Post Doc

[surviving2021]

those that are on post doc this year, how are you navigating time and studying for the EPPP?

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[PsychedUp313]

It has been tricky to get enough studying time in but I've gotten into the mode of studying for about 1.5 hours after work and 5-8 hours on the weekends!

 

[coffee&CBT]

It is miserable but I've also have gotten into the swing of things since January! Studying about 3 weekdays/week in the evenings (1-2 hours) and both weekend days (3ish hours each). Generally taking a practice test every other weekend at this point--have taken three so far. I also scheduled my test date so that is helping me feel a sense of urgency.

 

[surviving2021]

It has been tricky to get enough studying time in but I've gotten into the mode of studying for about 1.5 hours after work and 5-8 hours on the weekends!

That seems like a good amount of time. How long have you been studying and when are you taking it?

 

[surviving2021]

It is miserable but I've also have gotten into the swing of things since January! Studying about 3 weekdays/week in the evenings (1-2 hours) and both weekend days (3ish hours each). Generally taking a practice test every other weekend at this point--have taken three so far. I also scheduled my test date so that is helping me feel a sense of urgency.

When are you taking it?

What study materials are you using?

 

[surviving2021]

I try to study an hour after work, primarily practice tests because I can’t grasp anything else after work. On weekends, similar to others I try 3-6 hours. I’m taking it in May 😎

 

[surviving2021]

Also, my initial post was about how many of you like your post doc and are planning on staying. I thought I was going to love it here but I am ready for it to end.

 

[coffee&CBT]

When are you taking it?

What study materials are you using?

Taking it in mid-April. Using AATBS program and have some hand me down practice tests from other study programs

 

[coffee&CBT]

Also, my initial post was about how many of you like your post doc and are planning on staying. I thought I was going to love it here but I am ready for it to end.

I like my post-doc but not planning to stay for geographical reasons!

 

[singasongofjoy]

I am not on postdoc - but it's not super far removed from my experience and have shared these strategies with folks in teh past few years with good feedback. Also - i found AATBS over-prepared me (a good thing) and little difference in content over the past 3 years so i think you'd be totally fine to get content that's a couple years older (and cheaper) such as the study books.

The thing that helped me the most in studying and recall was getting that chart paper that sticks to the wall like a giant post-it note, and using different colored markers to make study guides of the main points. I varied the color and size of the font (using colored fine tip markers for less critical details that i would go back and study later if i had time, after having mastered the bigger things).

I had them literally all over my house. Those things that were most highly weighted on the EPPP percentage-wise I put in locations I am the most frequently (e.g., kitchen, by the bathroom sink). Would rotate out when I mastered those. Personally I know I benefit a lot from making up stupid memorable mnemonics, so I used imagery or making up a sentence (depending on which i thought would be easier to recall for the topic) and then wrote those down very small on my study guides. As I studied, I ALSO practiced recalling the sentence or image to give me all the key info about the concept - and it was written so small that I could truly test my recall by just looking at it from across the room.

Why was this an excellent strategy on postdoc -

1. because I can make a study guide even when my brain is tired - because I'm not necessarily focused on trying to get it into my brain at that specific moment (though writing notes out is obviously helpful in that and supported by research). So I was able to make good use of time even when tired.

2. It increased my total study time because I was studying a little bit every morning -- e.g., when eating breakfast, without even needing to get out any study materials (bc sometimes that's the hard part to getting started for me)- and in the evening, throughout the day on the weekends... so more repetition spread out over more instances - also good for recall.

3. When I was taking the EPPP I found that on most occasions I was also automatically recalling addiitional cues that helped pull it out of my memory or at least narrow down and eliminate other choices- e.g., I might remember that this certain concept or whatever was written in purple, not orange, or that I studied it in this room or on that part of that wall in my house .... that really helped way more than i could have anticipated for those fields that are less familiar to me - like I/O. Even if it's as simple as "oh yeah, those 2 things were both written in purple ... so they must go together." he visual and wacky sentence mnemonics were intentional, of course, and they also really helped recall for less familiar stuff. The more cues to assist recall, the better you'll do on a multiple choice test.

Also helpful- trying to explain the content to my cat with my back turned to the chart paper - if i discovered there was something i could not recall, it was there for reference.

Side note, do keep in mind to study content proportionally to the approximate percentage it is on the test and focus on the heavy hitters first/hardest. And also if you're ever unsure about an answer, I was surprised how many answer options were (or suggested) "always" or "never." And you can always eliminate those.... bc the answer to almost everything in psychology is "it depends" Except for "don't have sex with your clients." Which was actually part of a couple ethics questions, to my surprise but hey, an easy question is good, lol

AATBS audio files are also helpful if you learn well that way - can listen on the drive to work etc.

Good luck everyone!

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I love everything above. Talking to your cat about the answers was awesome. I used to practice walking around my home reciting lectures I had to do. I did the same thing for EPPP studying; if I had a cat/dog it would have felt totally normal.

Knowing the breakdown of sections and adjusting study time is def a great approach. Focusing more on the areas of weakeness w large %’s can help from spending too much time on smaller areas. Back in the day I/O was a small %, so we (ppl in study group) studied less. I already knew the material from my prior career, so I mostly skimmed.

I did this a long time ago, so YMMV, but the best resources I utilized were 6-7 sample exams from AATBS and the AATBS books. Our fellowship program had a bunch of materials from the past few years, and a colleague bought access to another test prep and we did practice exams from that.

Being consistent and paying attention to performance on the practice exams and topic areas helped me focus on what I needed to learn. Being able to identify the area of a question and raising the question asking “what are they trying to get me to know” helped me eliminate bad answers when I eventually took the exam.

Best of luck!

 

[ClinicalABA]

Been quite awhile since EPPP for me, but I'll offer another potential strategy that worked for me and others. Don't spend months studying. Take a few weeks before the exam date (I did half days at work and exam prep after lunch until 8-9pm, more on the two weekends before. I reviewed the exam prep manuals and did practice tests (lots of them) until reliably getting 90% or higher score. I just read and reread the materials until my scores were good enough, maybe consulting a my stats text for some refresher. No reviewing other old text, notes, flashcards, etc. Just some intense sitting in the office, focusing, talking to myself, and trying real hard not to talk to anybody else. I figured I took a hell of a lot of tests before, and I never studied at the begging of the semester for the final, so why do something different now. The EPPP is a lot of esoteric stuff (with some important stuff too. So much of it you won't use during your day to day life, thus it won't be practiced enough to maintain. I know how I learn, and if I need to- next April- remember how to calculate an SEM or recall details of Dr. Bob's cognitive insight psychobehavioral therapy, studying it in February ain't going to work for me. Not saying my method will work for you too- you need to know yourself and how you learn. I've always been a relatively last minute crammer and it worked- it didn't make sense to try a totally different approach for what was- in essence- another multiple choice test (a big old silly one, thus weeks instead of days of prep).

 

[biscuitsbiscuits]

Great suggestions above. To further the mnemonics advice, search "[concept] mnemonic" and you'll find a ton of mnemonics people have already made for eppp concepts. I did this for anything I was having a particularly tough time remembering or coming up with my own mnemonic for, and it helped a lot. There are also a lot of youtube videos out there that contain mnemonics like this one:

2-4-6-ophrenia!

 

[smalltownpsych]

Poor cat. I made my wife listen to my answers. 😜
I second all the advice given above. I did a graduated study plan with increasing amount of time and energy as I got closer to the date.

 

[PsyDr]

Although my colleagues have great opinions, I’ll offer a complimentary divergent opinion:

1) This is a test of crystallized knowledge, not ability. You don’t have to know why an answer is correct; only what the correct answer is.

2) learn basic test taking strategies. Exclude two choices, most frequent selection, etc.

3) Most importantly: find practice questions. Especially the official sample questions. Use something like a kindle that can translate text to speech. That is now the soundtrack of your life. Slap some headphones in, press play, listen passively for 4hrs/day. That sounds like a lot, but it isn’t if you’re not paying attention. Listen passively, not actively. Wake up, throw it on when you’re in the shower or getting ready, keep it going in the car, continue at lunch, then evening commute, while your SO is watching TV, in the gym, in bed, etc. You don’t have to pay attention. Just let it play. After 50+ repetitions, many things will get passively memorized. It will drive you nuts, but keep going. After the “this is miserable” phase, you can get amused by it.

4) After #3, spend some time taking practice tests. You’re going to do better than you think because you passively memorized things in step 3. Identify what you’re missing, isolate those questions, and just memorize the correct answer. Take at least one a day. When you hit your limit for paying attention, spend another 5-10 minutes visually scanning the visual form of the question. Some are 4 lines, some 8, some have weird indentations to them, others have a series of short words followed by one king word. Pure rote memory. That can be used to identify a question and associated answer on a real test. When the question looks like 4 long lines that end in the middle of the 4th line, the answer is “coefficient of who cares”.

5) ASPPB has like 5 sample questions in the manual, and there are 175 real questions, so you only have to memorize like 170 more answers.

 

[Freud’sMommy]

The best way to study would be spaced repetition flashcards designed as short answer questions (not multiple choice) a la Anki and/or Quizlet Learn, with a practice exam before and after studying to measure progress and provide exposure to testing situation/context. Don't spend more than 3 months studying. This is all evidence-based advice.

 

[surviving2021]

I had 3 days off and had zero energy to study. Contemplating rescheduling the test 🤦‍♀️

 

[surviving2021]

The best way to study would be spaced repetition flashcards designed as short answer questions (not multiple choice) a la Anki and/or Quizlet Learn, with a practice exam before and after studying to measure progress and provide exposure to testing situation/context. Don't spend more than 3 months studying. This is all evidence-based advice.

Mine is end of April but had this past week I studied like 10 minutes since I got sick

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Although my colleagues have great opinions, I’ll offer a complimentary divergent opinion:

1) This is a test of crystallized knowledge, not ability. You don’t have to know why an answer is correct; only what the correct answer is.

2) learn basic test taking strategies. Exclude two choices, most frequent selection, etc.

3) Most importantly: find practice questions. Especially the official sample questions. Use something like a kindle that can translate text to speech. That is now the soundtrack of your life. Slap some headphones in, press play, listen passively for 4hrs/day. That sounds like a lot, but it isn’t if you’re not paying attention. Listen passively, not actively. Wake up, throw it on when you’re in the shower or getting ready, keep it going in the car, continue at lunch, then evening commute, while your SO is watching TV, in the gym, in bed, etc. You don’t have to pay attention. Just let it play. After 50+ repetitions, many things will get passively memorized. It will drive you nuts, but keep going. After the “this is miserable” phase, you can get amused by it.

4) After #3, spend some time taking practice tests. You’re going to do better than you think because you passively memorized things in step 3. Identify what you’re missing, isolate those questions, and just memorize the correct answer. Take at least one a day. When you hit your limit for paying attention, spend another 5-10 minutes visually scanning the visual form of the question. Some are 4 lines, some 8, some have weird indentations to them, others have a series of short words followed by one king word. Pure rote memory. That can be used to identify a question and associated answer on a real test. When the question looks like 4 long lines that end in the middle of the 4th line, the answer is “coefficient of who cares”.

5) ASPPB has like 5 sample questions in the manual, and there are 175 real questions, so you only have to memorize like 170 more answers.

Agreed with all of the above. I didn't use passive listening, but the majority of my study consisted of taking practice tests and reading through the provided rationale for any items I missed. It also then gave me areas to focus on in my "normal" studying, allowing me to skip topics I consistently did well with. And as Freud'sMommy suggested, I also used practice tests to gauge the efficacy of my targeted studying.

And yes x100 to #1. There will be answers you disagree with. It doesn't matter, just know what EPPP says the right answer is and go on with your life. Somewhere in the recesses of my brain is the memory that you're given the opportunity to justify any incorrect responses, which may come when you official score report arrives. But I wouldn't bank on that as a primary means of passing the test.

 

[Spydra]

I have found it helpful to participate in a paid study group. The free informal ones were hit or miss schedule wise, but the paid one consistently meets and I'm way more accountable because of it.

 

[quickpsych]

Although my colleagues have great opinions, I’ll offer a complimentary divergent opinion:

1) This is a test of crystallized knowledge, not ability. You don’t have to know why an answer is correct; only what the correct answer is.

2) learn basic test taking strategies. Exclude two choices, most frequent selection, etc.

3) Most importantly: find practice questions. Especially the official sample questions. Use something like a kindle that can translate text to speech. That is now the soundtrack of your life. Slap some headphones in, press play, listen passively for 4hrs/day. That sounds like a lot, but it isn’t if you’re not paying attention. Listen passively, not actively. Wake up, throw it on when you’re in the shower or getting ready, keep it going in the car, continue at lunch, then evening commute, while your SO is watching TV, in the gym, in bed, etc. You don’t have to pay attention. Just let it play. After 50+ repetitions, many things will get passively memorized. It will drive you nuts, but keep going. After the “this is miserable” phase, you can get amused by it.

4) After #3, spend some time taking practice tests. You’re going to do better than you think because you passively memorized things in step 3. Identify what you’re missing, isolate those questions, and just memorize the correct answer. Take at least one a day. When you hit your limit for paying attention, spend another 5-10 minutes visually scanning the visual form of the question. Some are 4 lines, some 8, some have weird indentations to them, others have a series of short words followed by one king word. Pure rote memory. That can be used to identify a question and associated answer on a real test. When the question looks like 4 long lines that end in the middle of the 4th line, the answer is “coefficient of who cares”.

5) ASPPB has like 5 sample questions in the manual, and there are 175 real questions, so you only have to memorize like 170 more answers.

Well said and spot on.

After failing my first attempt, I refocused, changed my strategy to essentially what @PsyDr suggests here and passed second time. It also helped me pass my state exam on first attempt.

AATBS Audio materials were especially useful for listening to over and over again, was probably mumbling the information in my sleep lol. Practice tests and quizzes were also important.