I just finished taking the first administration of the American Board of Anesthesiology’s (ABA) Adult Cardiac Anesthesiology board examination, and I had some thoughts to share. This is a stream of consciousness as I worked in the ICU overnight before heading to the testing center. I’m still in a daze.…
Until this year, adult cardiothoracic anesthesia fellowship training involved getting board-certified by the National Board of Echocardiography (NBE) in advanced perioperative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). This differed from my board certifications for my anesthesiology residency training and critical care medicine fellowship training, both through the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA). This…
The American College of Medical Quality (ACMQ) offers a Certification In Medical Quality (CMQ) designation which I was interested in pursuing. Anesthesiology is at the forefront of medical specialties when it comes to patient safety, a vital part of quality, and its relevance spans both my OR and ICU practices.…
Anesthesiologists typically take the “oral boards” (standardized oral board examination, or SOE) roughly a year after completing their residency training. Compared to other exams we take over the course of our medical training, the SOE can often times be more daunting since its based on an examinee’s ability to communicate…
The United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) Step 1 is the first of several exams to become eligible for medical licensure. In many cases, a medical student’s performance on this exam either expands or limits their options regarding career choice and specific residency programs. Although many medical schools have gone…
This morning I completed the National Board of Echocardiography (NBE) – Advanced Perioperative Transesophageal Echocardiography examination (PTEeXAM). To achieve Advanced PTE board certification, one must pass the PTEeXAM, have an unrestricted physician license to practice medicine, and must either have come from a fellowship pathway (in my case, adult cardiothoracic…
Now that I’m nearing the end of my formal medical training, I wanted to look back and catalog the licensing exams I’ve taken (including my admissions exam for medical school) over the last decade. Note that the following costs do NOT include expenses accrued from various study materials (books, questions…
Yesterday while at work, I received an email from the National Board of Echocardiography stating that I passed my critical care echocardiography examination!
When I applied for my Massachusetts medical licensure, I never had to take a jurisprudence (JP) exam; however, Texas requires passing this exam with a score of 75 or better in three attempts. Fortunately, I passed this $58 exam yesterday (50 multiple choice questions, 90 minutes).
My ICU colleagues and I walked into yesterday’s first-ever administered critical care ultrasound certification examination without much insight about the exam itself except for a very generic content outline. Here are my reflection/impressions of the test.