Sumitras Written Tips
SUMITRA'S TIPS TO SURVIVE THE WRITTENS
Friday, 23 June 2006
Preparation:
Well before you are ready to sit the writtens, think about when you will sit them. There are two sittings each year: Feb/March and July/August. Research the closing dates for the applications and make sure you have the dosh.Ensure that your calendar will be free of interruptions in that time.
Arrange with your Director of Training to do a less demanding job in that time. If you are doing a demanding job, make sure that you know how to say "no" and that your time management is tip top. (Don't worry I did a very busy job and still passed).Arrange study leave for the week of the exams, and preferably for the week before as well.
If you anticipate that you will be a stress bunny, make sure you have some leave three months or so before the exam (and use it to rest rather than study).
Knowledge:
YOU ALREADY KNOW ALL THAT YOU NEED!!!!!!!!
Yes, that's right, you will not need to spend endless hours studying what you already know. You will however need to study the "textbook" basics in a brief way and some of the minutiae. The real money is in the MARKING SCHEMES for the questions. So, the finessing is in HOW you answer the questions, assuming you are up on content.
Know your enemy: Research all the existing trial papers on the ANZAPT website, and ask your Director of Training for copies (if you are in SA, Steve will give them to you at exam prep). Find out the sort of question they ask, and how they ask them because this will affect HOW you learn the knowledge. i.e. it is not as much use to know the specifics of each cognitive test as it is to know which cognitive test is used for which purpose.
Know how you learn - visual, hearing etc etc, and study in this way. Use tapes in the car, or pictures or talking with people
Study Groups
People tend to think they are a must, I personally don't. I managed to do my study within a study group as well as by myself. If you are in a study group, lay the ground rules and make sure you all get along. 2 people prob too few and 6 prob too many.
The Questions
PAPER 1: Out of 180 marks, one mark per minute
Three main forms of question:
1. Extended Matching Questions
There will be a list of possible answers (up to 26) with three or four questions per list. You will need to pick the most appropriate answer from the list (each answer can be used more than once or not at all). 54 q's in total
This type of question is most suited to asking things like:
Famous people
Side effects
Lab investigations
Medications
Therapies
2. Key Feature Cases [webmaster's note: abolished since 2009]
There are 9 KFC's each counting for 6 marks (54 marks total). Each KFC starts with a brief vignette followed by a question. There might then be more info and further questions. These q's test your PRIORITISATION. They will ask for UP TO a certain no of answers. If you give more answers, you get 0 marks. You need to have identified the key component to get any marks at all, with supplementary marks for other answers. SPECIFICITY is important.
e.g. most important test to do for someone on clozapine, you will have to answer white cell count (not complete blood picture or full blood count) to get any marks, and there might be supplementary marks for other tests, but if you do not include WCC in your answer, you will get 0 marks.
3. Short Answer Questions
72 marks total
List type answers. Answers = n+1, marks = n (e.g. if worth 5 marks, you need 6 answers). Tests basic science type knowledge, and can include clinical vignettes.
PAPER 2: 180 marks, 1 mark per minute
1. Critical Essay Question
40 marks, based on a grid of 5 domains (logic, flexibility, communication, judgement etc and breadth) worth 8 marks each.Know this grid because you need to satisfy the criteria for each to score well. Do LOTS of essays and have a friend or a supervisor mark, but according to the grid. What you feel in your bones is a good essay may not satisfy the grid, therefore not score.
2. Critical Analysis Papers
2 questions, 20 marks each
This often causes lots of angst (can’t think why). Don’t bother spending lots of time studying the basic info. Just do LOTS of questions, because then you will know how to apply the info. You might have to look up concepts based on q’s you aren’t sure of.
3. Modified Essay Questions
4 questions, 25 marks each
These are clinical vignettes, requiring you to elaborate on management. You will need a format to answer these questions as they are quite broad. Knowing how they are marked will help.
Each sub-question is assigned several domains, each worth 1 or 2 marks depending on their significance. For example, a vignette about a depressed adolescent will have a domain on suicide risk worth 2 marks, but family history might only be worth 1.
You will not be required to cover all domains to get full marks, but you will be required to demonstrate DEPTH and BREADTH of knowledge. Therefore, in structuring an answer, take an educated guess on what domains the examiners will be after. Prioritise these domains, and give a good (but not necessarily long) discussion on the important ones. Remember that the maximum marks you can get in any one domain is only 2. With the ones you judge to be less important, do not elaborate as much. Therefore, if a sub question is worth 10 marks, it is likely that there will 5 major domains and 2 or 3 minor domains, totalling more than 10 marks on the marking guide. So your answer will need to comprise enough major and minor domains to make 10 marks (eg 4 major domains = 8 and two minor = 2). Expect that you may not have divided up the domains as the examiners have, that's okay - but put in a couple of extra domains to cover that.
So what DO I study
Well, the examinable areas are:
Child and Adolescent
Old Age
CL and Emergency
Community and Primary Care Psychiatry
Forensic
Cultural
Ethics and professional responsibilities
Prevention, Promotion, Administrative Psych and Service Delivery
Psychobiological Sciences
Organic Psychiatry and Medicine in relation to psychiatry
Schizophrenia and related disorders
Affective Disorders
Neuroses (Anxiety, Eating and Somatoform Disorders)
Personality Disorders
Disorders of Substance use and impulse control
Sex and gender related disorders including disorders of pregnancy, puerperium and mother/infant bond
Research methodology
Clinical assessment
Communication skills
Psychopharmacology and biological treatments
Psychosocial treatments
Intimidated yet? Well stop stressing, because you know all of this. E.g. “communication” in the March 06 paper was tested in an EMQ subq where a mum who had a child with ADHD was upset because the child’s teacher said ADHD didn’t exist – how would you manage this. It’s stuff we do everyday.
So, to break this down. Get yourself a textbook as a base. Figure out the strengths and weaknesses of the book, and use chapters in other books where your book is lacking.
Use the internet a lot. I got a lot of info by google searching things. The beauty of this is that you get non-psychiatry viewpoints on things which helps for the essay.
Be up to date on current affairs – yes you can watch TV, listen to the radio and read fiction and call it study.
Perform literature searches and get review articles on things.
Use the college CPGs – these can form the basis for q’s e.g. SAQ on how would you treat treatment resistant depression.
Practice practice practice
Get lots of papers, from the college and ANZAPT websites.
Set aside some papers to do in exam conditions – in the exam room if at all possible (exposure therapy). Get the marking guide and ask some one to mark them for you.I did one a week in the two months leading up to my exams.
The magic ingredient
Lots of rest, exercise, good nutrition and play.
I found that my performance on trial exams was closely correlated with how much rest and fun I had had the week before.
If you are tired and stressed, then you are also sick of the whole thing, and you have lost your creative spark. Take a break, and when you come back to it, you will study much more efficiently than if you think it is all a drag. Also, if you don’t have that excitement and creative spark then you do not think of answers that well.
Summary
1. Research the practicalities of sitting
2. Know the paper and the types of questions
3. Get a basic text and supplement it with articles, the internet, lecture handouts
4. Do LOTS of papers
4. Take lots of rest
GOOD LUCK!!!!
Sumitra Shankar