In the not so distant past, pathology residents (and residents in other medical specialties) studying for board exams went to their departmental files to review prior examinee's recollections of board questions. Participants never signed a pledge to not divulge prior questions and in many departments it was expected that you'd contribute to the question bank when you returned from the exam, or be ostracized if you didn't! It's debatable how much this helped other than directing ones attention to areas to be studied since multiple exams were used in each session and the existence of a large and ever-expanding question bank made it highly unlikely that you'd be tipped off to more than a few of the questions on your exam.
When I took the exam over 30 years ago, I don't recall any statement from the board about not divulging question recollections, and we did not sign any statements pledging not to do so. I do recall examinees actively reviewing old questions out in the hallways in plain sight between exam sessions. It may well have been that at that time the exams were always made virtually de novo such that old questions were of very limited value.
Needless to say, the above approach no longer exists (or shouldn't!), and that's definitely a good thing! When signing up for the exam all residents and fellows are now required to sign a document pledging that they agree to not participate in creating, selling, distributing or using remembrances.
At a recent pathology program director’s meeting, Dr Betsy Bennett from The American Board of Pathology discussed the issue of exam "remembrances" and how this is playing out in Pathology. At one pathology board exam, two residents from different institutions were caught with identical remembrances when they checked their materials in the testing room ante chamber. They were dumb enough to have notebooks with clear covers so that the title of Board remembrances was clearly visible without anyone opening any bags or notbooks. Not only may their test be invalidated, but they may not be allowed to retake the boards for a few years (the Board is deliberating this point).
Furthermore, it has been estimated that each test question costs approximately $5,000.00 to produce so the board may be suing the person who created the remembrances for $5,000 x the number of questions. Where that figure comes from is, by the way, unclear since the test committees work as volunteers with only transportation charges paid by the board. I suspect it reflects the considerable operating costs of the ABP amortized across the yearly exams.
If you are in possession of remembrances they should be destroyed immediately. Remember, however, it IS OK to discuss in general what exams were about (or emphasized)but you may not attempt to recreate specific questions and answers.