For many doctors, the medical board review after their internship is probably the most stressful event of their life. After years of medical school and on-the-job training, it all comes down to one final exam.
But it doesn’t need to be as stressful as many believe. There are a number of ways that exam-takers can prepare for the exam; they are not foolproof, but they have been proven to assist when studying for both the written and oral exams.
1. Don’t wait until the last minute to begin studying.
What may have worked in college works very poorly for a medical board review. The American College of Physicians recommends that interns think about and study for the exam all through their training; “It’s hard to think of the board exam your first year,” the College’s Senior Vice President for Education, the late Herbert Waxman, told a reporter, “but if you wait until midway through your third year, it’s too late.”
We talked with Challenger Corporation about a few tips, and they added, “A more unusual suggestion is that people shouldn’t study the night before the exam or between the first and second day. While that may seem strange, experts say that it can called what’s called retroactive inhibition—a condition where longer-term knowledge is replaced by short-term memory.”
2. Make sure to use study guides (not textbooks) and review sample questions.
Using supplemental study guides instead of the textbooks themselves gives a better feel for the exam itself. The ACP suggests finding ones that have a large amount of multiple-choice questions, as well as study questions that make people figure out the most important features of a case before diagnosis and treatment.
The best study guides make it harder to figure out the correct answer, but keep in mind that there are no trick questions on the exam. If an answer seems obvious, chances are that it is indeed the correct answer. The ACP also suggests that ethnicity, race, gender, geography and occupation be considered when reading case studies; African-Americans are at higher risk for sarcoid, while young women have higher rates of lupus erythematosus than men.
3. Make sure that you have a solid, quality residency.
In 2011, the Emergency Medicine Residents Association sent out a survey to its members asking how they prepared for their board exams. They asked about preparation materials, how often they had formal training sessions, and on average how many hours per week they spent studying for their exams. The EMRA hoped to get an idea of the effort required to pass the exam as well as the quality of test preparation materials available to students.
While they received a number of responses detailing how good test preparation materials were (the vast majority were rated good to excellent), many residents noted that the best preparation for the exam was to serve in a quality residency. Many good residency programs will assist residents with in-service exam reviews and mock oral board sessions; at the Mayo Clinic, residents have in-training exams and those students in their first or second years who fall beneath the 50th percentile get help from staff.
Admittedly, a medical board review can be a stressful event. But with careful planning, selective reading, and careful choice of a residency program, many will find that passing the exams, both written and oral, are not nearly as difficult as portrayed to be.
