We had our Behavioral Science Shelf today. A Shelf exam is from the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) and is a standardized exam in a subject that is given nationally. It is like a SAT or ACT for a subject, but worse. Shelves are good for students and schools because they are a measure of you (or your school) vs. everyone else in the US. The NBME is also the governing body who is responsible for the USMLE (United States Medical Licensing Examination). Anyway, a shelf exam is always a lot because they are information from more than one semester (this one covered things from every semester of medical school) and they involve a lot of reasoning. In fact, it seems (I could be wrong) that they might talk about an obscure disease (or something they expect that you don't know about) and based upon background knowledge, they expect that you can answer a question using reasoning about this topic that they didn't expect you to know about.
Last semester, we had to take 5 shelves in less than two weeks. That was horrible. This semester we only had this one shelf and it was okay. There was enough time to actually STUDY the information, which was nice. With so many exams last semester, it was a matter of just doing the best I could with the time I had. Also, I don't think this was as conceptually difficult as some of the exams last semester, such as neuroscience or biochemistry. I think that a lot of the behavioral science exam was (1) keep patients safe (2) protect confidentiality (3) know when to break confidentiality (4) how to diagnose some psychiatric disease (5) what drugs do you give/or why do you give that drug and (6) how to talk to patients/interview patients/be nice! This was the first (and probably only) medical exam that I have finished about an hour early. I usually finish a bit early, nothing like today (Farley was done early too, but he is generally quicker at exams than I am). I found it interesting that at line in the bank people were saying that they couldn't finish the exam, they didn't study at all because "who can study behavioral science?" and they were so tired from all the reading (the "stems" or questions are long--sometimes several paragraphs). Farley and I didn't have these problems, but then again, we DID study for the exam and probably did at least 300 questions to prepare. It is hard to know how we did, but I expect that Farley and I will both be pleased. Taking exams is like being an athlete. You can't just go out and play in the Superbowl if your only practice is memorizing the plays on a white board: you have got to get out there and PLAY the game to be prepared. In the case of a medical student, you can't just read books and notes, you have GOT to practice questions.
Less than a week left. Oh gosh, I can't tell you how excited I am, even if that means I'm leaving 80 degree weather for a blizzard!! My mind needs a break and I need to see my loved ones (well, other than Farley)!
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