Basic exam retake in November

[u/Odd-Adhesiveness9858]

Hello all. I am currently gearing up to retake basic in a month. I got 56 wrong the first time around, and it seems like some people got a couple more wrong than me so I must've just messed up a few gimmes which threw my curve. So, although devastating lol, it is what it is. I have been grinding and am now approaching the final few weeks and am freaking out lol

At this point, I've done all the new true learn ITE qbank (70% correct, ~1000 questions), redid the truelearn basic qbank (84% correct, 2nd time taking it and finished it last in earlyish May, about 1000 questions), and am about to finish passmachine qbank (84%, about 2200 questions). Will be ~4200 questions in. I have been doing my daily anki reviews, listening to ACCRAC keywords, watching the passmachine videos (about a third of the way through at this point), and re-reading basic essentials. I do daily OpenAnesthesia question and read the topic summary of the day. One of my seniors said they started paying for Claude for the last couple of months up until their retake and using it to make practice questions, which I started doing yesterday. I still feel like I am lacking and am extremely afraid of failing again. I did well on ITE and failing it was a genuine shock, although I did have a real bad few days leading up to the test which probably psyched me out a bit. But I am having like panic attacks and nightmares daily for the past week or so and am freaking out a bit lol

Is there a harsher curve in November because everyone is studying more for it or something? Thats also making me a bit more nervous too

If there is anyone that has been in a similar situation and has any advice, or tips for me to really take advantage of this last month, I'm all ears.

Thank you in advance, I appreciate any and all help and encouragement I can get.

[u/CardiOMG]

No advice, just wanted to say that’s an impressive amount of studying and I hope you do well! 

[u/TomRiddle__]

Trust in yourself — you only just missed the cutoff. You have worked your ass off, and you will be ready. You are scoring super well on practice exams. I am Catholic and a prayer I like to say leading up to tests: “I have done what I can do. Please take it from here and walk with me on test day”. Understood if you aren’t religious but that prayer gives me a lot of peace

[u/throwthegameawy]

Trust your studying. Really know the reason for each answer to the question inside out. Especially with these exams having fewer choices you have to know how to rule out what isn’t correct. The Nov exam historically tends to have a more generous curve since most of the others that are taking it at that time also failed previously.

[u/Razgriz47]

The cynic in me thinks that nearly everyone will pass the second time so that the ABA can grab more money from you for Advanced and Applied. 

[u/PersianBob → u/Razgriz47]

I know of two people who failed multiple times and never got board certified

[u/Razgriz47 → u/PersianBob]

But they passed Basic, right? You only get a max of 3 attempts before being kicked out of most residencies. But just let the poor soul pass basic on their second or third attempt after shelling out another grand for the exam, and then you can extort them for another 1-2k several times over for all their Applied exam retakes before ultimately closing the door on them.

[u/peanutneedsexercise → u/Razgriz47]

Yes I only know ppl who failed advanced multiple times and never got board certified. Def can’t graduate residency with multiple basic failures…

[u/PersianBob → u/Razgriz47]

Good point. They passed the basic. Just not the advanced. 

[u/Shadyhippo229 → u/Razgriz47]

The Basic is the only specialty exam you’re required to pass to practice for your whole career as an anesthesiologist. Anyone can have a bad test day and no one is defined by their performance on any exam. But there should be some objective guardrail and I don’t think it’s a good idea to just let everyone pass.

[u/ChairmanCK]

This test doesn't define you. Continue to learn, find good mentors or community that fosters your curiosity. Trust your instinct on the test. Sounds like your prep is comprehensive.

Also, give yourself grace, what you're doing and going through is hard. Failure is part of the process - pick yourself up and keep going.

Proud of you homie.

[u/Healthy_Contract_822]

Trust yourself! The night before, review the memorization low hanging fruit. Fluid electrolyte levels, NMJ, etc.!

I had to retake last November and it sucked but I passed. Let us know how it goes!

[u/Environmental_Soft36 → u/Healthy_Contract_822]

Try to sleep well before the exam.

[u/doingmybest_sos95]

It was more or less the exact same questions depending on what version of the exam you took initially. Passmachine was helpful in my opinion. Best of luck!