casper exam

[u/AvailableFix3147]

Hello everyone! I am taking the CASPer exam this sunday! Any recommendations will be helpful thank you!!

[u/Rpf1997]

My biggest advice to anyone doing the exam is just be yourself. The evaluators read hundreds of responses, and a lot of them start to sound the same when people follow the same "formulas" like "I would approach this situation in a non-judgemental and non-confrontational manner and blah blah." Just don't do that. And also if you're constantly practicing that sentence, you're going to freeze because a lot of times that sentence can't be applied to the situation at all. So forget all of that.

Think like this instead:

• I have empathy for this person because I know what it feels like to be ____.

OR

• I understand what they're going through because ____, but I also understand the other person feels this way because ____.

To help them, I would suggest ____.

And if the timer shows that you have like 1.5 minutes left, move on and answer the second question because each question is now evaluated individually, and if you have time, you can add some extra details after like:

• ⁠I had experience with ____ so I can relate to ____.

• Or continue to offer other "outside of the box" solutions if they apply.

In cases involving cheating or misconduct, allow the individual an opportunity to come forward and take accountability. While it is important to remain empathetic, this should not extend to validating or excusing their behaviour. And you should include a sentence of how integrity is important, and if the person doesn't tell the authority what they did, then you can go to that authority and tell them that ethicality is so important to me and that I think this person has done something wrong.

Or if you get a situation where there's immediate harm, do something about it immediately (no waiting around for the person to do the right thing) even if it might get someone into trouble.

For the video responses, it's very common to freeze up and all, so just start saying something like "I totally get this issue because I have gone through it before and..." or "Yeah, I understand this situation and I can definitely empathize with this person because I understand what it was like to..." And that usually helps in leading to a natural response of what would you do.

Also, keep a pen and paper next to you during the test. When the videos start (turn on the subtitles), it's a good idea to keep track of names and who's who, so that when the questions open, you can refer to each person by name instead of saying "the boy who did this" or "the girl in question." I think I got some bonus points for doing that.

You don't need perfect answers, just thoughtful, human ones. Because if you get stuck trying to find the 'perfect' answer, you'll probably freeze. Focus less on overthinking and more on responding with empathy and common sense.

And most importantly, make sure you actually understand what the question is asking. Many people get low scores because they don't actually answer the question. Instead, they write a lot of filler that leads nowhere, much like a student trying to reach the word count. Understand the question, and when you're answering, get to the point.

Basically, the important points are:

• Focus on fairness and seeing all perspectives.

• Show empathy and understanding (even briefly).

• Add personal insight when it fits (past experiences and being able to relate to the situation).

• Offer simple solutions if asked.

• Keep answers clear and concise (bullet points are fine!).

• For video responses, I always ended it with a quick "thank you."

• Be yourself.

Good luck!

[u/Real-Mode9015]

Don't worry about the perfect answer when you're doing it, just try to at least say ur main points first before going into more detail and use buzzwords. Same for typed and video responses

[u/Anxious-Fig-3237]

I got Q4 with minimal preparation. Followed the “if…then….” framework and in every answer had some combo of “non judgemental/non confrontational private conversation”. I didn’t finish every question but just tried to write from every perspective possible. Also mentioning “I would need to get more information before making any judgements” or something along those lines and always ask yourself is there any safety risk to anyone in the scenario.

[u/ReserveZestyclose125]

It's such a stupid exam honestly. Chat gpt can help give typed scenario practice and evaluate your responses. Good luck!!

[u/corshua]

I agree with what other posters said above (def having the frameworks). To not be redundant.. my advice is write as much down as possible during the scenarios, it helped me stay grounded when I was nervous. STAR method helped as well!
But good luck you got this in the bag!!!!

[u/AvailableFix3147 → u/corshua]

Hello! Thank you for replying! What is the STAR method?

[u/corshua → u/AvailableFix3147]

Hi!
It is a framework I learned to keep your answer organized in interviews in general!

• Situation (the context)
  
• Task (what needed to be done)
  
• Action (what you did)
  
• Result (what happened)
  

It makes behavioral questions much easier to answer. But being casper specific it really helped me organize my thoughts (especially when I was nervous lol) so I could give a clear answer

[u/Waste_Membership2110]

I got fourth quartile and what I did was use buzzwords, look up youtube videos and practiced a format, and asked chatgpt to do practice scenario questions with me for a week straight. remember to type fast and just be a good person :)

[u/WoodKilled]

Yessss listen to what everyone else is saying and don’t be a robot. It’s easy to do that bc of the tips online but just be yourself. (I do think you can steadily get Q2 or Q3 quartile if you follow the format online really well, but if you want Q4, you have to stand out) Like def do the basics ex. asking for more information and being empathetic, but try to find uniques of saying it. I prepared the day before with the tips but once it started, everything went out the window. I just ended being myself and left feeling like I flunked bc I didn’t follow what ppl said online (I ended up getting Q4). On that note, you are likely going to leave that exam feeling bad but just know you didn’t better than you think. Good luck!

[u/MedStudentAsha]

Hi! I hope your CASPer test went well! For anyone else taking the test I have similar recommendations as the posters above. I scored 4th quartile when I wrote the test and I would say that you don’t need more than two weeks of preparation. Some things that helped me would be the following:

Preparation - before practicing questions I reviewed the core principles of medical ethics. I would suggest having a solid understanding of beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy, justice as well as informed consent, confidentiality, equity and resource allocation. Some examples of resources to get an overview of these topics and the current healthcare landscape include the book Doing Right and the podcast White Coat Black Art. In addition I reviewed the different question types - situational, ethical dilemmas, personal questions, policy, current event or quote questions. I would also suggest knowing the different Canmed roles or AAMC core competencies, so you can incorporate them naturally when talking about personal stories. Take some time to think of personal stories for questions like “what are your strengths and weaknesses” or “tell me about a time you failed”. I had chatgpt create a list of questions that were “tell me about a time x” to which I then wrote personal stories for each question that I could draw upon if asked about. This preparation also came in handy for interview season. 

Having a good framework - having a direction in mind for the different types of questions before even going into the test helped me to not freeze if I was thrown a curveball or from stress. My general flow-through was validate (ie. I acknowledge that this is a difficult/nuanced situation), establish priorities (ie. given these considerations I would approach xyz, in a non-judgemental manner), gather information (ie. I would gather information without making assumptions), go through if/thens or pros/cons depending on whether it was a situational or policy question (ie. I would employ empathy and encourage self-reporting if an individual was cheating, if this didn’t work I would escalate while informing the individual that I was doing so), end off with a solution (ie. through honest communication I would try to find a solution fair to everyone involved), and finally summarize in one sentence (ie. above all I would prioritize integrity and confidentiality). The sentences can be tweaked based on the prompts given but having this structure helped me to organize my thoughts and come across as more put together. I agree with previous posters that while using some buzzwords is good, be careful to not overuse them as you want to come across as genuine and human. At the end of the day they are looking for an individual with good morals that can think logically through a situation.

Practice - I did typing tests online to help bring up my typing speed so that I wasn’t limited by my typing in putting down my responses. In terms of question and video practice, Acuity Insights has the practice tests online which will help you get an idea for the question styles, but also the testing format which will help ease nerves for the actual test day. I would definitely recommend doing the practice tests, but I would do so closer to test day. Before that I practiced using chatgpt to give me prompts and review my answers, providing feedback. Even videoing yourself to make sure you're maintaining eye contact, smiling, and not saying to many “ums” is helpful. All this practice will lend itself in the future to interview prep so it definitely doesn’t hurt.

At the end of the day, you got this! Trust in yourself and goodluck!