Lately, I’ve met some people who have had a challenging time passing their National Board Exams. Each of them has had difficulty passing multiple exams and it has set them back greatly.
Honestly, I didn’t have trouble passing my board exams while in school. Because of that, I wanted to take some time today to offer advice how to pass those overly stressful standardized tests.
When I was at Parker, I was usually one of the first ones done with each test. People always wondered how I did it, thinking I employed some kind of secret trick to do so. I simply learned how to master the art of test-taking over the course of 250-300 multiple choice tests over four years.
Read the answers first
Try to get an idea of what you will be asked. Sometimes, you can even spot the odd answer out by doing this, or narrow it down to 50/50.
Look for keywords
Chances are if you see “HLA-B27″ and “onset in males from ages 15-35″ you’re looking for something related to ankylosing spondylosis or Marie-Strumpell disease in the answers. This might seem obvious, but you would be surprised by the test anxiety stories I’ve heard lately.
Look at the linguistics of the questions being asked
In chiropractic school, we learn a lot of Latin. If you learn all those terms and understand the meaning of the different suffixes and prefixes we all get bombarded with, this can help you a lot.
I can’t tell you how many times I could not figure out an answer and I started looking at the linguistics of the words in the question and the answer became plainly obvious.
DO NOT change your answers… EVER!
I have taken so many tests that I could swear I was going to fail, all because I marked down some answers I thought were wrong. However, I didn’t change them because they were my first gut reaction. Almost every single time, I ended up doing okay on the questions I was unsure of.
Don’t buy in to the board review scare tactics
I never went to a board review except for Part III, simply because it was free. Each time, I just studied on my own. I thought that if I knew what I was studying well enough, and that if I owned it, I would pass without any worries.
When I went to the Part III review, I could not believe how much we were bombarded by how hard Part III was going to be, how tricky it was, that if you didn’t get 70% or better on the practice tests you were in trouble. I remember hearing the instructor say he knew people that walked out of Part III thinking it was easy, only to fail later.
I have to admit, I was really nervous going into Part III. I was on edge and I was worried the National Boards were going to royally screw us as I began taking this test. I didn’t feel that way on Part I, II, IV, or PT.
As I was going through Part III, I remember thinking it was easy. But then I remembered the ones that also thought that and failed. I remember thinking to myself, “This seems easy but I can’t find any tricks. Uh oh, I might be screwed.”
When I got my Part III score, it was nowhere near failing, The moral of the story? Board reviews are not always the Godsend they say they are.
Accept the test anxiety and then move on
You will probably be nervous when you finally sit down to take your board exams. I remember being nervous before I took the first exam in Part I and II. I was also nervous when I took Part III and, yes, PT. For Part IV, I felt this sense of impending doom like I felt with clinic entrance exam, though I hardly knew anyone that ever failed Part IV.
Nervousness is alright. But letting it take over to the point where you over-think questions, out-think yourself, and fear the entire process only gives the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners more leverage over you.
They want you to fail because they will make more money. Why else would you come across so many questions and answers you’ve never heard of? They are trying to trick you. Just accept it and move on.
Have confidence in what you know and leave it at that. I guarantee you will do better by simply keeping this in mind.
* * * * * * * * * *
Hopefully these tips help you get a better handle on your test taking strategy so you can finally pass the National Boards.
Then you can celebrate by doing the Ickey Shuffle!
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice! Thanks for that insight – I’ll ref this one again this coming summer.
scott
It’s funny when I look back on the chiropractic boards and realize none of it was really hard, it was more the stress and anxiety of what you hear that keeps recreating the fear and stress. The tip about NOT changing answers is great. Innately the answers are there. Be prepared, study, and take good care of yourself in the process.
I don’t miss the days of taking the National Boards, but it was fun watching the students who made a habit of cutting class sweating over the material in the minutes leading to the exam. One of the things that school does right is prepare you for the boards. Some of the stuff was so trivial while sitting in class, but sure enough, it was right there on the exam sheet.
I don’t know how I passed the national boards, I felt that I had guessed on the whole test. It has been 20 years or more since I took them and I have not used a bit of that information. I feel that I have been a successful chiropractor and have outlasted most of my classmates in practice. What a waste of time these tests are. Not only do they waste time, cause financial stress, but also contribute to a lot of disharmony in the students and in the graduates when they have to pay the money back that they had to borrow in order to study this useless garbage.