Does anyone have any advice on pediatric board review courses. I found the Pass Machine course in Chicago online that guarantees passing or your money back but I have never heard of the course. I am also looking at the Children's National course offered in Maryland. I failed last year by 2 points and as a practicing physician I think I need the focused time away from work/family to ensure passing this year. I did the MedStudy books, PREP questions, and Laughing Your Way through the Boards last year. Any advice is welcomed. Thanks!
Pediatric board review course
- Thread starter MDHen
- Start date
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2011
- Messages
- 15
- Reaction score
- 0
I saw that pediatric course online and was thinking about taking it until I saw this:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=822129
I failed last year too. Not by much. I think I used too many board review books and courses. By the end I felt like i'd done so much but learned so little. Kind of overwhelming.
I'm using PBR this year and I really like it. It seems well written, sticks to topics that I remember from last year and it doesn't overwhelm you with the minutia that wasted my time last yr. My friend used it and passed last year. I'm hoping I have the same results. I'm also going through PREP questions.
With Medstduy i felt like it went too much into details that weren't even on the exam. It was like they were trying to make sure you couldn't blame them if you failed because every possible topic within pediatrics was there. And the DVD course had a bunch of subspecialty docs that seemed to love talking about their pet research projects. GRRR!
In terms of finding time, I think it's just something you have to be disciplined about. My family knows that I have a study schedule and they're pretty good about giving me space. When they're not, I just leave the house or stay at work and study. I'm also hoping I can find a good way to study with someone online. If you have any ideas I;d love to hear them!
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=822129
I failed last year too. Not by much. I think I used too many board review books and courses. By the end I felt like i'd done so much but learned so little. Kind of overwhelming.
I'm using PBR this year and I really like it. It seems well written, sticks to topics that I remember from last year and it doesn't overwhelm you with the minutia that wasted my time last yr. My friend used it and passed last year. I'm hoping I have the same results. I'm also going through PREP questions.
With Medstduy i felt like it went too much into details that weren't even on the exam. It was like they were trying to make sure you couldn't blame them if you failed because every possible topic within pediatrics was there. And the DVD course had a bunch of subspecialty docs that seemed to love talking about their pet research projects. GRRR!
In terms of finding time, I think it's just something you have to be disciplined about. My family knows that I have a study schedule and they're pretty good about giving me space. When they're not, I just leave the house or stay at work and study. I'm also hoping I can find a good way to study with someone online. If you have any ideas I;d love to hear them!
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2005
- Messages
- 16,962
- Reaction score
- 47,942
Though I am not really speaking from experience since I didn't take a review course, I think the review courses do exactly what jennsmithmd alluded too, forcing you to find the time. Maybe you need that protected time and the courses will be of benefit, but the PREP questions (while different in structure from the acutal test) cover exactly the material that is on the test and are essentially written by the people who write the exam. In fact, one of the most esoteric questions from PREP was exactly on the Boards when I took it. If you do all the PREP questions and force yourself to read and understand all the answers, with along maybe 1 review book, that should provide you with enough material to pass the exam. It did for me in the past, but each person is different. I wish you the best of luck.
After reading your post, I felt like I wrote it! I am trying to begin studying again as well. I was thinking about the Cleveland Clinic review series on DVD. I had heard that it was comparable to the MedStudy DVD's and I agree with Jennsmithmd's take on the MedStudy series, so I thought I would consider giving them a shot. I know people that passed using only PREP, only Laughing your way and only MedStudy. I am just trying to find what will work for me. I would be up for a study group as well, if anyone is interested?
I would be interested in any sort of study collaboration as I am busy with work and kids etc...I took and failed twice several years ago and am determined to pass. I have medstudy but have not really used it yet as I am just starting now...any words of advice???
Hi Dr Rob here,
I just took my MOC for my internal med boards, and am about to take my MOC in Peds and Onco, I found that the testing was very very case driven, so my advice is to do as much case driven study as possible. I scored over 99 percentile doing this. Of course I am taking MOCs not the boards.
Good Luck,
Rob
I just took my MOC for my internal med boards, and am about to take my MOC in Peds and Onco, I found that the testing was very very case driven, so my advice is to do as much case driven study as possible. I scored over 99 percentile doing this. Of course I am taking MOCs not the boards.
Good Luck,
Rob
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2010
- Messages
- 17
- Reaction score
- 0
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=876024
A link to the thread I wrote in December. I failed the boards the first time I took it, but passed the next year with a much higher score. I typed out my methods. Highly recommend MedStudy home DVDs.
A link to the thread I wrote in December. I failed the boards the first time I took it, but passed the next year with a much higher score. I typed out my methods. Highly recommend MedStudy home DVDs.
- Joined
- May 2, 2012
- Messages
- 10
- Reaction score
- 0
I am interested. New to forum. please reply if interested in group study. I live near Chicago.
Now that it is post exam, how do you guys feel about board review courses? Did they help? I am hesitant to sign up for one as they are expensive.
If you took it and did well, are you a type of person that wouldn't have done as well with just a review book? I am trying to decide which method of preparation is best for my first time around at the boards.
If you took it and did well, are you a type of person that wouldn't have done as well with just a review book? I am trying to decide which method of preparation is best for my first time around at the boards.
- Joined
- Feb 16, 2005
- Messages
- 42
- Reaction score
- 2
I did the Children's National course and while it was good, I'm not sure I really needed it to pass. I didn't use the study materials very much at all after the course. The lectures were overall pretty good but some speakers were clearly just blowing through as much material as they could in a short amount of time. If anything it reinforced that you can't possibly cover everything in a week, or ever. I'd suggest focusing on a few high-yield sources rather than becoming overwhelmed with info. PREP, LYW and or PBR are all excellent and high yield sources that should give you enough knowledge to pass.
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2009
- Messages
- 914
- Reaction score
- 163
I do not recommend any board review course -- the way to pass the exam is to memorize as much information as you can in LYW, MedStudy, or another review book.
The people who passed the exam after taking a board review course would have passed without taking it -- therefore it is a waste of money.
The people who passed the exam after taking a board review course would have passed without taking it -- therefore it is a waste of money.
Thanks for all the responses. I think I am going to stick with medstudy and laughing your way. Has anyone used this pediatric questions and answers book? I've never seen a vignette book before...
If I don't feel confident by April, I think I will take a course.
If I don't feel confident by April, I think I will take a course.
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2011
- Messages
- 13
- Reaction score
- 0
I used the LYW questions. Overall, they were hard. I did the vignettes in the last 3 weeks and I thought that was pretty good. I highly recommend the medstudy Q and A. Very good questions and saw some of them on the boards. There were like 600 of them and I took them in the last 3-4 weeks as a break during studying. The explanations are shorter then prep and more to the point.
