Robert Reti - Oral Board Review for Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG

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Congratulations on completing the grueling gauntlet of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery residency. Now it is time to take the exam to become a diplomate. Preparation for the ABOMS oral certifying exam can be a daunting task. You will not be the first surgeon to ask, where do I start? Why am I subjecting myself to this?

First, you need to understand that all training programs are unique. There are strengths and weaknesses of every program. Everyone has a gripe about deficiencies in their program, but there is no bad training program. The board is not meant to compare your training versus another persons training. The exam is standardized to ensure a fair exam. The purpose of the exam is not to humiliate you. It is an exam, which looks to examine your competency as a surgeon. It tests your knowledge of basic principles and assesses if you practice safe and evidence based oral and maxillofacial surgery. Board certification is a message to the community that a group of your colleagues have tested your knowledge and they are in agreement that you have achieved mastery of the basic knowledge as it relates to practicing oral and maxillofacial surgery.

The book is structured to provide a comprehensive review of various topics and to take you through a series of cases similar to those that you may see on the board exam. This book is not meant to replace other textbooks or board review courses. The purpose of this book is to both streamline your preparation with the salient didactic information and to be used as an adjunct to other resources including board review courses. There is so much information out there and you have a limited amount of time. The key to studying passed on from surgeon to surgeon is first; learn what you need to know (the basics), then what is nice to know, and, if time permits, what is nuts (impractical) to know.

We are not board examiners and this book is only to be offered for professional development and as an adjunct to studying. To our knowledge, no course or textbook is endorsed or sponsored by the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons or the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. However, we are young surgeons that have recently gone through the process and successfully passed the exam. We feel that we have put together a text that will be a major part of the equation of your passing the exam. You are juggling work life, family life, and your well-deserved free time. Our hope is to ease the anxiety of the diplomatic candidate and be instrumental in your successfully passing this exam.