Appropriateness techniques

Our experience with Medify students suggests two popular techniques that may work for you in Appropriateness questions:

• The ‘two sides’ technique: Start by asking yourself ‘Is this response good or bad in these circumstances?’
• The ‘A first’ technique: Start by asking yourself ‘Is this an ideal or optimal response in these circumstances?’

Notice that in both techniques, you will move quickly towards deciding A is correct, or possibly correct, or eliminating A so you can focus on the remaining answers.

You can use any technique you like to evaluate responses against answer choice logic in Appropriateness questions.

However, at Medify we encourage you to avoid a technique that focuses on deciding between B and C. With a bit of practice, you will find that you are unlikely to have to decide between B and C.

This is because of the fundamentally different logic that makes a response B versus C.

• A B response is acceptable but not effective at addressing a key issue, but at the same time it could be done as the response cannot have a bad component. A bad response must be C or D.
• A C response is unacceptable and harmful in some way, though it must have minimal negative consequences and no damage to patient health, safety or public confidence in the profession – otherwise, it must be D. At the same time, it cannot be redeemable or constructive – a response that makes things better rather than worse must be A or B.

An advantage of the ‘two sides’ technique is that it lets you quickly eliminate 2 of 4 answer choices.

This means you move from a 1-in-4 chance of a correct answer to a 50-50 choice.

It also helps you focus on nuance on a single side of the appropriate/inappropriate divide.

You will need practice to refine your understanding of what makes something C rather than D, or B rather than A. But this technique focuses the mind on the key nuance, so you can develop your Appropriateness skills as you get ready for Test Day.

In any Appropriateness technique, the key task is finding the key issue in the scenario before you analyse each response.

Watch out for some common problems that can limit your effectiveness:

• Try to catch yourself ‘glazing’ – this means looking at on-screen text without mentally processing what it says or means. Even top students can find themselves glazing, especially late in an exam or a lengthy revision session.
• Don’t use the VR technique by mistake – Since the test interface has the same format for VR and SJ, it is easy to fall into VR habits and read the question before you look at the scenario. However, this means you are likely to miss out one or more key aspects of the passage. Remember, sometimes the key issue is subtle or not directly stated, so you cannot merely ‘scan’ for the key issue.

The ‘A first’ technique is more challenging than the ‘two sides’ technique.

• You may prefer the ‘two sides’ technique early in your revision. If it works well, you may just keep using it right through to Test Day.
• However, with more experience applying answer choice logic, you may favour the ‘A first’ technique since it lets you focus on ideal responses in the scenario’s context. This can make it easier to see what is not ideal or inappropriate.

With practice, the ‘A first’ technique will help you narrow the issues to consider once you eliminate A. As you refine your technique, you can decide briskly between the other answers:

• It may be that a response is clearly not A yet it’s broadly acceptable, so you can click B and move on to the next question.
• It could be that a response is clearly not A and also unacceptable, so you must simply decide between C or D, click your answer and move on.

And, of course, in many Appropriateness sets, one or more responses will be appropriate and also ideal. So you will simply select A and not think about the other answers.