great source to look at that was concise. I felt that this was my biggest mistake.
Because I didn’t like the medstudy books and didn’t really have another source to go to, I used prep as my main study tool- however it simply doesn’t cover everything. I did prep 2015, 2014, 2013, some of 2012- didn’t touch med study questions-bought the paper book copies but didn’t get to them.
I did most of my studying after work and by 10 pm I was beat and would usually go to sleep regardless of how much I had gotten done that day.
I blew off stats altogether since it didn’t make up much of the test and a few other things that I never really understood (RTA, etc) figuring there couldn’t be too many questions on those topics.
I also studied mile stones mainly by doing questions- I felt like this was another downfall.
If someone wanted to hang out or go have lunch, I usually went rationalizing- well it’s only going to be about 1-2 hours- but everything takes longer than you think it will and I would find myself out of the house for 5-6 hours that I needed as valuable study time. You can’t get time back.
I was exhausted from working and studying, having no life, and just in a bad mood and ready for it to be over. When it came time for the exam I did feel prepared and surprised that I ended up failing by 3 points with a 177. Wished I hadn’t blown anything off.
I think another reason I was surprised that I failed was because to pass this exam you need 70-80% of questions correct. So, if you get 65% of questions correct, you will still fail- but you’ll feel as if you knew the material –because you did! The reason many people fail this test is because of the high percentage needed to pass (they told us this at the AAP conference). I believe FP, IM need roughly 60-65% to pass- same as usmle, etc. So their pass rates are much higher. We simply need to know more to pass the test. (correct me if I’m wrong but this is what I got from lots of ‘google’ research, aap)
Mistakes: blowing off subjects, too many sources, not enough questions and not enough variety of questions, not enough time put in, not recognizing my weaknesses, giving in to being tired, not finishing my goal before going to sleep, not enough repetition.
For my second attempt:
I realized that I am just a poor test taker and what worked for others wouldn’t work for me. Instead of feeling bad for myself, I would need to change my entire mind set.
First thing I needed was a good source. I bought numerous sources: laughing your way (high yield, but might be better for someone who already knows everything- ie to review the week before the exam-- In my opinion this couldn’t be used as your primary source of info), then I got first aid for pediatric boards (personally I didn’t like the way the book was laid out and felt like I had to keep adding to it to make it ‘good’).
Finally I decided that I would do what had worked for me in the past- Kaplan. So I bought “master the boards for pediatrics” and used that as my study bible. (I'm from a carribean school and a lot of foreign grads use Kaplan. Whatever you use for your source needs to be your only source- just pick one that works for you-then don’t use other sources)
Once I had my source I made a solid schedule that was 3 months long. I literally took a piece of paper and drew a calendar on it and then my goals for each day with a catch up day every 10 days or so. I started by dividing the book into 20 page increments and making sure I did not sleep until I finished my goal. Last year, if I was tired, it was late, etc – I went to sleep. This time around, I did not lay down until my goal was reached. Like I sais, you can’t get time back. This is not the usmle- you cannot just keep pushing the test date back until you’re ready. That date in October is coming whether you’re ready or not.
Once I had gone through the book once, I started to add questions. I started with prep 2016 and worked my way backwards going through to prep 2010. Doing questions took me an extremely long time. I read question, picked answer, read explanation- then I would write the explanation in my book next to that topic-even if I got it right- so every question took about 10 min. This way every time I reread the book, the learning point was there and it was constant repetition. I did this over and over until I finished the book multiple times and started to know it cold- at this point I increased the pages per day to 50-70 each time rereading my question points as I went through the book and adding to it daily with new questions I had done. I did this for 3.5 months- I started in june leisurely reading the book which took me the entire month, but then I got quicker and more serious in july. I took one half day off a week- a sat morning or evening to myself and to do something enjoyable. In addition to this , I decided that I needed to do some passive learning as well because between waking up early and working a full day full time, I really wasn’t getting as much time in as I wanted- plus there’s only so much you can get from a book. At this time I purchased medstudy videos which I was able to store on my phone, and also discovered this man on you tube who I really loved. (link here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFO_CjLDvWxmAexhDDXC53Q ) he has a book as well. I discovered him too late in my studying to change sources but had I discovered him earlier maybe I would've bought it? don't know anyone who used the book but the videos are excellent and free. (what a nice man!)
Now this is the crazy part- I knew that if I wanted to pass, with the type of test taker I am , I had to eat, breathe and live this exam until the day I took it. There’s only so much you can get out of a book. So I started to listen to the videos on ALL of my down time. I would wake up and immediately put it on in my pocket- listening to the lectures from my phone while showering, getting dressed, having breakfast, and on my drive to work (this takes up a lot of data on your phone but I had unlimited data so it worked for me). Then over lunch break I would listen to them, and after work if I took my dogs outside even for 5 min, I put it on. Preparing dinner, getting ready for bed, brushing my teeth…you get the picture. ANY time I was not physically at work or studying from my book and questions, I was listening to videos. You’d be surprised how much down time you have in a day because I would get at least 2-3 hours of videos ‘watched’ every single day and I never sat down to physically watch them. I got through all of the med study videos twice and the you tube ones 2-3 x. This really reinforced what I had read. For example if I read cardio that day, I would ‘watch’ that video that day. I got to the point where I would listen and just nod my head ‘I know that, I know that’ etc. Was a good feeling.
I tried to go beyond prep 2010 to earlier years and had purchased questions back to 2005, however be careful doing so because once you get into the earlier years, the info is not the same. Some things do not change (mile stones, etc) but you need to tease out what is still valid. About one month before the exam I purchased the medstudy questions on line- I would recommend buying online rather than paper form- the reason is because the online has about 1800 questions and I believe the books about 500. The reason (my opinion) is because the online ones are VERY repetitive. Maybe 10 of the same exact point worded differently. However, for me I needed this repetition. I also thought the layout of medstudy questions was a lot more like the exam- content and length of question, etc. I had wished I purchased them earlier. I only finished 800 of them and that was w/ aggressively doing them. My advise would be to do a mixture of medstudy and prep from day one. Overall my prep scores were about 60-65% and medstudy 75-80%.
Another thing I did was make my weaknesses my strengths. I studied stats because I knew these were on the exam and questions I could definitely get right with only a few hours of preparing. When I got to the stat’s questions on the exam, I was happy because I knew I would get it right. (math is very easy on the test). I did do well on that portion. I did the same w/ any weakness that I had and didn’t blow off ANY subjects.
For the milestones- I printed out the chart on the peds in review article and highlighted the mile stones that they like to ask. I memorized this entire chart- yes the entire chart. I knew it so well that when my husband was quizzing me “scribbles” I would ask- scribbles spontaneously? Or after demonstration? The mile stone questions-- I am positive I got them all right. It wasn’t that hard memorizing that paper-it’s overwhelming at first, but I just did about one column on one page per day, and then reviewed every week for a few months and then every night the week before the test. I knew them COLD. There are at least 3-4 mile stone questions per block.
I did the abp 2016 practice test on their website and got a 79% on it so I felt good about going into the exam. (last year got a 68% or so)
I passed the test with a 191 which was 14 points higher than last year. (passing = 180)
Well that’s my study schedule! It may sound like overkill and for many smarter/better test takers I’m sure it is. But I knew that I am not one of these people that can read the book once and past the test.
You are a doctor so that means you are capable of doing this. It really becomes mind over matter. I knew that I didn’t want to study, but more so I didn’t want to study for another year in a row… that was for sure! And the goal trumped everything else. I missed out on a lot of things w/ friends but they understand and they’ll be there when you’re done just like they were during usmle, med school, residency, etc. This is the path we chose and we’re not giving up now!
I believe in you! If I did it you can! Best of luck
..the last result is 10 points lower than the prior to the last one and the last time I was 3 points away from passing. I've not taken any years off from taking an exam so it's been quite frustrating and costly in every way.
