Question banks give you a percentage. A Butters sheet is one board topic, read in a sitting. Its quiz names the belief behind each wrong pick, with the books behind every answer. For anaesthesia: 11 sheets so far, and practice cases for the oral board.
11 sheets, 260 cards, about 2 hours 46 minutes11 sheets ·260 cards ·about 2 h 46 min
Sheet 01 · The governing ruleCard 01 / 31
Order a preoperative test only when its result would change management; otherwise skip it.
Effect of the test result
Effect of the test result
Preoperative testing
Management the same either way
Skip the test
Result would change management
Order it: delay, other treatment, anaesthetic, monitoring or postoperative plan
Sources: Miller 10eAHA/ACC 2024 · §1.5Barash 9eStoelting 8e
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Written by an anaesthesia resident sitting the 2026 paper.
Every sheet, one sitting each.
Core rules first. Then the cards, by the question they answer: what to do, what it is, what now, why it is true.
What to do
What it is
What now
Why it is true
Oral board192 cases · 11 domains
Each case is a patient, the examiner's questions and an answer to say aloud before you check it. Open the oral cases
Sheet 01 · Cardiac31 cards · about 28 min
Preoperative assessment, arrhythmia, ischaemia, valves, heart failure and the cardiomyopathies. Which drug to stop, hold or continue · How long to wait · The ECG · and more.
Sheet 02 · Regional & Pain32 cards · about 18 min
Choosing the block, anticoagulant timings, LAST, what goes wrong after a neuraxial block, and the pain drugs. Opioid tolerance: continue, add, rotate · Caudal volume · Naming the nerve from the deficit · and more.
Sheet 03 · Pharmacology21 cards · about 16 min
Dosing for the patient in front of you, relaxants and reversal, MAC and the volatiles, drug classes and the interactions that bite. The medicine list · Monitoring the block · Blood pressure crisis from a drug · and more.
Sheet 04 · Neuro & Spine24 cards · about 18 min
Perfusion and intracranial pressure, the craniotomy and its positions, neuromuscular disease, neuromonitoring and brain death, and spinal cord injury. Chronic disease before surgery · Localise the lesion · Air embolism · and more.
Sheet 05 · Obstetric21 cards · about 14 min
Labour analgesia, platelets before a neuraxial block, the caesarean anaesthetic, pre-eclampsia and magnesium, haemorrhage, and the airway that fails. Labour analgesia · The hypertensive disorders · Magnesium and eclampsia · and more.
Sheet 06 · Perioperative Medicine19 cards · about 13 min
Proceed or postpone, which tests and medicines, fasting and sedation, laparoscopy and positioning, temperature and nausea, and the problems after surgery. Proceed, postpone or investigate · Laparoscopy on the monitors · Laparoscopy goes wrong · and more.
Sheet 07 · Respiratory & Thoracic24 cards · about 13 min
Breathing reserve before surgery, lung isolation and the double-lumen tube, hypoxaemia on one lung, ventilating obstructed lungs, spirometry, loops and blood gases, and the thoracic emergencies. The double-lumen tube by ear · Ventilating obstructed lungs · After pneumonectomy · and more.
Sheet 08 · Airway19 cards · about 11 min
Predicting the difficult airway, awake or asleep, the full stomach, failed intubation and front-of-neck access, airway fire, extubation and the nerves of the larynx. Awake, or keep them breathing · Sudden change under anaesthesia: name the cause · Fire in the airway · and more.
Sheet 09 · Paediatric22 cards · about 12 min
The infant's small reserve, resuscitation at birth, fluids by weight, tube sizes, the neonatal surgical lesions, the blue or noisy infant, and the ex-premature baby. Proceed or postpone · Neonatal surgical lesions by presentation · Bradycardia in theatre · and more.
Sheet 10 · Safety & Ethics24 cards · about 12 min
Consent with and without capacity, disclosure and incident reporting, DNR orders and brain death, research ethics and statistics, the WHO checklist and infection control. The capable adult's consent · Errors and incidents by type · Exposure and spread on the ward · and more.
Sheet 11 · Renal & Hepatic23 cards · about 11 min
Oliguria and acute kidney injury, Child-Pugh risk, acid-base and electrolytes, TURP syndrome, the phases of liver transplantation, dialysis and cirrhosis. The kidney graft · Metabolic alkalosis: cause and consequence · Renal blood flow, volume and the tubule · and more.
260 cards · 1064 explained concepts · 255 practice scenarios
Behind the cards, each sheet has its reference: why each rule holds, the tempting wrong answer and what the books say. Practice scenarios close every sheet.
Here is one, from Cardiac.
A bank marks the pick below wrong and moves on. The sheet names the belief that made it look right.
Scenario 01 / 31 · CardiacThe governing rule
A 67-year-old with treated hypertension and elevated surgical risk is listed for open colectomy. He cycles to the market daily and climbs three flights of stairs without symptoms. What cardiac testing is needed?
Define his coronary anatomy with angiography firstAn example pick
A treadmill ECG to prove his reported capacity
No further testing; go ahead with the colectomy
Arrange a dobutamine stress echo first
Your pick assumesthat coronary anatomy should be defined before any major operation.
The answer and whyThe answer and its explanation open when you join.