One important area of inadequate psychiatry oral board performance is on the treatment plan presentation. Here is the approach I recommend you take if you want to shine.
Your Job: Optimize Treatment
January 28th, 2010Expanded Military History
January 19th, 2010It’s Jack, from the Houston Beat The Boards! Psychiatry Oral Board Course. Yesterday we had our workshops and I received three additional questions to ask a veteran.
Don’t Be Shy To Clarify!
January 8th, 2010I just got back from having dinner with my friend and Beat The Boards! faculty member, Dr. Dheeraj Raina. In the course of our conversation we touched upon our favorite funny psychiatric interview miscommunications. The first is Dheeraj’s example, the second is mine.
Will You Pass Your Patient’s Test?
December 28th, 2009A certain percentage of patients, both the ones you see clinically and the ones you interview on the Psychiatry Oral Board Exam put the psychiatrist through what I call “The Test.” Here is how it works and how you should handle it.
Oral Boards Blow By Blow Description
December 22nd, 2009Today, I present an email I received from one of our Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Oral Board Exam Prep Course Participants. Since there is so much detail, it is presented anonymously.
Encouraging News About Exam Mistakes
December 11th, 2009One of my constant messages to Psychiatry Oral Board candidates is not to give up even if you make a mistake. The danger is that a mistake that could have been discounted by the examiner becomes a catostrophic event in the candidate’s mind, leading to a complete performance meltdown – a self fulfilling disaster. Here’s a message from a psychiatrist who made mistakes on his Psychiatry Part 2 Exam and still passed.
Treatment Plan – Wrong Way & Right Way
December 10th, 2009Let’s start with the wrong way. The following is an efficient way of making your treatment plan weak, generic, and not optimized to help the patient. Drum roll, please ….
The Doughnut Interview
November 14th, 2009One type of interview error I run across among both adult and child adolescent psychiatrists preparing for their oral boards is what I call the ‘doughnut interview.”
Biggest Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Exam Weakness
November 2nd, 2009After we held our CAP Part 2 Prep Course in October 2009, I received feedback from our course faculty regarding the biggest weakness that they observed in candidates at the course. Now, I asked them to focus on the biggest weakness not because I like to highlight our frailties, but because the biggest weakness should become the biggest preparation focus.
Increased Suicide Risk from Antiepileptic Drugs
October 2nd, 2009Beginning in 2008, the FDA began notifying clinicians of the potential of antiepileptic drugs to increase suicide risk and earlier in 2009 issued a public health advisory notifying the public of this increased risk. Also, the FDA is mandating that manufacturers of antiepileptic drugs change the labeling of their meds, adding this risk to the Warnings section of the drug insert.