What, exactly, are Shelf Exams?

[Coxsuckie Virus]

I'll tell you what I do know, or think I know, so people can fill in my blanks and correct my inaccuracies.

From my understanding, in Allopathic schools, at the end of every core rotation, the NBME gives you a "shelf exam" to assess your knowledge at the end of the rotation. In essence, they are mini board exams.

Now for the questions I need answered... Are they taken at Prometric Centers like the USMLE? Are they digital or pen and paper? How many questions are there and is there a "written portion" or is it all fill in the bubble?

Basically, I just want to know what these things are about. I am an osteopathic student, so we don't have these exams. We do have a test on the last day of each rotation, but I'm told, "they don't count for anything" and I was wondering if I should look into taking these things to keep up to par with my allopathic colleagues. Any advice you guys are willing to share would be much obliged!

Thanks all!

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[domer621]

First, it's up to the medical school whether or not to purchase and administer the NBME shelf exams, so not every allopathic school has them for every rotation. They are pencil bubble-in, multiple choice tests of 100 questions long. The school sends the bubble-sheet scores to the NBME, who adjust the scores based on national performance. It's up to the medical school whether or not they want to use the score that the NBME reports back to them or if they want to further adjust it.
Most schools use them because the questions are supposedly in Step 2 format.

 

[DO it right]

actually the exams are not exclusive to allopathic schools. DMU will start implementing these exams starting next year....although I'm not sure if the scores will be used for grading purposes

 

[Shinken]

...and I was wondering if I should look into taking these things to keep up to par with my allopathic colleagues.

🙄

I think the osteopathic profession will always be looked down upon as long as DO students themselves feel there's any "keeping up" with. You're fine. You know everything "they" do.

Just my daily editorial comment. Carry on. Shelf exams, right.

 

[bjackrian]

First, it's up to the medical school whether or not to purchase and administer the NBME shelf exams, so not every allopathic school has them for every rotation. They are pencil bubble-in, multiple choice tests of 100 questions long. The school sends the bubble-sheet scores to the NBME, who adjust the scores based on national performance. It's up to the medical school whether or not they want to use the score that the NBME reports back to them or if they want to further adjust it.
Most schools use them because the questions are supposedly in Step 2 format.

And they aren't always 100 questions--my surgery shelf had about 125 questions.

 

[domer621]

And they aren't always 100 questions--my surgery shelf had about 125 questions.

Every official NBME shelf exam is made up of 100 questions, with 2 hours and 10 mins to complete them.

 

[OHMAN0125]

Every official NBME shelf exam is made up of 100 questions, with 2 hours and 10 mins to complete them.

Are you sure about that? I think the question number varies from experience

 

[PeeWee137]

there are shelf exams from the NBOME as well. nycom takes them. same deal as the NBME, although i dont know if they are curved to the national average.

 

[Law2Doc]

Now for the questions I need answered... Are they taken at Prometric Centers like the USMLE? Are they digital or pen and paper? How many questions are there and is there a "written portion" or is it all fill in the bubble?

You don't take them through NBME, you take them through your school. You thus aren't dealing with Prometric. In general they are paper tests, all multiple choice.

 

[Ashers]

You don't take them through NBME, you take them through your school. You thus aren't dealing with Prometric. In general they are paper tests, all multiple choice.

Shelf exams are great. I love them. They're so much better than departmental exams. Departments love to pull from stuff that they didn't talk about in their lectures; minutae they told us wasn't important, like dosages, etc. Shelf exams -- at least you can go get review books. You may not see everything, but you'll have a good idea about most of the stuff, if you know the review books pretty well.

 

[domer621]

Are you sure about that? I think the question number varies from experience

Yep, it's on the NBME website. All of them are 2hrs 10mins.

 

[achybrachy]

Shelf exams are great. I love them. They're so much better than departmental exams. Departments love to pull from stuff that they didn't talk about in their lectures; minutae they told us wasn't important, like dosages, etc. Shelf exams -- at least you can go get review books. You may not see everything, but you'll have a good idea about most of the stuff, if you know the review books pretty well.

Amen to that! The shelf exams are generally pretty hard, but there's enough review material out there that you can know pretty much everything that will be on them. My M3 surgery rotation didn't use the shelf, and though the content of the test was easier, I did much more poorly because I had prepared for mostly different kinds of questions.

Any idea whether the NBME uses the results of the shelfs at all? Like to get an idea of curriculum standardization or accreditation for schools or anything like that?

 

[OnMyWayThere]

My osteopathic medical school (Western Univ.) administers NBME Shelf Exams to us every 3 months - covering 2 core rotations in 1 day. A great way to wipe out your honors evaluations and ruin your Friday. At least it's only once every 3 months.

 

[jjsmalls]

lecom uses shelf exams for medicine, surgery, ob, and peds. we use exammaster online testing for fp and psychiatry.

 

[RockfordWF]

As a 4th year medical student at a DO school, I kept wondering what these exams were as well. Our exams are written by the department in which we are rotating.

 

[Hambone53]

I agree with most things posted previously, but just wanted to add my 2 cents as 4th year allopathic med student. All of the shelf exams to my understanding (atleast the 6 I took) are 100 questions. The time you get to take them vary depending on the school administering them (ours gave us 2 hours and 40 minutes). They are administed on your school's campus, and are multiple choice format, with no written section. The question format is very similar to USMLE exams, except the shelfs are all paper and pencil still. You are given both a raw score out of 100 for the test and also what percentile this puts you in compared to others who took the test. Each school uses the results differently, and I've heard of it counting as little as 10% toward your clerkship grade, or as much as 40% like at my school.

It is my understanding that one may only take the shelf exams through ones school, so I don't think you could take it on your own. If you're interested in "keeping up" with your allopathic colleges I would just suggest continuing to study regularly and do practice questions for step 2 that relates to the given specialty you're in. This will obviously help you if you plan on taking step 2 and applying for an allopathic residency.

I hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[domer621]

The time you get to take them vary depending on the school administering them (ours gave us 2 hours and 40 minutes).

Wow, that's a lot of time!

 

[fantasty]

The time you get to take them vary depending on the school administering them (ours gave us 2 hours and 40 minutes).

They do vary by school, but they aren't supposed to. The OSR even did a survey to see how many schools were allowing extra time.

 

[angel80]

Wow, that's a lot of time!

That is a lot of time, but if you have ever seen a shelf exam, you'll realize that the questions are exteremely time consuming. Each question is several paragraphs long, and can take a few minutes to read and complete. People who can't read fast at are at an extreme disadvantage, and (provided the school isn't giving you extra time), many students can't complete the exam on time. if you are a reasonable fast reader, time isn't an issue.

 

[angel80]

They do vary by school, but they aren't supposed to. The OSR even did a survey to see how many schools were allowing extra time.

That doesn't seem fair, since your score is standardized with the rest of the country. Those schools who allow extra time should disclose that information so their batch of tests doesn't mess up the scoring system.

 

[blz]

OMG i swear to god if you punks are getting extra time I should report your a$$es. I finished the surgery shelf yesterday on the last minute of the "official" timelimit of 2hrs and 10 mins. I didn't have time to check some of the answers I marked. Crap, if i had an whole 30 mins more I would have done a lot better. damn you all.

 

[smq123]

That is a lot of time, but if you have ever seen a shelf exam, you'll realize that the questions are exteremely time consuming. Each question is several paragraphs long, and can take a few minutes to read and complete. People who can't read fast at are at an extreme disadvantage, and (provided the school isn't giving you extra time), many students can't complete the exam on time. if you are a reasonable fast reader, time isn't an issue.

When domer621 said that it was a lot of time, he meant in comparison to the 2 hours and 10 minutes that the rest of us get. (Domer621 is a 3rd year.)

And I'm a very fast reader - time is still an issue. 🙁

Geez, 30 extra minutes?! That IS a lot of time. I wish my school gave me that much extra time.

EDIT: Do you guys do the survey questions at the end of each shelf? They ask you how much time your school alloted for that exam: either 2 hrs and 10 min, or 2 hrs and 40 min. I don't get it - can your school PICK how much time they give you? Because if so, I'll camp outside the dean's office in protest until they change.

 

[bjackrian]

Ours have varied by department with some sticking to the 2h10m rule and others allowing as much as 3 hours. We do fill in the bubbles about how long your school gives you. It definitely sucks that people who only get 2h10 are subject to the same scoring curve as people who got 3h.

 

[smq123]

Ours have varied by department with some sticking to the 2h10m rule and others allowing as much as 3 hours. We do fill in the bubbles about how long your school gives you. It definitely sucks that people who only get 2h10 are subject to the same scoring curve as people who got 3h.

3 hours?? :cry:

 

[domer621]

That is a lot of time, but if you have ever seen a shelf exam, you'll realize that the questions are exteremely time consuming. Each question is several paragraphs long, and can take a few minutes to read and complete.

Right. I've taken the exact shelf exams as you, so I know the question format. Now, imagine having all of those same, long questions with only 2 hours and 10 mins (the correct allotted time) to complete them, and you can see why one could see it as unfair.

Do you guys go to "disadvantaged" med schools or something? I thought they only gave extra time to people who were "disadvantaged".

 

[bjackrian]

Do you guys go to "disadvantaged" med schools or something? I thought they only gave extra time to people who were "disadvantaged".

Our school told us that it is up to each school to decide how much time to give for the tests. They say that the official NBME times are "recommended." (Incidentally, most of the departments do limit us to 2h10m-it's only been one so far that's given us the three hours).

Since the answer sheet includes the survey question about how much time you were given, it seems likely to me that each school is allowed to set the time limit for the exam.

 

[OnMyWayThere]

FYI the NBME shelf exams are administered at several DO and MD schools... and NOT administered at other DO and MD schools. It is up to each school to include these or not in clerkship years. It is not required by the NBME for licensure or anything like that.

 

[Hambone53]

I'm very thankful to have the 2hours and 40 minutes my school give us. I do think it is unfortunate that the time is not standardized for all test takers because this does give someone like me (who is a slower test takers and usually takes between 2 h 20 min-30 min to finish the test) an unfair advantage over others who are also slow test takers and limited to 2 h 10 min. I the survey you fill out at the end I think some of the times listed are even more than 3 hours. Anyone out there get more than this to take the shelf? I know I could be more careful and deliberate in answering questions with more time...but then again, I'm sure the point is not only to test our fund of knowledge, but also how we use this knowledge while under a pressure situation.

I just have one shelf left and can't wait to finish it...only step 3 left after that. yay! 😀

 

[Ashers]

Geez -- with that little thing on the back that you fill out the time given, I wonder if they take that into consideration for the scores. We're given 2hr10min. Though, I've never had a problem running out of time, but I've only taken psych and OB/gyn. I've had time to spare in both cases.

 

[PeeWee137]

we get 3 hours for peds, IM and surgery and 2 hours for fp, psych and ob/gyn. but the # of questions on the nbome tests vary, they are all at least 100, but IM has the most, around 150q. they are similar to comlex questions, and sometimes just as vague.

 

[Droopy Snoopy]

Yep, it's on the NBME website. All of them are 2hrs 10mins.

According to their "Subject Examination Program Information Guide" the time for different exams varies by subject, and there's no mention at all of the number of questions. Although as others have posted my experience has been >100 q's (at least basic science ones, I have yet to take a clinical science one). From the pdf:

Basic Science Disciplines
Behavioral Sciences (2 hrs 30 min)
Biochemistry (2 hrs 30 min)
*Gross Anatomy (2 hrs 30 min)
Embryology (2 hrs 55 min)
Embryology and Human Developmental
Biology (3 hrs)
Histology and Cell Biology (2 hrs 30 min)
*Microbiology (2 hrs 30 min)
Immunology (3 hrs)
*Neuroscience (2 hrs 30 min)
Neuropathology (3 hrs)
Psychopathology/Psychopharmacology (3 hrs)
Neuroscience plus both modules (3 hrs 30 min)
Pathology (2 hrs 30 min)
Pharmacology (2 hrs 30 min)
*Physiology (2 hrs 30 min)
Neurophysiology (3 hrs)

Clinical Science Disciplines
Clinical Neurology (2 hrs 10 min)
Family Medicine (2 hrs 10 min)
Medicine (2 hrs 10 min)
Obstetrics and Gynecology (2 hrs 10 min)
Pediatrics (2 hrs 10 min)
Psychiatry (2 hrs 10 min)
Surgery (2 hrs 10 min)
Introduction to Clinical Diagnosis
(2 hrs 30 min)
Comprehensive Examinations
Basic Science (4 hrs)
Clinical Science (4 hrs)

 

[domer621]

Although as others have posted my experience has been >100 q's (at least basic science ones, I have yet to take a clinical science one).

I was just referring to the clinical sciences tests that are used during 3rd year (that's why this thread in the Clinical Rotations forum). Every test is 100 questions, which is why each one is allotted the same time - 2 hrs and 10 mins.

But you're right, they don't mention the question count, but they do mention each test being given the same amount of time. The 2 tests I have taken after rotations have each been 100 questions long, and the tests my friends have taken in other rotations have been 100 questions long.