After realizing that I was woefully short on CE (i.e. I only had 14 hours, and I need 30 by the end of the year!) and, oh yes, finishing the PSAP chapters is part of my list anyway (#68), I decided to pull out one of the books and try to slog through some of it this past weekend. For those who may not know, PSAP stands for Pharmacotherapy Self-Assessment Program. It consists of eleven books that are published over the course of 2 1/2 years, each book focusing on a different topic such as cardiology, geriatrics, infectious diseases, etc. Each book is broken down into three sections which are then further broken down into three more subsections, each targeting some particular aspect of the book's topic. Each subsection is followed by around twenty questions that you are supposed to be able to answer after having read the material. The point is to help keep you updated on new drugs, studies, and guidelines. The PSAP chapters are usually used by people who are board certified as a way to keep their certification current without having to retake the exam, so you can guess that the material is a little more in depth than your average CE program. I stupidly decided to give myself the challenge of keeping up with these even though I am not currently board certified. I suppose I thought this would be a good way to keep up with what's new out there, but at a cost of $435 on top of the ACCP membership fee ($260), I probably could have come up with a better way of doing things.
Now, these books randomly show up on my doorstep (via FedEx, no less!) every few months. The idea being that you should have already finished the previous book by the time the new book arrives. I think in order to get credit for BCPS, you get three months to complete each book. These books started coming out in January 2010, and I have completed exactly zero of them. I have started quite a few, though, so I realized I needed to get to a point where I had enough done to get some CE credit. Each section is worth 5-8 hours, depending on how involved it is, so you can get anywhere from 15-22 hours per book. Well, I finally finished the first section from book 3 (Women's and Men's Health - subsections included such juicy topics as emergency contraception, HPV, postmenopausal hormone therapy, sexually transmitted infections, and special considerations for women with HIV infection... fun!), went to the website, and submitted my answers. I literally had a knot in my stomach, because you need a score of 75% to pass. Otherwise, it's all a waste of time. So after waiting a few excruciating seconds, the scoring page appeared... and I passed!!! With a score of 86.67%! (average score = 84.01%) Wahoo!!! There is a nice statistics page that shows your answers, the correct answers, and then what percentage of people gave which answer for each question. I was very happy to notice that most of my incorrect answers came from one section, and most of those answers had a very high percentage that chose the same answer I did. In fact, on one of them, more people chose the same wrong answer than did the correct answer. I think the people who wrote that chapter need to go back to remedial test question writing.
*sigh of relief* I have to say that this is quite a confidence booster, and it does help give me a boost toward getting through some more of these books. I may actually have to open a bottle of champagne if I get a whole book completed! For now, I think I'll go have one (or two... or maybe three) of the chocolate chip cookies I baked yesterday and then head off to bed for some well-deserved sleep!
This blog will focus on my journey to complete 101 things in 1001 days. My first list ended in 2013 and while I didn't complete every item, I managed to accomplish some things, develop a few good habits, and learn a few things about myself. A little time has passed, and I'm ready to jump into this one more time. Once again I've tried to come up with a list that will challenge me as well as help bring a little fun into my life! Start date: April 5, 2015... here we go!
That is really great that you did so well on the test. I hope this gives you the boost you need to continue on. Great job!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I definitely have a lack of confidence when it comes to my knowledge and skills sometimes, and these books had turned into one huge seemingly insurmountable hurdle.
ReplyDelete