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Recently took and passed the general OB GYN oral board examination (certifying examination). Wanted to post some thoughts for people who will eventually take the exam as there is little information out there. This is more logistical stuff. No exam content is discussed.
-Stay on top of deadlines. It easy to forget about them when busy with work etc but make a point to check the ABOG website regularly. If you are late, you will have to pay a late fee which is annoying and if you are beyond the deadline, you will have to wait until the following year.
-Case construction is a painful process. I used a service to review my case list and point out errors etc that I was able to correct. I found this extremely helpful because the ABOG is very vague on case list construction. It is important to be consistent in your writing and I would also make sure to just use the ABOG approved abbreviations as needed. I was conservative so if an abbreviation wasn't listed, I did not use it.
-The test is located in Dallas. It is recommended you stay at the Warwick hotel. It is ~20 miles from DFW airport and I spent about $45-50 on a taxi. Probably cheaper with rideshare.
-You proceed down to the registration room in the hotel where ABOG employees check you in at your assigned time. There is no overlap between AM and PM test takers. You get shuttled to and from the test center. You do get a light meal (breakfast or lunch) depending on your test time.
-Don't bring any cell phones, smart watches etc to the registration area in the hotel on test day and definitely not to the test center. When you register, they will ask if you have a phone etc and ask you to check it in before going to the test center. If you don't declare it and it is discovered at the test center, your test will most likely be voided. I left my stuff in the safe in the room.
-When you arrive at the test center, you will hear some of the ABOG bigwigs talk for a bit to the group. They keep it low key which is nice but they review some of the pertinent points of the exam. All the material is copyrighted and if they find out you share test info, they can revoke your certification etc.
-Pass rate is ~85% overall. There is no curve and no set number is meant to fail.
-There are three 1 hour sessions with 2 faculty each. OB, GYN, Office.
-The first 30 minutes is structured cases and the second 30 minutes is questions based on your case list.
-The structured portion is rapid fire as there is a fair amount of information to get through.
-The examiners played it pretty low key and don't respond to right/wrong answers or really give you a sense if you passed/failed. I got asked to clarify an answer or two at times but that was it.
-Overall, the test is unpleasant but fair. There were times I did not know the answers to questions and stated so. But I think these were more higher order questions to push me. I know I did whiff on one or two gimmes though.
-There are no built in bathroom breaks. Usually people would go between sessions. It was stated several times during the initial talk that going to the restroom was fine etc, (be comfortable etc).
-You will have a small bottle of water (helpful) and a pad of paper and pen if needed.
-The test is exactly 3 hours and you are quickly shuttled back.
-You will find out the results the following Monday on the ABOG website which is nice.
-Overall, the test is fair. Regardless it is a time consuming and stressful process due to its high stakes nature and I would not want to collect cases and go through the process again. I think ABOG has made a big effort to make the test as fair as possible compared to what it was 20+ years ago. This is based on the stories I have heard from some of the older OB GYNs I know in the community. It sounded like the test back then was a free for all and could be very malignant. Not the case now.
-I used a review course (Exampro). I used them for case list review and for their in person review course. I also paid for ~3 mock oral sessions with them. In person and over the phone.
-I found the review course helpful and their material helpful. I used their study guide and read through every practice bulletin at least once and select committee opinions (there are too many to read every single one and some are low yield).
-Overall I studied about 3 months for the test while also working. I did not take any dedicated time off to study except for the review course.
-Mock orals are helpful. I paid for them because I did not have anyone who was really able to do it for free. I fully recommend it as it will get you used to the process and the questioning. If you can find someone to do it for free, fantastic but if you are in private practice etc, most OB GYNs don't have the time/desire or qualifications to effectively do a mock oral.
-Part of the challenge is that you are working a full time job while also balancing studying etc. This is the most difficult part. For example, because of a scheduling quirk, in the week before the exam, I was on call 3 times which was not fun.
-This is unverified information but I have heard the scoring for the three sections is as follows
Pass (5 pts)
Borderline (3 points)
Fail (1 pt)
You have to get 11 points to pass so you can potentially fail a section and if you pass the others, you will pass overall. Or you can get a pass/borderline/borderline and still pass overall. Unsure if this is true, but sounds reasonable enough.
-Stay on top of deadlines. It easy to forget about them when busy with work etc but make a point to check the ABOG website regularly. If you are late, you will have to pay a late fee which is annoying and if you are beyond the deadline, you will have to wait until the following year.
-Case construction is a painful process. I used a service to review my case list and point out errors etc that I was able to correct. I found this extremely helpful because the ABOG is very vague on case list construction. It is important to be consistent in your writing and I would also make sure to just use the ABOG approved abbreviations as needed. I was conservative so if an abbreviation wasn't listed, I did not use it.
-The test is located in Dallas. It is recommended you stay at the Warwick hotel. It is ~20 miles from DFW airport and I spent about $45-50 on a taxi. Probably cheaper with rideshare.
-You proceed down to the registration room in the hotel where ABOG employees check you in at your assigned time. There is no overlap between AM and PM test takers. You get shuttled to and from the test center. You do get a light meal (breakfast or lunch) depending on your test time.
-Don't bring any cell phones, smart watches etc to the registration area in the hotel on test day and definitely not to the test center. When you register, they will ask if you have a phone etc and ask you to check it in before going to the test center. If you don't declare it and it is discovered at the test center, your test will most likely be voided. I left my stuff in the safe in the room.
-When you arrive at the test center, you will hear some of the ABOG bigwigs talk for a bit to the group. They keep it low key which is nice but they review some of the pertinent points of the exam. All the material is copyrighted and if they find out you share test info, they can revoke your certification etc.
-Pass rate is ~85% overall. There is no curve and no set number is meant to fail.
-There are three 1 hour sessions with 2 faculty each. OB, GYN, Office.
-The first 30 minutes is structured cases and the second 30 minutes is questions based on your case list.
-The structured portion is rapid fire as there is a fair amount of information to get through.
-The examiners played it pretty low key and don't respond to right/wrong answers or really give you a sense if you passed/failed. I got asked to clarify an answer or two at times but that was it.
-Overall, the test is unpleasant but fair. There were times I did not know the answers to questions and stated so. But I think these were more higher order questions to push me. I know I did whiff on one or two gimmes though.
-There are no built in bathroom breaks. Usually people would go between sessions. It was stated several times during the initial talk that going to the restroom was fine etc, (be comfortable etc).
-You will have a small bottle of water (helpful) and a pad of paper and pen if needed.
-The test is exactly 3 hours and you are quickly shuttled back.
-You will find out the results the following Monday on the ABOG website which is nice.
-Overall, the test is fair. Regardless it is a time consuming and stressful process due to its high stakes nature and I would not want to collect cases and go through the process again. I think ABOG has made a big effort to make the test as fair as possible compared to what it was 20+ years ago. This is based on the stories I have heard from some of the older OB GYNs I know in the community. It sounded like the test back then was a free for all and could be very malignant. Not the case now.
-I used a review course (Exampro). I used them for case list review and for their in person review course. I also paid for ~3 mock oral sessions with them. In person and over the phone.
-I found the review course helpful and their material helpful. I used their study guide and read through every practice bulletin at least once and select committee opinions (there are too many to read every single one and some are low yield).
-Overall I studied about 3 months for the test while also working. I did not take any dedicated time off to study except for the review course.
-Mock orals are helpful. I paid for them because I did not have anyone who was really able to do it for free. I fully recommend it as it will get you used to the process and the questioning. If you can find someone to do it for free, fantastic but if you are in private practice etc, most OB GYNs don't have the time/desire or qualifications to effectively do a mock oral.
-Part of the challenge is that you are working a full time job while also balancing studying etc. This is the most difficult part. For example, because of a scheduling quirk, in the week before the exam, I was on call 3 times which was not fun.
-This is unverified information but I have heard the scoring for the three sections is as follows
Pass (5 pts)
Borderline (3 points)
Fail (1 pt)
You have to get 11 points to pass so you can potentially fail a section and if you pass the others, you will pass overall. Or you can get a pass/borderline/borderline and still pass overall. Unsure if this is true, but sounds reasonable enough.
.
