Egyptian Board Thoracic Diseases study plan
Egyptian Board Thoracic Diseases · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 7 hours per week
Obstructive Airway Diseases (Asthma, COPD, Bronchiectasis) & Respiratory Physiology and Pathophysiology
Draw the pressure-volume and flow-volume curves from memory and annotate where airway collapse, air trapping, and dynamic hyperinflation appear in COPD.
Explain the physiological basis of hyperinflation and intrinsic PEEP, and calculate the work of breathing implications in a worked example.
Compare asthma, COPD, and bronchiectasis on reversibility testing, diffusion capacity, and HRCT patterns in a self-made table.
Solve 40 obstructive-disease vignettes and log every missed item with the underlying physiological reason.
State the GOLD and GINA severity classification steps aloud without notes.
Your checkpoint
A one-page annotated flow-volume/pressure-volume diagram plus a 25-row comparison table of asthma, COPD, and bronchiectasis with the physiological mechanism written for each row.
Pulmonary Infections (Tuberculosis, Pneumonia, Fungal and Parasitic Disease) & Pulmonary Diagnostic Procedures and Imaging
Interpret chest radiograph and CT patterns of lobar pneumonia, cavitation, miliary spread, and fungal ball using a structured reading checklist.
Explain the microbiological and radiographic logic behind TB diagnosis, including smear, culture, NAAT, and drug-susceptibility testing.
Distinguish typical from atypical pneumonia organisms and match each to its characteristic radiographic and laboratory findings.
Describe when bronchoscopy, pleural fluid analysis, or transthoracic biopsy changes management in pulmonary infection.
Answer 50 infection and imaging questions under timed conditions and review every error with a written explanation.
Your checkpoint
A structured imaging-and-microbiology decision sheet covering TB, community-acquired pneumonia, and fungal disease, validated by correctly answering 40 of 50 timed questions.
Pulmonary Infections (Tuberculosis, Pneumonia, Fungal and Parasitic Disease) & Interstitial Lung Diseases and Occupational/Environmental Lung Disease
Classify the interstitial lung diseases by pattern and explain the physiological consequence of each pattern for lung volumes and gas exchange.
Interpret pulmonary function patterns (restrictive, reduced diffusion, preserved ratio) in ILD and distinguish them from obstructive disease.
Explain the exposure history and latency logic for pneumoconioses, asbestos-related disease, and hypersensitivity pneumonitis.
Outline the diagnostic pathway for sarcoidosis and its staging on imaging.
Write a differential for a patient with progressive dyspnea, restriction, and ground-glass opacities.
Your checkpoint
A 20-case ILD/occupational vignette set with your own answer rationale, scoring at least 80 percent on a second pass one week later.
Pulmonary Vascular Disease, Thromboembolism and Sleep-Disordered Breathing & Respiratory Critical Care and Mechanical Ventilation
Explain the pathophysiology of pulmonary embolism and the logic behind risk stratification and D-dimer use.
Interpret arterial blood gases and describe how to distinguish the causes of hypoxemia using the alveolar gas equation.
Set initial ventilator parameters for obstructive, restrictive, and ARDS physiology and justify each setting.
Describe the recognition and management of patient-ventilator dyssynchrony and auto-PEEP.
Summarize the diagnostic approach to sleep-disordered breathing, including when polysomnography is indicated.
Your checkpoint
A ventilator-settings worksheet with five physiology scenarios, each with your chosen parameters, the rationale, and the expected blood gas response.
Thoracic Oncology and Pleural Diseases & Pulmonary Diagnostic Procedures and Imaging
Stage lung cancer using the current TNM framework and explain the implications of each stage for management.
Distinguish benign from malignant pleural effusion using fluid analysis, imaging, and cytology.
Explain the approach to a solitary pulmonary nodule by size, morphology, and risk.
Describe the diagnostic yield and complications of pleural procedures, EBUS, and transthoracic biopsy.
Answer 45 oncology and pleural questions timed, then correct each error in writing.
Your checkpoint
A pleural effusion algorithm and a lung nodule management flow chart, each accompanied by 10 self-written test questions with answer keys.
Pediatric Pulmonology and Respiratory Immunology & Respiratory Research, Evidence-Based Practice and Ethics & Respiratory Physiology and Pathophysiology
Explain how pediatric respiratory physiology differs from adult physiology, including airway caliber, compliance, and respiratory rate norms.
Describe the presentation and management logic for croup, bronchiolitis, asthma in children, and foreign body aspiration.
Critically appraise a study design by identifying bias, confounding, and the difference between statistical and clinical significance.
Explain the ethical principles relevant to consent, capacity, and resource allocation in respiratory care.
Calculate sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values from a 2x2 table and interpret the result clinically.
Your checkpoint
A one-page critical appraisal of a published respiratory study, including design, bias assessment, and a statement of how it would change practice.
Obstructive Airway Diseases (Asthma, COPD, Bronchiectasis) & Pulmonary Infections (Tuberculosis, Pneumonia, Fungal and Parasitic Disease) & Interstitial Lung Diseases and Occupational/Environmental Lung Disease & Pulmonary Vascular Disease, Thromboembolism and Sleep-Disordered Breathing & Thoracic Oncology and Pleural Diseases & Respiratory Critical Care and Mechanical Ventilation
Revisit every domain using spaced retrieval, answering 20 questions per domain without notes.
Rebuild from memory the key tables from weeks 1 through 6 and compare them with your originals.
Identify your three weakest topics by error rate and study each until you can teach it aloud.
Practice 60 mixed questions under exam timing and record accuracy per domain.
Your checkpoint
A domain-by-domain accuracy report from the 60-question mixed set, with the three weakest domains named and a targeted remediation list.
Respiratory Physiology and Pathophysiology & Pulmonary Diagnostic Procedures and Imaging & Obstructive Airway Diseases (Asthma, COPD, Bronchiectasis) & Pulmonary Infections (Tuberculosis, Pneumonia, Fungal and Parasitic Disease) & Interstitial Lung Diseases and Occupational/Environmental Lung Disease & Pulmonary Vascular Disease, Thromboembolism and Sleep-Disordered Breathing & Thoracic Oncology and Pleural Diseases & Respiratory Critical Care and Mechanical Ventilation & Pediatric Pulmonology and Respiratory Immunology & Respiratory Research, Evidence-Based Practice and Ethics
Complete two full-length simulated exams under strict timing and review every incorrect answer.
Recite the core physiological and diagnostic principles of each domain in a five-minute verbal summary.
Rehearse the highest-yield tables and algorithms until recall is immediate.
Finalize a one-page summary sheet per domain for last-day review.
Your checkpoint
Two completed full-length simulations with scores logged, plus ten one-page domain summary sheets.
Milestones
Week 2: Score at least 75 percent on a 50-question timed set covering obstructive disease, infection, and imaging, with every error written up.
Week 4: Explain aloud, without notes, the physiology of auto-PEEP and the ventilator strategy for ARDS and for airflow obstruction, and score at least 80 percent on a 40-question physiology and critical care set.
Week 6: Complete the critical appraisal deliverable and score at least 80 percent on a 30-question set covering pediatric, research, and ethics content.
Week 8: Achieve at least 80 percent on both full-length simulations with no domain below 70 percent.