UWorld vs. Canada Q bank vs. AMBOSS for MCCQE1

[bellejolie]

hey y'all - unfortunately for this year the deals have changed for students and Canada q bank was unable to give a fair subscription price to the student associations for this year, so FMEQ went with Amboss instead. I have heard good things about Amboss, but my understanding is canada q bank is better for the public health/ethics/canadian specific portion of the exam which now is majority of the exam, but amboss/uworld is better for the medicine side of things. Would love to hear thoughts. a qbank subscription for 2 months is $135 (i'm ok to pay this considering price of MCC resources AND no away electives nor in person interviews so saving this way) Also please keep in mind MCC just changed the exam for the April 2021 session and now you only have to select ONE mcq answer instead of more than one (terrible wording but I think this is what i have gathered). 

"At present, there are five response options to choose from for every Multiple-Choice question. As of the April-June 2021 session, there will be a different number of options to choose from. The options will range from three to five. The list of options will include one best answer and two to four incorrect options, known as distractors. Our exam team has introduced this change to better reflect appropriate options for a given question which also improves the candidate’s experience by decreasing cognitive load, reading time, and reducing testing time to answer questions."

[indefatigable]

The MCCQE-1 has two parts: a MCQ and a Clinical cases section.  I interpret the change as stating there will be 3-5 options rather than 5 choices for each MCQ question. 

I think that Canada QBank was ok, but not great - the practice cases were useful to get used to the format.  AMBOSS is a great learning resource, but you're right the focus of the MCCQE-1 is different.  The best/most useful practice material is from the MCC - AMBOSS does have an excellent QBank, although it is more geared toward Step 2 CK along with UWorld which does cover a fair amount of material which isn't emphasized at all on the MCCQE-1, although they are both great.

The ethic/public health is really best seen in the MCC material - Canada Qbank doesn't actually cover that much, except in the clinical cases.  I think it's best to do sample MCCQE type questions and branch out from there.

[bellejolie]

2 minutes ago, indefatigable said:

The MCCQE-1 has two parts: a MCQ and a Clinical cases section.  I interpret the change as stating there will be 3-5 options rather than 5 choices for each MCQ question. 

I think that Canada QBank was ok, but not great - the practice cases were useful to get used to the format.  AMBOSS is a great learning resource, but you're right the focus of the MCCQE-1 is different.  The best/most useful practice material is from the MCC - AMBOSS does have an excellent QBank, although it is more geared toward Step 2 CK along with UWorld which does cover a fair amount of material which isn't emphasized at all on the MCCQE-1, although they are both great.

The ethic/public health is really best seen in the MCC material - Canada Qbank doesn't actually cover that much, except in the clinical cases.  I think it's best to do sample MCCQE type questions and branch out from there.

Thank you so much for your response - MCC resources are so expensive but sigh, perhaps i will eat the cost 

as per what you're saying - i keep re-reading it and i'm not sure i agree: The options will range from three to five. The list of options will include one best answer and two to four incorrect options, known as distractors. 

- to me this says there is one best answer (as opposed to multiple correct answers as in the past) i think the wording is just really confusing and they mean theres 3-5 options, so either 2-4 incorrect answers (if you have 3 options, 2 are incorrect, if you have 5 options, 4 are incorrect). i say this because it is clear there is only one best answer based on what they are saying. 

[indefatigable]

42 minutes ago, bellejolie said:

Thank you so much for your response - MCC resources are so expensive but sigh, perhaps i will eat the cost 

as per what you're saying - i keep re-reading it and i'm not sure i agree: The options will range from three to five. The list of options will include one best answer and two to four incorrect options, known as distractors. 

- to me this says there is one best answer (as opposed to multiple correct answers as in the past) i think the wording is just really confusing and they mean theres 3-5 options, so either 2-4 incorrect answers (if you have 3 options, 2 are incorrect, if you have 5 options, 4 are incorrect). i say this because it is clear there is only one best answer based on what they are saying. 

I'd try talking to other classmates too before buying...  

They preface by saying "At present, there are five response options to choose from for every Multiple-Choice question.

In the Clinical cases section (afternoon usually), there should still be multiple correct answers.  The Multiple choice question has only had one best answer - basically they're saying they're making the MCQ "easier". 

[bellejolie]

1 hour ago, indefatigable said:

I'd try talking to other classmates too before buying...  

They preface by saying "At present, there are five response options to choose from for every Multiple-Choice question.

In the Clinical cases section (afternoon usually), there should still be multiple correct answers.  The Multiple choice question has only had one best answer - basically they're saying they're making the MCQ "easier". 

yes agree - i think it's confusing and would best be resolved by emailing MCC directly. I don't think in previous sittings there has been "one best answer" with 4 incorrect answers - my understanding is there are a few correct answers and this was the problem they sought to fix and ease the burden on students writing. I will email to clarify.

The clinical cases section is short answer i thought? Anyway all to be clarified directly with the MCC. Thanks for the input. 

[indefatigable]

8 hours ago, bellejolie said:

yes agree - i think it's confusing and would best be resolved by emailing MCC directly. I don't think in previous sittings there has been "one best answer" with 4 incorrect answers - my understanding is there are a few correct answers and this was the problem they sought to fix and ease the burden on students writing. I will email to clarify.

The clinical cases section is short answer i thought? Anyway all to be clarified directly with the MCC. Thanks for the input. 

I think the phrasing is confusing, but there’s only ever been one correct answer per question on the “pure” MCQ component.

 I think you may be confounding the multiple correct answers per question in the clinical cases component (which also includes short answers) with the “pure“ multiple choice questions in the first part.  But, by all means email if you think it will address your questions.  

[bellejolie]

15 hours ago, indefatigable said:

I think the phrasing is confusing, but there’s only ever been one correct answer per question on the “pure” MCQ component.

 I think you may be confounding the multiple correct answers per question in the clinical cases component (which also includes short answers) with the “pure“ multiple choice questions in the first part.  But, by all means email if you think it will address your questions.  

oh yes i think you're right - so the MCQ pure part (part 1) will have 3-5 options instead of just 5. and the second half the clinical cases part remains the same. thank you!