Final Exam
Time & location: The final exam on your personal computer takes place on the final Friday of the clerkship unless it is a holiday. The time will be announced via email during the clerkship. More information can be found here.
About the exam: The final exam is a standardized subject exam from the NBME (National Board of Medical Examiners). It is computerized. There are 110 questions and 2 hours and 45 minutes time allotted. Only 100 questions are used in the final analysis. The time allotted for this exam is determined by the NBME. Occasionally, a student has a documented learning disability that requires extra time on the exam. If this is your circumstance, the UWSOM Testing Services (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) should already be aware, but it is recommended to confirm with them. The disability must be documented in the School of Medicine. There is also an Exam Postponement policy in the event of personal illness or personal/family emergencies on the day of the exam.
Here is how the final exam will be used:
- A Passing score is required to enter the next phase in the curriculum and to graduate from UW-SOM. An exam score of Fail (3rd percentile of national test-takers) will require you to take the exam again after a period of study.
- The exam is 50% of your final grade. Neurology feels that both clinical skills and knowledge are equally important.
- To allow evaluation of the UW-SOM neurology clerkship compared to other clerkships across the country.
Free advice:
- Consider yourself warned that the exam is challenging. I have asked students who have done the very best on the exam how they studied. The most common answer is that they picked a resource from the Independent Study tab and completed questions from a USMLE Step 2 source such as QBank or First Aid, or NBME self-assessment exams.
- You will not see all of neurology in this clerkship. Read throughout the four weeks from the neurology topic list in your pocket syllabus. Do not wait until the last week.
- Do not slow down to spend a lot of time on one question. Students who do have not had time to finish the exam.
- Take the practice quiz provided by the NBME. Twenty questions. Go to: http://www.nbme.org/pdf/SubjectExams/SE_ContentOutlineandSampleItems.pdf
| Breakdown of Questions |
Percentage
| ||
|---|---|---|---|
| General Principles | 1-5 | ||
| Mental Disorders | 5-10 | ||
| Diseases of the Nervous System and Special Senses | |||
| Promoting Health and Health Maintenance | 5-10 | ||
| Understanding Mechanisms of Disease | 15-20 | ||
| Establishing a Diagnosis | |||
| Disorders of the special senses | 1-5 | ||
| Structural disorders (trauma, cerebrovascular disease, infections) | 10-15 | ||
| Toxic, metabolic and degenerative disorders | 5-10 | ||
| Paroxysmal and sleep disorders | 1-5 | ||
| Neuromuscular disorders | 10-15 | ||
| Applying Principles of Management | 15-20 | ||
| Other Organ Systems | 5-10 | ||