the pass machine Archives - Page 2 of 2

Recognizing Zebras in Cardiology Clinical Vignettes

February 26, 2019 by Jack Krasuski 1 Comment Categories: All Posts, Cardiology, How to Prepare For Your Board Exam Tags: board exam prep for cardiologists, cardiology board test prep, cardiology boards, cardiology clinical vignettes, cardiovascular board exams, cardiovascular board test prep, clinical vignette cardiology, practice cardiology clinical vignettes, the pass machine

Every multiple-choice exam question is presented to you on the exam only after being vetted to be clinically relevant and fair. (Note that there are a certain percentage – maybe 10-15% – of MCQs included in exams that are under assessment and not counted in results until they pass muster. This does lead exam candidates to sometimes scratch their heads when reading poorly written questions. These questions will likely be revised or retired.) Simply put, the boards are not trying… READ MORE

Treatment Interventions In General Surgery Board Exams

February 22, 2019 by Jack Krasuski Leave a Comment Categories: All Posts, General Surgery, How to Prepare For Your Board Exam Tags: board exams, general surgery, general surgery board exams, general surgery board prep, how to prepare for the general surgery board exams, surgery exam prep, surgical treatment board exams, the pass machine, treatment interventions

The knowledge of the test-taker regarding the details of numerous treatment interventions gets tested on the board exams. It is important to know the situations in which to select a specific treatment intervention. In addition to this, you should also have knowledge of the details of particular treatment interventions. Therefore, the question is: “how much knowledge should one have regarding the details of various treatment interventions for the purposes of board exams?” There are certain treatment interventions that are delivered… READ MORE

Decrease Study Time…Increase Impact

February 13, 2019 by Joshua Lumbley, MD Leave a Comment Categories: All Posts, How to Prepare For Your Board Exam 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… READ MORE

Sleep and Board Exams

January 31, 2019 by Jack Krasuski Leave a Comment Categories: All Posts, How to Prepare For Your Board Exam Tags: enough sleep to pass exam, how much sleep should i get for my board exam, jack krasuski, preparing for board exam, sleep and board exams, the pass machine, tips for board exam

I’m about to tell you something so obvious you may want to throw something at me. Despite the apparent obviousness, many exam candidates still will make the mistake I’m about to describe and do so for entirely understandable reasons. Let me explain. On the day (or several days) prior to your exam, your anxiety level likely will increase. You may realize you are not as prepared as you would like to be and regret not devoting more time to preparing.… READ MORE

VIDEO: 5 Tips to Minimize Procrastinating on Your Board Exam Studies

January 22, 2019 by Jack Krasuski Leave a Comment Categories: All Posts, How to Prepare For Your Board Exam Tags: american physician institute, board exam study tips, board exam studying, how to stop procrastinating, jack krasuski, procrastination, the pass machine

Welcome. It’s Dr. Jack and I have 5 tips for you on how to minimize procrastination when it comes to studying for your board exam. Tip 1: De-Emotionalize the Job You Have to Do My first tip is based on a thought experiment. I’d like you to take a minute to imagine that you have a clone of yourself, and your clone is identical to you. They have the same bright smile and winning personality that you do. There… READ MORE

Using Rational Statistics to Improve “Educated Guessing”

January 11, 2019 by Joshua Lumbley, MD Leave a Comment Categories: All Posts, How to Prepare For Your Board Exam 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 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 the… READ MORE

Recognizing Zebras in General Surgery Clinical Vignettes

January 4, 2019 by Jack Krasuski Leave a Comment Categories: All Posts, General Surgery Tags: general surgery, general surgery board prep, how to prepare for the general surgery board exams, the pass machine

Medical exam boards take pride in clinically relevant and fair multiple-choice questions. This simply means the board is not trying to trick you. Most of the case vignettes describe a patient that has a common form of the disease. After all, we as physicians spend the majority of our time assessing and treating such cases. On the other hand, as clinicians, we should be able to recognize a rare condition as well. Hence, the vital question is: How do you… READ MORE

I Passed My Internal Medicine Boards On The First Try By Doing This

December 5, 2018 by Kashif J. Piracha Leave a Comment Categories: All Posts, How to Prepare For Your Board Exam, Internal Medicine Tags: internal medicine board exam, internal medicine board tips, kashif piracha, passing internal medicine exam, the pass machine

This blog post is written for physicians who are getting ready to take either their initial certification or recertification exam in internal medicine. I know it is a time of stress and apprehension for you as you prepare to take the test, which is why I will provide you with some practical strategies that will help you position yourself in the best possible way to pass. I have taken one certification and one recertification exam, and I used these strategies… READ MORE

Treatment Interventions on Anesthesiology Board Exams

December 5, 2018 by Jack Krasuski 2 Comments Categories: All Posts, Anesthesiology, How to Prepare For Your Board Exam Tags: anesthesiology board exam, Anesthesiology board exam prep, how to pass the anesthesiology board, the pass machine, treatment interventions in anesthesia board exams

It is not a secret that the board exams test your knowledge regarding the details of numerous treatment interventions. Besides having the knowledge of the circumstances in which you have to choose a specific treatment intervention over another, it is also important to know the details regarding each particular intervention. Thus, the question arises “just how much detail regarding treatment interventions does the exam-taker need to know?” In every field of medicine, there are certain treatment interventions that are administered… READ MORE

Recognizing Zebras in Anesthesiology Clinical Vignettes

December 4, 2018 by Jack Krasuski Leave a Comment Categories: All Posts, Anesthesiology, How to Prepare For Your Board Exam Tags: anesthesiology, anesthesiology board exam, anesthesiology board prep, anesthesiology clinical vignettes, the pass machine

The boards do not attempt to trick you. In other words, they present multiple-choice questions that are fair and clinically relevant. This means that most of the clinical vignettes on the board exams will involve patients who have a commonly occurring form of a disorder. After all, the assessment and treatment of these common cases make up a major part of the clinical practice of a physician. However, the clinician must still be able to identify the rare condition. Hence… READ MORE

Treatment Algorithms on Internal Medicine Board Exams

November 30, 2018 by Jack Krasuski Leave a Comment Categories: All Posts, How to Prepare For Your Board Exam Tags: beat the internal medicine boards, internal medicine board exam tips, internal medicine board tips, the pass machine, tips for board exams, treatment algorithms, treatment algorithms in internal medicine board exams

The primary purpose of internal medicine board exams is to test clinical knowledge. Questions that evaluate the knowledge of treatment options are therefore commonly seen on these exams. The following aspects of treatment may be tested: Treatment options in specific populations Variation of treatments according to disease variants Details about particular treatment interventions Treatment algorithms This post focuses on treatment algorithms. Treatment algorithms can be defined as a rank order of treatment options that begin with first-line treatments and end… READ MORE