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Hi All,

Soooo now that i got into medical school I really wanted to give back to the premed 101 community and share some of my experience with other people on this forum.  I thought I would post a thread about how I prepared for my Casper test this year to answer some of your questions. :) 

I started roughly 2 months in advance

1) Read doing right... i read the whole thing and talked out-loud about the case studies in the books with friends/family

2) I would play with typing websites (i.e. typeracer) to speed up my typing 

3) I bought Astroff practice tests and other practice tests and did about 8 of them... In my opinion this really helped me with timing and articulating my thoughts... I reviewed the tests and my answers with friends/ med students to get their feedback on what they thought 

4) Prepare a document answering the following questions to help brainstorm for the personal stations

Note: These questions are random things I came up with/ got from other resources... it is a good idea to just think about significant situations in your life where you learnt/ grew in some way... below are guiding questions:

  • A time you dealt with conflict 
  • what are your strengths/ weaknesses
  • a time you had a conflict with authority 
  • a time you collaborated effectively 
  • a time you lost your integrity 
  • a time you felt awkward
  • future goals
  • a time you demonstrated professionalism 
  • overcoming a difficult situation 
  • when you were unjustly criticized 
  • a time you took initiative 
  • were asked to do something that conflicted with your values 
  • a role model you have 
  • brainstorm about how you support others in difficult times 
  • a time you failed

That is pretty much how I prepared.. I am open to answering as many questions as I can :) you can PM me or comment below 

Some useful links:

Websites and Resources:

Free practice test on this website:

https://www.apetest.org/us/product/casper-sim-for-the-mind/?c=f64cca7c8fbc

 

Casper sample questions:

http://www.caspertest.com/casper-sample-questions/

 

http://bemoacademicconsulting.com/casperprep

 

http://www.caspertest.com/casper-sample-questions/

 

Really good advice and link to practice tests:

http://www.mockcasper.ca/casper-guide/

 

 Bioethics link:

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/eppp-archive/100/201/300/cdn_medical_association/cmaj/series/bioethic.htm

 

Sample videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWfDgu8nIF0

http://www.medhopeful.com/archive/mcmaster-casper-2012-4-sample-videos-and-my-thoughts/

 

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Hi,

congrats on getting into med school.  It must feel so nice :) Thanks for your tips on how to prepare for CASPer!

I looked at the Astroff tests but their website says they only have 4 practice CASPer tests.  How did you manage to do 8 with them?   Also, only 1 of their tests includes the same ratio as the real CASPer (8 video/4 non-video).

I also could not find a sample practice test from them.  They have a sample video with 3 follow up questions, but I would like to at least be able to try out their testing platform before buying. 

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5 hours ago, vikym said:

Hi,

congrats on getting into med school.  It must feel so nice :) Thanks for your tips on how to prepare for CASPer!

I looked at the Astroff tests but their website says they only have 4 practice CASPer tests. My bad I got other practice tests from other resources but astroff was the main one..How did you manage to do 8 with them?   Also, only 1 of their tests includes the same ratio as the real CASPer (8 video/4 non-video).

I also could not find a sample practice test from them.  They have a sample video with 3 follow up questions, but I would like to at least be able to try out their testing platform before buying. 

 

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3 hours ago, gunneriloveottawa said:

 

I really did not enjoy the CASPer - I find it to be poorly designed for its intent. It is intended to create another screen for applicants - to further differentiate candidates, but it obscures rather than assists in the admissions process. I find that people try to practice too much and things become so cookie cutter. Type very fast - talk about ethics - always be ethical and talk both sides.. I don't know.. does this mean you are going to be an ethical doctor? I have my doubts. 

I was admitted to various schools this year and on the feedback form, I wrote about how the CASPer was really a bad version of the MMI. They want to emulate the MMI. You lose your personal touch in your answer through the CASPer. My two cents.

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On 2017-06-01 at 9:09 PM, MacMed2018 said:

It's been years now but I don't remember talking about a lot of ethics in my answers.  I do agree it sucks and you have to be a fast typer !  I definitely recommend doing a few practice tests to make sure you get the hang of things.

 

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 6/1/2017 at 10:06 PM, qnzjlo said:

Lol maybe it has changed? But, the CASPer I wrote was laden with ethical dilemmas. I just dislike how it creates more opportunities for consulting companies to scam premed students for money. It also adds a layer of financial burden on premed students - as if the MCATs, application fees were not enough already. I am just ranting, perhaps. I get the opposing argument that they are considered "barriers to entry" to ensure that only those who are committed apply and the application fees are to offset the costs of the staff at the admissions offices. I get all that, but I feel that all these costs burn over the longer term, especially for unsuccessful applicants. 

can you provide some examples of the ethical dilemmas you had on your version without disclosing the questions?

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You get 8 video scenarios and 4 written scenarios. The video scenarios are obviously all situations you are placed in, similar to the demo one (you are in a a shop and the lady wants to return the item), except of course, some scenarios (not all) can be placed in a health, research, or team work/friends setting.

The 4 written scenarios are more about yourself, like: tell me a time you were stressed, you had a conflict, etc. (those are examples, I did not receive those but they are similar).

I suggest you do some personal reflection and practice typing. Learn how to answer ethical scenarios in general, not specific examples as the scenarios you will receive are probably some that you would have never seen before,. 

Mr Duck

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I agree with OP here with a few exceptions. I skimmed Doing Right, but I didn't find it directly applicable to the CASPer. If you want to get a feel for how some med schools want you to answer certain ethical dilemmas, I would recommend looking at UCalgary's MMI resources. They offer some examples and what they would consider good, well thought out answers. I personally find CASPer to be very similar to a lot of MMIs that I've done (with the obvious exception that it is typed rather than face to face). 

It's generally good to have a basic understanding of major problems in medicine and government today. The Canadian Medical Association regularly posts about these and they are free to read. Even if you don't use these for CASPer, it will be handy to know for your interviews. 

Otherwise, practice typing and take some time for self-reflection. It's not a lot of time and being a slow typer will hurt you (clumsy is okay as they don't hold typos against you). You shouldn't be thinking about a time you've dealt with an obstacle or failure for the first time during your CASPer. Personally, I didn't dedicate a lot of time to preparing for CASPer. I did a lot of passive self-reflection between May of the application cycle before where I had been rejected from every school I interviewed for and when I wrote the CASPer. 


 

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