The PREview exam measures professional competencies you have developed over time through coursework, working or playing on teams, volunteer or work experience, etc. Did you know that there are also AAMC free resources that can help you prepare for the exam?
Preparation will help you go into the exam with more confidence. Our resources provide an understanding of the competencies measured by the exam and explain what the exam will ask you to do. You don’t want surprises on test day to impact your performance on the exam. Here are some steps to get you started.
- Become familiar with the competencies measured by the PREview exam. Pay special attention to the key traits associated with each competency.
- Use the AAMC Preparation Guide to learn what the exam measures and what the exam is asking you to do. For example, it is important to know that the exam is not presenting a scenario and asking what you should or would do. It is instead presenting statements that are actions that could be taken. The exam asks you to determine if the action (or response) will make the situation better or worse. You will be asked to rate the response as effective, ineffective, very effective, or very ineffective. The guide includes definitions of the effectiveness ratings to help you understand the different levels.
- Take Practice Exam #1. After completing Practice Exam 1, review the rationales, not just for those you got wrong, but also for those you got right. Review them in the context of the competencies and how they align with the key traits associated with them.
- Take Practice Exam #2 and be sure to apply what you learned from your review of Practice Exam 1. We recommend taking both practice exams under timed conditions. At a minimum, time Practice Exam #2.
Tip: Examinees sometimes tell us that they felt they needed more information or more context about the scenario to answer the questions. It is important to understand that all the information required to rate a response is presented in the scenario. Examinees who spend time considering information not presented in the scenario are likely to become distracted from the task at hand, which may impact their rating. In this way, the exam is a little like real life, because we often evaluate situations without all of the information we would like to have.
Don’t Forget! Preparing for the PREview exam also means making sure you understand how to navigate the exam platform and are familiar with the online testing experience. The platform is designed to be intuitive, but you don’t want your first time seeing it to be on test day. We also recommend watching the PREview Test Day Experience video, which describes the check-in, testing, and check-out processes. Please also check the workspace and computer requirements to ensure you have a smooth testing experience. Advanced understanding of the functions and features of the system will allow you to focus your time and mental energy more fully on the scenarios and items rather than the platform navigation.
For more information, visit the AAMC PREview exam webpage.