Boards: Section A, the written part

I challenged the American Board of Prosthodontics Board Examination in February 2019. This is a little bit on my experience and thoughts.

(Disclaimer: This is not affiliated, sponsored, nor representative of the opinions, beliefs, and ideas of the American Board of Prosthodontics)

No matter how you pass the board examinations, everyone must pass Section A, the written portion.

Now, recall waaaaaay back - the Dental Aptitude Test (DAT), Part 1 and Part 2 of the National Board Dental Examinations - you went to a test center, were given an allotted amount of time to answer multiple choice questions.

Essentially, Section A is the same format. Four hours, 200 multiple choice questions.

Key things to know about Section A:

• It is held once a year - around early April

• It is computerized and can be taken at a testing center

• Only 1 testing center company - PearsonVUE Professional - provides the Section A examination; plan accordingly as a PearsonVUE center may not be located in the same city as you are

PearsonVUE website for Part A registration

If you have or are attending a U.S.-based prosthodontics residency, you may take the National Prosthodontic Resident Exam - an annual mock written board examination. Note: These mock board exams are NOT THE SAME as Section A. Do not go into the real Section A exam thinking that these mock examinations are the same.

With that said, using previous mock written board exams for studying the Section A is a way to start the process. I took Section A at the tail end of my residency and had a lot of other things going on simultaneously. So, it felt a lot more reasonable to start with multiple years’ compilation of the mock written boards to get a gauge on what I knew, and mostly, what I did not know.

You can procure those examinations on the ACP Prosthopedia page (this is login/password protected - use your ACP login).

Here is the overview of Test Day:

Testing paradise at PearsonVue

• The testing center is highly secured - you have to have various forms of identification and no phones allowed (I kept mine in my car)

• You are assigned a computer in a itty bitty cubicle for your examination

• A break is provided mid-test

• This is a generalized testing center - don’t be surprised when other people are taking other tests simultaneously

• Although multiple choice, a few questions do have video and images

• This is a pass/fail examination - you either answer enough questions to pass or you don’t

My Part A strategy? Do NOT overthink. This is my strategy for most standardized examinations because the typically overthinking prosthodontic mind can lead down towards a bit of a convoluted path of thoughts and second guessing.

My next Part A strategy? Do NOT look back. Literally and figuratively. I marked probably 5-ish questions to “go back to” (the computer allows you to bookmark questions if you either want to not answer it or want to review) but the rest I did not do the typical re-read and double checking that I would do. Also, once the exam was done and submitted, I moved on with life and did not talk to my co-residents in detail about it or even try to think about it. Why? Go back to “My Part A strategy” for the reason.

My feeling to the exam questions was that I either knew an answer, or I completely did not know the answer. A minority did make me contemplate a bit, but in all, I felt that my knowledge was hit or miss.

I took Part A before challenging the Oral Examinations. My feeling (in retrospect after having challenged all parts of the boards for certification) is that studying the Part B sections will be of an immense help in studying for Part A if that is your examination sequence. If not, studying with the mock board examinations and using basic study guides like the ACP Board Prep Course will get you through this section.

Remember - this is a single step to the process. The written examination cover a huge breadth of prosthodontic knowledge. It is alright if you don’t know everything, so long as you recognize what areas you could review and what information/knowledge you can improve on to support your ability to be a better prosthodontist.

So, challenger (and future challengers) - you got this. Although it is easy to study for the sake of passing, you may find more motivation in studying your own betterment so that you can be that much better of a specialist. But, no matter what, keep it up! You can do this!