Your best chance to perform well on the upcoming American Board of Dermatology examination was to have started studying at the start of your residency. The time to heed or ignore that advice has long since come and gone, but with the Aug. 13 and 14 exam dates looming, you still need to prepare. So just where do you turn?
Help on the Web
Help is out there. For the third consecutive year, you can take the online Miami Review, a series of Webcasts that cover the pertinent areas you’ll likely encounter on the test. This year there are more lectures from experts in the dermatology field than ever before, as well as a practice exam that allows you to time yourself and review the whys behind correct answers. You can even stop if you’re pressed for time and return to it later.
The Miami Review is the only Internet-based preparatory program for the boards. The Miami Review, which is presented by Stiefel Laboratories, Inc., and the University of Miami Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery, is free for anyone who registers.
The review was first produced by a resident at the University of Miami School of Medicine. It was originally published in book form, but since “the test is no longer given as a hard copy, the written Miami Review is no longer produced,” explains Robert Kirsner, M.D., Ph.D., an Associate Professor in the Department of Dermatology & Cutaneous Surgery at Miami and Chair of the Miami Review. Dr. Kirsner explains that during a brief transition period, lectures were offered live on campus, “but we found that it was often difficult for residents to get away during their training.”
The program is now entirely Web-based (you can register at skinandaging.com/sa/miamireview). It consists of 10 live Webcasts, which originally aired May 8 to 12 and May 15 to 19, and are now archived and will remain available through September. Last year, there were eight lectures.
Expert Advice
Each session is taught by a different instructor. “The people who are lecturing are experts in their respective areas. They know what’s hot, what’s not,” Dr. Kirsner says. “They really provide an excellent resource for residents who are preparing for the boards. They have a good sense of the material that will be on the test.” In fact, he adds, “what we found through feedback in various aspects of the Miami Review is that a lot of information that is presented in the course is seen directly on the exam.”
At the end of each lecture, an e-mail question-and-answer session is available, which remains in the archives.
Because the sessions are archived, “you can go back over them again and again,” Dr. Kirsner explains. This feature is particularly helpful to those who want to focus on a topic for which they are unsure of themselves. “Contact dermatitis, genodermatosis,” Dr. Kirsner says are examples of critical topics that “sometimes people have a hard time with.”
Gary Goldenberg, M.D., says, “This is a well organized and concise review for the dermatology board exam.” He says the quality of the presentations is high, and adds that the ability to view archived lectures is helpful.
A new feature this year is a practice examination that you can custom fit to your schedule and needs. Mimicking the real boards, it is broken down by topic and has sharp images to examine.
You can time yourself or come back to questions you were unsure of and had to guess answers. If you don’t have time to finish the exam, you can stop the clock and return later. You can flip flashcards to get a detailed explanation of why an answer is correct, and you can print them to study them anywhere.
Other Tools to Utilize
The Miami Review should be just one of several tools at your disposal as you prepare for the board exams, suggests Amy J. McMichael, M.D., who is the Residency Program Director at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina.
“Since dermatology residents have most evenings and weekends off, residents need to establish a study schedule and not wait until the end to cram,” she says. “It is good to use the practice boards as a guide for how to prepare and study. They should also share notes with upper-level residents and recent grads who have taken the exam,” explains Dr. McMichael who is also Associate Professor and Director of the Hair Disorders Clinic at Wake Forest.
She urges residents to avoid making a mistake she made when she took her boards. “I studied along the way, but did not take the yearly practice exams as seriously as I should have,” she recalls.
There are some things Dr. McMichael thinks she did correctly in preparing herself to do well on the exams. “I took many practice exams from different sources, and went to meetings at the American Academy of Dermatology that seemed to be preparatory for the basic science portion of the exam.”
Dr. Kirsner agrees that residents should go to many sources while preparing. “You can certainly do more than one exam,” he says. “You probably should.”
Dr. McMichael does warn that a resident can take only so many practice exams before overdoing it.
Exam-Day Preparation
Dr. McMichael says students should also prepare for the atmosphere of the exam itself. It’s held in a hotel room near O’Hare Airport in Chicago, and others are taking the test as well. “People are coughing, sneezing and tapping their feet, so get ready for all that,” she says.
She has other bits of general advice for test-takers. “Bring snacks, sweaters or jackets, and an extra pair of glasses to the meeting just in case,” she advises.
“Don’t listen to all the other people talking about the answers, as they may be incorrect. Eat a healthy dinner the night before and the night in between the two tests. Don’t take any new medications around the time of the exam, and do relaxation exercises that you know will work to get you ready. Good luck!”
Your best chance to perform well on the upcoming American Board of Dermatology examination was to have started studying at the start of your residency. The time to heed or ignore that advice has long since come and gone, but with the Aug. 13 and 14 exam dates looming, you still need to prepare. So just where do you turn?
Help on the Web
Help is out there. For the third consecutive year, you can take the online Miami Review, a series of Webcasts that cover the pertinent areas you’ll likely encounter on the test. This year there are more lectures from experts in the dermatology field than ever before, as well as a practice exam that allows you to time yourself and review the whys behind correct answers. You can even stop if you’re pressed for time and return to it later.
The Miami Review is the only Internet-based preparatory program for the boards. The Miami Review, which is presented by Stiefel Laboratories, Inc., and the University of Miami Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery, is free for anyone who registers.
The review was first produced by a resident at the University of Miami School of Medicine. It was originally published in book form, but since “the test is no longer given as a hard copy, the written Miami Review is no longer produced,” explains Robert Kirsner, M.D., Ph.D., an Associate Professor in the Department of Dermatology & Cutaneous Surgery at Miami and Chair of the Miami Review. Dr. Kirsner explains that during a brief transition period, lectures were offered live on campus, “but we found that it was often difficult for residents to get away during their training.”
The program is now entirely Web-based (you can register at skinandaging.com/sa/miamireview). It consists of 10 live Webcasts, which originally aired May 8 to 12 and May 15 to 19, and are now archived and will remain available through September. Last year, there were eight lectures.
Expert Advice
Each session is taught by a different instructor. “The people who are lecturing are experts in their respective areas. They know what’s hot, what’s not,” Dr. Kirsner says. “They really provide an excellent resource for residents who are preparing for the boards. They have a good sense of the material that will be on the test.” In fact, he adds, “what we found through feedback in various aspects of the Miami Review is that a lot of information that is presented in the course is seen directly on the exam.”
At the end of each lecture, an e-mail question-and-answer session is available, which remains in the archives.
Because the sessions are archived, “you can go back over them again and again,” Dr. Kirsner explains. This feature is particularly helpful to those who want to focus on a topic for which they are unsure of themselves. “Contact dermatitis, genodermatosis,” Dr. Kirsner says are examples of critical topics that “sometimes people have a hard time with.”
Gary Goldenberg, M.D., says, “This is a well organized and concise review for the dermatology board exam.” He says the quality of the presentations is high, and adds that the ability to view archived lectures is helpful.
A new feature this year is a practice examination that you can custom fit to your schedule and needs. Mimicking the real boards, it is broken down by topic and has sharp images to examine.
You can time yourself or come back to questions you were unsure of and had to guess answers. If you don’t have time to finish the exam, you can stop the clock and return later. You can flip flashcards to get a detailed explanation of why an answer is correct, and you can print them to study them anywhere.
Other Tools to Utilize
The Miami Review should be just one of several tools at your disposal as you prepare for the board exams, suggests Amy J. McMichael, M.D., who is the Residency Program Director at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina.
“Since dermatology residents have most evenings and weekends off, residents need to establish a study schedule and not wait until the end to cram,” she says. “It is good to use the practice boards as a guide for how to prepare and study. They should also share notes with upper-level residents and recent grads who have taken the exam,” explains Dr. McMichael who is also Associate Professor and Director of the Hair Disorders Clinic at Wake Forest.
She urges residents to avoid making a mistake she made when she took her boards. “I studied along the way, but did not take the yearly practice exams as seriously as I should have,” she recalls.
There are some things Dr. McMichael thinks she did correctly in preparing herself to do well on the exams. “I took many practice exams from different sources, and went to meetings at the American Academy of Dermatology that seemed to be preparatory for the basic science portion of the exam.”
Dr. Kirsner agrees that residents should go to many sources while preparing. “You can certainly do more than one exam,” he says. “You probably should.”
Dr. McMichael does warn that a resident can take only so many practice exams before overdoing it.
Exam-Day Preparation
Dr. McMichael says students should also prepare for the atmosphere of the exam itself. It’s held in a hotel room near O’Hare Airport in Chicago, and others are taking the test as well. “People are coughing, sneezing and tapping their feet, so get ready for all that,” she says.
She has other bits of general advice for test-takers. “Bring snacks, sweaters or jackets, and an extra pair of glasses to the meeting just in case,” she advises.
“Don’t listen to all the other people talking about the answers, as they may be incorrect. Eat a healthy dinner the night before and the night in between the two tests. Don’t take any new medications around the time of the exam, and do relaxation exercises that you know will work to get you ready. Good luck!”
Your best chance to perform well on the upcoming American Board of Dermatology examination was to have started studying at the start of your residency. The time to heed or ignore that advice has long since come and gone, but with the Aug. 13 and 14 exam dates looming, you still need to prepare. So just where do you turn?
Help on the Web
Help is out there. For the third consecutive year, you can take the online Miami Review, a series of Webcasts that cover the pertinent areas you’ll likely encounter on the test. This year there are more lectures from experts in the dermatology field than ever before, as well as a practice exam that allows you to time yourself and review the whys behind correct answers. You can even stop if you’re pressed for time and return to it later.
The Miami Review is the only Internet-based preparatory program for the boards. The Miami Review, which is presented by Stiefel Laboratories, Inc., and the University of Miami Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery, is free for anyone who registers.
The review was first produced by a resident at the University of Miami School of Medicine. It was originally published in book form, but since “the test is no longer given as a hard copy, the written Miami Review is no longer produced,” explains Robert Kirsner, M.D., Ph.D., an Associate Professor in the Department of Dermatology & Cutaneous Surgery at Miami and Chair of the Miami Review. Dr. Kirsner explains that during a brief transition period, lectures were offered live on campus, “but we found that it was often difficult for residents to get away during their training.”
The program is now entirely Web-based (you can register at skinandaging.com/sa/miamireview). It consists of 10 live Webcasts, which originally aired May 8 to 12 and May 15 to 19, and are now archived and will remain available through September. Last year, there were eight lectures.
Expert Advice
Each session is taught by a different instructor. “The people who are lecturing are experts in their respective areas. They know what’s hot, what’s not,” Dr. Kirsner says. “They really provide an excellent resource for residents who are preparing for the boards. They have a good sense of the material that will be on the test.” In fact, he adds, “what we found through feedback in various aspects of the Miami Review is that a lot of information that is presented in the course is seen directly on the exam.”
At the end of each lecture, an e-mail question-and-answer session is available, which remains in the archives.
Because the sessions are archived, “you can go back over them again and again,” Dr. Kirsner explains. This feature is particularly helpful to those who want to focus on a topic for which they are unsure of themselves. “Contact dermatitis, genodermatosis,” Dr. Kirsner says are examples of critical topics that “sometimes people have a hard time with.”
Gary Goldenberg, M.D., says, “This is a well organized and concise review for the dermatology board exam.” He says the quality of the presentations is high, and adds that the ability to view archived lectures is helpful.
A new feature this year is a practice examination that you can custom fit to your schedule and needs. Mimicking the real boards, it is broken down by topic and has sharp images to examine.
You can time yourself or come back to questions you were unsure of and had to guess answers. If you don’t have time to finish the exam, you can stop the clock and return later. You can flip flashcards to get a detailed explanation of why an answer is correct, and you can print them to study them anywhere.
Other Tools to Utilize
The Miami Review should be just one of several tools at your disposal as you prepare for the board exams, suggests Amy J. McMichael, M.D., who is the Residency Program Director at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina.
“Since dermatology residents have most evenings and weekends off, residents need to establish a study schedule and not wait until the end to cram,” she says. “It is good to use the practice boards as a guide for how to prepare and study. They should also share notes with upper-level residents and recent grads who have taken the exam,” explains Dr. McMichael who is also Associate Professor and Director of the Hair Disorders Clinic at Wake Forest.
She urges residents to avoid making a mistake she made when she took her boards. “I studied along the way, but did not take the yearly practice exams as seriously as I should have,” she recalls.
There are some things Dr. McMichael thinks she did correctly in preparing herself to do well on the exams. “I took many practice exams from different sources, and went to meetings at the American Academy of Dermatology that seemed to be preparatory for the basic science portion of the exam.”
Dr. Kirsner agrees that residents should go to many sources while preparing. “You can certainly do more than one exam,” he says. “You probably should.”
Dr. McMichael does warn that a resident can take only so many practice exams before overdoing it.
Exam-Day Preparation
Dr. McMichael says students should also prepare for the atmosphere of the exam itself. It’s held in a hotel room near O’Hare Airport in Chicago, and others are taking the test as well. “People are coughing, sneezing and tapping their feet, so get ready for all that,” she says.
She has other bits of general advice for test-takers. “Bring snacks, sweaters or jackets, and an extra pair of glasses to the meeting just in case,” she advises.
“Don’t listen to all the other people talking about the answers, as they may be incorrect. Eat a healthy dinner the night before and the night in between the two tests. Don’t take any new medications around the time of the exam, and do relaxation exercises that you know will work to get you ready. Good luck!”
