Technical Difficulties in CASPer

[Der Kaiser]

wouldn't this mean...technically...someone could leave a whole section blank intentionally if they find that section too difficult.....and dun get penalized at all since it could be interpreted as a technical difficulty (or intentionally reported it as such).....loophole much?

 

Damn. Wish I'd thought of this;).

[jerr]

Damn. Wish I'd thought of this;).

 

>tough section and can't think of good answers

>call up the casper service, complain that the internet is cutting you off

>drag on the conversation until timer finishes, then "oh oh my god the internet connection is back, thank god, aww man it skipped the last section!" and hang up

[markov79]

i'm sure they've thought of this, and have adequately weighed the pros and cons, but am i wrong in thinking that it put less stress on their system if they provided more time slots? again, i'm sure they've decided that the number of spots they provide gives the greatest benefit:risk ratio, but ya.

[kiwwwi]

For those that experienced considerable technical difficulties, there may be hope yet, as I just received an email from Wendy (at noon) offering me the option of rewriting.

 

I was told that if I decided not to rewrite they would take the 9 completed sections for scoring, but if I decided to rewrite, they would scrap the original and assess me on the rewritten test only.

 

Personally, I really appreciate the fact that they took the time to review our cases. Hopefully I won't encounter any technical difficulties this around.

[Dr_Scully]

Here's the email I got today:

 

"Thank you for contacting the CASPer Helpdesk or the MD Admissions Office during your CASPer test, to report technical issues or other difficulties.

 

Your report along with your test responses have now been reviewed by our CASPer team and your test has been deemed complete. CASPer was designed with more sections than we need to maintain optimal reliability which gives us flexibility in situations where applicants have technical difficulty on up to three sections.

 

No further action is required from you. Your test will be marked out of the number of sections you completed in the absence of technical difficulties."

 

 

So it looks like they take the best 9 sections.

In case anyone's wondering, I ended up missing the questions for one section, and the video for another (so I didn't really answer the questions properly). So since I only screwed up two sections, they will probably just mark me on the rest that I did finish. I got no option to re-write it.

[DanceMeOutside]

For anyone reading this in future years, I actually ended up getting an interview invitation at McMaster and a first-round offer of admission despite the technical difficulties I had during CASPer, so don't be discouraged if you have a similar experience during the next application cycle. After going through the whole process with Mac, I can honestly say that they try very very hard to be as fair as possible. Aside from the tech issues with CASPer, I had a really positive experience corresponding with Mac and attending my MMI. Future applicants - focus on answering the CASPer questions to the best of your ability (type fast!!) and don't stress too much about technical difficulties. Approach both CASPer and the MMI with an open-mind and you'll do great.

[bighopes100]

Congrats!

 

Just wondering, does the CASPer have right and wrong answers? Do they care if you know the rules for doctor patient relationships, or can you just honestly answer with whatever you morally agree with?

[penguin92]

Congrats!

 

Just wondering, does the CASPer have right and wrong answers? Do they care if you know the rules for doctor patient relationships, or can you just honestly answer with whatever you morally agree with?

 

No right and wrong answers per se. However you do have to consider ethics and whats morally right when answering the question. Writing something down that makes you seem insensitive or immoral probably wouldn't look so good to the first year meds that mark the thing.

 

However it is very time constrained so generally the first thing that pops into your head is what you have to write down and its usually what you honestly believe in and what you would do in the situation. If that happens to be something that disagrees with what is considered morally right and unethical, than you might not be what this profession is looking for

[tberry3]

Congrats!

 

Just wondering, does the CASPer have right and wrong answers? Do they care if you know the rules for doctor patient relationships, or can you just honestly answer with whatever you morally agree with?

 

There are no right or wrong answers. Of course there are definitely good and bad answers (and everything in between), but it's not really about knowing any hard ethical "rules" or memorizing anything, just giving your honest opinions. I can only speak from my limited experience (writing CASPer once) but I think the biggest thing is being able to see different sides of a situation, making a choice, and considering the potential effects of your choice.

 

The test goes by so quickly that if you try to write anything other than your gut reactions, you won't have time to finish - I felt like they set it up in such a way that your only real option is to be honest, because if you spend too much time trying to think of the "right" answer, your time will be up before you've had a chance to write anything at all.

[shady]

There are no right or wrong answers. Of course there are definitely good and bad answers (and everything in between), but it's not really about knowing any hard ethical "rules" or memorizing anything, just giving your honest opinions. I can only speak from my limited experience (writing CASPer once) but I think the biggest thing is being able to see different sides of a situation, making a choice, and considering the potential effects of your choice.

 

The test goes by so quickly that if you try to write anything other than your gut reactions, you won't have time to finish - I felt like they set it up in such a way that your only real option is to be honest, because if you spend too much time trying to think of the "right" answer, your time will be up before you've had a chance to write anything at all.

 

+1

 

You don't have time to think. You just type out what your instincts dictate and hope for the best

[holiday1001]

that being said there are issues you should and are expected to address in your answers, and things you should not say

[BlurstOfTimes]

that being said there are issues you should and are expected to address in your answers, and things you should not say

 

Definitely, but I don't know if there's any amount of studying that would help someone with that sort of thing. If you have time then reading a book like Doing Right certainly couldn't hurt, but it's not likely to be exceptionally helpful either.

[bighopes100]

Oh ok. Makes sense. I was just confused about situations where the morally right thing to do may not necessarily be the legally correct thing to do. For example, if someone wants to get an abortion for a silly reason, technically they're allowed to go through with it right? Even if you disagree and think it may be better to give the child up for adoption etc

[Sarvish]

Oh ok. Makes sense. I was just confused about situations where the morally right thing to do may not necessarily be the legally correct thing to do. For example, if someone wants to get an abortion for a silly reason, technically they're allowed to go through with it right? Even if you disagree and think it may be better to give the child up for adoption etc

 

As long as you demonstrate understanding for both sides, you should be ok. I mean, I'd argue in the other direction and I'm sure a well-thought out answer would receive great marks either way.

[lalab]

For anyone reading this in future years, I actually ended up getting an interview invitation at McMaster and a first-round offer of admission despite the technical difficulties I had during CASPer, so don't be discouraged if you have a similar experience during the next application cycle.

 

Same! Don't get psyched out when those technical glitches occur - mine were happening at each section after the first two. Keep calm and just regroup. DO NOT THINK ABOUT it, just brush it off. Work hard on clicking back to your task as to not lose any more time! I may have lost about 10 seconds in total, but it wasn't a big deal in the end.

[FuturePT216]

Are there any resources you suggest besides Doing Right?

[future_doc]

Comments from those invited to Mac Interview, in part based upon the new Casper Questions - which may be compared to a written and faster MMI (computer based questions that must be answered quickly as opposed to autiobiographical answers made over time):

 

I do recognize that no amount of studying will help you do better on the Casper. There is not enough time for that. It is who you are as a person and your own understanding of ethics that will show through the questions. Also, you need to ask yourself questions like about your successes, your failures, your stresses and what you learned from them.

 

I avoided being flowery or repetitive. I just went straight to the point, and tried to examine opinions from all angles before stating my opinion.

 

That's all

 

Tips for CASPer...

 

(1) learn to type quickly

(2) think on the fly and go with your gut, justify your choice... there's very little time for flippy flopping

 

A lot of people who got interviews last year said they just winged it and answered honestly. Many people also looked over a case or two in Doing Right. I wouldn't worry too much about preparing for it...it's not meant to be something you can prepare for!

 

there's a formula for doing situations like MMI and CASPer...

1) identify the issue. why is it an issue to the person in the case? who else will this issue affect?

2) identify as many perspectives on the matter as you can.

3) pick one and defend it.

4) follow through. identify anticipated future consequences, benefits, disadvantages.

 

going through Doing Right or some of the sample MMI questions would help set up this framework in your head, but beyond getting comfortable with that, my personal opinion is that there are no facts in doing right that are necessary to know, nor is it necessary to go overboard with practising situations. thinking about various issues is good (even just stuff on the news and so on). they don't expect you to have a full grasp of medical ethics they just want to know your basic ideas about things. i don't think anyone will fault you for making a decision as long as it's based on rational thought and a good explanation of why you said what you did. this applies for casper as well. remember that there really are no right answers. that's why i feel that preparation can only help so much. especially with casper...it is just so random.

 

CASPer is really a mixed bag.

 

There's also a 3rd type of question that you haven't considered: the random question. It's not hypothetical and it's not based on past experiences. It's more like how you perceive yourself.

 

To answer your initial question, I'd say that there were more past experience questions than hypothetical ones.

 

In most of my answers, I used examples of things that I had done/was doing to show that I had whatever skill the question was looking for, regardless of whether is was a past experience question or not. However, you don't need tons of experience to answer the questions well. I think I used the same 2 examples for most of my answers. There was a question (or 2, I can't remember the exact number), that asked you to draw on a specific past experience. But I wouldn't worry about not having enough life experience to do well on CASPer.

 

Theres no way to prepare for caper ideally. The best way to do it is having life experience. You can't fake your way through it really. You need to know how to handle stressful situations, resolve conflicts, utilize team work, problem solving, these sorts of things. You can spend hours studying these concepts, butt he best way i think is to have life experience in handling these situations either in your volunteer, research, EC's, whatever.

 

I used my own personal experiences to answer most questions on CASPer. In the end, I ended up having a lot of fun taking on the challenge of solving the different scenarios we were given. If I could give you two things to do to prepare, it would be to 1) briefly go over bioethics (i.e. read doing right), 2) practice MMI scenarios, because essentially CASPer is just an online MMI.

 

I agree with this. I just used my life experiences to answer the questions. Although there is no right answer, original ideas are definitely looked upon favorably. I think I got an invite because I provided some out-of-the-box answers for some of the questions. Almost everyone will talk about the ethical dilemmas at hand, and try and examine both sides of the issue, but you only have a minute to answer the question, don't write the exact same thing as the every other applicant.

 

You don't need to prep if you have the ability to think on the spot. I don't even think you can prep for CASPer.

 

Think quickly and carefully (as carefully as possible, anyway, with that red timer glaring at you) and be as honest as you can. I think there were scenarios where I was tempted to say what I thought they wanted me to say, but I had decided ahead of time to just go with what I really thought.

 

I think the best thing is to remain positive throughout the entire process. I.e. Don't let one bad question or section affect how you do on the following questions.

 

The usual sorts of interview tactics might make sense... Don't have scripted answers but be sure to have examples for the usual sorts of questions... I realize that I'm probably coming across as vague, but I don't want to be too specific since there is a lot of variability and I don't want to give away what questions I had....

 

More specifically for the sort of typical interview questions, I mean things like leadership, teamwork, deadlines etc. For example describe a circumstance where you couldnt seek help, what was it, how did you cope. Response should emphasis that you sought help, but then made the decision that would minimize the possibility of negative outcome, and consult an expert asap. A hypothetical example of that would be a medical emergency where you cant consult an expert right away, but you can do what you know to save their life at minimal risk, then consult the relevant expert.

 

For any (there were VERY FEW) medical questions, try to remember your obligations, primarily to the patient, giving them the information they need for informed consent.

 

When it comes to more general ethics, really just speak from your heart... care about free trade? sweatshop free? anything like that could be a good thing to lean on if you are short for time.

 

I hope this vagueness helps!

[321izme]

Are there any resources you suggest besides Doing Right?

 

Bioethics for Clinicians #1-5, 7-11, 13-16, 18, 23 are especially useful.

They can be found here: http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/collection/bioethics_for_clinicians_series?page=1.

 

The first 6 can be found off Google Scholar. I found these to be more useful than Doing Right. The articles are very easy to read and get straight to the point. Each article includes 2-3 case studies to show you how to use the principles discussed in that issue.

 

If you read these for Casper, you're also pretty much set for the MMI.