January is always the time when radiology residents buckle down to study for the oral board exams. It’s a daunting task; there are pages and pages of objectives to cover. Some people have managed to get through them already, and others have read along the way but have not followed the objectives to the letter. Either way, you are going to learn a lot in the next few months.
The best way to start is to make a schedule. Estimate the time it will take to go through all the sections of objectives, and mark each one on a calendar. I left myself a 4 week buffer for review. When I started my studying, I was behind after the first two weeks. It’s hard to estimate how long each section will take, but if you have a guideline it will keep you working. A bit of time pressure is a good thing.
Everyone will have their own style of taking notes. There are some things you will understand and remember, and others that you just have to memorize. I kept a notebook of the things I had to memorize, and it helped me review right up to the exam itself. Having nice paper, notebooks and colored pens makes the process more enjoyable.
For the literature review, I found reference software (Endnote) to be invaluable. I downloaded all of the references for Veterinary Radiology & Ultrasound, and whenever I needed to review an article, I could find it by key word or author. Reference software also lets you take notes about the key points in the article.
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