Life Update: Boards Studying

Quick life update: I’m in full blown boards studying mode! You may have noticed that I’m posting less frequently on here, and that is going to be the trend until I take my dermatology board exam on July 17th. But aren’t you done with studying and tests, you may ask? Nope. #Lifelongstudent if you become a doctor! After 4 years of college, 5 years of medical school, 1 year of internal medicine internship, and 3 years of dermatology, I’m gearing up to take the final test (at least for another 10 years!): the American Board of Dermatology board certification exam. After I pass this test, I will officially become a “board-certified dermatologist,” which means I’ve successfully finished all my dermatology training and demonstrated basic competence in general dermatology, pediatric dermatology, dermatologic surgery, cosmetic surgery, and dermatopathology. Note: I’m not doing a fellowship, so I’m not receiving additional training in any of those areas, but I can practice as a general dermatologist.

If you’re interested in my review of all essential dermatology textbooks, check out my post HERE. The only book I didn’t review in that post is Dr. Alikhan’s Review of Dermatology board review book, which has become my #1 most treasured possession while studying for boards. It has more detail than the Jain review book and its bolded points help you weed through all the random facts to hone in on what’s essential to memorize. It also has all the original Bolognia charts and graphs, which summarize lots of information in a concise and clear way. I’m a BIG fan!

My study plan more or less is:

• Read through Alikhan’s Review of Dermatology book, paying special attention to all bolded points. I may try to read through it again, just the bolded bullets, closer to the test date
• Read through Dermatology: Illustrated Study Guide and Comprehensive Board Review, or “Jain” as we affectionately call it, to pick up any additional factoids. I’m not 100% sure I’m going to do this yet, since Alikhan is already quite comprehensive.
• Go through 100 dermatopathology slides per day
• Go through flashcards I’ve made throughout residency which are taken from lectures, textbooks, and conferences
• Read through as many atlases as I can to practice kodachromes

I know that isn’t a super concrete study plan but I’m still forming it as I go, so will let you know how it changes. In the meantime, since I won’t be posting new content, this is a perfect time for me to publish several posts I’ve written in the past and never published. I have quite a few travel blogposts in the queue so look out for those!

A list of all my resources: