Lots of multiple choice tests?

[remo]

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I haven't found too much about this by searching but what are med school exams like (MC, essay, etc...)? I love multiple choice tests but I never do as well on "free response" or essay type tests. Do some schools favor one type over the other?

 

[SoCuteMD]

Most schools are multiple choice. A few are not. I don't know what they are, sorry!

 

[ADDchild]

Multiple choice, multiple choice, multiple choice. Our Class president tallied up the number of test at the end of our second year >80, and the number of multiple choice questions we answered >4000. You might feel that your past experience tells you that multiple choice is preferable since the answer is there but, the way med school exams are written the answer is a riddle, wrapped in a puzzle, packed in a enigma. At least with essays you can BS an answer and as long as you support it you might get it write. A question will not say "What drug do you treat an oral candida infection?" it will say "Your patient has asthma and uses a corticosteroid inhaler, he develops white patches in his oropharnyx, the most appropriate drug to treat this condition will have a mechanism that interacts with which target?" And the answer will be a drug that interacts with a sterol.

Not to scare you, you'll learn it if you pay attention during the first 2 years. Good Luck

 

[vtucci]

Almost every exam is multiple choice unfortunately. The only class I had an essay in was medical ethics and humanities.

 

[Blade28]

I happen to hate multiple choice tests - but most important tests I'll face (MCAT, USMLE Steps 1-3, yearly ABSITE tests, qualifying General Surgery Boards) are all multiple choice.

Oh, and so are those CME exams!

 

[remo]

This is music to my ears! I had a cell bio final that was 23 essay questions and I thought I was gonna get up and walk out. I hate having to sit there and BS an answer. I'll take MC all day long. Thank you!

 

[Newsradiofan]

This is music to my ears! I had a cell bio final that was 23 essay questions and I thought I was gonna get up and walk out. I hate having to sit there and BS an answer. I'll take MC all day long. Thank you!

no offense remo, but you don't know what you are talking about. Given the volume of information, minutae is often picked up and tested on as if it were the most important fact about the lecture.
The reasoning? If you know the facts that well - you obviously know the overarching concepts.
In an essay format - only the largest concepts are really asked for and can be tested well. I can write volumeas about what I know but still forget which particular drug interacts with a sterol (a la the example given previously). Thats what PDAs are for damnit!