Frequently Asked Questions

Behind The Knife Oral Board Simulator is an AI-powered surgical education platform built to help surgery residents prepare for their Oral Board Exam. We provide on-demand mock oral exams, performance analysis, personalized coaching, and structured procedural learning—all in one place and at a fraction of the cost of traditional services. Because each test is built and administered by AI systems, there are an unlimited number of tests you can take to prepare for your Board exams.

Dr. Matthew J. Swenson MD FACS, a board-certified General Surgeon and surgical educator, created the simulator. While training his residents for the General Surgery Oral Board Exam, Dr. Swenson identified a significant gap in available study tools—most lacked the realism, adaptability, and interactive depth needed to fully prepare candidates for the demands of the exam. Drawing on his experience as a clinician, educator, and US Air Force Veteran, Dr. Swenson envisioned the simulator as a smarter, more dynamic study solution. After he created the simulator he partnered with Behind The Knife to help make his project available to everyone. Behind The Knife Oral Board Simulator simulates real oral board scenarios, generates complete practice exams, tracks user performance over time, and provides personalized coaching and assistance through a suite of dedicated tools. The goal is simple but powerful: to help every resident feel confident, prepared, and supported as they approach the most important milestone of their surgical career.

Residents, recent graduates preparing for their boards, and institutions seeking structured resident assessment.

Because it doesn't need to. Behind The Knife Oral Board Simulator was created by surgeons and educators to solve a problem, not to exploit one. Traditional board prep programs often charge $800 or more to deliver a fixed number of printed cases and only 2–3 interactive mock oral exams. That pricing doesn't reflect the true cost of the service—it reflects the pressure candidates feel to pass this incredibly consequential test. We do things differently. By automating test generation, performance analysis, and personalized coaching, we are able to eliminate unnecessary overhead, deliver unlimited high-quality cases, provide immediate structured feedback, and do it all for a fraction of the price.

No. We are an independent educational platform and are not affiliated with the American Board of Surgery (ABS), the Surgical Council on Resident Education (SCORE), or the American College of Surgeons (ACS). While our cases and evaluations are aligned with the expectations and curriculum of these organizations, we are not officially endorsed by or connected to them in any way.

Yes. Really. All of our tools are designed to closely follow the topics covered in the SCORE curriculum. Surgeons and Surgical Educators created these AI tools not to replace currently available study aids, but to supplement and enhance those aids. There is no replacement for sitting down for a practice session with a Board-Certified Surgeon when practicing for the exam. But doing this on a regular basis is challenging for most residents and their mentors. Our simulator provides the means of practicing for the exam any time—in between cases, before rounds, or right before going to bed.

Mock exams are delivered using two systems. The first is RealTime Examiner, which uses Conversational AI technology to create a high-fidelity Oral Board audio simulation. Our second is Self-Paced Examiner, which replicates the structure, tone, and pressure of the General Surgery Certifying Exam in a turn-based text format. In both cases you’ll manage a single clinical case, one question at a time, with no hints or coaching during the test.

Each test includes 4–6 clinical scenarios. Each scenario escalates in complexity and always includes at least one intraoperative or postoperative complication.

After each test, our Performance agent reviews your transcript and scores your test across multiple dimensions aligned with the expectations of the Oral Board Exam: Seven ABS Essential Attributes of a Certifiable Surgeon — Evaluates your clinical judgment, organization, adaptability, and more. Each ABS essential attribute is scored on a 0–100 scale. Competency Score — Reflects your overall performance, taking into account the difficulty of the case. Clarity Score — Measures how clearly, professionally, and logically you communicated your decisions. Surgical Category Mastery — Assesses your procedural knowledge across all core domains. SCORE Curriculum Alignment — Measures how well your responses align with the SCORE curriculum expectations.

Our agents help you understand what you did well, where you need to improve, and how to prepare for the next case. We provide personalized study plans, targeted drills, and one-on-one guidance to reinforce your progress.

We use Conversational AI technology to replicate the structure and tone of your actual Oral Board Exam. Candidates are asked one clinical question at a time in a pressure-tested format, without hints or coaching.

Yes. Chat with your examiner after a RealTime test, or use Performance to analyze your transcript and scores across surgical categories and attributes. Coach then provides personalized guidance and drills to reinforce what you need to improve.

That's part of the learning process. You can take unlimited practice tests to improve your performance.

We cover the full scope of General Surgery as outlined in the SCORE curriculum, including hepatobiliary, hernia, colorectal, endocrine, trauma, vascular, pediatric, transplant, and more. Procedural content is based on validated study materials closely aligned with the SCORE Curriculum.

$20 gets you access to all our services plus enough AI Credits for 10–20 practice tests. After that, $20, $50, or $100 purchases enough AI credits to complete 10–100+ mock exams depending on complexity. There are no hidden fees.

Yes. Credits expire after 1 year of inactivity. Simply login to keep your credits active.

Nothing is free! Every AI interaction has a cost. Your credit purchase helps offset those charges and ensures we can continue developing the platform while keeping it affordable for all users.

You can purchase credits securely through our website using Stripe. Behind The Knife never has access to your financial data.

Your data is stored on secure, enterprise-grade cloud infrastructure. Passwords and sensitive information are encrypted. We do not sell, share, or access your personal information. All financial purchases are made through Stripe, a third-party vendor. No financial information is ever collected directly by Behind The Knife.

Yes, but we don't recommend it! Incomplete mock exams are automatically deleted. Keeping completed tests in your record helps you to track real progress over time.

Yes. If you navigate to the settings page you can completely delete your account and all associated data.

Our goal is to create a validated and inexpensive means to prepare you for your Board Exam. We frequently analyze your interactions with our models to ensure validity and reproducibility. Your personal information will never be linked to those interactions.

Yes! Contact us for Institutional pricing options.

If you have access through an institutional account, then your institution will be able to view your overall performance and usage metrics.