Advantages of Shelf Exams 2nd year

[rosesalve]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I was wondering if anyone could provide some insight/opinion on how advantageous it is for a med school to test their students with nationalized shelf questions as opposed to having questions written by their professors? IS this commonplace at most med schools or is it an exception? If you're school has them or doesn't or have tried both ways what do you think? pros, cons? Are there many schools that only use these standardized exams, if so which ones?