By: Rob Humbracht
You may have heard that there's a new test required by a growing list of medical schools: the CASPer. The spread of its use has been fairly fast. A few years ago, it was only required by Tulane and New York Medical College (in the US), and now the list is 20 schools strong and growing.
There aren't a lot of good practice CASPer test questions out there, partly because the test is so new (test preparation companies are just now, in 2018, finally producing quality practice MCATs in the new format, which has been around for several years already).
To help remedy the dearth of CASPer test stations, we COULD hire amateur Canadian actors to re-enact scenes from everyday life - a problem in your group project, a conflict with a coworker, you know, situations you thought you'd left behind in high school (all of which are tested on the CASPer). But we'd MUCH RATHER pull from some of our favorite movies and TV shows, since:
Surprisingly, these scenes bear a strong resemblance to what you'll find on the CASPer, and YouTube provides a seemingly endless supply of stations.
Warning: your author is old. Some of the content translates brilliantly to modern life, others... not so much. Pre-meds as a whole aren't known for their sense of humor, and given the state of the internet these days, I have no doubt the content below will offend someone. My apologies in advance.
Let me know what you think of the sample CASPer questions. Which show should we clip next?
Stay tuned for some sample answers and sample grades in upcoming articles.
The CASPer has students watch a badly acted short video (1-2 minutes), followed by open-ended sample questions. We at The Savvy Pre-med are fairly bad actors ourselves, so we thought we would use some of our favorite skits to set the scene.
As absurd as the videos are, we believe the questions accurately reflect the open-ended nature of CASPer questions and can serve as good additional preparation material for the test.
A warning: some of the videos are PG-13, so if you don't like innuendo and a little violence, you might want to use the actual CASPer site to prep for the exam.
You are the store owner. Watch the first 2-3 minutes.
1. If you were the store owner, how might you respond to the complaint that the animal is dead?
2. How might the customer have been more effective at bringing his complaint to the store owner?
3. Pretend you were training another employee to run the shop. What are some of the issues you would consider for returns of animals, whether alive or dead?
Watch the first two minutes or until you get the gist.
1. Was the maitre de right to escalate this issue to his manager? How might he have done so differently?
2. If you were the customer and had known what the reaction to the dirty fork would be, would you have spoken up? Why or why not?
3. What should the restaurant's policy on customer complaints be?
Watch the video.
1. Was King Arthur right to demand that the knight stand aside? What might he have done differently?
2. What would you have said to the knight after chopping off his arm to convince him to give up?
3. Assume that the black knight now wishes to be taken to a hospital. What would you do? Why?
You are Brit (black shirt). Watch the first minute (stay for the music video if you so choose).
1. How would you have responded to Jermaine when he asked you whether you were "good at sex" in front of a beautiful woman?
2. Is it ever okay to lie for a good cause?
3. How would you respond to Jermaine after he asks you whether you want to be a prostitute? Why?
INSTRUCTIONS:
You are Brit (black shirt). Watch the first minute (stay for the music video if you so choose).
1. What are some possible justifications for why Brit and Jermaine should return the library cushion, even though it's really nice?
2. How should Murray have responded in the face of the band firing him?
3. What would you do as a general manager for multiple bands to help them feel good about themselves even though they aren't winning any awards?
You are Jermaine (blue shirt)
1. How might you boost Jermaine's esteem, aside from writing him a song?
2. What would you have done if you were Brit to tell Jermaine that you appreciate him too?
3. What are the ethical problems with putting a wig on someone and spooning them without their consent?
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