Are you a medical trainee or practitioner who needs help to prepare for your medical specialty boards?
It’s not unusual for physicians to assume they have appropriate study skills. If, however, you failed one of the USMLE Step exams in medical school, scored below the 30th percentile on your specialty in-training exams in your residency or fellowship training, or failed your written board certification exam, it’s possible that you have weak study skills and/or poor test-taking skills.
The study skills you used to get into medical school or residency may no longer be sufficient for passing your specialty boards.
If you have struggled academically during your medical training, consider working with an academic coach. Academic coaches can help you develop a personalized study plan, identify your learning strengths and weaknesses, and provide accountability and support.
The medical boards are a critical milestone in any medical student or resident’s career. Passing the boards is essential to obtain a medical license and start practicing medicine. However, the boards can be daunting, especially for not naturally good test-takers.
Academic coaches are experienced professionals who can help you develop a personalized study plan, identify your learning strengths and weaknesses, and provide accountability and support.
Here are 10 of the advantages of working with an academic coach for preparing for medical boards:
1. Personalized study plan. An academic coach will work with you to develop a personalized study plan tailored to your specific needs, learning style, and board exam content. This will help you to stay focused and on track, and it will also help you to maximize your study time.
2. Identifying learning strengths and weaknesses. An academic coach can help you to identify your learning strengths and weaknesses and provide resources to focus your study efforts on the areas where you need the most help.
3. Accountability and support. An academic coach can provide accountability and support as you prepare for the medical boards. This can be especially helpful if you are feeling overwhelmed or discouraged.
4. Test-taking strategies. An academic coach can teach you test-taking strategies that can help you to improve your performance on the medical boards. These strategies include time management, guessing strategies, and stress management.
5. Practice Exams. An academic coach will assess your progress on practice exams and identify areas where you need more practice.
6. Motivation and encouragement. An academic coach can provide you with motivation and encouragement as you prepare for the medical boards. This can be especially helpful during those times when you are feeling discouraged.
7. Peace of mind. Knowing that an academic coach is working with you can give you peace of mind. This can help you to focus on your studies and avoid feeling overwhelmed.
8. Time savings. An academic coach can help you save time by providing expert advice and guidance. This can free up your time to focus on other essential things.
9. Cost-effectiveness. Working with an academic coach can be a cost-effective way to prepare for the medical boards. This is because an academic coach can help you to learn more effectively and efficiently.
10. Long-term benefits. The skills you learn from an academic coach can benefit your medical career. This is because your skills, such as time management, goal setting, and test-taking strategies, can be applied to other aspects of your medical career.
FAQs
Q: How much does it cost to work with an academic coach?
A: The cost of working with an academic coach varies depending on the coach’s experience and qualifications. However, most academic coaches charge between $150 and $300 per hour.
Q: How long should I work with an academic coach?
A: The length of time that you work with an academic coach will depend on your individual needs and goals. However, most medical practitioners find that working with an academic coach for 6-12 months is sufficient to prepare for the medical boards.
Q: How do I find an academic coach?
A: There are several ways to find an academic coach. You can ask your medical school or residency program for recommendations or search online for academic coaches who specialize in preparing medical practitioners for the boards.
Conclusion
If you are serious about passing the medical boards, then working with an academic coach can be a valuable investment. An academic coach can help you develop a personalized study plan, identify your learning strengths and weaknesses, and provide accountability and support. These are all essential ingredients for success on the medical boards.
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Linda L. Carr, Ph.D., Founder/Principal at Coaching for Medical Specialty Boards, is a medical educator and learning specialist who coaches physicians preparing for specialty boards through virtual, one-on-one coaching. Visit www.DrLindaCarr.org to learn more about her program and download her FREE Study Guide.
Today, specialty board certification is an expected credential for physicians in clinical practice.
Preparing for medical boards is costly (ranging from $1,000 to $2,000 or more), time-consuming (it’s not unusual to spend three to six months or longer in preparation), and stressful (failing national boards can affect a physician’s ability to practice by losing hospital privileges).
In my coaching practice with physicians (at all levels and specialties) preparing for their national boards (first-timers and repeaters), I witness frustration and confusion over what they believe it takes to pass the boards. Some have likened board preparation to a cognitive marathon. One physician shared with me that one of the first things he does to prepare for boards is to change his diet and start an exercise program to accelerate his momentum.
Since content alone is insufficient for passage, successful preparation requires a multi-faceted approach—a game plan, time management, best resources, and rebooting skills for successful learning and test-taking.
While many medical specialty organizations offer board reviews, these programs do not necessarily result in successful passage. In their book How to Study for Standardized Tests, Sefcik, Bice, and Prerost (2013) reveal that the result of over two decades of research on the impact of review courses on exam performance suggests that review courses do not significantly increase test scores for the majority of individuals who take them. However, effective review courses share three features: lectures and exercises designed to improve metacognition, test-wiseness, and test-taking skills.
While it’s important to use a variety of study resources, physicians need to know how to use them efficiently and effectively. Because their time is limited, this is precisely where professional learning coaches can help–by providing strategies and resources to accelerate their work. Here are just a few ways professional learning coaches can turn board failure into successful board passage:
1. Helping clients diversify their study skills and stay focused. For some individuals, it may mean learning to use metacognitive strategies to plan, monitor, and assess their understanding and performance or adding other study skills to add variety and productivity to the review process.
2. Preparing a “Game Plan” to manage the board preparation experience. Studying for boards can be overwhelming, so learning how to manage it step-by-step can help reduce the stress.
3. Increasing client efficiency and effectiveness. New ideas and strategies for board preparation, including time management, can increase motivation and productivity.
4. Sharing the most effective tips, tools, and techniques to expand the client’s knowledge-seeking and test-taking skills. Learning specialists can help maximize your learning potential, provide just-in-time resources, offer aids to make your learning “stick”, and accelerate your review.
5. Meeting regularly with clients to help them stay on track, not feel alone, and reduce stress. Checking in regularly with your coach keeps you accountable and on task.
6. Advocating a structured review process that includes specific daily and weekend study routines. Knowing how to implement a structured review and modify your study as the exam date approaches are critical factors to your success.
7. Monitoring the client’s progress and offering options to increase the client’s productivity. Your progress in preparing for boards can be measured in several ways, for example, (a) the number of multiple-choice questions completed; (b) test scores and their trend over time; (c) time spent studying; and (d) your assessment of your progress– identifying what went well or needs improvement and making appropriate changes.
What explains the high failure rate on medical boards? Each year hundreds of physicians across all medical specialties fail their national board examinations. The failure rate for initial certification has been as high as 15% to 30%, depending on the year and the medical specialty. Even worse, examinees that repeat their certification boards generally fail at a higher rate than first-time takers.
In a 2013 blog, David Shaywitz, MD, stated two possibilities for the declining pass rate: (1) the test is getting harder, or (2) millennials lack the study habits of their elders because they have become great “looker-uppers.”
While knowing the content is critical for successful board passage, other factors such as how you prepare for boards, the time interval between residency and boards, and the type and quantity of resources used also play an important role.
Just as patients look to physicians for advice and treatment about their health, physicians can work with academic coaches to help make their board preparation less stressful, more efficient, and eventually successful.
Ready For Board Preparation Support?
Has preparing for your medical specialty boards left you feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, or alone? Do you feel lost, not knowing how to study to maximize your learning and retention? Have you done everything right and failed your board exams?
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Feeling overwhelmed when preparing for medical specialty boards is natural because of the scope and specificity of medicine and the amount of time and preparation it requires.
While all physicians face the challenge of finding time to study, some may carry additional burdens, such as being out of residency for more than five years, lack of motivation, personal problems, unsuccessful previous attempts at passing their boards, or a learning disorder (e.g., ADD/ADHD, dyslexia, or test anxiety).
Effective board preparation is a dynamic process that involves five basic skills: (1) goal setting, (2) time management, (3) cognitive behaviors that facilitate learning and long-term memory, (4) self-assessment, and (5) self-monitoring via self-reflection.
Academic coaches use these skills to help physicians prepare for their boards in a more systematic way. Coaches help identify learner deficits and suggest strategies to manage existing and potential challenges, which can benefit physicians throughout their careers.
Coaching in competitive sports, professional music, and the business and corporate worlds is well known. However, the concept of coaching for medical boards is still relatively new.
More recently, coaching is emerging as an innovative model for physician training at many levels. It makes sense because an academic coach helps learners achieve their fullest potential by evaluating their performance, boosting their learning skills, and helping them create a plan to achieve their goals.
The biggest advantage coaching offers physicians is being an accountability partner–regular contact that helps keep them on track.
While your specific learning needs may vary, these are ten BEST PRACTICES that professional academic coaches may provide:
Identify your learning preference and suggest ways to expand your learning potential.
Create a study plan based on the board exam blueprint that addresses your specific learning needs.
Share ideas for making your study area more functional and inviting for effective study.
Teach strategies to enhance your ability to learn, remember, and connect ideas.
Recommend time management tools and techniques.
Encourage goal setting, self-assessment, self-reflection, and accountability.
Provide instruction on test-taking strategies as well as learn tips on how to improve reading speed and comprehension.
Assess your progress regularly and provide ideas for improvement.
Suggest strategies to reduce stress and anxiety related to board exams.
Promote a balanced lifestyle to support your learning initiative.
The physician-coach partnership provides a novel approach to make board preparation more meaningful and successful. Regularly scheduled coaching sessions promote accountability, more effective and efficient learning, and better time management. An effective coaching relationship can empower physicians to expand their learning potential, successfully pass their boards, and increase their motivation for lifelong learning.
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Linda L. Carr, Ph.D., Founder/Principal at Coaching for Medical Specialty Boards, is a medical educator and learning specialist who coaches physicians preparing for specialty boards through virtual, one-on-one coaching. Visit www.DrLindaCarr.org to learn more about her program and download her FREE Study Guide.
