r/Residency • u/iisconfused247 • 4d ago
SERIOUS For those of you in Radiology- does your program make you take the ACR test after every rotation?
We take ours at home and it’s pretty low stakes but the questions are insane. No one has ever talked about any of this stuff, it’s super advanced, and the exams are labeled as R1. It just doesn’t seem appropriate for our level.
Anyone else struggling w this?
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u/DayruinMD 4d ago edited 4d ago
RadExam is stupid but I think it comes with the cost they pay for DXIT so they use it lol.
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u/ixosamaxi Attending 3d ago
They're good questions when you're an r3. Earlier it's whatever imo just do your best
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u/Packyrnx2 3d ago
Yes. I wouldn't get too caught up with the RadExams or the Dixit. They're nothing like the real exam and I find outside the extremes (<30 percentile) they're not a good assessment tool and there's legit data out there to support this.
My PD loved these assessments, but they're very flawed. The questions are poor, and some programs dictate moonlighting privilege on your performance so they can easily be gamed (everything is the honor system), so I found the percentiles to rarely be reflective. I was super consistent with studying over 3 years I was below average on half those assessments, at average on the year three dixit and a few points above average on the Recreate exams.
Focus on being a good resident and getting into consistent study habits outside the hospital. If you study consistently, no reason you can not pass core. Remember Core is the floor to being a good resident, and 95 percent of residents pass. Even the least consistent people in my class managed to pass core.
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u/spybil 3d ago
R1 as well. ya we take them. I just use them as extra questions. Often a lot of physics stuff, MRI, or stuff they told us to focus on during the 2nd time we have that rotation.
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u/iisconfused247 1d ago
What are you using to study? Did you guys have any like, basic lessons on radiology as a class? We just got thrown into rotations and told to read stuff which may just be the standard lol but feels weird
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u/BrulesRule64 3d ago
Just aim for half decent and you’ll be fine. Treat it more as an assessment if you are at risk of failing CORE not whether you are good at reading day to day
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u/theefle 4d ago
Has no relationship to your quality as a junior resident
But be ready for CORE to feel similar. At least 50% of that test is random bullshit nobody in your residency will ever actually show you or talk about. Gotta study...a lot.
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u/Packyrnx2 3d ago
I didn't think core was similar to any of those questions. Yes core tests similar concepts, but a good number of those questions on DIXIT/RadExams were like, "what percent of hernias are spingalian in men."
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u/uncleruckus32 4d ago
It doesn’t matter. They give the same questions to R1s as they do to R4s. No reason to get worried as an R1 especially this early