It’s not a secret that board exams test your knowledge of the details of the myriad treatment interventions on board exams used in treating patients. In addition to knowing the circumstances of when to choose a particular intervention over another (discussed in other posts), you are expected to know the details of each specific treatment intervention. Thus, the question that arises for the exam taker is “just how much detail about treatment interventions do I need to know?”
Each field… Click to Read More
Recognizing Zebras in Clinical Vignettes
The medical boards pride themselves on presenting multiple-choice questions that are clinically-relevant and fair. In other words, the boards are not trying to trick you. This means that most clinical vignettes will describe patients with a common form of a disease or disorder. After all, these are the cases most of us physicians spend our days assessing and treating. However, as clinicians we do need to recognize the rare condition. So the question is, how do you distinguish whether the… Click to Read More
Treatments in Specific Patient Populations
Medical board exams include a high percentage of treatment-focused questions, since appropriate treatment is what patients seek from physicians. Specialty board exams test three aspects of treatment:
Details of specific treatment interventions
Treatments in specific patient populations and by disease variants
Treatment algorithms
This post focuses on choosing the right treatment for a patient based on that patient’s specific population or disease variant. Board exam question writers test your ability to know which treatment interventions apply to particular forms of… Click to Read More
Treatment Algorithms on Board Exams
Medical board exams primarily test clinical knowledge. As such, questions that assess your knowledge of treatment interventions are common. There are three aspects of treatment that can be tested:
Details of specific treatment interventions
Treatments in specific populations and by disease variants
Treatment algorithms
Treatment algorithms on board exams are the focus of this post. Treatment algorithms are a rank ordering of treatment interventions beginning with first-line treatments proceeding to second-, third-, and fourth-line treatments, and ending at last-line treatments… Click to Read More





