How Abigail Passed the INBDE on her First Attempt

Studying for the INBDE was made a lot easier with the help of Bootcamp. I started studying using dental decks, but it was just too much and felt disorganized, so I stopped within the week.

When I found Bootcamp, just the look of the site made me excited to study. I started out by going through all the sections of Bootcamp from top to bottom; this took me about a month. I also watched videos at 1.5x speed for the sections I felt I needed more help with. However, while studying, it felt like I wasn’t retaining information and kept getting the questions wrong, but I kept going. This is the key—don’t give up! Stick with it, and you will start to see the results. After going through Bootcamp once, I was still very skeptical, but I stuck with it. I then started creating tests—100-question ones, 50-question ones, 25 questions. I just kept taking the tests over and over again. Regarding how many hours I spent, each day varied, but it was usually around 5-6 hours a day. Seeing the questions repeatedly, the concepts started clicking, and I started feeling confident. I did this for about three weeks before my exam.

So, now it was the night before, and I couldn’t sleep because I was so nervous. I had a total of 3 hours of sleep. I recommend you take the night before to relax and calm your mind so you can have a good night's sleep.

Entering Day 1, I clicked into my exam, and the format was literally just like Bootcamp, so I felt relaxed. I can’t stress enough to take time and read the questions carefully because I have a tendency not to read questions carefully, so I made sure during my exam to take my time. I finished each section with about 45 minutes remaining, so I used that time to check my answers.

I took all my breaks—don’t skip your breaks! Use all your breaks, please. Drink some water, eat a snack, walk around, do something else. The point is to get up away from the screen.

For Day 2, it’s all case studies. I felt so confident this day. I honestly felt like it was easier than Day 1. I would say to get an idea of how Day 2 is, look at the case studies on Bootcamp. The questions basically involve one patient chart and X-ray for the next 3-4 questions. I walked out of Day 2 feeling so good.

Anyways, don’t fret, don’t stress. If you use Bootcamp, you will be fine. Take some time aside to sit down and do the questions on there. They really did an amazing job formatting and having the information you need to pass the exam. Shoutout to Bootcamp! ◡̈