The Ultimate JB-POT Exam Preparation Guide: The Definitive Study Method Taught by a Successful Candidate

Hello everyone! ☀️
I'm Dr. Anes, who took the Cardiovascular Anesthesiology Specialist exam in 2024. 👨‍⚕️

I'm finally releasing it!
Often asked by juniors and colleagues,the "Definitive Guide to JB-POT Exam Preparation"

This will be a slightly long article, butlet's walk the path to passingtogether!

What is JB-POT?

JB-POTis a certification exam fortransesophageal echocardiographywith a
pass rate of about 50%,making it a highly difficult exam. 😱

And it is amandatory requirement for the Cardiovascular Anesthesiology Specialistcertification! ‼️

I am currently explaining the Cardiovascular Anesthesiology Specialist examin a series here. 💁

I took the2021 JB-POTand was able to pass on my first attempt. 🈴
My ranking was in the 160s, which wasa mediocre result❗️

Before discussing study methods, I would like to talk about themindsetfor the exam.

I personally think this is quite important. 😌

Study Mindset

① Know how much time you can dedicate to studying

At the time, I was on assignment from a university hospital to a regional hospital, and my daily anesthesia work wasn't that busy.

I was single then, and I would study2-3 times a week,for 1-2 hoursat libraries or family restaurants, reading textbooks and gathering information online.
A drink bar is the best study companion, right? ☕️ lol

Also, I think everyone hasa certain amount of time per day they can concentrate (in minutes to hours), and separately, aperiod during which they can maintain motivation (in days, weeks, or months).

In my case, I started solving the Red Book (mentioned later) looselyabout a year ago,but I didn't know anything, so I barely made any progress.
(And if there's a gap, you forget the problems you've already solved 💦)

After a slump period, I was only able tostudy seriouslyfor aboutthe final 3 months.(>_<)

Looking back,starting to solve difficult problems right awaywas probably not a good idea. 😅
The order in which you read textbooks and problem setsis also important! ❗️

I think I'll summarize that slowly at the end. 😌

② Know the subject areas of the questions

Knowing what kind of questions will be asked is extremely important.

For example, questions aboutthe principles of ultrasoundare asked every year, and in fact, they are said to account forabout 30-40% of the questions!Basically, these are
fundamental areaswhere the questions don't change much even as years pass. 🧐Looking at it this way, it's not just about having the sense to solve clinical problems, but

systematic knowledge gained through steady effortthat becomes the key to passing! ‼️🔑

You can get a rough idea of the exam scope from the Japanese Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiology website, so I recommend checking it once. 😊 I've posted the link below.

Exam Outline

Knowing where you are in your overall study progress, how much you understand, and conversely, what you still don't know—being able to evaluate yourself objectively will bring you one step closer to passing the exam❗️

Recommended Study Materials

Now, let's move on to recommended study materials by field. The JB-POT is broadly divided into
written multiple-choice questions and video multiple-choice questions I will share the recommended study methods for each🫀

Preparation Common to Both Written and Video Sections

・There are JB-POT training sessions
spring, summer, and final review sessions held three times in total. Especially important is the
final review session (highly recommended). What is said in the

final review session will definitely appear on the exam‼️ I watched the final review session videos twice. For the
second time
, I especially recommend doing it the day before or two days before the test! If you start watching the final review session videos, watch them once, feel satisfied, and then don't watch them for a while, you might end up in a very wasteful situation during the actual exam where you think, 'Wait? I've heard this before, but what was the answer?'

💦

The spring and summer sessions are not something you should skip. They were very useful for incorporating knowledge about

the latest guidelines and the latest treatments (such as SHD; Structural Heart Disease).

Even fields you are unfamiliar with, such as echocardiography for congenital heart disease, will start to feel more familiar if you listen to the lectures repeatedly😌

・TEE Exam Preparation Guide: Thorough Mastery of the JB-POT and Echocardiography Specialist Exam

This is a textbook that didn't exist when I took the exam, but a doctor who took it the following year showed it to me❗️

As the title suggests, this is a highly recommended textbook.
Make sure to buy it‼️ lol

Written Exam Preparation

・Perioperative Transesophageal Echocardiography: For Efficient Learning

This is the so-called Red Book. The content is a bit outdated, and some reference values have changed, so caution is necessary⚠️

It is said to be based on the notes of a candidate who took the American transesophageal echocardiography exam. I recommend going through it at least once with the same mindset as a candidate! By the way, I solved it one and a half times. (*Since you will forget if there is a long gap, I think it is better to repeat it in short spans.)



*To maintain motivation, it is recommended to start by solving the problems in the second half that you seem to understand!

・Transesophageal Echocardiography for Beginners and Residents

This is the so-called Pink Book . It is recommended for

beginners who are just starting to use TEE to learn the basics, such as operating methods and image acquisition etc.! Reading it through will change your perspective significantly 😌 (Please rest assured, it is an easy-to-read book).
I used to summarize important points in a notebook while reading this book.

Is it no longer for sale?
It has become extremely expensive 💦

・Transesophageal Echocardiography for Beginners and Residents 2

This is the so-called Green Book . My impression is that this one is written with a greater focus on JB-POT preparation.

It is the perfect content for those of you who have acquired a general knowledge from the Pink Book.
It even covers in-depth content such as principles ❗️

It is also desirable to read this one through, but it might be better to use it like a textbook while solving problems 😌

Perhaps because it is no longer for sale, it has also become extremely expensive 💦

・Dr. SONO's Public Lecture

You can study on the website.
This site explains ultrasound principles using animations.
It is perfect for visualizing the principles ‼️

・Ultrasound Basics and Equipment

It is written in detail about the principles of ultrasound.
Since the exam asks about the mechanisms and principles of ultrasound in detail, be sure to check it.

・Perioperative Transesophageal Echocardiography Practice

This is the so-called Purple Book (it is no longer purple since the 4th edition, haha).
It truly feels like the JB-POT textbook!
※It is cheaper on Amazon.

My senior recommended reading it through, but I only used it by reading parts of it and solving the problem set at the end 💧 (I didn't have time).

・Basics and Tips for Transesophageal Echocardiography: How to Take and View Images

Abundant color images explain how to obtain images.
A good introductory book for learning actual techniques.

・Illustrated Congenital Heart Disease: Understanding Hemodynamics and Surgical Treatment

Congenital heart disease also needs to be understood more deeply.
This is a textbook that explains hemodynamics in detail using diagrams.

It doesn't have to be this specific textbook, but I recommend choosing one textbook on congenital heart disease that has many diagrams and that you find easy to understand, and studying with it ❗️

Video Problem Preparation

・Level Up While Solving

This is the so-called Blue Book . It includes
about 5 years' worth of image problems, and I used it with a CBT-like feel.

・Perioperative Transesophageal Echocardiography Sequential Case Problem Collection
I call it the New Blue Book on my own, haha.
Because of the large number of problems + it is relatively new, it is well worth doing

There are many difficult problems in the second half, so please use it according to your motivation and your knowledge at the time!

→ It seems they are currently not available on Rakuten or Amazon 💧

・echo rounds (Japanese Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiology website)
Contains image-based questions.
In my case, I didn't actually have the time to go this far 💧

・Practical Transesophageal Echocardiography Manual - Basics and Applications -

You can check the images using the CD-ROM included with the textbook.

・Transesophageal Echocardiography Diagnostic Training

You can also learn from images using the CD-ROM for this one as well.

My Study Method and Reflections

My Personal Study Method

First, I started by solving theRed Book.
It starts with questions on principles, and I remember getting bored halfway through because it was all Greek to me 💦

After that, I firstread through the Pink Book (I even took notes on it) and gained animage of TEE

in my mind.I gradually regained my motivation to study, and while watching seminar videos and Dr. SONO's lectures in between, I slowly built up my knowledge.

The Green Book was also extremely useful, and I solved the problem collection (Red Book) while holding it in one hand.
(Once I had the basic knowledge, I was able to understand the content of the Red Book much better.)

Also, when you start to really grasp the content of the Green Book, it feels like you've really put in the work.

The pre-exam seminar was very useful, and I remember it being much easier to visualize things when I solved the problem collection after watching thevideos on principles.

I remember solving the questions in the Blue Book and Purple Book all at once toward the end of my studies.
Thanks to my previous study efforts, I feel like I was able to breeze through them.

Also, in clinical practice, during theyear I took the exam, I was able to be assigned toover 50 cardiovascular anesthesia-related cases per year, so I think it was also important to declare to those around me that I was taking the exam!

Reflections

My mistake was choosing the Red Book for my initial JB-POT study lol

I opened the Red Book and started solving from thequestions on principles on the first page, butwhen you solve principle questions without any prior knowledge, I remembernot understanding anything at all and getting bored 💧

I think I could have maintained my motivation better if I had started from theimage-based questions in the back that I seemed more interested in lol

Also, as you can see from this article so far, there are a lot oftextbooks I want to read andproblems I want to finish for exam preparation ‼️

I remember rushing to read textbooks and problem collections (even at the hotel the day before the exam) that I realized just before the exam, "Oh, I haven't done this yet 💦"

It is also important to study in a planned manner 📕

Also, it seems that some textbooks are no longer available.
There is no point in obsessing over textbooks that are no longer available, so let's look for alternative study methods among those introduced or on your own ❗️
I'm sure you can substitute them with other means ‼️

Conclusion

Thank you to all the doctors who have read this long text up to this point.

There may have been some parts that were difficult to read, but I sincerely hope that this study method will be useful to you.

If you used this article as a reference and managed to pass the exam, please leave a comment.

Also, if you have any other study tips or questions, please feel free to contact me.