Bens Eleven Tips For Writtens
Ben's 11 Tips for Passing the New Writtens and more.
Sunday, 11 July 2004
This presentation covers:
What is it?Hints for exam preparationPractical tips
So let's start with...What is it?
Know your enemy
- Utilise the resources available on the College website1) the revised 2004 writtens examination update2) sample writtens examination questions3) the March 2004 previous writtens examination papers4) the sample marking schema for the March 2004 paper
Use the knowledge of those who have gone before you
- Utilise the information available on the ANZAPT website1) practice exam papers from the March 2004 sitting2) the forums for tips on exam approaches and techniques
Look at the curriculum
- Not closely, because its pretty waffly, but it is what the C4E is using to determine what goes intothe exam
- Look at your Rainbow Tree handout to see the main areas that they will be looking at
- This is the stuff that you have to know!
So tell me about the actual exam!
- The written exam consists of two three hour papers.
- Each is worth 180 marks (1 minute = 1 mark)
- Need to get a combined total score in order to pass
What sorts of questions are there?
Paper One has:
- EMQs
- KFCs [webmaster's note: these have been removed since 2009]
- SAQs
Paper Two has:
- MEQs
- CAQs
- CEQ
Extended Matching Questions
These begin with a theme (such as "psychotropics"), then a list of options (=answers), and finallya list of scenarios (=questions)
Candidates are asked to match the most appropriate answer to each question
Key Feature Cases
- These begin with a brief clinical scenario
- The candidate is then asked questions that focus on the critical issues (the “key featuresâ€) ofthe scenario
- Some questions are multiple choice, some written
Short Answer Questions
- These are either questions about factual information (basic sciences, diagnostic criteria), orquestions about a clinical scenario
- Short, but sweet
- Can usually answered in point form
Modified Essay Questions
- These are also built around a clinical scenario, but with a twist
- You get some information, answer some questions about this information, get some more information,then answer some more questions about this added information and so on.
- Longer, and may require actual sentences
Critical Analysis Questions
- This is the statistics and critical appraisal section of the paper
- You may be asked for factual information, to calculate some statistics or to critique a paper
Critical Essay Question
- This is the old Paper 2, Question 1
- Candidates get given a brief statement or quote and are then asked to critically discuss it in essayform
So next we have...Hints for Exam Preparation
What to focus on?
- Try to match marks to study time
- Theoretical content - EMQs, SAQs (~35%)
- Clinical experience - KFCs, MEQs (~45%)
- Statistics - CAQs (10%)
- Essay writing - CEQ (10%)
Theoretical Content
- Pick a textbook and read it cover to cover (Kaplan, Core Psychiatry, Oxford)
- Make notes/summaries and revise them
- Also need to consider basic sciences (neuro-anatomy, physiology, endocrinology, pharmacology,imaging)
- Pick a diagnostic system (DSM or ICD)
Clinical Experience
- You should know this anyway, but
- Read the College CPGs, Clinical Memorandum and Practice Guidelines
- The WHO Management of Mental Disorders is very helpful and evidence-based
- The Psychotropic Guidelines can be a very useful study tool
- Do What You Always Do
- When answering clinical questions think about what you would do at work
- Most likely some questions will emphasise safety and assessing suicidality, don't worry if you arewriting the same things for multiple questions
Statistics
- Hard to predict at what level they will target the questions
- Know the basics (mean, mode, median, sens, spec, PPV, NPV, LR, OR)
- Know about bias, errors, confounding factors
- Know the different types of studies
- Know how to critique an article
- Essay Writing
- Having an open mind and reading widely are the best tools for this, but not necessarily the mosttime efficient
- A basic understanding of psychiatric history and ethics will be helpful
- Read editorials and commentaries in the Australian journals
- In the actual (and practice) exams I would read the question first and brainstorm ideas, then comeback and answer it later
What about the journals?
- Most research articles are not useful
- Some review articles can provide good summaries of topics
- I actually found The Lancet seminars amongst the most useful
- If you are going to trawl through journals, be very discriminating
And finally...Practical Tips
Tip #1 Look after yourself
- Keep healthy - exercise regularly, get plenty of sleep, cut down alcohol and caffeine, eat healthy
- Prioritise - get a cleaner, get takeaway or premade meals
- Pamper yourself - keep you mood up, flowers, presents, massage
Tip #2 Get a study group
- People who are sitting at the same time
- Helps with motivation and when you don't understand something
- Keep it to a managable size (3-4)
- You don't have to like them, you just have to be able to work with them (not liking them will keepdown the gossiping)
Tip #3 Study your own way
- Some people are morning people, some people are night stalkers (don't try to change a lifetimespattern of study)
- Build up momentum, some people study for 18 months, some people for 2 months (it all depends on theintensity and your level of clinical experience)
Tip #4 Write legibly
- If the examiners can't read your writing, then they won't give you any marks
- Ask a friend to read your practice exam answers, if they cannot read them easily you need to dosomething about it (print, get caligraphy lessons or something)
Tip #5 Practice Essay Writing
- Download past papers (Paper 2, Question 1) from the College website
- Remember introduction, body, conclusion
- Consider both sides of the argument (for and against the statement)
- Give an opinion in the conclusion
- Use examples if possible
- Spelling and grammar are important
Tip #6 Answer the Question
- Play this game with your friends: read a question, tell them what you think it means, get them to dothe same, then read the question again (fun, huh!)
- It's really important to answer the actual question they are asking, not the question you think theyare asking
Tip #7 Time is your enemy
- Most people struggled for time
- Get a timersomething
- Stick to self imposed time limits for each question (1 mark = 1 minute)
- Requires discipline and practice
- Get used to writing as much as you can in a short period of time and then moving on
Tip #8 Use the reading time
- Read through the whole paper
- Identify questions you will struggle with, and the easier questions
- Start thinking about the essay question, let your subconscious start working for you
Tip #9 Law of Diminishing Returns
- For example consider a six mark question
- Spending 5 minutes to get 5 marks is good
- Spending another 5 minutes to get the last 1 mark is bad
- Get the easy marks first, then see how much allocated time you have and decide whether to move on toanother easier question
Tip #10 Too much knowledge can be a bad thing
- It's important not to miss the obvious and simple things
- Don't write a thesis when answering questions (not time efficient)
- You don't need to show that you know every possible thing about a particular topic, just focus onpassing the exam
Tip #11 Perfect Practice Makes Perfect
- THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT TIP
- Do the practice exams under exam conditions (no talking, do it all in 3 hours)
- Stresses the importance of sticking to time
- Gets you into the habit of writing for three straight hours
- The Qld, NZ and College papers are good for this.
Ben Duke