Boards: The beginning
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)
Congratulations. Kudos. Excellent.
You’ve just completed your first step. You have decided to accept the challenge to become a board certified prosthodontist.
Just one bundle of my boards study papers tucked away in various corners of my home.
This is actually the first biggest hurdle. Perhaps, the reality is that while you have "said” that you are going to get board certified, you haven’t actually committed. That’s okay because that is what I (and probably a vast majority of us prosthodontists) have done too.
I was “supposed” to challenge my first section of the board examinations in the last semester of my last year in residency in February. I had envisioned getting my act together, re-reading (and mostly reading for the first time, thoroughly instead of skimming) classic literature, and having laser focus on organizing and finishing my presentation.
Instead, life happened. I got busy with making sure to complete other pertinent tasks like finishing a master’s thesis, completing care for patients or transferring care, figuring out how to move to a new state for a new educational experience, celebrating a graduation, getting engaged and celebrating a life milestone, etc.
Nonetheless, I finally reached a point in time in which I needed to accept the challenge.
There is never going to be a “right time” for challenging the board examinations. - preparations for the exam both clinically and didactically is a commitment. But, for important things in life, one makes the time for it. For me, the decision to confront the boards came from many different angles and aspects. It was as follows:
Professional opportunities
Imposter syndrome
This is not a lie. For all the broo-ha-ha I say about focus on patient care, my reality was that I wanted to challenge the boards for my own self. I wanted to work in academia and opportunities are afforded more readily to those with certification. I also found that while I earned the credentials of a specialist, I still felt unsure of myself because I didn’t have the encyclopedic (or Wikipedia-ic) ability to dole out prosthodontics verbatim and knowledge. I wanted to be a leading educational figure in this specialty yet I found myself uncomfortable with the tenuous grasp on the foundational literature and knowledge.
Is this selfish? Is this misguided? Is this wrong? Not necessarily. Because the board certification process is, actually, all about YOU.
In becoming board certified, I realized that I had to confront my comprehension, philosophies, and practices with the greatest of honesty and the deepest of humility.
That is what taking the board examinations will do. You deconstruct your foundational knowledge, you re-evaluate and re-assess your treatment steps, you question and reflect on the “why”s and “how”s of your approaches in care.
The board certification process, in essence, compels its challenger to seek meaning in his or her care.
Now, let’s be real.
Did I arrive to this thought during the actual process? Absolutely not.
Did I enjoy the preparation process? No.
Did I enjoy the board examinations? I cried. And not tears of joy.
Did I find peace, joy, and rainbows upon being board certified? Nope.
I didn’t even find the solutions to the original reasons for pursuing board certification.
The truth is, becoming board certified will not make life better, will not make one an almighty clinician, nor will it make one a Jedi master of prosthodontics (if only!).
But it will give you the opportunity to elevate you. To be informed, to be understanding, to be decisive, to be open, to be constructive, to be reflective. It is through you, and only you, that your care can have meaning and be meaningful.
So, going back to where I began. You, the challenger, have taken the first step into the start of a big chapter in your life. Whatever reasons that got you to this point are enough. And, even as you curse the boarding process after your 29235023758932th hour of studying (metaphorically), hold fast to the knowledge that you will find meaning in it after all and that meaning will be yours to carry.
This will not be easy. You will not look pretty (but your casts and photos should). And you will question your sanity multiple times.
But hang in there and congratulations again for making this big commitment. You’ve taken the first and biggest step.
This post’s lesson: No lesson today. You, challenger, need to save brain space for boards study!