Don’t confuse key terms with easy answers. They are not the same.
Key terms are clues or breadcrumbs to lead you to the one and only correct answer. You see, on your exams, there are four or five answers choices on the paper in front of you, but only one of them is the correct answer. The others are close to right, but they aren’t actually right.
To separate the answer choice, in order to make one answer absolutely right and the others absolutely wrong, the test writer must use very specific information in the question stem. Without these unambiguous identifiers, the test taker would never reliably choose the correct answer. These bits of very disease-specific information are what I call key terms.
These key terms are how a writer would paint the picture of a specific disease, and I mean a very specific disease.
Not including them would be like me writing a book about a murder in Hawaii yet not including any description of the mountains or the ocean. Suddenly, the book might as well be set in Idaho. No one would know the difference.
You see the writer HAS to tell you specific things so that you follow along. Those specific details separate the description of one disease from another on an exam.
THOSE ARE KEY TERMS.
In the June Issue, I go into detail demonstrating how to use key terms to really boost your scores and boost your confidence.
For me, learning key terms well is the fastest way to learn something, the easiest way to remember it for longer periods of time, and the best way to see it on exam day.
If you struggle with test taking and leave angry after every exam, this might be the issue for you.
Join here: Physician Assistant Exam Scholars
Brian Wallace
