I know you said send you an e-mail but I am writing this here so it can help others and other people can build/contribute too. I struggled with this at first and this is what has been working for me:
1. Read the last sentence (the question) first - this gives you a context as to what the stem is trying to get you to realize
2. Read the stem and summarize what condition they are trying to describe - this should be one to two words (ie the diagnosis/disorder)
3. Re-read the question (the last sentence) and answer it in your mind before looking at the answers.
4. Read the answers and pick the one that fits your original answer.
- this is the tricky part. Sometimes the answer you are looking for is not available verbatim. Sometimes you have to interpret the answers (seems a little unfair to have to interpret the questions AND answers but I guess that is what makes the test hard).
5. If you have no clue what they are trying to describe/get you to think about just find some buzzwords in the stem, answer the associated buzzword in the answers, and move on. Blame it on the question/answers ("that was such a poorly worded question" or "what idiot thought this was a good question") and don't look back. You don't want to question and second guess your own knowledge and potentially miss a subsequently easy question because you psyched yourself out.
Now, most of the time, when I miss a question it is out of lack of knowledge rather than missing a question I should have gotten correctly.
Hope this helps
