EXAM TAKING WORD SKILLS.....

We'll return to the PSYCHOLOGY of exam taking. Some you may be familiar with, some may
not. So, it's useful to review a few tools you can use to your advantage. Especially, when you'll
just have to guess an answer.



Exam taking rule # 2. PAY ATTENTION TO THE WORDING !!!!

Whenever you see a sentence containing the following words: NEVER, ALWAYS,
RARELY, UNLIKELY....are most probably NOT the correct answers!!!!





Example: 1. A patients with Hodgkin's Lymphoma RARELY experience fever. (Quite the
opposite is true. One of the key features is, PAL-EBSTEIN FEVER).


Exaample 2. Travelers who receive immune prohylaxis prior to travel to the
Sub-Saharan Africa, NEVER develop malaria. (DRUG RESISTANCE is common
so, even with the best preventive measures, malaria can occur).


Example 3. Patient's with Adult Still's Disease ALWAYS experience a rash. (In fact,
they experience an EVANESCENT (come&go) faint salmon colored rash,
therefore making the diagnosis even more difficult).


Example 4. Patient's with Pseudotumor Cerebri are UNLIKELY to benefit from weight
loss. (Quite the contrary. These patients are usually obese young women, in
in whom, weight loss is often CURATIVE of their recurrent headaches).





Thanks for your time again....we'll continue soon and get into more detail on exam taking.