stupid question..i know...but i have to ask

At some schools they are called shelf exams, at others they are called miniboards - basically, the NBME has a bunch of tests that they've made in their spare time that have questions specific to the course you may have just completed. So there's an Anatomy miniboard/shelf, a Biochem miniboard/shelf, etc etc in the first two years and then there's clinical shelf exams for all the clinical rotations. They are used by some schools to "better prepare students for the boards." Or so they say...