What Terrifies OBGYN Oral Exam Candidates

ExamPro polled 134 OBGYN Oral Board Candidates last year on their greatest fears about the
OBGYN Oral Board Exam- the last step to Board Certification. The final exam is spending 3
hours with 6 examiners in a room, the result of which will have a major impact on their job
security and lives. 95% of the respondents had these burning questions.

We asked them the following question: “What question would you ask of the examiners, if you
had the opportunity?”

The most common response was: ‘

What is the most common issue that causes a candidate to fail?’

More questions that they had could be grouped as follows:

1) Positively motivated responses (29%)
• What is the examiner most looking for in a candidate?
• What is the most important piece of advice that you have for any candidate
preparing to take the oral board exam?
• What can a candidate do in the exam room to give a positive impression to the
examiner?
• What are the basic things you expect to pass a candidate?

2) Negatively motivated responses (51%)

• Are there any situations/answers that candidates give that result in automatic
failure?
• What characterizes a passing candidate vs. a failure?

3) Responses relating to the case list (8%)

• Does a well organized case list have any impact on your impression of the
candidate and the potential exam outcome?
• What is the risk of having a high number of cases, especially the surgical
volume?
• If the case list showed that the candidate was a subspecialist taking the general
board exam, would you conduct the exam any differently?

4) Miscellaneous responses (12%)

• Explain the scoring system for the exam.
• How are examiners selected?
• Are they assessed for examining-ability prior to examining?
• If a candidate gets upset and is in tears will they give you a minute to collect
yourself? Or will you automatically fail?
• Are the examiners practicing general OBGYN, or are they primarily educators or
Program Directors?
Virtually all of the questions (over 95%) were constructive appeals for reasonable information.
[These questions were subsequently posed to a former (retired) OBGYN Oral Board examiner in
a live interview. This interview is made available to all ExamPro Board Prep Course registrants.]
Conclusion: Upon reviewing all the questions, it is my opinion that the candidates merely
wanted feedback so as to improve their presentation skills in the exam. ABOG does a superb job
in administering the exam and all the details regarding taking the exam.

The Oral Board candidates would welcome more information on realistic expectations of the
ABOG examiners. This can assist candidates in better preparing themselves and reducing their
anxiety (which cannot be underestimated)!

ExamPro concentrates on alleviating the fear and the stress of the unknown by providing
materials on oral board techniques and MOCK Orals to give candidates a platform to practice
and get critical feedback on their presentations.