Shelf exam?

[MDpride]

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Hii
What is shelf exam?
is it different than NBME Step exams?

As I have recieved acceptance, I'm curious how many different types of exams are there?

 

[BigRedBeta]

The best way I think to say it is that shelfs are content specific, whereas Step I and II cover everything.

There are a number of basic science shelfs, which are used differently by each school. My school doesn't use them at all, an ex-girlfriend's school uses them only if you failed the school's exam, one friend's school uses them as their main form of exams.

Then there are the clinical shelfs in the most common 3rd year clerkships - Internal Medicine, Psych, OB/GYN, Surgery, Pediatrics, Family Medicine and I think Neurology. These are much more widely used, but not all schools require their 3rd years to do all of those clerkships - usually the difference lies in whether family med or neurology is involved. My school requires family med, but not neurology, my friend's school requires neuro, but not family med...

 

[Monica Lewinsky]

Why do some schools use the pre-clinical subject shelves and other don't?

Is there something inherently better about the clinical shelves that make them more useful than the pre-clinical ones? i.e. Surgery is surgery, but biochem is also biochem.

 

[Depakote]

Why do some schools use the pre-clinical subject shelves and other don't?

Is there something inherently better about the clinical shelves that make them more useful than the pre-clinical ones? i.e. Surgery is surgery, but biochem is also biochem.

I would suspect it's a way to standardize the experience. In biochem everyone is sitting in the same class learning the same material. In surgery, its a much more individualized experience but in the end the student is still required to learn the same content so this would be a way to ensure that the subjectivity is removed.

 

[BigRedBeta]

My guess? Most clinical faculty don't want to sit down and write test questions.

 

[Occams Razor]

My school uses internal exams as well as shelf exams at the conclusion of the class. Students must pass the internal exams in order to take the shelves.

 

[Dr Who]

In my school we must take a shelf exam as a final exam for every course during the first two years and at the end of each third year clinical clerkship.