Tag Archive for: ABPN

How to make the most of DOWNTIME while in school

Text reads "How to make the most of DOWNTIME while in school!" it shows 2 students walking into a beautiful school and then a desk inside with a green chalk board.

Are you feeling overwhelmed with school or maybe you feel as if you’re not doing enough..?⁠

Here are our top 3 tips on how YOU can make the most of your downtime while in school.. it’s not all books and tests, you can have fun too!⁠

Stay Active!

Exercise is crucial to your mental health, not just physical! Getting up and being active can help by reducing anxiety and depression, improving your mood and self esteem! Studies show it also alleviates social withdrawal and improves your ability to study and learn!

Be Social!

Talk to your fellow students and friends! It will break up the monotony of your classes. Go do something you enjoy, join a club, or just go grab coffee. Being social ALSO has positive effects on your study routines!

Study Study Study!

This should go without saying…make sure you use your time wisely! Although the other topics are essential to your mental health…so is studying!


📲 SHARE this with someone who could use the help! Are you enjoying these tips? Check out our previous post on how you can get the most out of studying. It’s a lifesaver…

Did you know we offer a FREE trial for our question banks? Just head over to our website (exams.mypsychboard.com) to get started today risk-free (with no Credit Card required!)

Feeling like you need a bit of extra help?

Contact us OR sign up for our tutoring!

How to Get the Most Out of Studying

image of book with text "how to get the most out of studying"

This past week we took time to speak with leading professors, current students, and recent graduates to learn more about where the biggest issues in studying take place and how you can overcome it!

✨ Welcome to our top 5 Studying Secrets!

1️⃣ GET ORGANIZED
Before you can even begin studying you need to make sure you have all the resources you need. Organize items into folders, check you have all the materials you need, and tidy up your study spot.

2️⃣ DESIGNATE A STUDY SPOT & LIMIT DISTRACTIONS
Find a place distraction free and put your phone on do not disturb. When finding your spot, try to keep this away from your bedroom if possible. Believe it or not..It can cause additional stress on you when you’re trying to sleep if this is where most of your work and studying take place!

3️⃣ SET UP A STUDY SCHEDULE
You’ll begin to feel less stressed knowing you have allotted time in your day to put in the work. Stick to it, no matter how hard it may be — its essential.

4️⃣ TAKE NOTES & COMPARE WITH YOUR CLASSMATES
Maybe it’s something you missed in class? Maybe you’re not understanding? Support each other! Review notes, make corrections, and talk it out. It will seem less like a chore when you’re interacting with others… just make sure when you notice the studying is becoming unproductive you stop, get up, walk around, and take a break for a moment. Focus on something else..It’s ok to breathe.

5️⃣ MAKE STUDYING FUN & REWARD YOURSELF
Yes… we know… it’s not always going to be fun but it can be Create games, go online, have group study sessions, and create rewards for yourself Remember why you’re studying so hard in the first place. It will all be worth it soon.

Did you know different STUDY STYLES can make a difference on how prepared you feel? Check out our blog on just this topic here! Did you also know we have tailored Question Banks to ensure you are passing your boards with ease! Check out our FREE Trial here.

If all else fails, talk to your teacher directly. Discuss the pain points, ask what helped them, and try to change your routine up. Most teachers said they actually wish more students would talk to them.. after all they were in your position before. They’re just like you!

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YOU GOT THIS 💖

Send this with someone who is just as stressed as you were, let’s help each other!

Need additional help? Contact us today!

Our Multi Modal Psychiatric Question Banks: Perfect on the go!

a mac, iphone, and ipad are laid out on a blue background. On each of the screens are a section of the "My Psych Baord" website and question banks.

Life can be fast paced and it can seem like finding the right time and place to study is impossible.

Not everyone has the luxury of sitting down in front of a desktop or laptop for hours every day.⁠ We understand that we need to keep up with your hectic schedule and find ways to make that time FOR you.

We have created a means of doing that by offering our Question Banks either at home OR on the go! Our website can be accessed and used from desktops to mobile smartphones to tablets. With user-friendly interface, we want to create the perfect studying tool that you can use- wherever you are.

With our ✨ Multi Modal Question Banks ✨ you can study with ease no matter where you are! Whether you’re at home on your laptop, on the go with your phone, or kicking back on your tablet you can access all our Question Banks unrestricted. You should be able to access materials to study for your exams in the way that is easiest for you, whether that’s sitting at a desktop or cramming a few questions in between rotations. Our goal is to make our products accessible no matter what the situation is.

All you need to do is go to our website, sign in, and start testing! 🥳 Want to try it out RISK FREE? Give our Free Trial a whirl and see how we can help you!


⁠Did you know we offer a FREE trial for our question banks? Just head over to our website (exams.mypsychboard.com) to get started today risk-free (with no Credit Card required!)

Feeling like you need a bit of extra help?

Contact us OR sign up for our tutoring!


INTRODUCING: Our New FREE Trial Psychiatric Question Banks!

INTRODUCING- Our New FREE Trial Psychiatric Question Banks!

🚨 FREE TRIAL ALERT!

Take control of your learning and pass your board exams with ease! Our new FREE TRIAL question banks are like an appetizer sampler for your brain. Choose from ABPN, PRITE, NP, and USMLE banks to decide if My Psych Board is right for you.

Test out 10 top quality questions including a sampler video vignette, and get a feel on how our products work. Our free trials feature timed, practice, AND custom quiz modes!

It’s the perfect way to check us out with no risk to your wallet!

Click the link to get started with your trial today!
https://exams.mypsychboard.com/signin?callbackUrl=https://exams.mypsychboard.com/quizzes?trial=1

A Closer Look at Top Quality Questions and Video Vignettes

A Closer Look at Top Quality Questions and Video Vignettes

My Psych Board Video Vignettes and Questions are top quality and created by experts in the field!

Did you know each and every question listed on My Psych Board goes through an extensive vetting process?

FIRST we work with experts who are in the field to curate top notch question content that matches the difficulty, style, and modality of questions you can expect to see on your exams.

NEXT the questions are reviewed individually by Dr. Abdel himself along with other team members to fact check, proof, and make clarifying modifications to ensure each question is readable, understandable, and each explanation thoroughly covers the content it features.

FINALLY every question is reviewed a final time to double check (and triple check!) everything is accurate and ready to go, then it’s delivered right to your device with new content being uploaded regularly.

Oh, and did we mention…🎥 FEATURING: VIDEO VIGNETTES

Our video vignettes introduce dynamic characters with real-life issues. With high quality scripting, these scenarios will draw you in and feel like you’re meeting with an actual client and discussing their case. Our videos involve complex diagnoses with thought provoking questions to lead you through helping over 20 different individuals. No cheesy lines or stereotypical characters- these videos are made by experts to help you!

Each vignette is accompanied by multiple choice questions that follow the cases in a scene-by-scene flow. Don’t get stuck on vignettes when it comes to testing time, we have the materials you need to ace them all!

Make sure you are receiving the best product for your education by trying our high yield and challenging question banks (like ours!).

Still need additional help OR have other question? Contact Us today!

Introducing: My Psych Board, pass your boards with ease!

Welcome to My Psych Board!

We are a board review and question bank website which gives you access to unique courses and question banks tailored to your needs. Our program offers access to unique courses and question banks to prepare residents and medical students for the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) Psychiatry Certification Exam, Psychiatry Resident In-Training Examination, United States Medical Licensing board examination, and Nurse Practitioner examination. The world is always changing, so what do we do? New questions are continually being added to the question banks, ensuring the most current and up to date information is being made available!

The world of Psychiatry can be confusing, but don’t get a headache over it! We want to help — call us ANYTIME and we will get YOU moving in the right direction.

My Psych Board offers multiple modes to try: Practice, Timed, and Custom. In Practice mode, we focus on feedback, one of the most important things when learning new materials. We give feedback immediately as questions are answered, including in-depth explanations that accompany each question for both correct and incorrect answer options. There’s no time limit so you can take as long as you need to really dive into the questions and topics. Jump over to Timed Mode where the amount of time mimics the real tests and skips the explanations to see how far you can get before the time runs out. Or, zero in on your weakest areas of study by creating custom tests made from your most missed questions across dozens of topics.

Our goal is to make your test preparation as smooth and easy as possible. We’re constantly innovating and making this experience better so you can pass your board with ease! Our only goal is to see you succeed! 

#dontfailyourboards


Utilize our question banks here! Have any questions? Contact us for in-depth information + help.

Study Styles for Psychiatric Residents

With the impending standardized exam, you may be asking “how the heck should I study?” Here are our top tips to help you pass your boards with ease!

As a senior psychiatry resident, recent graduate or even junior resident, this is a question that may cross your mind when the term ABPN initial certification is mentioned.  But as someone who has taken my fair share of medically geared standardized tests- i.e. MCAT, USMLE, PRITE, as well as too many medical school exams to count, teaching for the Princeton review, teaching gymnastics, and the occasional residency didactic topic, the best method to study and retain information may not come into focus until one takes a step back to do some self-assessment.  Sometimes you (meaning me) even forget what got you over that what once seemingly insurmountable conglomerate of material until a new challenge presents itself.  It is only then can one get refreshed insight on how to approach the material before you, by looking at what worked and did not work before.

I’m a firm believer that the more you hear or see something, the more you retain it.  I don’t hesitate to review and re-review the basics.  This is true whether you are an athlete preparing for a big event or a chief resident reviewing the DSM V for diagnostic criteria for Major depressive disorder with psychotic features vs schizoaffective disorder. The foundations allow us to build and retain our skills and knowledge, and yes they can sometimes be more palatable to review. With that I must remind myself of what my old gymnastics coach used to say every time I wanted to practice balance beam instead of bars, “To be great, one must practice what they hate not what they love.” So I would begrudgingly trade my beam shoes for my hand grips and chalk up. A medical school or USMLE equivalent could be me tucking away neuroanatomy and forcibly pulling out lung volumes.  A PRITE example could be me tip toeing to get to biostats once all my other studying is done, But I digress.

I would argue you need to make time for that which comes easier, and that which you might just slightly avoid. One way I like to go about this is what I call mixing it up. I am also a believer in learning via multiple pathways and methods.  I have always found, when the brain processes data from multiple sources, the more likely you are to retain this material. Now I realize we all have our personal preferences and we do not all learn the same way.  For example, some of us like to read, while others may like to listen. Some of us never showed up to lectures, and some were front and center. However, I’ve found the material I have retained the greatest, or exams I have done the best on, I was using several of my available senses. This included, reading, watching lectures online on core material, listening to recordings at the gym or while traveling throughout the day, and rewriting key material. The more pathways I used, the better I retained and understood the material. I find this to be key in studying for standardized exams, where the amount of material can seem insurmountable. We will get to this, but this can also come in handy when you are having an off day, a too busy to do much day, a I am over this day.

We all get overwhelmed, me included. The vast amount of material for anything before us can seem daunting and overwhelming. This is when I like to take a deep breath, take a step back and write out a plan. Most importantly, this plan must be unique to you and both your long-term and short-term study goals, and how you will accomplish them. Remember to be kind but firm with yourself.  Offer motivational tips and rewards while holding yourself accountable to some sort of framework.

Break it up and use your senses.

Try and study in small, consistent blocks of time and take advantage of hands-on learning.  Learning while providing patient care (reading up, reviewing their diagnoses, meds) can go a long way when it comes time to study and sit for a big exam. Just like an athlete who keeps the foundation fresh and well maintained, when time to throw the bigger skill those foundations will allow an easier transition.  

Break the material/subject down into systems using several sources of information stimulating different ways of learning. Some examples of systems are reading review, videos, questions. 

How I approach each topic, no matter if medical school, USMLE, PRITE, or psychiatry board review:

  • Core material/ foundation and concepts-does not matter if I already know it or think I know it. I start here
  • Case study-reviewing sample cases and how they present with review of material. That helps with retention and “real world,” understanding. It Is often how tests present material.
  • Esoteric details-Put off sometimes until the core and concepts are re-reviewed
  • Question banks-for understanding; then for simulated test taking via a buildup (start with 5 questions at a time, to ten, to 20 etc)

This brings us to the topic of question banks. A question bank serves several different purposes, again taking what I say with a grain of salt in case that is not your style. Here goes, I initially use question banks for learning the raw material. I don’t time myself and I’m not trying to do a full block, and I’m definitely not worried about timing myself. I take my time, use tutor mode and read everything; I mean EVERYTHING thoroughly. Things I got wrong and things I got right. Test bank explanations can be a gold mine of information for the questions I’m both sure and unsure of. This knowledge is important and allows you to brush up on topics you thought you knew once upon a time, and gives you a feel for the level of material and depth you should know for that exam. Once I personally feel “ready” and comfortable, (although full disclosure I have never been one to feel fully ready for any test), then I start to incorporate the questions slowly into timed and simulated experiences.

As a firm believer of understanding the material from the ground up, I don’t ever recommend going into a standardized examination without using a question bank. There are however people that do just fine using question banks purely as simulated examination situations and to get a feel for the test and types of questions you will see. This is of course fine, as that is a vital part of preparation, but for me, question banks can be used in different ways as described above, depending upon your personality and comfort with learning styles.

Good luck as you start your preparation. You got this! Remember, it is easy to get discouraged or feel like the massive mountain of study material before you can be insurmountable, but remind yourself that even small study sessions will take you one step closer to your goal, and things that you are remote and you think you forgot often come back easier the next time you review them.  P.S. I speak from experience 😉

– Dr. J

Are you utilizing the correct tools to make the most of your studying?

Thankfully, our question banks are formatted to get the most out of your learning experience. Studies have proven members who use formatted practice q-banks have a much higher score/pass rate!

Still feeling overwhelmed? Contact us today! We can help build a study plan tailored for your needs.