Dr. Cristina Alba
Cristina Alba – NBDE Dental Boards Score Report
What are some pieces of advice you would give to another student preparing to take the Dental Boards?
My first advice, and I think it might be the most important one, would be to make sure you understand how do you retain information the easiest. This test covers a lot of information and it is important that we learn it in the most comfortable way. Do you prefer reading from a book? Watching videos and taking notes? Rewriting information? Always remember that we are all different and what worked for someone else won’t necessarily work you.
My second advice would be to be selective with your sources of studying from the start. I know that in the beginning it can be hard to choose what would be best, specially having so many option out there, but do a little research and ask around. I think that choosing only 2 sources of information, one of these being the dental decks that are released on yearly bases, is the way to go. Additionally, the CrackNBDE app can be used as a diagnostics tool on how you are doing and practice real test conditions.
When you study from a lot of sources it can get overwhelming, it makes you anxious about dividing your time between all of the material and if the information isn’t exactly the same it can make you doubt everything you have learned so far. You should have your main source of information, there are a lot of books that target the topics of this exam (First Aid, Mosby’s, Kaplan, etc). Then you should compare the information you are studying from your main source to the dental decks, since these are questions that have been on the test it’s a great way of getting exact definitions, percentages, associations and more that are in the actual test. Lastly, the app should be your evaluation tool. I would suggest getting it from the beginning and taking their diagnostics test just to see where you stand and which subject you have dedicate a little more of time to. I firmly believe that the combination of these three is a home run when it comes to passing this test.
How did you use Crack the NBDE to prepare for the Dental Boards?
Crack the NBDE app was a big part of my preparation. From providing test questions and study hacks to actual testing conditions, it helped me prepare from start to finish. The app is very well organized. You can go through the questions by subjects individually or mix them up, as they are in the real test. I, personally, made a study calendar based on subjects. Every one or two weeks (depending on how much material I had to cover) I would first do the questions from the app regarding the particular subject I was studying and then I would hit the books. After I finished studying the from my main source and the dental decks, I would go back to the app questions and see how much I’ve progressed. One of the great things about the app is that it keeps your information saved and provides statistics of how you’ve done throughout time. It also gives you detailed explanations justifying the correct answers and a lot of the time even an explanation of why the other options aren’t correct. You are really learning at every turn!
The app also let’s you take a simulation of real test conditions. This was super helpful for me. You have the time on the screen, questions about all the subjects mixed and even test-lets of clinical cases. It truly resembles the actual test and if you have never taken a test like this, it helps you deal with the pressure of having the time limit and train your mind for the long hours of thinking in front of the computer screen. Like I mentioned above, another thing the app gives you is study hacks. I personally love mnemonics, I think it’s a fun and easy way to remember information. The app has a lot of them you can access at any time. It also provides you with tricks on how to recognize and associate terms by showing you prefix and suffix. I think this is specially important for non native speakers, because sometimes the terms are not as similar as in our native language. Finally, the app is available on your phone. This was honestly what sold it to me, because being on the move all the time between work and appointments it can be hard to take time everyday to sit down and study. Being able to access all the information I mentioned above from my phone was extremely helpful. I could study in waiting rooms, lunch breaks, even on public transportation rides. I feel like I took full advantage of everything the app has to offer and it payed off.
What would you do differently to prepare for the Dental Boards?
If I had to do anything different when preparing for this test it would be to focus on learning well the material I already have, instead of obsessing on reading every information out there. This test can be stressful so it is important to have a clear head. When you read a lot of information and it is not exactly the same everywhere, you start getting confuse and it can affect you negatively. I would also not stress about taking it fast. At the end, the objective is taking it as soon as you can but passing it; so if you take it within 2 months after you started studying and fail it defeats the purpose anyways. Take your time in learning the material and practicing the test conditions, because if you have never taken a test like this it can be a little overwhelming.
Another thing I would do is listen to my body more. What I mean by this is some days you will just not be in the right mindset for studying and it is ok. I would stress a lot the days this would happen to me and force myself to study. At the end I would feel frustrated because I wouldn’t advanced as much as I wanted to and restrain from doing anything else that day because. I had to study, it ended up feeling like a waist. When you feel like this, just take the day for yourself. Watch a movie, clean the house, meet with a friend, do anything else and resume the next day. You will not regret it, your mind will be clear and ready to get back into it.
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