Cardiothoracic Mock Oral Examination Checklist
A faculty-ready checklist for simulating the published architecture without using recalled secure questions or issuing a fabricated official result.
Key takeaways
- Use 12 original scenarios: six cardiac and six general thoracic, all treated equally.
- Run three 30-minute rooms: four cardiac, four thoracic, and a mixed room with two of each.
- Approximate two examiners per room when feasible and preserve neutral, nonteaching delivery.
- Review cardiac and thoracic evidence separately before discussing the integrated performance.
- Debrief with exact spoken evidence and no more than three priority repairs.
Before the mock
Build the case set
- Twelve original educational scenarios are prepared.
- Six are cardiac and six are general thoracic.
- Two cardiac scenarios address ischemic disease.
- Two cardiac scenarios address valvular disease including transcatheter decision making over the full set.
- One cardiac scenario addresses aortic root, ascending, or arch disease.
- Remaining cardiac breadth includes MCS, adult congenital, rhythm, or another listed matrix area.
- Two thoracic scenarios address malignant lung disease.
- One thoracic scenario addresses malignant esophageal disease.
- One thoracic scenario addresses benign esophageal disease.
- Remaining thoracic breadth includes benign lung, pleural, mediastinal, or chest-wall disease.
- Complication and postoperative branches are distributed throughout.
- No recalled secure questions or proprietary course cases are used.
Published architecture
Arrange the three rooms
When six faculty examiners are not available, a smaller program can rotate examiner roles or use one examiner plus a silent scorer. Preserve the room timing and independent scoring as closely as possible.
| Room | Cases | Operational target |
|---|---|---|
| Cardiac | Four cardiac protocols | Thirty minutes; concise transitions; balanced disease mix; at least one rescue branch. |
| General thoracic | Four thoracic protocols | Thirty minutes; stage, physiology, operation, and complication management represented. |
| Mixed | Two cardiac plus two thoracic protocols | Thirty minutes; deliberate domain switching; no teaching between scenarios. |
Examiner conduct
Brief examiners for neutral, high-fidelity delivery
Ask one decision at a time
Advance the protocol after the candidate commits. Avoid multi-part prompts that test working memory more than judgment.
Do not teach during the room
No approval, coaching, hints, debate, or corrective lecture before the timer ends.
Increase difficulty through the case
Change anatomy, physiology, stage, resources, or complications rather than becoming adversarial.
Record exact evidence
Capture the candidate’s words, decision timing, and omitted action. Avoid personality labels.
Stop on time
Do not extend a weak room to find a passing answer or a strong room to create failure.
Candidate instructions
Give a concise pre-mock briefing
- The mock contains three 30-minute rooms.
- The candidate should answer the question asked and permit follow-up.
- Examiners may interrupt and transition without signaling performance.
- The candidate may ask for clinically relevant information but should explain why it matters.
- No feedback will be given until the scheduled debrief.
- The candidate should treat every scenario as equally consequential.
- A practice result is educational and not an official ABTS prediction.
Evidence capture
Use a two-domain educational scorecard
| Review layer | Evidence to capture |
|---|---|
| Cardiac domain | Problem framing, selection, hemodynamics, operative plan, protection, postoperative care, complication rescue, communication. |
| General thoracic domain | Diagnosis/stage, physiology, resectability, operative plan, oncologic or functional goals, postoperative care, complication rescue, communication. |
| Mixed-room behavior | Domain reset, pacing, ability to recover from a difficult prior case, and preservation of concise priorities. |
| Cross-cutting safety | Stabilization, escalation threshold, bailout, verification, multidisciplinary resources, patient-centered boundaries. |
After the rooms
Debrief in three passes
- 01
Candidate self-assessment
The candidate names the strongest decision, the highest-risk omission, and one cardiac plus one thoracic branch to repeat.
- 02
Examiner evidence
Examiners cite exact phrases, decisions, and delays. Separate cardiac and thoracic observations.
- 03
Repair prescription
Select no more than three high-impact repairs, write replacement language, and schedule transfer cases within 48 hours.
Ready to run
Complete mock-day checklist
- Fifteen-minute operational briefing is prepared if running the full published sequence.
- Three rooms or clearly separated room blocks are scheduled.
- Each room is exactly 30 minutes.
- Twelve scenarios are present and treated equally.
- Six cardiac and six thoracic scenarios are confirmed.
- Two examiners per room are assigned when feasible.
- Timers, scoring forms, case packets, and transitions are ready.
- No case is identified as an official or recalled ABTS question.
- Feedback is withheld until all rooms are complete.
- Cardiac and thoracic results are reviewed separately.
- No official pass probability or guarantee is issued.
- Three or fewer priority repairs are scheduled for repetition.
Put the framework under pressure
Practice the answer out loud—not only on paper.
Voice-first cases, adaptive examiner follow-up, imaging, complications, and structured educational feedback for cardiothoracic surgery.
Questions candidates ask
Frequently asked questions
How many scenarios should a full mock include?
Twelve original scenarios—six cardiac and six general thoracic—best approximate the published blueprint.
Do I need six examiners?
The published exam uses six examiners, two per room. A smaller program can approximate this with rotating roles, but should preserve neutral delivery, independent evidence capture, and separate room timing.
Should the mock generate a pass or fail?
It may use a clearly labeled internal educational standard, but it should not claim to reproduce the official ABTS result. Specific evidence and targeted repairs are more useful than false certainty.
Source transparency
Official references
Board requirements, dates, and candidate instructions can change. Confirm current details directly with ABTS and the Board’s candidate portal.
Continue preparing