Sunday, May 21, 2006
Tips on Comprehensive Exams
This was collected by Vivien Runnels:
Here are the E-mail responses from previous cohort Pop Health Students concerning Comprehensive Examinations (these are edited slightly)
Gail Webber suggests:
1. Don't worry too much, they are not exceedingly difficult.
2. Prepare in small groups - more fun for everyone. , don’t start until after the courses are all complete. Review the course material and you should be well prepared
3. We prepared by each taking two classes material and summarizing them. I think this is a good approach. We met weekly starting in Sept. (for 2 months). That was enough time.
4. Any key documents from the course should be discussed.
5. Think of applying the knowledge (i.e. how does it apply to current government policy, or how would you design an intervention).
And wishes us all “Good luck!”
Gail has also offered to communicate with students via email if there are further questions.
P.S. Our cohort all did fine.
Nadia Hamel wrote:
Bonjour Je suis de la cohorte 2003. Je pense que la meilleure façon de vous préparer est d'échanger vos opinions après avoir identifié les articles que vous considérez "essentiels". You have plenty of time to prepare yourself from Sept-Nov. I'm at the Institute on Thursdays if you want to chat about it.
Mary Lysyk wrote: I am part of Christine's cohort, but due to a sudden illness in my family, I could not join my group when they met in September - October, in fact I was unable to prepare at all. Although I do not recommend this approach, my
point is not to worry too much. We all did very well and as Christine had said, the process was very relaxed.
I cannot give strategies on how to prepare, but what helped me was organizing my course notes and articles/references the night before (at least I managed to do that!) and debriefing with my cohort the morning we received the questions. The moral support (as well as additional notes and articles) from a friend in the cohort ahead also helped a lot (Thank you Theresa!) Please let me know if I can help in any way. I know you'll do very well! Mary
From Christine Faubert who….would give the same advice as Gail based on the experience of our cohort. Concentrate on your courses first. When these are completed, you can review the course material covered and make sure you have a good
understanding of it. We met 6 times during September and October as a group to discuss key concepts and generate a list of what we thought were the most important references/resources. There is no need to worry about it this year. We also all did well and the defence was actually very relaxed. I would also be happy to answer any question you may have.
Other students have indicated willingness to chat too when they are available. ¶ 10:36 p.m.
Here are the E-mail responses from previous cohort Pop Health Students concerning Comprehensive Examinations (these are edited slightly)
Gail Webber suggests:
1. Don't worry too much, they are not exceedingly difficult.
2. Prepare in small groups - more fun for everyone. , don’t start until after the courses are all complete. Review the course material and you should be well prepared
3. We prepared by each taking two classes material and summarizing them. I think this is a good approach. We met weekly starting in Sept. (for 2 months). That was enough time.
4. Any key documents from the course should be discussed.
5. Think of applying the knowledge (i.e. how does it apply to current government policy, or how would you design an intervention).
And wishes us all “Good luck!”
Gail has also offered to communicate with students via email if there are further questions.
P.S. Our cohort all did fine.
Nadia Hamel wrote:
Bonjour Je suis de la cohorte 2003. Je pense que la meilleure façon de vous préparer est d'échanger vos opinions après avoir identifié les articles que vous considérez "essentiels". You have plenty of time to prepare yourself from Sept-Nov. I'm at the Institute on Thursdays if you want to chat about it.
Mary Lysyk wrote: I am part of Christine's cohort, but due to a sudden illness in my family, I could not join my group when they met in September - October, in fact I was unable to prepare at all. Although I do not recommend this approach, my
point is not to worry too much. We all did very well and as Christine had said, the process was very relaxed.
I cannot give strategies on how to prepare, but what helped me was organizing my course notes and articles/references the night before (at least I managed to do that!) and debriefing with my cohort the morning we received the questions. The moral support (as well as additional notes and articles) from a friend in the cohort ahead also helped a lot (Thank you Theresa!) Please let me know if I can help in any way. I know you'll do very well! Mary
From Christine Faubert who….would give the same advice as Gail based on the experience of our cohort. Concentrate on your courses first. When these are completed, you can review the course material covered and make sure you have a good
understanding of it. We met 6 times during September and October as a group to discuss key concepts and generate a list of what we thought were the most important references/resources. There is no need to worry about it this year. We also all did well and the defence was actually very relaxed. I would also be happy to answer any question you may have.
Other students have indicated willingness to chat too when they are available. ¶ 10:36 p.m.
