Psychiatry Shelf Questions?

[gtb]

Can anybody who has taken the psych shelf exam recall whether there were questions about childhood development theories and the stages of development on the shelf exam? What about psychotherapy theory and techniques. I'm rotating through an acute adult inpatient facility getting patients straight from the ED and neither the residents nor the attendings ever talk about these topics. Sadly it seems I did not commit them to long-term memory during the course last year.

Thanks in advance
G

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[alina_s]

I haven't taken it but I've heard from those who did that it relies heavily on internal medicine. Even students who are planning to go into psych felt that the exam was unfair. So, if you haven't done internal medicine yet, it might pay to spend some time focusing on the medicine side of things- drug mechanisms and side effects, physical ailments that need to be ruled out in psychoses and somatoform disorders... Sorry I can't be more help.

 

[gtb]

Thanks for the response.

Yeah, I've also read in previous postings that the exam is heavy on psychopharm (specific drugs & adverse effects), and the medicine components in a differential. But what about the psychotheory and pyschotherapy stuff? I'm using BRS Psychiatry, Pretest Psychiatry, and Study Guide/Self-Exam Review for Kaplan & Saddock's to study for the exam (all free books from the previous year's class). I'm trying to find out if I can skip the chapters detailing the psychology part of psychiatry.

G

 

[Mirror Form]

I just took the psych shelf on Friday. Beware of pretest b/c it's questions were much easier. Also, there wasn't a single question on stages of development, psychology theories, or theorists.

 

[bobbyseal]

Remember the difference between Naloxone and Naltrexone, and when you'd use either one. I got tricked by that question. And now the NBME is going to sue me since I memorized one of their questions.

Sticking it to the man,
Bobbyseal

 

[Mirror Form]

Originally posted by bobbyseal
Remember the difference between Naloxone and Naltrexone, and when you'd use either one. I got tricked by that question. And now the NBME is going to sue me since I memorized one of their questions.

Sticking it to the man,
Bobbyseal

oh yeah, I had that same stinkin question, what is the difference? I just guessed naltrexone on my test.

 

[edmadison]

On my exam last year, there was not a single question on those stupid theories of development. Further, I don't remember there being any questions dealing with psychology at all (e.g. defenses). It was way heavy on pharm. What surprised me was the emphasis on 2nd and even 3rd teir drugs for a given ailment. I did very well on the exam compared to my classmates, I explain this partially because I didn't use the tiny blueprints for Psych, I used BRS instead.

Ed

 

[1Neuro1]

Read High Yield Psychiatry and you will do fine. Blueprints is also good but I only used that for pharm. If I had to do it all again I would only use High Yield. I ended up with a score of 90.

The exam was fair and was mostly about putting patient Hx and Sx together to make a diagnosis. Just like Step 1 it was all about common sense. The pharm was straightforward and even if the drug you had to pick was a 2nd or 3rd tier drug, it was usually the only drug of that particular class that was listed for an answer. The pharm was mostly about common side effects, no idiosynchratic reactions as far as I can remember. The question stems were relatively long, but not as bad as the IM shelf. There were a good amount of medicine questions, you have to be able to tie medical problems to a psych condition, if you had your rotation at a busy city hospital then this will be nothing new to you. Good luck.

 

[gtb]

Thanks for the replies. You guys have made my psych rotation much, much, much more bearable.

G

 

[gtb]

Just finished the shelf exam 10 minutes ago. There are as many questions covering defense mechanisms and appropriate psychotherapy types as there are pharmacotherapy questions. Not a single question of developmental theories. By far the best book I used was the BRS-Psychiatry book. If you know this book thoroughly, cover to cover, you will do quite well on the exam. You must haul ass while taking the exam. I ran out of time and ended up selecting best-guess answers on 7 or 8 questions.

Good luck to all

 

[MacTavish]

Took the exam this morning...

I would think it would be safe to say that ~60% of the exam focused on pharmacology (including alcohol and drug abuse).

 

[Jaded Soul]

What's the best source of practice questions for the psych shelf?

 

[gtb]

After the shelf, I thought BRS was most useful. I also used Appleton & Lange which I felt just muddied up the waters by being too specific. The shelf has a fair number of questions that might be considered internal medicine questions, so be prepared. Also, there are a bunch of pediatric/adolescent behavioral science questions on the exam. I don't remember any geriatrics questions.

Good luck.