Board Tips from a Medical Board Topnotcher

by: Patrick Leonard Co Board Topnotcher Physician Licensure Exam August 2006 GENERAL GUIDELINES: Biochemistry: Difficulty Rating: 7/10 Harper’s Biochemistry (latest ed): Practically all questions lifted directly from this book. PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION to the sections about DNA, RNA, and protein synthesis. Digging up the Bones: Biochemistry: Good for a quick review, but not very detailed. Gross Anatomy and Histology: Difficulty Rating: 6/10 Clinical Anatomy for Medical Students (Snell): The only book you need to read on gross anatomy. Practically all questions lifted directly from this book. Don’t forget to read the sections on Clinical Anatomy at the end of each chapter. At least 25% of the questions can be found there. Any Histology review book will do (There are only about 5-10 questions on histology anyway) Microbiology: Difficulty Rating: 4/10 Any book will do. MMRS is good enough. Physiology: Difficulty Rating: 5/10 Review of Medical Physiology (Ganong): Some questions lifted directly from this book. BRS Physiology: Good for a quick review, but not very detailed. Textbook of Medical Physiology (Guyton & Hall): Easy to understand. Some questions lifted directly from this book; read especially on the ff topics (Aviation, High Altitude and Space Physiology; Physiology of Deep Sea Diving; Sports Physiology) Legal Medicine: Difficulty Rating: 3/10 If you have notes, read them. If not, read Legal Medicine and Medical Jurisprudence by Solis. All the answers can be found in these two books. Concentrate on the ff. chapters: Legal Medicine: Chaps 4 (Medico-Legal Aspects of Death), 5 (Investigation of Death), 6 (Causes of Death), 9 (Medico-legal Aspects of Physical Injuries), 13 (Gunshot Wounds), 17 (Asphyxia), 21 (Sex Crimes), 32 (Drug Dependence and Dangerous Drugs Act). Medical Jurisprudence: Chaps 1-10, 15-16, and 21 Pathology: Difficulty Rating: 9/10 (if you don’t read Robbins), 7/10 (if you read Robbins), 6/10 (if you read Robbins and have a good grasp of the material) One of the four most difficult tests during the Aug. 2006 Licensure Examinations. All of the questions appear to have been taken directly from Robbins. However, memorizing Robbins is not enough. To do well in Pathology, you need to have a good grasp of the material even before you begin to review. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to review for this test. Pharmacology: Difficulty Rating: 8/10 (if you don’t read Katzung), 6/10 (if you read Katzung very well and understood it) One of the four most difficult tests during the Aug. 2006 Licensure Examinations. All of the questions appear to have been taken directly from Katzung. Just as with Pathology, your previous knowledge of the subject will make a huge difference. Do not read any other book; Katzung is more than enough already. Surgery: Difficulty Rating: 7/10 One of the four most difficult tests during the Aug. 2006 Licensure Examinations. Some questions were taken from Schwartz (especially from Chapters 1-12). Subspecialty questions were focused on Plastic and Orthopedic Surgery. Medicine: Difficulty Rating: 5/10 Not as hard as you might think. If you studied well for the other subjects, then you will probably do well in this one too. Do NOT read Harrison’s or any other textbook. There is no need to do so, since most of the questions can be answered without much trouble. If you MUST read up on something, concentrate on Rheumatology and Hematology-Oncology. OB-Gyne: Difficulty Rating: 4/10 Probably the easiest of the 4 major clinical subjects. Practically all answers in OB are in either Williams or Panlilio; read the latter since it is shorter. For Gynecology, read the chapter summaries in Comprehensive Gynecology; it should be enough. Pediatrics: Difficulty Rating: 10/10 Easily the most brutal of all the tests during the Aug. 2006 Licensure Examinations. All answers are found verbatim in Nelson’s; however, most questions deal with either very obscure diseases or obscure details about common diseases. Read Nelson’s if you want to, but be aware that it probably won’t help much. All organ systems were covered, and there were many “killer” questions. Overall, this was not a fair test at all. Preventive Medicine: Difficulty Rating: 2/10 An anticlimactic ending to the Aug. 2006 Licensure Examinations. You probably don’t even have to read any old notes to pass. Most questions can be answered using common sense alone. Tags: board, exam, patrick, leonard, co, medicine, physician, biochemistry, anatomy, microbiology, physiology, legal, pathology, pharmacology, surgery, medicine, ob, gyne, pediatrics, preventive, doctormagnus