Dr. Mohamed Mostafa al-Eraky, Head, Department of Health Professions Education, conducted a Career Advising Session (CAS) titled “Test Taking Strategies” on May 09, 2024, at Gulf Medical University, Ajman in the form of a workshop aimed to address the apprehension of the exam-going students. A total of 100 students attended the meeting.
Dr. Al-Eraky explained the construct of a multiple-choice questions and the value of distractors. He also reiterated the importance of reading the clinical vignette given and to focus on the question asked at the end of the vignette. He advised the students to practice questions and to devise alternate questions that could be constructed using the same vignette with a different lead in question or the same options with a different scenario. This he assured would help them prepare well for the exams.
Nine top performers of the IFOM exam from the 2020 batch, Hisham Abubacker Musthafa, Ahmad Maarouf, Sathya Subramoniam Iyer, Khadija Jalal, Wesam Darwich, Jeromy Anthony Mackay, Julia Qamar Bilalaga, Rozhina Ghanbari and Hrithika Sadashiv Bangera were invited to share their experiences. They shared tips and strategies they employed in solving exam questions, using examples of questions from Anatomy, Physiology and Pathology, the three disciplines heavily represented in exams. They also shared their experiences during the preparatory phase and advised the students on how to remain focused in their exam preparation.
Prof. Manda Venkatramana was very appreciative of the session and said, “It is a timely measure taken to alleviate the anxiety associated with exam preparation”. The students also valued the session very much. “The session was very informative and interesting. Practicing some NBME-type questions was very helpful. I thank all the seniors who advised us how to solve questions in less time”, said Meenadarshani, echoing the sentiments of her fellow classmates of MBBS year III.
Feedback taken after the session showed that 100% of the students found that the session was useful, interactive, and impactful for their career development. 100% found that the speaker made the session interactive and interesting with effective delivery of the resources. Free responses by the students was appreciative of the strategies used to attempt competitive exams successfully.