Customer Reviews

How to Win: On the American Board of Surgery Certifying Exam

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Just took my Boards and passed. I used this book and supplemented it with Cameron's, as well as a surgical atlas, to prepare for the exam. I spent a month studying. This book was quite helpful in organizing my studying. I appreciated the fact that the author looked at hundreds of exam questions, and listed how often the topics appeared over the last 10 years in front of each chapter. This helps you focus on the important topics.

There are people who tell you to read Cameron's or some surgical textbook in it's entirety. With a busy practice or fellowship, you don't have time for that. The examiner's aren't trying to pimp you- you already passed the written exam. And they don't ask esoterica. They want to know how you manage common surgical problems in your practice. Contrary to prior reviews, you're not asked to "think outside of the box"- you have 7 minutes per question, so just answer how you would do it in your practice. And yes, "the complex complications in surgical patients" stated in the prior the review is in the book- plus they're not really that complex; just things you should know how to manage after 5 years of surgical training.

One annoying thing about the book is the spelling errors. Crohns disease is not spelled "Chrons". Additionally, the sample responses to the scenarios in the book are too verbose. You're not there to lecture these big dogs. Just answer the questions they ask you. But overall, a highly recommended book. I spent $30. My buddies spent over a grand for their review courses.

I would not recommend this due to the many errors and lack of organization in alot of the chapters. The typos alone can drive you nuts. I would have given it an average rating but the errors just can't be ignored. This is like a first draft with no editing or oversight before being published. It felt like no one proof-read this book to make sure it was accurate. The vignettes are weak in pushing you to think outside the box. The real exam asks you tough questions about complex complications in surgical patients, such as how would you deal with a patient who develops a CBD stricture post cholecystectomy? How would you manage a patient with complex breast cancer such as bilateral disease or a patient presenting with a neck mass?

This book is pretty straight forward and an easy read. It's a nice quick read if you have a busy clinical day. There are a lot of words that are spelled incorrectly. That's mildly distracting. Now, will it help me pass my oral boards... that remains to be seen.

Although this book is useful as a guide to the possible scenarios one may encounter on the ABS certifying exam, I found the validity of the content to be questionable at best. Many of the offered responses to clinical scenarios I find to be incorrect. It is also disappointing to see a published book with so many grammatical and spelling errors. If it is your goal to "Win", then I would seek help elsewhere.

The editor of this book, and the authors, must be ashamed to see how many typos and (usually) nonsubstative errors (>1/page!) made it to printing. I know from the process of having my own (children's) book published that such goof-ups can embarrassingly slip through, but this book sets a record. HOWEVER, as I am preparing to take the exam for the first time, I have found that the anxiety of the pending exam distracted me from these typos and errors, and I actually found the book to be extraordinarily helpful, especially the 69 dialogue-based case scenarios. These are generally quite well crafted and give a good example of an ideal answer for each of those 69 topics. The brief topic reviews are not too wordy or too slim. And kudos to the authors for providing in the table of contents the frequency of topics on previous exams over the past decade - nice touch. Not quite a must-have, but almost. It is new, and will likely become a favorite among those preparing for the ABS certifying exam.

solid review for the american board of surg certifying exam (oral boards).
MANY spelling and grammatical errors, which were annoying, but the content of the review is good.
i supplemented this book with directed readings from schwartz and cameron, and passed the oral boards on my 1st try.
would not recommend using this book as a sole resource for preparing for the orals, but it does provide some focus and structure to
your studying.