National Results!

So I took the written national board exam on Thursday March 25 and got my results in the mail on Monday April 5th! Yeah, that is 7 business days! I was totally not expecting them yet. A classmate had taken the exam the Monday before me, and still had not received her results yet. But to my surprise...




this was waiting in the mail box for me! You need a 75% to pass and they break down your score for you section by section and give the total number of questions, your score, and the national average score. The thing to remember about this exam is that some questions are "thrown out" and not counted as part of your score. So you could score roughly a 65% and have that translate into an 85% well... at least that is how it was explained to me. I am not sure if that is exactly the number conversion but you get the drift.

AND NOW...you wait.

The new computerized system still requires some patience. It still takes 7-10 Business days! Trust us, I think half of our class called the WREB office just to check. We were hearing all kinds of different time frames from 48 hours to 4 weeks. But we got our results 6 business days later. That was a LONG six days! If you are anything like us, all of you will check the WREB website at least every hour, and alert each other that nothing is posted. And then, the texts start, the emails, the calls...RESULTS ARE IN! GO CHECK! So you scurry to your husbands lap top and get to WREB, then you freeze. He has to log in for you, lucky he has been checking every hour on the hour too, so he knows your username and password. Then you get to the page that has "Result Info" and you try to click on it, then, you take a deep breath, and you do it. You click. You wait...and then...you see your score and you have to consciously think..."is that higher than 75!?!?" And then you realize...YES it is! You scream, you jump up and down, you scream some more, and then you cry like a little girl. You have done it! You passed! You scream some more and cry too, then your kids come in and ask Daddy, "is Mommy crying because she is sad or happy? Happy!? oh, well if you are going to cry happy tears you should smile, and not scream so much" Oh, maybe that is just me.

Written National

I will start off with my advice for the written national:

1. Take it early. Most of us took it the week after our clinical. Your brain WILL BE FRIED. And you will not be able to focus. You will be anxious about your results.
   


2. Just start reviewing (and in some cases learning for the first time) 1st year material. Really learn it, commit it to memory. There is a LOAD of information, and for some reason RDH's are suppose to know it all.


3. For me there wasn't ONE book that was most helpful. It was a combination of a few. I used the SLCC review book, a DH review book from the WSU library, the Perio book from 1st year, Wilkins, and the case studies from the decks.


4. Give yourself time to review, contemplate, apply, and review again.


5. Look at a lot of different case studies.

The written national board exam is taken at a testing center. The first half of 200 multiple questions is a broad base of questions. You get up to an hour lunch if you choose to take it. Then the second half is all case studies 150 questions. You have plenty of time, so take a break if you need to. The day I took my exam, the testing center was FREEZING, and you are not allowed to wear a coat. So dress in layers. Also, you are not allowed gum while taking the exam, this was a heart breaker for me. So just prepare yourself mentally if you need to.

Let's Dance YOU & I

(So OF COURSE this wasn't my board pt. but REALLY...I kind of can't help but smile and chuckle at this. Sick, sick, sick.)

Here you are: the morning of your WREB clinical exam. You are completely ready to go. Arrive at least 10 to 15 minutes prior to the "clinic entrance" time on your sheet. The clinic entrance time is the time YOU & YOUR PT can enter the clinic for check in. You can take the BP and HHX 1 hour prior to your start time...SO DO! Have your pt. sign all required forms and about 3 minutes after you enter the clinic you sign up with the Chief Examiner for check in. NO need to set up now... you will have plenty of time while you wait. You set up and get the ultrasonic (you rent for $45... ouch!) ready to go.

Now comes the gut wrenching part: PT QUALIFICATION & ACCEPTANCE. This year they went to a new computerized system. My clinic entrance was 7 am. I checked in with the CHIEF at 7:04 I believe...and I was second! Acceptance took well over an hour. Apparently they were having technical difficulties.

But then, here comes my pt....yes, no, yes, no???? YES!!! My first submission was accepted! And away we went. You are given 2 1/2 hours to scale, probe, do an extra & intra exam, and complete all required paper work. This sounds like a lot of time..but trust me...IT FLIES!

As you and your pt sprint to the finish line with 1 minute to spare, you think to yourself...it is done! You have done all you can do. You now go and break down your unit, turn in your packet to the Chief Examiner, and exit the clinic.

Here is my advise for the clinical exam:

1. QUALIFY YOUR OWN PATIENT! The instructors may look at your pt. and give you their opinion. BUT it is ULTIMATELY your responsibility if your pt does or does not qualify. The instructors are doing you a huge favor to give you their professional opinion. But part of the exam is to see if you can qualify a pt on your own.



2. Alternate submission for sure. There is no penalty for submitting an alternate...only if they use it. I suggest adding additional teeth in your first submission. At least 2 and in your alternate 4. We had some pt qualification difficulties, and I think more is better. However, there is a fine line of enough qualifying surfaces, and too much work for you.
   


3. Make sure your x-rays are perfect. Take them well in advance, and make sure every contact in your quad is open in at least one film.


4. Look at occlusion prior to the exam day if possible. Occlusion classifications can be tricky and it is one of the first things you learn in 1st year (and 1st forgotten too). Exam day is no time to be deciding, "is that the width of a pre-molar?"


5. Sleep well and eat well the day prior and be sure to get a good breakfast.


6. Bring your CANDIDATE GUIDE with you into the exam. You are allowed to reference it. You just can't write any notes that would give you an advantage (like probe depths, recession, etc.).


7. Work together as a class to have as many back ups as possible. You will most likely need to pay these pt a small amount to get them there and wait. Have the HHX and x-rays ready to go.
8. Have some classmates not taking the clinical exam "babysit" the back up patients. They will be in charge of paying the pt. after we are sure all of WSU students are qualified and on their way, the x-rays, and health histories. There will be other students from other schools at our site taking the boards as well. It is a possibility that their pt will not qualify. And they will want to use one of our back-ups. We had this happen this year. As devastating as it is for them to come all this way and not have a pt qualify, we need to make sure all of US WEBER people are taken care of first. We did let her use one of the back-ups...because we are just that nice.
   


9. And last the best of all the game...and I can't stress this one enough...CHANGE YOUR CHAIR POSITION! This is so huge. Be SURE to go from 8 o'clock all the way over to 1. Rememberinng surfaces away and toward in each position. Seriously people...this could be a pass or fail decision! Also, give yourself enough time to thoroughly explore your quad.
   

There is no clinic fee for that quad ($7) But it is a nice gesture to bring your pt a small token of your appreciation. It isn't "illegal" to pay your pt. most people do. Just be sure to keep that between you and your pt. as not to cause any troubles.

Whew...

So you've just passed both the written and clinical portions...and still have your $120 burning a hole in your pocket...maybe you'll stop by the mall on your way home. Maybe.

Then...there is a clinic orientation. Yes, you will all ready know the clinic. But I suggest going anyways. The clinic will look different with the curtains hung and you will see where your unit is for your clinical exam. I was really glad I went to the orientation. I had been assigned to the LEFT hand unit. NOPE, NOT A LEFTY! I didn't note that I was a left handed operator at the time of registration, but somehow this small detail fell through the cracks. This is no small feat to get the unit changed over to a right handed unit. I am glad I had some advanced warning to get the situation taken care of.

Then you head home, eat, call and confirm your patient, ready all of the supplies and paper work for your up coming clinical. And then lay in bed staring at your dark ceiling...waiting for your re-current probe depth dream to start. Oh maybe that was just me.

NEXT>>>

So then after passing the written...you get to proceed to the clinical portion.

However, if by some chance you don't pass with a score of >75% this is the end of LA for you...today. Instead of proceeding to the clinical portion, you go and register yourself for the next upcoming LA exam and try again! You re-register on the WREB website, and re-pay. And you should also eat something chocolate.

Prior to entering the clinic, you have another short orientation. The examiners read from a script again, perform a skit...yes an actual skit! It was pretty good too. They have some different verbage than us, but what you know is acceptable.
Here is our verbage:
1. Find your landmark insert the bevel just into the tissue and state: AT SITE OF PENETRATION
they look, get in your way (put just hold still) and on examiner says..."I see" the other examiner says, "I see. Proceed" It is important to pause and hold until you get the "proceed."

2. You then proceed to the depth and angle of your injection. Checking to make sure your angulation and depth are correct and you state: AT SITE OF DEPOSITION
Just be sure you are SURE that everything is correct before you announce this.
The examiners look, get in your way, and say the same as they did before...as long as there isn't a problem. In which case they will ask you to withdraw, and you can get nervous at this point or at any point before you have completed the injection.

3. Then after you get the "proceed" you announce: ASPIRATING you make a visible movement with your thumb against the opposing side of the ring, moving the plunger slightly, see small air bubbles, and no blood. This should take you about 4-5 seconds. Then, you announce: NEGATIVE ASPIRATION or in my case POSITIVE ASPIRATION you then handle the positive aspiration. You can either choose to withdraw and re-attempt for which you will state: Permission to withdraw and get another set up. or if the positive aspiration is slight (and in my case you are on your second positive and out of set ups) you can state: I am going to withdraw slightly and redirect. Just be sure to not completely withdraw from the tissue. Then you redirect and pray that you get a negative.
4. Then you state: DEPOSITING SOLUTION and they watch your rate of deposit, and after they have seen what they need to see they tell you to "go ahead and withdraw" but this time it is ok to hear that.

5. Then an examiner will watch you break down and dispose your sharps. There is some confusion as to which comes first...needle then cartridge or cartridge then needle. Both actually are acceptable...at least they were for us. Malamed says cartridge then needle, but we are taught needle then cartridge. The important part is keeping your little fingers far away from the front side of your card and not dropping your card into the sharps container.

For this exam you demonstrate 2 injections. The IA and PSA. (You will eventually know what these mean.) The injections have certain criteria that must be met, and it is outlined in your CANDIDATE GUIDE. You can decide which injection you would like to give (meaning RIGHT or LEFT)
Here is my advice for the clinical LA Board Exam:

1. Use a pt you can count on. They need to be on time, not be too nervous, understand how important this is, and not have a latex allergy or a herpetic lesion.


2. They cannot have any previous puncture marks, so if you are going to use them, don't inject them at least 2 weeks prior.


3. You can use each other (classmates). However, your exams must be 2 hrs apart from each other. And keep in mind that you can't all use each other. Some people will have to re-attempt after failing an injection, and it is handy to have a classmate as a backup.


4. Know how to handle a positive aspiration. If you have never had a positive aspiration: practice how you would handle the situation. You know...pretend/role play-everyone's favorite. This could be the difference of a pass or fail.


5. Have at least 3 syringes ready to go. 4 is best, but at least 3. Borrow from your peer pal, pass them along, or borrow some from your office if you can.
   

Everyone needs to come prepared with a cashier's check for $120 made out to WREB. This is just in case you fail an injection. You can pay and re-attempt one or both of the injections at this time, and pass. But after a re-attempt, and yet another fail, you have to re-register (and of course re-pay) and complete the clinical portion again at another exam location.

Hopefully, all will go well. You will handle the BOTH the positive aspirations, walk out of the clinic with your heart pounding, and look in your envelope and see this:





And take home your $120 cashier's check!

HERE WE GO!

For us, our LA written was on a Thursday morning at 8 am. It was a paper test (opposed to a computer test). It is given all at once-to all candidates that is. You will need your photo ID and candidate ID, and a #2 pencil to take the exam. They will call your candidate number, you present your photo ID, signed forms, and they give you a packet with the other necessary forms, and your official WREB ID which you must wear at all times while in an exam.

There is a short orientation prior to the written exam, they read a script, show a short movie and answer questions.

You then take the written exam. It is 55 multiple choice questions. Your answers are put on a scantron/"bubble sheet" you have 1 hour. You hand in your exam and test sheet and leave the room. Your exam is graded. You must receive at least a 75% to pass this exam. It is pass or fail. You don't know your score unless you fail it. Then they will give you a breakdown of areas you need to focus on. But hopefully you will get an envelope that looks like this:



Hopefully 100% of your class will pass...but IF they don't; be supportive and upbeat. Remember YOU still need to keep composure and pass YOUR next exam.

My studying tips for LA written exam:

LA can appear overwhelming. It can become very in depth. But, learn the basics early on, then dig deeper as you go along.

1. Your LA book should look like it has been through the war. Read and re-read. Try to spend some quality time with Stan at least twice a week during fall semester.

2. After you have the basics, you will learn technique. YES, you get to stab each other! Don't worry, it really isn't that bad. You won't even care by the last lab.

3. As for studying for the LA board. Of course the LA BIBLE. I used several past exams from Malamed. These will either be passed to you by your peer pal, or Prof. Hanson will email you a copy. Go over each question, and read that section in the book. Do this a few times to make sure you have it.

4. Get a copy of "THE RAP" after the live performance. you just wait...it's AWESOME!

5. Don't let the calculations scare you. They really aren't hard. Just take your time, and practice. MEMORIZE the table Prof. Hanson will give you. The first thing I did in the written was write down all of the table information, and it made the calculations a breeze. These are easy points, don't miss any.