2024 Cardiovascular Anesthesiology Specialist Exam Experience Part 3: The Road to Passing - Practical Study Methods Edition
Dr. Anes @ Anesthesiologist here.
The long-awaited study method episode has finally arrived!
Introduction
Thank you to everyone who read up to Experience Part 2.
This time, I'm going to talk candidly about the main study methods!
Postscript: I successfully passed the 2024 exam!
How to build a realistic study schedule
"When should I start?"
This is the biggest concern, right? 🧐
To conclude, think flexibly according to your situation.
In my case:
Start date: about 6 months before the exam.
Study time:
Weekdays: 1-2 hours (about 3 days a week)
Weekends: Cooperation system with family in place!
Life hack for spending weekends:
Utilize the library attached to the childcare support facility.
"Dad, I'm going to study for just an hour!" -> Establish a cycle of playing with the family.
This lifestyle continued for the last 1-2 months.(Thanks to my family...)
The overall picture of the exam became clear in the last month.
Until then, it felt like walking through fog (lol).
Study materials that became a shortcut to passing
★Most Important Materials★
・Summary notes passed down from seniors
・Past exam questions (I'll talk about details next time!)
The appeal of summary notes:
Covers important points by field
Summary of past question trends
Includes answers and explanations
*Check the Japanese Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiology website for the exam scope and recommended textbooks!
(To be honest, I hardly opened the recommended textbooks... 🤫)
Tips for choosing textbooks
① Cardiovascular Anesthesia Pocket Manual
It looks small, but the content is scholarly!
It's packed with content likely to be asked on the exam:
Anatomy (especially useful!),
P-V loop, pressure waveforms
cardiac catheterization findings, rSO2, cardiopulmonary bypass, anesthesia tips by procedure
...and so on; it has an amount of information you wouldn't expect from its pocket size!
② Textbook on Pediatric Congenital Heart Disease
Many people probably feel weak with pediatric congenital heart disease.
I recommend starting with a textbook that has many diagrams and is written in simple language!
I'll post links to recommended textbooks!
Efficient use of guidelines
It is not realistic to read all the guidelines!
(I heard that if you print them out, it becomes an enormous amount of paper😅)
My strategy:
Work backward from past exam questions to identify important areas
Points to pay special attention to:
Class I(Things you should do)
Class III(Things you should not do)
Among Class II,the important parts
Be sure to check the parts summarized in tables within the guidelines!
Specialist Course LecturesHow to use them
These are a strong ally for exam preparation!
In my case:
I secured a total of 5 years' worth: the past 4 years plus the exam year
(I received them from a senior colleague)
Especially for the exam year's text,I wrote notes thoroughly
and reviewed it at least twice(For the second time and beyond,right before the examis recommended)
Pro-tip: Actually,cardiopulmonary bypassandneurological complicationsare fields where the content doesn't change much even across different years💡
In other words, these are super important items that are also easy to prepare for❗️
Now, next time, I will finally talk aboutthe most important task,the"Past Exam Question Strategy."Please look forward to it!
Click here for the next article