- Joined
- Oct 14, 2005
- Messages
- 1,279
- Reaction score
- 7
Some are just terrible, which is obvious when 27% of all students got the answer correct. But I couldn't find anywhere within the QBank pages or on their main site to provide feedback on questions.
Some just have poorly worded questions that leave you having to guess at what they are actually asking. Not many, but a few. Like stating that a dude had just "blown into a spirometer" and asked based on lung pressure what "volume" was being measured. It was a positive pressure, so they were going for total lung capacity, but that can't be if the guy had actually just "blown" into the thing. The wording in the question was self conflicting.
Sometimes the questions are just bad. Specifically, there was a question about a conflict between a durable power of attorney for health care and a living will. The "correct" answer went with the living will, "because it was more recent" and because it covered the specific issue in question. The question did not state that the DPA had been revoked in any way. Legally this seems to vary from state to state, with most giving authority to the DPA in cases of conflict with no limitations or qualifications. Some states give power to living wills and advance directives if it covers the specific case. Kaplan's own teaching has been that DPA rules supreme, since that is effectively "the patient speaking his wishes through someone else's voice" i.e., the DPA is for all medical purposes an exact proxy of the primary. Needless to say most people missed this one, and I thought that state varying issues are not tested on a national exam.
Another poor question about food poisoning at a Chinese restaurant, with the specifics pointing to a rapid onset preformed toxin. Hmm... staph aureus or bacillus cereus. Question choices included both rice and "cream." The "correct" answer went with the rice (Chinese, fried rice, b. cereus...) but most people missed it. The explanation provided the "aha" as to why... "cream" to Kaplan was like coffee creamer, but I think a lot of us are groomed with the "staph a./cream puff/pastries" association. "Cream" is to vague here. Indeed, staph loves fluffy sweet pastries, and Chinese restaurants love these types of things for desserts on buffets. Bad question.
And if you refer to a peripheral blood smear in the question, and the whole question hinges on your ability to interpret the picture, it helps to actually have the picture included in the question.
I'd love to be able to send specific question ID's to them for feedback, but I can't find anything set up for that. I'm not very optimistic about just sending stuff to the general Kaplan email address.
But after some 700 question, most seem pretty good (even if pretty awfully contrived to make sure you know four details before you can answer the question... I hope the USMLE isn't quite so extreme with multi-tier questions).
Some just have poorly worded questions that leave you having to guess at what they are actually asking. Not many, but a few. Like stating that a dude had just "blown into a spirometer" and asked based on lung pressure what "volume" was being measured. It was a positive pressure, so they were going for total lung capacity, but that can't be if the guy had actually just "blown" into the thing. The wording in the question was self conflicting.
Sometimes the questions are just bad. Specifically, there was a question about a conflict between a durable power of attorney for health care and a living will. The "correct" answer went with the living will, "because it was more recent" and because it covered the specific issue in question. The question did not state that the DPA had been revoked in any way. Legally this seems to vary from state to state, with most giving authority to the DPA in cases of conflict with no limitations or qualifications. Some states give power to living wills and advance directives if it covers the specific case. Kaplan's own teaching has been that DPA rules supreme, since that is effectively "the patient speaking his wishes through someone else's voice" i.e., the DPA is for all medical purposes an exact proxy of the primary. Needless to say most people missed this one, and I thought that state varying issues are not tested on a national exam.
Another poor question about food poisoning at a Chinese restaurant, with the specifics pointing to a rapid onset preformed toxin. Hmm... staph aureus or bacillus cereus. Question choices included both rice and "cream." The "correct" answer went with the rice (Chinese, fried rice, b. cereus...) but most people missed it. The explanation provided the "aha" as to why... "cream" to Kaplan was like coffee creamer, but I think a lot of us are groomed with the "staph a./cream puff/pastries" association. "Cream" is to vague here. Indeed, staph loves fluffy sweet pastries, and Chinese restaurants love these types of things for desserts on buffets. Bad question.
And if you refer to a peripheral blood smear in the question, and the whole question hinges on your ability to interpret the picture, it helps to actually have the picture included in the question.
I'd love to be able to send specific question ID's to them for feedback, but I can't find anything set up for that. I'm not very optimistic about just sending stuff to the general Kaplan email address.
But after some 700 question, most seem pretty good (even if pretty awfully contrived to make sure you know four details before you can answer the question... I hope the USMLE isn't quite so extreme with multi-tier questions).
