HOW TO CHOOSE A BOARD REVIEW COURSE
#1 - FACULTY SELECTION
This is without question the most important factor as the quality and enthusiasm of the faculty determine how effective the delivery of the lecture content becomes. The course should recruit reputable faculty members with extensive clinical experience and a passion for surgical education.
Be sure to look at the course’s website and see which faculty will be present for the specific course that you are attending. Some courses boast large rosters, but only a few of the faculty will be present at each course. When faculty become occasional lecturers, the quality of their presentation suffers, and conversely when faculty present a particular topic frequently they become increasingly effective at delivering the most important pearls of wisdom.
Do these individuals have a reputation in their respective fields, or are they just a warm body who can give an average lecture? Are the lecturer’s academic credentials, current title and curriculum vitae available online for you to review? This is extremely important because your time and money are worth the most reputable educators.
Some courses have a very limited number of faculty, and one predominant presenter who will cover the bulk of the topics. While this is efficient from a business standpoint, you are being taught by a jack of all trades rather than an exceptional content expert.
#2 - FOCUS
The largest board review companies offer courses in a multitude of specialties. Their General Surgery division is just a small slice of their focus and identity. Board review entities that are focused in one specialty tend to value the quality of their content and faculty more than the potential financial reward of serving every specialty.
#3 - ORGANIZATION
It is extremely important to choose a course that has a solid curriculum and organizational structure. Some board review courses are run by coordinators who may not have the knowledge base to organize a complete curriculum or allocate the proper amount of time to each subject matter. This turns into potential redundancy or omission of material and, even worse, inefficient use of your time. The schedule, agenda and faculty of the course should be available for your review far in advance, demonstrating that the organizational structure of the course well thought out rather than thrown together at the very last minute with any available faculty.
#4 - TIMING AND LOCATION OF THE COURSE
As with many other things, timing of a board review course is of key importance for both the qualifying (written) and the certifying (oral) examination. The courses tend to be most effective several weeks prior to written exams, and a convenient location with easy airport access can cut down the hassle of difficult travel and schedule restrictions, both of which can detract attendees from focusing on the review itself. Oral exam courses should be attended days before the exam and in a location close to the testing location itself. The day before the oral exam is not the time to undertake long-distance travel plans as this can lead to a significant amount of stress and fatigue right before the day when the examinee should be at their very best.
#5 - CONVENIENCE
The board review entity should provide a variety of convenient products, in addition to the review course itself. These should be easily available through web, digital and print media and should properly complement the curriculum of the course. This allows participants to begin their preparation well before the course itself and use the review to put the finishing touches on their preparatory efforts.
Look for a course devoted to surgical education ONLY.
Take our name for example..... it has SURGERY in it, and our logo has a scalpel on it. That signifies that our dedication, focus and goal is to teach SURGERY to SURGEONS. Many of our competitors are in the business of review courses rather than the business of teaching surgical principles. If you reach a website with a drop down menu that includes 25 different subspecialties, chances are good that the vendor is not committed to surgical education. Some of our competitors even boast clever marketing names such as "machines" that help you pass your boards. The truth is that such machines are about as real as unicorns and magic wands. Others offer gift certificates for online shopping against your CME dollars. There is a good reason that they have to do that. Our philosophy is to assure that you are purchasing substance over hype and receiving the very best material you can purchase for an intensive quality review focused on general surgery ONLY.