board exam prep Archives

Dark Alley’s and the Internet When Studying for Your Boards

June 26, 2019 by Robert Sheeler, MD Leave a Comment Categories: All Posts Tags: board exam, board exam prep, board exam prep tips, board exam study prep, board exam study tips, board exam studying, bob sheeler, dr robert sheeler, how to study better, the pass machine

No, I’m not talking about the “dark web” or anything controversial. I’m talking about something that is much more subtle and potentially devastating to your board review strategies – the allure of more interesting things you will encounter while looking up answers you need. I treat looking up a fact I need while studying for the boards like going into a dark alley. I increase my alertness, look around for what I came for, grab it, and get out quick.… Click to Read More

How Stress Can Ruin Your Board Scores

June 7, 2019 by Robert Sheeler, MD Leave a Comment Categories: All Posts Tags: board exam prep, board exam prep tips, board exam test preparation, bob sheeler, exam stress, how to, how to reduce stress for exam, robert sheeler, stress and boards, stress relieving tips, the pass machine

Stress can you ruin your board scores. It sounds like a cliché, but actually, it is true! Stress leads to fight, flight, or freeze scenarios. When our autonomic nervous systems are out of balance, we can go into overdrive or we can freeze up completely depending upon whether the adrenergic nervous system or the parasympathetic nervous system is over-activated. Neither one of these is helpful for a good outcome in your test scores. Acute stress and chronic stress can both… Click to Read More

Pump Iron for Your Board Exam

April 17, 2019 by Robert Sheeler, MD Leave a Comment Categories: All Posts Tags: blood flow to the brain when working out, board exam prep, board exam study prep, board exam study tips, board exam studying, bob sheeler, boosting brain cells by working out, does working out improve studying, HIIT for studying, robert sheeler, study tips, working out helps you study, working out improves studying

I think you should pump iron for your board exam – both literally and figuratively. A board exam is unlike almost anything else we encounter in our busy daily work as physicians. It requires several hours of extended, high performance to interface with the material presented, interpret it, and come up with the answers they are looking for. To succeed in an environment like this, I suggest it is highly relevant to practice up to this level of intensity of… Click to Read More

Levels of Board Exam Questions

March 28, 2019 by Jack Krasuski, MD Leave a Comment Categories: All Posts Tags: board exam, board exam prep, board exam questions, board exam study tips, how to study for my boards, sample board exam questions

One way I’ve found categorizing board exam questions helpful is to view them in a hierarchy of three levels, each one building on the previous one and requiring a more use of one’s clinical judgment. My three levels are: Know It → Recognize It → Decide It Now let me explain, and I promise this will be practically helpful and, I believe, comforting even in preparing for your board exams. KNOW IT This lowest level of question relies almost exclusively… Click to Read More

The Best Way to Lock in What You Study for the Board Exams

March 8, 2019 by Robert Sheeler, MD Leave a Comment Categories: All Posts Tags: board exam prep, board exam study tips, bob sheeler, dr sheeler, how to prepare for a test, how to study for the boards, how to study for your boards, robert sheeler, study tips, study tips board exam

There are countless ways to study for the board exams, and you may already know what works best for you. But if you find that you study materials and then do not really remember them when you need them, you might want to try this program. The first priority when you study for the board exams is to have accurate targeting of the material you want to learn. When I work with individuals, I look at their board scores and… Click to Read More

Decrease Study Time…Increase Impact

February 13, 2019 by Joshua Lumbley, MD Leave a Comment Categories: All Posts Tags: board exam prep, board exam study tips, board exam studying, how to prepare for a test, how to study better, how to study for my boards, josh lumbley, study methods, study tips, the pass machine

Whether preparing for an exam related to maintenance of certification, a primary exam of certification, or some other type of important exam, you undoubtedly have many reading materials at your disposal. In these scenarios, our effort is likely devoted to reading and re-reading material again and again. Unfortunately, though, scientific literature actually indicates that this sort of process of learning is not optimal, and may actually take a fair bit more time than a much simpler process—trying to recall the… Click to Read More

Using Rational Statistics to Improve “Educated Guessing”

January 11, 2019 by Joshua Lumbley, MD Leave a Comment Categories: All Posts Tags: board exam prep, board test taking tips, josh lumbley, joshua lumbley, test prep tips, test taking strategies, the pass machine

So, you’ve spent the hours reviewing all of the important details for your board exam. You’ve done your best to target the weak areas, spending extra time focusing on topics that you didn’t quite master the first time through. And, perhaps most importantly, you’ve spent a considerable amount of time and effort doing practice questions and exams—all written by different authors—completed with time constraints in a variety of environments. By all measures, you are ready for this exam. Once in… Click to Read More

Getting Ready for the General Surgery Boards

December 18, 2018 by Sarah Bryczkowski Leave a Comment Categories: All Posts, General Surgery Tags: board exam prep, board exam tips, general surgery board prep, how to prepare for the general surgery board exams, sarah bryczkowski

Prepping for a General Surgery Board Exam? Get a comprehensive General Surgery Qualifying or General Surgery Certifying review course from The Pass Machine to get your board prep on track. Studying for the General Surgery Boards is similar to studying for USMLE Step 1; you have already been taught everything that you need to know for the exam, but at the same time you have no idea what to expect or how to study. The ABSITE is a good way… Click to Read More