So, You Failed the Pediatric Boards. Now What?

A failed pediatric boards attempt is devastating and having failed once myself I can only imagine what is going through your head.

But before you throw yourself back into the depths of studying, here are two things I want you to understand:

1. Failing the boards doesn’t make you a bad pediatrician.

2. Passing the boards in 2019 has more to do with having a comprehensive strategy rather than a board review resource.

I have found that the biggest differentiating factor between failing and passing the boards is having a schedule that takes a more strategic approach to studying and keeps you accountable.

Almost 50% of the pediatricians who buy our study guides have failed the pediatric boards before. With the right plan in place, though, you can pass. We know this because we have helped multiple people pass after as many as SEVEN failed attempts.

My goal in writing this article is to outline a detailed schedule that will help you pass the boards, even if you’ve had a failed attempt. Specifically, how to do so with materials that will HELP you (not fail you) during your next pediatric board exam.

Some housekeeping items before jumping into the schedule:

• Your failure(s) on the boards may have been due to a lack of knowledge or because you have a poor handle on test-taking. For most people reading this article, failure is the result of a combination of both of those factors. Following this 16-week schedule will give you the pediatric knowledge that you need to pass the boards. For help with test-taking strategy, poor attention to detail, falling for traps, pacing, and you must also start to explore solutions through the PBR article on test-taking strategy.
• Throughout this study schedule, you’ll find references to the AAP PREP® questions you should be practicing with. Please keep in mind that PREP® questions should NOT be used to study. PREP® questions, along with other question bank queries, should be used to help you master your test-taking strategy. You can learn much more about why we recommend this and how to best use the AAP questions here.
• If you are a first-time test taker, and you:
  • Consider yourself a decent test-taker,
  • Have done well on past board exams, or,
  • Come from a residency program with a high passing rate,

Then this schedule isn’t right for you.

Go check out my 14-week study schedule for first-time test takers. That schedule is similar to the one below but less rigorous!

THE “ASHISH GOYAL” HIGHLIGHTER TRICK

As you go through this schedule, try this great highlighter trick that I teach my PBR members as a focused studying tool. If you can master this, you will have a more efficient board preparation experience.

For each reading of the material, you highlight (or underline) only the areas you are interested in reviewing again. If you know something well enough to recall it on the day of the exam, don’t highlight it.

First, start with your lightest color. Then, with each read through thereafter, use a slightly Click Here And Continue Reading...

When it comes to passing the pediatric board exam, all logic and reason can get thrown out the window during “crunch time.”

In this article, I want to share some resources and tips to help you calm the nerves, help you focus on maximizing your chances at passing the pediatric boards and most of all… ensure that at the end of the test-taking process you have absolutely NO REGRETS!

What Should I Do When It's “Crunch Time?”

Well, let’s answer all the following questions:

• Should I Be Doing A Ton Of PREP Questions?
• What Are The Best Pediatric Board Review Books For Me To Study?
• What’s the BIGGEST “Bang For The Buck” At CRUNCH TIME?
• What’s the ONE THING I Can Do to LEARN MORE EFFECTIVELY?
• What Should I Do If I Have Questions About A Topic That’s Confusing Me?
• Is Passing the Pediatric Board Exam Realistic for Me?

Should I Be Doing A Ton Of PREP Questions?

I answer this question in detail in a Pediatrics Board Review article titled, “How Many AAP PREP Questions Should I Do?”

In summary, the idea behind using ANY sort of board questions should be for PRACTICE. It is NOT to learn board-relevant content. For that, you should be focusing on a single, primary study resource (called the PBR).

This means that you don’t aim to learn new content from those questions. Your aim should be to practice your test-taking SKILLS. When I refer to “test taking skills,” I mean…

• Are you falling for traps?
• Are you reading the English within the actual question carefully?
• Are you extracting the appropriate information from the clinical vignette?
• Are you keeping a steady pace, and able to LET GO of a question when it is one that is…
  • Taking you forever to think through?
  • About a topic that you KNOW you are weak in?
  • Is SUPER long?

Passing the board exam requires a blend of strong board-relevant clinical knowledge, plus test-taking skills. Many physicians do not realize this and they continue to fail over and over again. They assume that board questions are like miniature patients, but they are not! Click Here And Continue Reading...