Psychiatry 2 exam experience

Psych 2 was my first exam of this semester (excluding family med on Friday week 14, which was easy), and it was the first in a line of 6(!) exams in the first exam week. I’d studied for it with the Anki throughout the whole semester, and I’d reviewed all of it in the 2 days before, so I was pretty well prepared.

It was raining, and I was super nervous ahead of the exam, as before all oral exams (especially the first of the semester). The sound of pouring rain woke me up at 7 and I couldn’t fall back asleep.

I met the other international students and a bunch of Hungarian students under the roof outside the entrance to the Psychiatry department a little before 9. A while after 9, a Hungarian-only speaking secretary comes out and gives us some information (which the Hungarian students there had to translate for us). She then shoots our foreheads with the temperature-gun (which showed 34 degrees for me).

After a while we’re allowed to enter the corridor, and we wait in front of the library of the psychiatry department, where we’re supposed to have our exam. At some point prof. Tenyi arrives and basically repeats the information the secretary gave, and tells us that the exam will be short questions and answers like last semester.

At around 9:45, 45 minutes late, he starts taking in the first students. There were to be two students in the room at the same time, the one who is to be examined and the one next in line. The other student sat inside and waited their turn, and was allowed an opportunity to answer questions the “main” students couldn’t answer.

The Hungarians were the ones to line up first, partly because the information was given in Hungarian first, so the international students were examined after the Hungarians were done.

I was the third international student in line, so I was in the library listening to the second international student’s exam. There was one question they couldn’t answer completely, which was “Which are the two diagnostic criteria for schizo-affective psychosis?”. They couldn’t answer the question, so Tenyi asked me if I knew the answer, but I didn’t. That student got approx 8 – 10 questions, missed only that one question and got a 4.

My turn. Short questions and answers, as usual. I answer all of them well, until he asks one question I was not prepared for. “What’s the name of the self-help group for alcoholics?” My immediate first thought was “Alcoholics anonymous”, which was the correct answer. He then asks “how many steps are there in their program?”, which I had no idea about. Apparently this is something many had learned from TV and stuff, but I didn’t know. I answered that I didn’t know.

He continued asking me questions, all of which I could answer well. I’m pretty sure I got more than 10 questions, more than the previous student, which I thought was because he wanted to give me an opportunity to climb up to the 5. However, after something like 15 questions, he tells me that it’s a 4.

A bit disappointed, seeing as how I was well prepared and that there was only one question which I couldn’t answer, I asked him if we could continue for a 5. He agrees, continues asking 4 – 5 questions, all of which I answer correctly. In the end he gives me the 5.

All in all a nice exam experience, although the stress and anxiety level was high beforeheand. The experience was the same as for psych 1.