Please help me figure this out. Many thanks

[The Angriest Bird]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

So my school is pretty much "here's the syllabus and memorize it." All lectures are video-recorded and online. No attendance is required. Very little PBL or group-based learning.

So that's exactly what I do. I memorize the syllabus every day. I memorize the whole syllabus 2 days before the exam. And I memorize the whole thing, again, the night before. I pull an all-nighter.

On the exam, I say there are at least 20% questions are those that I have no idea "where it comes from." Considering the fact that I've memorized the syllabus 3 times, even if I can't recall a factoid, I would still know it exists. For these 20% "orphan questions," they come from nowhere.

I'm not a very good multiple choice taker, and our exams are all multiple choice. And I'm a HORRIBLE "educated guesser." Therefore, I do pretty poorly on 2nd year, but so far I'm passing everything. The problem is, I get below average scores. That means either I'm the problem or others have their ways to encounter these questions.

I just would like to know 1) if this also happens to you 2) how do you deal with it 3) what's your advice for me. I can't tell how much this community has been helping me get through med school.

 

[drblueshades]

First of all, it's great you're passing everything. I would recommend checking with some of your colleagues to see how they're getting the information for these "orphan questions." Are there specific resources they might have used to supplement the syllabus? Have the professors recommended any other reading? Is it possible the lectures are covering topics not in the syllabus? If the questions are truly from "nowhere" in your curriculum (as in, unrelated to applying knowledge from class/labs/syllabus/other assigned reading), then some of your classmates are probably in the same boat and perhaps you should see if the course director could offer some strategies.

At my school, our exams are lecture based and EVERY question must have a strong basis in the material covered in lecture or lab, except in pharmacology where ANYTHING in the syllabus (not just lecture) is also fair.

Good luck with this.

 

[OncoCaP]

I'm assuming you have tried various question banks, BRS, and other sources of problems? I like to work a certain number of USMLE-type questions even if they are a bit different from what we did in class ... I've rarely felt they were a waste of time. The syllabi are not always a good way to study to for me (at least for me). Do you make flashcards? Do you work through cases? Have you talked to your instructors or MS3s and 4s about where these questions come from (is there something extra they want you to know/study?). I usually get pretty good advice about how to study for various classes.

 

[potato51]

So my school is pretty much "here's the syllabus and memorize it." All lectures are video-recorded and online. No attendance is required. Very little PBL or group-based learning.

So that's exactly what I do. I memorize the syllabus every day. I memorize the whole syllabus 2 days before the exam. And I memorize the whole thing, again, the night before. I pull an all-nighter.

On the exam, I say there are at least 20% questions are those that I have no idea "where it comes from." Considering the fact that I've memorized the syllabus 3 times, even if I can't recall a factoid, I would still know it exists. For these 20% "orphan questions," they come from nowhere.

are there things emphasized in lecture that aren't in the syllabus? My school has a similar format to yours and a few times there have been questions that I can only answer based on what I remember the lecturer saying. Also I've encountered some questions that didn't directly test concepts explained in the syllabus but required you to pull different things from multiple lectures. I'm not sure what kind of questions review books or test-preps have since I don't use those (yet), but perhaps those would help?

If your school has exam reviews, are you able to find the answer in the syllabus to an "orphan question" (nice term, btw) you got wrong?

 

[The Angriest Bird]

Just as extra information, I watched all lecture videos so I'm pretty sure they are not from lectures either.

 

[TMP-SMX]

I remember from histology that often there were questions I didn't know where they came from but when I looked at the notes again I said o I see exactly where this came from in the notes. Some classes are very detail oriented and I'm doubting you are remembering everything from cramming alone.

For things like histology, it is about conceptualization so it's not always cut and dry. The topic will always be discussed in some shape or form.

 

[yeasterbunny]

Does your school allow you to study old tests? That was one of the most useful things to me to know what kinds of curveball questions to expect. But in the end I think most of our curveball questions were some obscure bit of the lecture.

It may not be the answer you want to hear, but my answer as an MS4 would be don't sweat it, everyone has to deal with stupid test questions, and in the end your basic science grades don't matter. Just continue to learn the material as best you can so you can rock Step 1.

 

[Its_MurDAH]

Man! Your lectures are recorded and put online for your viewing pleasure? I am so angry and envious. I, as well as others at my med school, have tried so hard to convince the faculty to start recording lectures but they are so adamant and refuse to give in.

Lucky you.

ps: I know this doesn't really answer your question or your plea for help. I just memorize the syllabus as well only at my school that's really all you need to easily get above-averages.

 

[sprinkibrio]

So my school is pretty much "here's the syllabus and memorize it." All lectures are video-recorded and online. No attendance is required. Very little PBL or group-based learning.

So that's exactly what I do. I memorize the syllabus every day. I memorize the whole syllabus 2 days before the exam. And I memorize the whole thing, again, the night before. I pull an all-nighter.

On the exam, I say there are at least 20% questions are those that I have no idea "where it comes from." Considering the fact that I've memorized the syllabus 3 times, even if I can't recall a factoid, I would still know it exists. For these 20% "orphan questions," they come from nowhere.

I'm not a very good multiple choice taker, and our exams are all multiple choice. And I'm a HORRIBLE "educated guesser." Therefore, I do pretty poorly on 2nd year, but so far I'm passing everything. The problem is, I get below average scores. That means either I'm the problem or others have their ways to encounter these questions.

I just would like to know 1) if this also happens to you 2) how do you deal with it 3) what's your advice for me. I can't tell how much this community has been helping me get through med school.

Totally! I would say it's more like 10% on our tests, but yeah. They have these questions that I guess are just there to try to differentiate us. They're big on spreading us out here since all of us study exactly like you. I guess they have no other option than to test... logic/reasoning/things that are IMO iffy and opinionated which are all under the title of things we've never learned and probably don't have enough knowledge to reason out.

I'd love to hear what people have to say too, but I'm thinking if we really want to get that great grade were going to have to buy a problem set book or read a book to get that extra understanding that we were somehow supposed to garnish from the lecture or syllabus. Things I had a better background in I do better in, completely based on me already knowing that last 10% that wasn't taught.