Tests and Exams, Recap
I’ve graduated from med school in 2011 and normally this would have meant that that was more or less the end of life-changing, major exams in my life. There was of course such a thing as continuous education in medicine but that you do more or less on your own, with once every five year or so formal several weeks updating course and subsequent tests. That, however, turned out not the way it will to go for me. So here I wanted to look back and recapitulate some of the things I’ve done in the way of tests and exams after the university.
It began in 2014 with taking IELTS General Module. The test has taken place in one of the fanciest hotels in the best city on Earth. I would not say that I remember well how I prepared for it, but the method I’ve utilized to improve my writing still holds — I composed complaining letters to myself on various topics from a leaking air con in the place I was staying at the time to a refund request for non received goods. I still have one or two of them somewhere.
I do remember though being very nervous when arriving at the venue early in the morning. Among other fellow test-takers was this one girl, probably still in high school, and she was surrounded by a veritable crowd of ten or twelve relatives from parents to what looked like grandmothers and grandaunts. I remember thinking something on the lines of “talking about pressure” and hoped she’d do well. The test itself was as expected, but a bit of a challenge with those silly pencils with which one has to detach a used up, not-sharp tip, re-insert it in the pencil thus gaining another sharp-ish tip. Plus, it is surprising how cool it may be in tropics on winter mornings, especially when contrasting the temperature to the daytime one (~30 degrees C at noon to sometimes 18 degrees in the night) and adding to that almost universal nonexistence of draft stoppers or heaters.
I’ve described my way through Step 1 and Step 2 CK in this post and there is some extra info in another one. Both were taken in Prometric Center in Bangkok on the campus of Kasem Pundit University, which happens to be close to the airport. I had to fly from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, but luckily did not have to get through traffic to the city center.
This year when I moved to Montreal, I’ve weighed my options and proceeded to apply for NAC September session. I’ve detailed the prep here. The experience was made as pleasant as possible by the staff and I there was really no time for anxiety or second thoughts on the day. It was neatly balanced, as it were, by the fact that it took almost ten weeks to check and grade the exam.
After I’d taken Duolingo English Test and this one I’ve done on the go. English had been a major language in my life for the last nine years. Plus my previous experience with IELTS gave me at least some insight, as there are only so many ways one can test language comprehension levels. Before the test they advice you to test not only your hardware for any potential issues, but also to check out the interface of the test itself using a mock exam. The registration and the rest are pretty straight forward: you’ll need to install their software for the test, you’ll have to have a piece of ID handy and have a computer with a camera (they will film you doing the test, and the reviewers will be checking this footage later to see if there was anything fishy, as well as seeing you speaking).
Next in chronological order was CASPer test. It is a situational judgement test that is gaining in popularity and now is required in several areas of university education, as well as post-university ones. In my case I had to take it in “Professional Health Sciences”. There are some questions as to the validity of the method, as well as to the fact that the test (which is a private product) is provided by a private company that (for the majority test takers) will not disclose their results but supply them directly to the educational institution chosen by the test taker. So one will never know, there is no “passing” this test, one would be judged and put into quartiles with one’s peers in accordance one’s answers. Basically, it assesses person’s soft skills, self-control and motivation, their social intelligence and ethics of person’s behavior and reactions. They have a bit of info on their website for curious or those in need of the test.
CASPer is taken at home, on your computer with the access required to record you during the test. There is also system check to be done beforehand and the mock exam to familiarize oneself with the interface and the pacing. It takes ninety minutes or so. You’d be given twelve short scenarios, two of which would be in text and ten in video format, then you’d be given three questions a propos each scenario and you’d have to answer them in five minutes. There might be also questions with a quotation and you’d have to explain your understanding of it and asked follow up questions around it. One can’t really prepare by stock piling factual knowledge, but there are things one can do such as engaging in self-examining thoughts more, reading up on current events in the world and in particular in medicine and ethics. There is also an interesting and engaging book by Philip C. Hébert “Doing Right: A Practical Guide to Ethics for Medical Trainees and Physicians”. A lot of people also recommend to think back and consider major, important, life-changing and/or character-shaping events, so that if asked something on the same lines, you won’t have to dig through your memory on the spot. Worst case scenario you’ll just re-write and re-affirm your memories by doing that.
Getting back to the table, next one I’d done was MCCQE part I, I’ve documented it in this post. Preparing to it helped to distract me from interminable wait for the results of NAC. The testing venue is closer to the Montréal Trudeau Airport and was a thirty something kilometer drive, and I was extremely thankful to those two persons who drove me there and back.
A week or so after the bulk of the tests, I’ve began to study French formally in a real school. I must say it is nice to have a schedule and a framework figured out by someone else once in a while. I was doing the fifth week when I’ve jumped on the last opportunity to take TFI in foreseeable future as most venues have cancelled it in September or October until further notice. In fact, when I asked about it, I was told there was only one place left and if I really need it, I’ll have to come to the office ASAP. Thus my whole preparation was just generally learning the language and reading through a short bulletin on of exam. TFI tests two components — oral and written comprehension, thus it had a series of short audios and series of texts of increasing complexity with questions in both parts. The test was held in the same school where I have French classes (in fact, even in the same classroom) and I’ve got results about a month later.
Lastly (for the moment, at least) I will take IELTS Academic Module in the end of January, 2021. I’ve already placed a manual with examples and tasks on this topic on hold in the library (that is one of my delights being in Montreal — the libraries! Couldn’t wait for the opportunity to wander for hours in one of them. Alas, for now one can only place a hold and then come when called to pick the book up) and now awaiting for the Christmas excitement to relax a bit so that someone can find the book that I need and let me know.
