The Mock Oral Consultations are offered on Friday, February 24th.  In order to participate, you must pre-register for the Mock Orals.  You can do this by selecting the appropriate section on the registration form indicating you would like to register for the orals or if you register online, you must use the separate registration for the orals.  If you do not select that you would like to participate in the orals, you will not be registered for them.  The Foundation will not accept any on-site registrations for the orals so if you would like to take them, you need to register for them when you submit your meeting registration.

What are the Mock Oral consultations?
The Mock Oral consultations are a great way for you to prepare for the Oral consultation portion of the certification boards.  Even if you are not taking the oral portion this year, we strongly encourage you to take the Mock Orals.  When you register to take the Mock Oral consultations, you will receive 1 (one) thirty-minute session with a Mock Oral Consultant.  In that 30 minute session, you will receive up to 2 (two) Mock Oral exam questions.  One question will be a computer model and the other will be strictly a verbal question.  The purpose of the consultation is to provide you with a one-on-one experience with an examiner who will walk you through questions and guide you through things you'll need to know to prepare for the orals.  The Foundation's computer based questions do not mimic the format of the ABPS exam but familiarize you with answering questions on a computer.
In addition to this 30 minute session, you can purchase an additional Mock Oral consultation session (2 additional questions) for $250.00.

Who administers the Mock Orals?
The Foundation has volunteer podiatrists from the Philadelphia area, as well as some of the Review Course lecturers, who administer the orals.  

What time will my Mock Oral consultation be?
When you check in at the Review Course, you will receive a name badge.  On the back of that badge will be a label with a 1/2 hour time slot on it-this is your Mock Oral consultation time.  The time can be anywhere from 8:00 pm - 11:00 pm.  Time slots are randomly assigned, please do not call the Foundation and request a certain time as we cannot accomodate those requests. 

Where do the Mock Orals take place?
Some of the Mock Oral consultations will take place in the lecture hall with the everyone spaced out enough to allow for you to concentrate.  If a Mock Oral consultant has overnight accomodations at the Marriott, the exam will take place in their hotel room.

How do I find out where I go for my Mock Oral consultation?
The Foundation will post a schedule by the registration desk on Friday afternoon which will tell you who your consultant will be and where you need to go for the consultation.

What if I only need to study for the Mock Orals?
The Foundation offers a Mock Orals Only track for $350.  Included with that fee is: 2 oral exam consultation sessions (2 questions per session) and admittance to the Anatomy of a Question lecture on Friday from 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm.  Please note that you will not receive any CE Contact Hours for your participation in the Mock Orals Only track.

What if I decide to cancel my Oral consultation?
If you have pre-registered for the Mock Orals, we strongly encourage you not to cancel.  The Mock Orals are great practice and can help build your confidence so when you take the Oral Exam, you are confident and prepared.  The consultants are there to guide you and help prepare you for the real thing, not to criticize what you've done wrong.  If you still need to cancel your Mock Oral consultation time, you must do so by 12:00 pm on Friday, February 25th.  You can cancel by stopping by the Goldfarb Foundation registration desk in the foyer of the hotel.

I'm only a resident, do I need to take the Mock Orals?
No, you don't need to take the Mock Orals but you are encouraged to do so.  It is good practice and can help you prepare well in advance of your actual certification.