KCOM: the good, the bad, the ugly

[SLC]

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Does SOMA currently allow students to review their exams and challenge questions? Just curious.

Yeah sorta. I'm sure the 1st years do get a more formalized review with a list of their answers to compare to the master question list like i had first year. But for 2nd year we are at our rotation base. We are in groups of 10 at each site so our class is spread all over the country and having an organized review isn't really possible.

We get to see all the answers and an explanation for each one right after the exam for about 30 mins. But we don't get a list of what we missed to compare to the answer sheet so your ability to "learn" from it requires you to remember your answer on each question.

 

[angldrps]

I don't know why people on here get so mad when current students share negatives about their school. I want to read the "ugly" points just as much as I enjoy reading about positive experiences. These are complaints that the OP find to hinder his/her experience at the school. Dismissing these complaints the way some posters on here are doing is pretty ridiculous.

 

[cowspot83]

Yeah sorta. I'm sure the 1st years do get a more formalized review with a list of their answers to compare to the master question list like i had first year. But for 2nd year we are at our rotation base. We are in groups of 10 at each site so our class is spread all over the country and having an organized review isn't really possible.

We get to see all the answers and an explanation for each one right after the exam for about 30 mins. But we don't get a list of what we missed to compare to the answer sheet so your ability to "learn" from it requires you to remember your answer on each question.

Thanks for your response SLC, it's nice to know the other ATSU campus allows students to see the correct answers post exam, so the decision to take away KCOM's reviews is not coming from the very top of the chain.

Does anyone else here attend a medical school that does not allow students to see the correct answers to the questions post exam?

I am looking for what theories or logic say students learn better without an exam review as KCOM has decided. Maybe an effective way to help this issue would be to show KCOM how other schools handle test reviews...... Would anyone be willing to post their school and what is available (not whether or not you go, but if it is an option) as far as exam review?

 

[cliquesh]

When you take board exams and in service exams in residency, you are, in general, not allowed access to the individual questions after the exam. Instead, you are given information about which categories you got right and which categories you got wrong. It sounds like kcom is taking a similar approach.

 

[cowspot83]

When you take board exams and in service exams in residency, you are, in general, not allowed access to the individual questions after the exam. Instead, you are given information about which categories you got right and which categories you got wrong. It sounds like kcom is taking a similar approach.

Yes, that is the approach they are taking- but they have failed to give supporting evidence showing that this method is beneficial to the students. Now is the time to learn and prepare for those exams, so what is the evidence for improved learning by taking away the methods that we use to prepare for them? All of the question banks and board prep courses tell you which questions you got wrong and have an explanation included....so clearly there's proven benefit to reviewing your incorrect answers.

Have any other schools taken this approach during pre-clinical years?

I don't know of a single other school that doesn't allow students to know which questions they got wrong. Getting a list of "topics" that need improvement is very different than knowing which question your missed and why.

 

[cliquesh]

It's really not a big deal.

 

[Mosonik]

When you take board exams and in service exams in residency, you are, in general, not allowed access to the individual questions after the exam. Instead, you are given information about which categories you got right and which categories you got wrong. It sounds like kcom is taking a similar approach.

This actually seems like a good approach. After all, learning about which broader categories you are getting wrong seems like a more effective way to learn from the specific question. I can see both sides

 

[Yourfavorite]

It's really not a big deal.

It really is "a big deal" for several reasons.

1. This isn't a board exam, and without feedback on exactly which questions you got wrong it is more challenging to make improvements in your specific study habits. So you find out you got a phys question wrong? So what? Was it a question you were 90% sure you were right on, or 50%? Was it a second, third or fourth order question? So much detail is left out without actually seeing the question I don't feel like this needs further explanation. There is a reason every single board exam prep question bank gives you answer explanations.

2. No accountability for poorly written/wrongly keyed/ faulty questions. If a professor writes a question, they should be able to explain why the answer was correct and defend it, otherwise they are accountable to no one. Do you think when you give an answer on rounds you don't have to defend it?

3. The way this was handled was also very poor. The school administration has a responsibility to their students to treat them professionally and respectfully. To think they can just railroad their student body with any change they see fit just because "we've been doing it for 20 years" is ridiculous. Age and experience are not a guarantee of innovation and efficiency. We are scientists, back up what you claim with evidence and we will get behind you.

4. Medicine is continually changing and a change like no test reviews only guarantees the professors won't need to write new questions and will be able to re-use all their old questions without having to write new ones nearly as often.

 

[DopaDO]

It really is "a big deal" for several reasons.

1. This isn't a board exam, and without feedback on exactly which questions you got wrong it is more challenging to make improvements in your specific study habits. So you find out you got a phys question wrong? So what? Was it a question you were 90% sure you were right on, or 50%? Was it a second, third or fourth order question? So much detail is left out without actually seeing the question I don't feel like this needs further explanation. There is a reason every single board exam prep question bank gives you answer explanations.

2. No accountability for poorly written/wrongly keyed/ faulty questions. If a professor writes a question, they should be able to explain why the answer was correct and defend it, otherwise they are accountable to no one. Do you think when you give an answer on rounds you don't have to defend it?

3. The way this was handled was also very poor. The school administration has a responsibility to their students to treat them professionally and respectfully. To think they can just railroad their student body with any change they see fit just because "we've been doing it for 20 years" is ridiculous. Age and experience are not a guarantee of innovation and efficiency. We are scientists, back up what you claim with evidence and we will get behind you.

4. Medicine is continually changing and a change like no test reviews only guarantees the professors won't need to write new questions and will be able to re-use all their old questions without having to write new ones nearly as often.

I really don't understand why everyone is getting all worked up over PRECLINICAL grades. Just do well on boards.

 

[KnuxNole]

I really don't understand why everyone is getting all worked up over PRECLINICAL grades. Just do well on boards.

This. It's only grades. Wanting to do the best you can is big, but no need to stress if you end up doing well. Hopefully there aren't people that are worried that aren't able to challenge questions. Why waste time on crap like that?

I understand the feedback situation. Maybe a better solution is to hold a review session where the professor goes through the test, and goes through why each choice is right, etc. Might seem tedious but is better than nothing.

 

[Yourfavorite]

This. It's only grades. Wanting to do the best you can is big, but no need to stress if you end up doing well. Hopefully there aren't people that are worried that aren't able to challenge questions. Why waste time on crap like that?

I understand the feedback situation. Maybe a better solution is to hold a review session where the professor goes through the test, and goes through why each choice is right, etc. Might seem tedious but is better than nothing.

The point is to learn the info for boards so that I can do well 🙂.

 

[DopaDO]

The point is to learn the info for boards so that I can do well 🙂.

Boards is pretty much all self study, a good deal of the stuff we are being taught, at least 2nd year, is not boards relevant (although it is clinically relevant). If you want to do well on boards you learn from qbanks and FA, not from test reviews. Just study enough to pass and the rest of the focus should be on boards.