Passing the General Surgery Oral Board Exam Dr. Neff writes in the preface I thought about what I had done to prepare for the Boards: two review courses flashcards a variety of texts. I realized however there is no source of information that tells you what the wrong answers are what are the curveballs likely to be thrown at you during the exam. After realizing that he had done all he could have as a student in preparation for the exam it became apparent to Dr. Neff that the real problem was that he was merely memorizing material for the exam and not preparing for what will appear. Strategies for Passing the ABS Oral Exam offers this to students by not only covering the concepts frequently addressed on the test but it also includes the common curveballs and clean kills to look out for the unexpected problem or seemingly benign action (or inaction) that could result in a missed diagnosis or misdiagnosis (and thus in failure to pass the exam).