My First Shelf Exam!

Today’s the big day that we took our first med school Shelf Exam, in Anatomy. It is a 2.5 hour test with 125 questions, nationally standardized and administered by all accredited schools, covering everything that we have learned about anatomy. Normally in U.S. Schools, this test is given to students in their 4th semester. But at AUC, we take it as 1st semesters. Because of this, AUC curves the grades after they are sent back from the States for grading. I think its great that we start taking these exams early, because they prepare us for the style of questions and the endurance we need to succeed on the USMLE Step I. Over the years, AUC students have done pretty well on the shelf exams. As for me, I didn’t think the test questions were all that bad. I definitely thought AUC did well in preparing me for the material. The only problem I had was my speed, which has always been my weak point throughout my schooling years. It seems everyone I talked to in my class finished the exam at least 15 minutes early, whereas I ran out of time and had to guess on the last few questions! What am I to do??

So today, Anatomy is officially over. That’s 2 classes down, and 1 more to go… next Wednesday. That will be our last exam for the semester. To relieve ourselves after the Shelf Exam, Arif, Chris, and I went to go explore what’s beyond the “rocks” at Mullet Bay. We ended up finding a natural land bridge in the water! Afterwards, we headed over to Simpson Bay Beach, about a 45 minute walk from campus, and one of the nicest beaches in St. Maarten in my opinion.  It’s large, it’s secluded, and it has some of the finest sands and unbeatable views on the island. Check it out!

*UPDATE 1/5/2010*
The Anatomy Shelf scores are back. As a group, we scored higher than the national U.S. average (and that’s without the curve)!!