Board Stiff: Preparation for Anesthesia Orals: Expert Consult - Online and Print

Excellent book, well written, good scenarios. Would still recommend oral board review course, but this is a great start, as is Board Stiff Too. Have heard great things about Dr. HO's oral board review, but have not attended one yet. Also know that Dr. Gallagher has a live oral board review course, but no information on the quality. Have to think, based on his books, that the live course would also be very well done. Dr. Gallgher has authored/co-arthured several anesthesiology books. I don't have the first Board Stiff book, but I do have Board Stiff Too and Board Stiff Three. Both are excellent; very informative, great suggestions and considerations for study, and simultaneously entertaining. Board Stiff Three has a DVD as well. Laughing out loud as you study actually helps me retain the information. Highly recommend this book and anything by this author (Chris Gallagher). Dr. Gallagher is an attending anesthesiologist at a highly respected program. I've heard he has been "Teacher of the Year." I wonder if Dr. Gallagher is as terrific in person, as in print.

At first I thought the book was just very superficial, and then I realized that it was also out of date. The initial overview of systems is bare bones, but easy to read because of its conversational tone. Everyone raves about the cases, but I find most of it is a lot of fluff with no details. He doesn't get to the point, and nobody has time to answer questions like that (I know - I just took the oral boards). They are cases from his own experience, but what really irritates me is that he will give a 5-part question that I will think through, and then he only answers the first part of the question! WTF?? I can look up the answer elsewhere, but why did I buy your book if you are not going to answer your questions? I should buy a book with answers! This would be adequate for a CA1 prepping for mock orals, but for anything else, it is absolutely ridiculous and intellectually insulting. I'm still hoping to learn something from the cases and grab bags, but I am pessimistic. I bought this and the Lange flash cards. I have to say the flash cards provide at least 50 times the information contained in this book, and in a much more organized fashion.

Recommended to me by a board examiner, who was right - this is excellent to get you in the right frame of mind to take the oral boards. Presumably you already possess the necessary knowledge from residency training and other studying - this book helps you learn to synthesize it and present it in the way the examiners expect.

It took me more than 1-2 attempts at Oral boards to find out about this book and it's unbelievable value. Anybody who is preparing for orals have to review this book a few times. Don't be fooled by its simplistic approach. It is very practical. I tried other "famous" oral board reveiw courses and after passing the Orals believe Board stiff's approach is THE way to go! I also took Board stiff live and recommend it to everyone. Again, having been to other "famous" courses, BSL was THE best...

Barebones review book with multiple cases to help focus your studying for the Anesthesiology oral boards. Don't expect it to be as detailed as a primary reference. It only helps you identify your weaknesses and strengths to guide your studying. You should not rely just on reading this book to pass the oral boards!

While I enjoy Gallagher's great sense of humor, the book itself is the bigger joke. Entire chapters are copied and pasted from handouts the author makes for residents without any editing whatsoever. And this is the third edition. I can't imagine how slipshod the first edition must have looked. The example answers submitted by his contributors do everything wrong. Rather then properly edit them into helpful examples, the author just adds asides that say, "Don't do it like this." Seriously? One sample board response included text lifted from 6 different papers. Most of the cases are ridiculous and the explanations are even worse, though they are fun to read. The last third of the book is difficult cases without explanations. I wish I'd bought something else. If a new CA1's wrote an oral board review book and self-published it in his/her garage, it would be better than this.

While not comprehensive, it will give you a good overview of what you need to know. Take a course like Ho and the two combined will help you pass. Quick read and the humor will make you laugh!

Know all the info in the first half of the book which covers high yield topics, do the practice stems and grab bags in the book by yourself in the mirror or with a friend, get old exams and practice and supplement with ASA refresher courses and you have THE cheapest way to pass the oral boards without a problem. Excellent.