I'll just start out with something for the one or two dental students or predents reading this: it wasn't that hard and odds are that you will pass.
Part 1 of "the boards" is a 400 multiple-choice question, 7 hour test that you must pass to become a dentist in the United States. It tests mostly stuff you would have learned in a good undergraduate biology program (minus the section on dental anatomy and occlusion), or what you spend the majority of your first year in dental school studying. Human anatomy, physiology, pathology, etc.: the foundation of most professional medical programs.
Now, though I said it wasn't that hard, that doesn't mean I didn't study for it. Of course, taking Part 1 right at the of your first year of dental school is helps (everything is still fresh). The University of Colorado is one of a handful of schools that do this; most schools give their students time during or after their 2nd year. Regardless, I studied probably an average of 6-8 hours a day, 5 days a week for 6 weeks in preparing for the boards. Some of this "studying" might not have been the most focused or productive, but that's just my estimate.
How did I do? Pretty well. The test is scaled (meaning missing 25 questions this year doesn't yield the same score as missing 25 questions last year), and one needs to receive a 75 or higher to pass. Scaling is done to fit a certain percentage of test takers into a particular score. Our biochemistry prof wanted to have half the class with an A- or higher, so he scaled (well, he actually curved, just adding points on) the test scores to get half of our class into that range. Scaling is also done to compare results from different versions of a test. Here is scaling percentages that came with my test (I think they have used for the past couple of years), listing the scaled score first followed by the percentage of test takers being put into that score category:
- 99: 0.7%
- 96-98: 2.2%
- 93-95: 5.9%
- 90-92: 12.1%
- 87-89: 18.5%
- 84-86: 21.2%
- 81-83: 18.5%
- 78-80: 12.1%
- 75-77: 5.9%
- below 75: 2.9%
It's not hard to see that this is a nothing more than a normal bell-curve, no magic formula or anything. Notice the "below 75" category: that means that 2.9% of test takers are guaranteed to
fail once scores are scaled. It's not a curve (where points are added on to bump everyone up), it's a scaled score. Sucks for those 2.9%, but going into it thinking that you have a 97% success rate is really how you should be approaching it. I mean come on, taking a test where 97% percent of the test takers are guaranteed to pass should not stress you out unless you're a slacker who has always just barely managed to stay afloat.
Now that you know what makes up the scaled score, you'll understand mine: 87. I fell within the 60.6-79.1 percentile, which is above average and fine with me! If you ever get on
Student Doctor Network you've probably noticed that most of the scores posted by people fall in the high 80s/90s. Remember, board scores really only matter if you're applying for specialties or are a foreign-trained dentist trying to get into a program in the U.S., and that's who most of these people are posting these scores. For most of us, the boards are basically Pass/Fail. Actually, the boards WILL be Pass/Fail as of 2012. Another thing you might notice on SDN is people saying something like "I got 89 percentile. . . ," the number referring to their scaled score. This is incorrect, they did not miss less questions than 89% of other test takers, they simply got a scaled score of 89, a number with no significance in and of itself other than that it is above 75 and passing.
There is one more set of scores on this test that will help put all of this in perspective, the raw scores. This is how many question you got right out of 100 for each of the four sections. Here are mine followed by the national average in parentheses:
Anatomic Science: 79 (64.6), Microbiology/Pathology: 74 (65),
Biochemistry/Physiology: 75 (60.4), Dental Anatomy/Occlusion: 85 (73.4).
Add it all up and you'll see that I received a scaled score of 87 with only 313/400 question answered correctly. You can miss approximately half of the questions and still pass.
In conclusion, Part 1 of the boards is not that bad as long as you've put sometime into studying for them.
driving up Pike's Peak, taking a tour through the Cave of the Winds, walking around Garden of the Gods, going out to eat at Pho '79 and WaterCourse Food, going to an art exhibit put on by a fellow dental student, visiting the Denver Botanic Gardens (and getting an annual family membership), and making sushi.
Oh, and how could I forget the Delta Sigma Delta "White Trash" rush party on Friday night! It has been a great weekend, but I admit that all this driving around and going out to eat is more exhausting than just going to school and studying! I'm looking forward to getting back into the groove this week; I'd better, we have our first pharmacology test on Friday.
