Life as a MEDICAL STUDENT: MBBS Year 1 Assessment & Examination in NUMed with COVID-19 in 2020/21

 皆さん、こんにちは! Hello everyone.

In this post, I will be talking about the assessment for MBBS Stage 1 medical students 2020/2021 in Newcastle University of Medicine Malaysia (NUMed ) is conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Before we start, please take note that I am a Malaysian student, who was able to attend any on-campus sessions for my first-year MBBS study held under the SOP restrictions. 

QUICK INTRO

For the Year 2020/2021, MBBS Stage 1 commenced on 21st September 2020 with an induction week. There were 3 semesters:
a) Autumn Term:  21st September - 18th December 2020
b) Spring Term: 11th January - 26th March 2021
c) Summer Term:  12th April - 18th June 2021

NUMed teaching is conducted in the form of case-led. In total, there are 13 cases with a foundation block to be studied in the first year. 


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ASSESSMENT METHOD

In order to progress my Stage 1 study to Stage 2 MBBS, there are 6 main criteria assessed in NUMed and all of them need to be passed:

i) Single Best Answer (SBA)

In other words, multiple-choice questions. There are  150 questions in SBA papers to be completed in 3 hours ( 180 minutes ). It sounds easy that you are able to choose from 4 to 5 choices. In reality, it is much harder than you might be thinking as there could be more than 1 correct answer in the given choices. What you need to select is the MOST APPROPRIATE and SUITABLE one from those correct answers. 

ii) Short Answer Paper (SAP)

This is a 2-hour paper consists of 20 to 30 structured questions. The questions asked are much straight forward here. The key tip for SAP is to look at the number of marks given for each question to determine the length and number of points needed for your answer. It usually has ethical and clinical reasoning questions.

[ SOME DETAILS ABOUT SBA & SAP EXAMINATION with COVID-19 ]
For both SBA and SAP, there will be an official examination held at the same time as medical students at Newcastle University in UK. In Malaysia, the time is usually in the afternoon 2pm to 5pm. In Year 1 2020/2021, these tests were held twice in January 2021 and May 2021 respectively, with SAP first followed by SBA on the other day. Due to the pandemic and SOP restrictions, the university chose to conduct both examinations online at home. This is a drawback for those students who are weak in typing but prefer handwriting instead, especially for SAP papers. Another issue here is about the internet connection stability. Those students who stayed nearby may choose to have the online tests on campus either by bringing their own laptops or using PCs in IT Labs ( limited number ). This may provide additional security on the connection stability as the students will use WiFi supplied by the university. 

If there is no COVID-19 issue, supposedly these examinations would be held at the top floor of the library at NUMed. Every candidate needs to bring along a candidate card as a PASS to enter the examination site. 
( Further details will be updated soon if on-campus examinations are taken in the future )

iii) In-Course Assignments 

There are 3 assignments to be completed in Year 1; making an information leaflet, an oral presentation and a written assignment. For each assignment, there will be an introductory talk given and a guidance pack uploaded on the Medical Learning Environment (MLE) portal. There will be 2 examiners marking your assignment and feedback given together with your marks released for further improvement. It would be quite a challenging task especially for those coming from A-Levels like me due to lack of experience in doing assignments. My advice here is to take note of the due dates and follow what is stated in the guidance pack. Also, please don't hesitate to email the respective lecture in charge of the particular assignment if you have any queries. Another challenging issue here is regarding referencing and plagiarism.

iv) E-Portfolio Sign Offs

There are two main components under the e-portfolio. Under the core skills, we have Mandatory Training and Clinical Skills. Each skill requires you to write a reflection on the experience or what you have learnt from it before getting a sign-off from your Academic Mentor. The key here is to complete everything within the due date. Do take note that not every skill due on the same date. Some might be due in Semester 1, the others might be due in Semester 2 etc. There is a flag beside the skill to keep track of your completion. The main target here is to get a GREEN FLAG that shows 100% completion with a GREEN TICK indicating sign-off by the Academic Mentor. The second element for E-Portfolio is the Case Completion, whereby all the 13 cases studied on MLE need to be completed before the deadline mentioned. 

Both elements MUST BE COMPLETED ON TIME which is before respective due dates. 

v) Professionalism and Engagement

This is just like the merit-demerit system in primary and high schools that monitors the behaviours demonstrated by medical students in NUMed with a particular threshold such as attendance, engagement during lessons etc. Beyond the threshold, one will fail the year despite having other assessment criteria passed. The more points you accumulated, the poorer your performance. One key point to take note of here is the deadlines of your work including assignments and end-case feedback. Some students tend to forget to give the end-case feedback on time causing them to be charged a point. 

vi) Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE)

OSCE is a clinical skill examination with several stations each testing on certain clinical skills respectively.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there were some students who missed the on-campus practical sessions, particularly those in semesters 1 and 2. Hence, there is NO OSCE held for MBBS Stage 1 students in 2020/2021. Instead, it will be eventually held in Stage 2 2021/2022 and test the students on the clinical skills learnt in both Year 1 and Year 2. 
( Further details will be updated soon after taking OSCE in the Year 2021/2022 )


In short, only 5 assessment criteria need to be PASSED for MBBS Stage 1 in NUMed in 2020/2021;  SBA, SAP, assignments, e-portfolios and professional and engagement. 



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HOW TO KNOW PASSED or FAILED for MBBS Year 1?

The SAP & SBA Paper 1 conducted in January weighed for 1/3 of the whole year, tested on what was learned in Semester 1, and the rest 2/3 was weighed by SAP & SBA Paper 2 in May, tested on 20% Semester 1 studies with 80% Semester 2&3 studies. Similarly, there are also divisions of weightage for the three in-course assignments. Yet, your PASS/FAIL is determined by the combined marks in SBA, SAP, and assignments respectively at the end of the terms. Meaning to say that if you have failed the first SBA paper in January but still manage to do well in the second paper in May, your total marks for SBA in Year 1 are more than the final passing threshold, then you are considered as PASSED. SBA, SAP, and assignments are all counted as different compartments. Although SBA does not affect the total marks in assignments nor SAP, it may still affect your progression to the next year as well. 


Since the final results for the year are released in June, if you got a FAIL for the first attempt, you will still have a second attempt to resit the respective examination in August for SBA and SAP. There is also a second chance to resit assignments for those who failed, but please do take note of the due dates! If you still fail at the second attempt, you will be dropped out of the course. 


Meanwhile, for those e-portfolios and professional & engagement, as long as you managed to complete the tasks with proper feedback, reflections and certificates uploaded, and obeying the rules and good medical practice as a medical student, there should not be any problem to get a PASS. You may check your cumulative professionalism and engagement result throughout the year with 4 checkpoints set. 





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QUICK ADVICE AND TIPS ON ASSESSMENT & EXAMINATIONS:

1. Be careful of deadlines. 
> For assignments, case progressions, e-portfolios, and case feedback, all these have to be completed before the due dates. It would be great if you set reminders on the deadlines from time to time so that you remember to do the tasks.


2. Planned your time wisely. Don't procrastinate nor do things at the ELEVENTH HOUR! 
Allocate your time for both study and doing assignments/ e-portfolios in an appropriate way depending on the target aimed as well as your capability. Learning and your tasks need to be done simultaneously so that you won't be dragged.

> Based on my own experience, for assignments, I would need at least 2 to 3 weeks. For long written assignments, even more time is required as the process of planning, writing, checking, searching resources, modifying as well as referencing, all take time.

> For SBA and SAP especially Paper 2 in May, things get much and much difficult when it comes to Semester 2 and onwards. It becomes more challenging when you have to revise and learn new things at the same time. Lots of information need to be remembered for the tests. You might not have adequate time to cover everything within 2 to 3 weeks left after finishing all the 13 cases prior to the final exam. It is suggested to start the revision months earlier as the teaching is going on simultaneously. 

3. Seek advice, feedback, and help from your peers if needed.
> This is especially particular for assignments. Try to exchange with your friends on your work and both of you can help each other to check for any errors and fluency. Even better, if constructive feedback can be given for further modifications prior to submissions.


4. Follow the guidance and don't hesitate to ask if you have doubts.
> For assignments, there will be a guidance pack and introductory talk given to brief you on what to do. In fact, all the necessary details are stated in the guidance pack including the learning outcome tested, the main theme, marking criteria and respective weightage, referencing, font formatting etc. If you are unsure of any information, do feel free to ask the lecturers or your peer mentor for further advice and clarifications. It is always better to ASK rather than DON'T KNOW. 


5. Be prepared.
> Remember the quote: " Opportunities are only for those who are prepared ". So, please prepare yourself and your weapons. PLAN YOUR TIME AND REVISE ADEQUATELY!!!


6. Do reflection from time to time. Take into account constructive feedback from others.
    Think of what you have done so far, what is the result, what are the lessons you gained from the experience, why you make these mistakes, how can you improve next time in the future......
            EG:  study methods, revision techniques, time planning etc.
> For assignments, other than marks, feedback will be provided by the examiners. Meanwhile, for SAP and SBA, despite not knowing the question and correct answer, there will be a record on the learning outcomes tested that you got it correct/ wrong in the tests.  








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Last but not least, here are some words for you:

" The real opponent in your life is not OTHERS, but YOURSELF."

Who is the main competitor in our life? -------------ME, MYSELF that is from YESTERDAY

Medical school is tough, but bear in mind that your efforts today will be paid off soon in the future.
Together we fight for knowledge, ourselves, and our future! 
がんばって！

May wish you all the best and be blessed with fortunate :)