Sunday, November 14, 2010
Good luck on boards!!
Just a quick little note of encouragement to all the doctors out there preparing for the 2010 hospice and palliative medicine boards. Keep studying, you will do great! If anyone has any stats about number of people taking the test that would be great to post here!
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21 Responses to “Good luck on boards!!”
November 15, 2010
Best of luck to everyone! You'll do great! I always give the same advice for these day-long, computer-based exams... bring your favorite snacks for the breaks.
Please add your comments on what you think were the most helpful things you used or did in preparing for the boards.
November 18, 2010
I have been practicing hospice medicine exclusively for 3 years. I studied for the Boards using UNIPAC, HPASS questions through AAHPM, read Janet Abrams book, and attended the AAHPM board review in Chicago. In addition I reviewed several chapters in the Oxford Textbook. I was very disappointed with the board exam. I feel many of the questions were ambiguous and poorly written. I also do not feel that the exam tested the knowledge necessary to effectively practice hospice and palliative medicine.My preparation methods did not prepare me well for this exam.
November 18, 2010
Patricia Nieto, RN, OCN
BLOG POSTING ABOUT PALLIATIVE CARE
While going through the list of interesting blogs, I discovered a blog called PALLIMED: It is a hospice and palliative medicine blog. I was immediately drawn to the site. I read some postings. However, it was after reading part of the excerpt from a book called “Everything Changes” about the importance of being present as a way of communication that I knew that I needed to read the book. Thus, I ordered it through Amazon.com
I am an oncology nurse, and I am intrigued about palliative care and end of life issues. I became a trainee with the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) project. I believe it is the right approach that improves the quality of life of patients and families with chronic and life threatening illnesses. Palliative care takes a holistic approach. Palliative care deals with symptom management, psychosocial, and spiritual issues.
If I could emphasize only one thing that amazes me about palliative care, it is the importance that therapeutic presence has on patients. Although, at first, it may seem like a simple task, being fully present involves attitude as well as some specific techniques to capture its meaning. It does not come naturally. It takes some practice and skill. However, once it is put into practice, it has the power to transform relationships between the patient, family and the healthcare team. This way of communication is not restricted to just the nurse-patient relationship. Therapeutic presence can be applied to any relationship in any situation.
Some of the benefits of being fully present as a way of communication includes:
• The establishment of trust which develops a sense of connectedness.
• The empowerment feeling of being heard
• The act of listening. The use of intentional silences as a way of communication.
Some behaviors and techniques to practice therapeutic presence include:
• Be yourself
• Use silence, humor, touch as appropriate
• Focus, listen, and concentrate in what the other person is saying.
As a patient, T. Landa wrote, “Just to have one person give you the time of day, to sit and treat you like a person, to listen to what you have to say and truly listen, makes the difference in a very mediocre situation becoming a wonderful situation.”
Patricia Nieto, RN, OCN
Patrini2@hotmail.com
November 19, 2010
To anon: from what i am hearing from others who took this exam, you are not alone. i'm sure there are many great HPM docs who may not have passed. hopefully the test will be scored on some type of curve
November 22, 2010
I took the H&PM ABIM exam this November 2010. Some of the questions were poorly redacted and the exam was too long, but the test was fair, it covered all areas that you need to know, it focused more on management.
It is very difficult to make an exam on areas that are still blurried like the use Methadone. I was glad I didn't see gray areas or an Oncology board test.
It was a difficult exam but well done. I am not surprised with the style, it is typical of the ABIM. I know that it does not measure how compassionate and dedicated the physician is in their practice and it might alineate some of the physicians that are hoping for grandfathering.
To the AAHPM:
Be careful what you wish for. Hospice Community still need these wonderful and effective physicians, our movement is still skinny and poorly rewarded.
November 24, 2010
i did listened to the tapes of the Board Review course multiple times, HPASS, HFAST, questions and UNIPAC. i also did the EPEC course and even read the journals.
the course did not give enough guidance as to the exam and all these prep books and tests did not fully cover enough for the exam. I think i will pass but i cannot really guide future candidates on reading material. the content was actually fair BUT we need better prep materials.
November 30, 2010
I also took the exam in Nov. Since I've only spent the past 2 years practicing H&PM after 25 years in another field, I studied very diligently for the exam.
The format was as I expected, but I really don't feel buying prom dresses or not, or who a Navajo family would want with them when a children is dying are reasonable questions.In real life, we would discuss it, look it up on the net...and figure it out.
Having taken a MOCA exam in the past, my gut is that 90% will pass; as the exam is not meant to be malignant, just another step along the way.
PS- I do agree with a previous commentor that the review course in Chicago was a waste of time. Maybe the curve will be based on who spent the most money on the review course, the Unipac series, the HPASS questions, admittance to the exam ...it was in the thousands!
December 01, 2010
As the Director of Education with AAHPM, I am intrigued by the comments about your Board preparation and interested in ways to make the preparation more relevant not only for the test but also for your practice.
If any of you is interested in sharing specific recommendations for ways that AAHPM can improve the Board Review Course or products, I am very open to hearing from you.
As you consider your recommendations, please do not break the pledge of confidentiality you signed before taking the exam.
If you'd like to contact me directly, please email jbruno@aahpm.org.
December 01, 2010
As Director of Education for AAHPM, I am intrigued by the comments about your preparation for the Board exam.
Keeping in mind your pledge of confidentiality about the exam, I would invite any specific recommendations about how we can improve the Board Review Course and other preparation content.
We made several significant improvements between the 2008 and 2010 course because of member feedback. We'd like the course and the products we produce to be helpful in your Board preparations and in your practice.
I would welcome your emails at jbruno@aahpm.org.
December 01, 2010
I have been practicing hospice and palliative medicine for 7 years, and family medicine for 20. I took, and passed, the exam in 2006. I'm not sure that I passed this one. It seems that the more I learn, the more nuanced this practice of medicine has become. So many of the questions on this test had more than one possible answer. There was much redundancy, with large areas left untouched. There were questions that did not account for regional and institutional variations in how care is delivered and who delivers it. I prepared for the test, but felt that, since I have taught palliative medicine and presented in my community, passed the 2006 exam, and know so much more now than I did then, I would find these boards less challenging. That I did not is disappointing and humbling.
December 07, 2010
I passed (9th decile) my MoC (ABIM) in April. After practicing HPM exclusively for a decade, I re-took the HPM exam (first passed ABHPM years ago) in Nov.
The ABIM test in HPM is the most poorly written test I have taken since my pre-med college years. The questions continue (as they did in the ABHPM version) to trivialize fundamental (and common) clinical problems while placing emphasis on trivia. What is a legitimate research concern at DanaFarber, is not always a critical issue in Columbia S.C. What maligns inner-city pharmacy is of no impact on provision of medical care in Fargo - regardless of NEJM editorial decisions. In the meantime, critical evidence-based knowledge and skills remain untested.
December 07, 2010
Thank you all anon posters for submitting your feedback in a constructive way. I think talking about a test after it is over is always challenging. Many want to keep the integrity of the testing process, but also having an ability to discuss the material tested is important to making sure future tests are adequate. But discussing exact questions leads to possible compromise of the pledge as Julie described.
I am sure there are ways to look at the validity of the test statistically, but I also think qualitative feedback is helpful too, which is why I am glad the opportunity to give open text feedback is there at the end of the test.
i am wondering if any tests also have a live person to person chat after the test within a few days to get more feedback, because frankly at the end of the test the last thing I want to do is creative writing to give helpful feedback. But a few days later I might be more inclined to talk to a board examiner about what I thought about the test (pros and cons). Does anyone else think that would be a good idea? Or would you be too freaked out when you were called and heard "Hi, I'm Patricia from the Board examiner's office, I have a few questions for you..."
December 19, 2010
i teach actively and have multiple board certifications. i found the exam not actively testing knowledge. for the future there must be a frank and open discussion in some sort of forum by those of those who did the exams. a live chat would be good and we should be allowed to discuss questions somehow. some of the questions were redundant and we doubt if they were set by actual regular practicing palliative docs. the board review course provided no guide at all. i am glad i did not get a spot. i listened to the tapes. paucity of prep materials needs to be addressed
December 19, 2010
Thanks a great idea Anon: about having a live chat about the boards - although I am not sure how to discuss questions in this type of forum.
Feedback and follow-through will be critical. Perhaps some tweaks can be made before 2012.
December 20, 2010
Anon's
(there seem to be a lot of you!) Thanks again for all the comments. It is good to see that many are so passionate about wanting to make sure the test accurately reflect what we do. Obviously the difficulties of making a test and then checking the scores for parity as well as the qualitative measurements from the takers of the test is important.
Maybe there would be a group of people who would be willing to help write more comprehensive test prep and questions in a public forum open of comment and critique. It is a very hard task but with a passionate group it could be worthwhile.
January 10, 2011
Has anyone received their results? Its hard to imagine it could really take this long to get the results back. Does this speak to the fact that many questions may have had 2 answers?
January 10, 2011
Anon,
No results that I have heard yet.
Funny logic by the way.
January 20, 2011
hello everybody. i was one of the anonymous. i must confess now that i passed. results out today!
zakari tata
January 20, 2011
Congrats Zakari,
I passed too. Check your email people results are out.
January 21, 2011
I passed also, but I wasn't sure that I would after taking the exam. I have been a hospice medical director for more than 10 years, read the journals, give frequent presentations, and attend annual meetings. My preparation for the test was about 12-14 hours spent with the Unipac series. While I found that helpful, I was not prepared for the amount of hospital-based palliative medicine type questions and also pediatric case questions. I would encourage my colleagues in the hospice world who will take the exam in 2012 to review pediatric care (Unipac can help with this)and to intensify their review of hospital-based palliative care (HPM Pass may help with this, or so I have been told).
January 21, 2011
I passed it too!
Still, I think ABIM should improve the exam. It was one of the worse computer based exam ever! Lot of ambigous questions or plain silly questions :)
And the review courses should improve for the next exam in 2010 (last chance for grandfathering) to reflect the general feeling of the exam. I took the MDACC PC review course, HPM MCQ from the AAHPM and the UNIPAC.
After two months of suffering, nightmares and PTSD! Congratulations to everybody!
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