Types of Exam Questions: Written Examinations
The University of Aberdeen currently utilises both written examinations and Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE).
Single Best Answer Questions
Single Best Answer Questions are a type of closed format questions where candidates are required to select the best answer from a list of topics. These types of question largely test factual recall but can also require the candidate to make a diagnosis, or select an appropriate investigation or treatment option.
Single best answer questions comprise the question details, usually a clinical scenario or a problem (the stem), a clear question (the lead in), a best answer, and 4 inferior answers (the distractors).
A well written question should allow the candidate to formulate the best answer prior to reading the options, although answer options should be carefully written so as to provide some degree of difficulty, without any ambiguity. It should not be possible for a candidate with no knowledge of the best answer to arrive at the best answer by a process of elimination which is not based on knowledge of the subject.
Each correctly answered Single Best Answer Question is awarded 1 mark.
Clinical Scenario Papers (CSP)
CSP questions are a type of open ended question which require candidates to generate answers spontaneously in free text. The questions are based around a single clinical scenario for each paper but can include questions relating to basic sciences and clinical practice, and diagrams and clinical findings or investigation results can be utilised within questions to allow interpretation.
This type of question allows assessment of the application of knowledge by asking students to interpret information and make decisions regarding management. Short answer questions differ from traditional essay questions in that they require a short, succinct answer and will often ask the candidate to "list" whereas an essay question would expect the candidates to explain a reasoning process.
CSP differ in length but there are usually between 120 and 150 marks available in total. They allow for more clinical reasoning to occur than in the SBA papers.