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Anyone doing Pathway II ????? Arrrrghhhh


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Just wanting to see if anyone out there is currently doing the Pathway II exam. I decided to do it this year due to time constraints . I reviewed the exam this week and have to say that it is not what I expected. I have 25+ years experience and the questions (IMO) are well above most physician levels of common knowledge. I had my copy of questions at work (and have some great MD's) and they were stumped and could not answer most of the questions they reviewed. I know with this being a take home exam the questions being more difficult, but some of these have more than one correct answer. I spent the whole day yesterday on this and barely made a dent.

 

So if anyone else out there is taking the exam and wants to connect , please let me know.

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As a two-time veteran of Pathway II (I HATE sitting in a cubicle and taking tests!) I can offer these few thoughts and tidbits on the Pathway II:

1 - The questions ARE harder and some are VERY esoteric. I have had specialists look at questions in their own specialty area and they were either stumped or the question was poorly written and didn't understand what was being asked. This is the 'norm'. Don't let it upset you.

2 - I learned after my first P2, to NOT spend more than 5 minutes looking up an answer. Any more than that and the Law of Diminishing Returns applies. It's just not that important.

3 - You won't ever have to do it again. :-)

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As a two-time veteran of Pathway II (I HATE sitting in a cubicle and taking tests!) I can offer these few thoughts and tidbits on the Pathway II:

1 - The questions ARE harder and some are VERY esoteric. I have had specialists look at questions in their own specialty area and they were either stumped or the question was poorly written and didn't understand what was being asked. This is the 'norm'. Don't let it upset you.

2 - I learned after my first P2, to NOT spend more than 5 minutes looking up an answer. Any more than that and the Law of Diminishing Returns applies. It's just not that important.

3 - You won't ever have to do it again. :-)

 

Thanks for the response, much more helpful than the one from the student...

 

You are right, the questions are very esoteric and do not really have a correct answer. Most offer one small piece of the treatment. Some, written before recent changes in therapy. Some, I have absolutely no clue of. I have shown the questions to multiple specialists I have seen in the ER and they shrug and tell me, "I don't know" and "This is harder than my boards"

 

I find myself taking way more time than I would like to on each question. Hopefully, there are a few out there taking it this time and we can communicate. Again, I do appreciate your response.

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Yes, it is. I believe that 2010 is the last year for it. I did it because I am currently very busy and thought it would not be too difficult. I could just "Google" , "Up to date" all that i did not know. Big mistake. I have been working in medicine for over 25 years and some of these questions I believe "House" could not answer. Plus, it appears since the test is going away this year, they have not updated the question bank to make sure the treatment is current. There was one question advocating Bicarb as a first line in DKA... Wish I would have taken the recert this time.

 

Anyhow, it does not appear that many , if any , on here are doing PWII.

 

Regards,

Kip

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I have 25+ years experience and the questions (IMO) are well above most physician levels of common knowledge. I had my copy of questions at work (and have some great MD's) and they were stumped and could not answer most of the questions they reviewed. I know with this being a take home exam the questions being more difficult, but some of these have more than one correct answer.

 

I feel your pain! I chose PathwayII for my last recert.and found the format and topics to be much more specialized and obscure than the questions for the regular exam. I also found some very poorly written questions that clearly had more than one answer. It's recert. time for me again and I can honestly say that I'm looking forward to taking the regular exam after the PathwayII experience.

Good luck on your Pathway II research exam!

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Guest FrustratedPA
Yes, it is. I believe that 2010 is the last year for it. I did it because I am currently very busy and thought it would not be too difficult. I could just "Google" , "Up to date" all that i did not know. Big mistake. I have been working in medicine for over 25 years and some of these questions I believe "House" could not answer. Plus, it appears since the test is going away this year, they have not updated the question bank to make sure the treatment is current. There was one question advocating Bicarb as a first line in DKA... Wish I would have taken the recert this time.

 

Anyhow, it does not appear that many , if any , on here are doing PWII.

 

Regards,

Kip

 

I am currently doing the Pathway II. What a headache. I would love to find out who wrote the questions and most important why ... nothing to do with true clinical practice or skills. Would love to find someone to brain storm some of the questions with !!!!!!

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Guest FrustratedPA
Just wanting to see if anyone out there is currently doing the Pathway II exam. I decided to do it this year due to time constraints . I reviewed the exam this week and have to say that it is not what I expected. I have 25+ years experience and the questions (IMO) are well above most physician levels of common knowledge. I had my copy of questions at work (and have some great MD's) and they were stumped and could not answer most of the questions they reviewed. I know with this being a take home exam the questions being more difficult, but some of these have more than one correct answer. I spent the whole day yesterday on this and barely made a dent.

 

So if anyone else out there is taking the exam and wants to connect , please let me know.

 

Contact me I am currently doing the pathway II and I feel your pin. After more than 15 yrs in practice, being a presenter at conference and being a preceptor I cannot believe the questions

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I am currently doing the Pathway II. What a headache. I would love to find out who wrote the questions and most important why ... nothing to do with true clinical practice or skills. Would love to find someone to brain storm some of the questions with !!!!!!

 

 

sent you a PM

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  • 3 weeks later...
Guest pa1994

Agree, I would love to brain storm as well. I had my supervising physican look over the first 50 questions he was quite suprised by the content.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Guest jstask

Jumpimg in a bit late (since the exam ends on 4/23) but I am also taking the PWII and want to die!!! I found alot of answers on emedicine.com if that helps anyone. I already went through the exam once and am now going over the ones I marked and the ones I didn't answer. How many ques do you really need about erectile dysfunction on a PANRE anyway?!?!?!? Working in Neonatology for 11 years def doesn't help me answer those!!

I am down for some last minute brainstorming as well if anyone is still working on it!

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Guest jstask

Oh and one more thing...any parent who comes to the ER with their child 7 hrs AFTER the kid ingests a bottle of aspirin...my treatment...option (F) call child protection services!!! LOL!!! These questions are unbelievable!!!!!!!

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  • 2 months later...
Guest gross98

I am taking the pathway II in the fall and wondering what are the best resources to use to complete this exam.

If you can let me know as soon as possible I would appreciated. Thanks

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  • 4 weeks later...
Guest jstask

Hi...I just took it in the spring, I mainly used emedicine.com and rxlist.com for drug info. I also brainstormed with coworkers, most of the sub specialists I work with thought the questions were insane!!!

I work in a newborn intensive care unit and haven't touched anyone over 3 mos in 11 years and I passed. If I can anyone can!!! Good luck

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