I have finally put together the new recordings; As I have mentioned in the past I am trying to think of the things that I would have found useful to study for the boards. I was going to go through the mood disorders next, but realized that trying to cover all of the disorders with a ‘shotgun’ approach would be the same old thing that is already out there. I remember purchasing an $800 set of recordings that covered all of the different disorders; 90% of the material was obvious, another 8% was unintelligible from different accents or skipping CDs, and 2% was very helpful– but I had to listen for hours and hours to get to that part!
My hope is that by first covering ‘Q and A’ the preparing student or resident would learn the areas that need the most ‘brushing up’, and then focus on those areas for the other studying programs. These Q and A recordings consist of questions similar to those found on old Board Exams, Prites, studying guides, tests I helped make up for undergraduate studies… and completely consistent with the questions found on the Part I Boards. That does NOT mean that they won’t be helpful for Part II; On the contrary the questions are similar to those asked during the newer portions of the Part II exam, and also provide the facts needed to converse about the differential diagnoses for the patient interview (e.g. how many weeks before bereavement becomes depression?).
The Q and A recordings will be released every two weeks, in a series of different categories. This first category is ‘adult psychopathology’; future categories will include child psychiatry, forensics, emergency psychiatry, neuro, consult-liason. and others. Each edition will contain from 110 to 120 minutes of questions and answers.
As always, the recordings are intended for use during otherwise wasted time, such as a morning or evening commute, or during a jog at the end of the day. I simply ask the question, list the possible answers, pause for you to come up with the correct response, and then provide the correct response. If you miss a question I suggest that you make a mental note of that section, or better yet use the myriad of recorders that are now found on I-phones, cell phones, and other hand-held devices. Or buy a cheap voice recorder at best buy! You will quickly identify the areas that you ahve down cold from those where you need to do a bit of review.
I welcome suggestions that would improve upon the product; if you have nice things to say (and thank you to those of you who have already sent me those!), send them in with your name if you don’t mind. I am realizing that for marketing purposes I should put a few of them on the site.
Thank you for your interest and for your purchase, and good luck, as always, in your studies!
Jeffrey T Junig MD PhD
