A 12-week APPLIED Exam study schedule for a March 2027 week
By The MockOral.ai team. Updated October 2026. .
A week-by-week plan that starts Monday Dec. 7, 2026 and ends at the March 1 to 4, 2027 exam week. It balances SOE content review with out-loud practice and gives the OSCE the time it deserves. If your week is later, shift every date by the same amount.
Before you start
- Know your week. The ABA emails 2027 week assignments in late November 2026, and your exact date and time about two months before the week. See the 2027 dates and fees.
- Pick your materials now. One SOE review source, the ABA's own sample SOE questions, the ABA OSCE Content Outline and its example scenarios. Adding more books later rarely helps.
- Book your practice early. Program mock orals, co-residents and attending examiners fill up in the weeks before each exam week. Put recurring sessions on the calendar in December.
The principle behind the plan
The APPLIED Exam is a speaking exam. Reading builds the knowledge, but the score comes from organized, out-loud answers under a clock. So every week below has three parts:
- Content review on the week's topics (about 60%).
- Out-loud SOE practice on stems from those topics (about 25%).
- OSCE practice, rising as the exam approaches (about 15% at the start, more at the end).
Plan on roughly 8 to 12 hours a week alongside clinical work, more in the last three weeks. Adjust to your schedule; consistency beats volume.
The 12 weeks (for the March 1 to 4, 2027 week)
| Week | Starts | SOE focus | Out-loud and OSCE work |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dec. 7 | Preoperative evaluation: cardiac risk, antiplatelet and anticoagulant management, diabetes drugs, OSA | Record yourself on 5 preop questions; read the OSCE Content Outline once |
| 2 | Dec. 14 | Cardiac: ischemia, heart failure, valve disease, pacemakers and ICDs | Two timed preop stems; informed consent station practice |
| 3 | Dec. 21 | Pulmonary and thoracic: COPD, asthma, one-lung ventilation, hypoxemia | One 35-minute mock with a partner or AI examiner |
| 4 | Dec. 28 | Airway: difficult airway algorithm, aspiration, awake techniques, extubation | Ethics station practice: DNR, capacity, refusal |
| 5 | Jan. 4 | Neuro and neurosurgery: ICP, sitting position, spine, stroke | Monitors station drills: arterial and CVP waveforms, capnography |
| 6 | Jan. 11 | Obstetrics: preeclampsia, hemorrhage, neuraxial, emergency cesarean | Two full 35-minute mocks; peri-procedural complication disclosure |
| 7 | Jan. 18 | Pediatrics and neonates: congenital lesions, airway, fluids | Ultrasound: vascular access and the listed blocks on a model or colleague |
| 8 | Jan. 25 | Critical events: MH, anaphylaxis, LAST, massive transfusion, air embolism | Crisis stems answered in under a minute each |
| 9 | Feb. 1 | Regional and pain, renal, hepatic, endocrine | Communication with other professionals; QI station scaffold |
| 10 | Feb. 8 | Trauma, burns, out-of-OR anesthesia, geriatrics | Full APPLIED rehearsal: two SOE sessions plus seven OSCE stations |
| 11 | Feb. 15 | Weak areas from your mocks | Two more full rehearsals; echo and POCUS image review |
| 12 | Feb. 22 | Light review only: lists, doses, algorithms | One short mock early in the week, then rest and logistics |
Exam week: March 1 to 4. Travel to Raleigh the day before, bring your government-issued photo ID, and do nothing new.
How to run each week
- Monday to Thursday: content review in short blocks. After each topic, write the three questions an examiner is most likely to ask, and a one-sentence answer to each.
- One weekday evening: a timed stem. Read for 10 minutes, then answer out loud for 35 minutes. Record it.
- Weekend: a mock with a partner if you can get one, or replay your recording and mark where the decision came late. Then one or two OSCE stations.
The OSCE deserves real time
The OSCE is scored separately from the SOE, and five of its seven scored stations are communication and professionalism encounters. They reward practice, not reading. From week 6 onward, aim for at least two OSCE stations a week, out loud, with an eight-minute timer and a warning at six minutes. Our OSCE stations guide explains what the ABA outline asks for in each one, including the unscored 2027 pilot station.
Mock exam milestones
| By the end of | You should have done |
|---|---|
| Week 3 | First full 35-minute SOE session with someone asking questions |
| Week 6 | Four SOE sessions, at least two with interruptions and twists |
| Week 10 | A full rehearsal of both SOE sessions and all seven OSCE stations in one sitting |
| Week 11 | At least eight SOE sessions in total, with your answers getting shorter |
If your answers are not getting shorter by week 8, read how to answer concisely and change how you practise, not how much.
Shifting the plan to another 2027 week
Start 12 weeks before the Monday of your exam week and keep the order:
| Exam week | Week 1 starts |
|---|---|
| March 1 to 4 | Dec. 7, 2026 |
| March 22 to 25 | Dec. 28, 2026 |
| April 12 to 15 | Jan. 18, 2027 |
| May 17 to 20 | Feb. 22, 2027 |
| Sept. 13 to 16 | June 21, 2027 |
| Oct. 25 to 28 | Aug. 2, 2027 |
If you have fewer than 12 weeks, compress weeks 1 to 9 and keep weeks 10 to 12 as written. The rehearsals matter more than the last content topic.
If you are retaking one component
If you only need the SOE or only the OSCE, spend the time on that component and on the feedback from your score report. Our retake guide covers the rules and how to change your preparation.
Frequently asked questions
- How long should I study for the ABA APPLIED Exam?
- There is no official answer. Many candidates plan about three months of structured preparation alongside clinical work, with out-loud practice from the first weeks rather than only at the end.
- When should I start studying for a March 1, 2027 exam week?
- A 12-week plan starts Monday Dec. 7, 2026. For the March 22 to 25 week, start Dec. 28, 2026.
Sources
Facts in this guide were checked against these pages in October 2026. Board policies change; the board's own site is the authority.
Related guides
Practise it out loud
Reading answers is not the same as saying them under a clock. GasBoard Prep runs a voice examiner that asks the follow-up questions, holds you to time, and gives you a record of every run to review.