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 why sleep and board exams is so important.
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… Click to Read More
Why Are the Psychiatry Vignette Board Exam Questions So Difficult?
Extended vignette questions now comprise half of the Psychiatry Certification Exam and one-quarter of the Psychiatry MOC Exam. This vignette type of multiple-choice question is easy in that the topics are not designed to trick you or to cover obscure points. And at the same time, they are very hard because they require you to make render a judgment among options that are shades of gray. Listen to Dr. Jack present a detailed and uplifting presentation on how to handle… Click to Read More
Pacing Yourself on Your Psychiatry Board Exam
I’ve received several emails from doctors who’ve recently taken their psychiatry board exam. Here are some quotes that I present to you anonymously and then provide my responses.
“I recently took the Psychiatry Board exam and I honestly don’t know what to think. I was struggling with time. The vignettes were super long….one of the video was about five minutes long. I did take about four breaks but honestly didn’t have time to eat lunch. I finished about five minutes… Click to Read More
Treatment Interventions on Board Exams
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







