CASPer TEST Study Guide

CASPer TEST Study Guide Describe a disappointment/obstacle from your life - An obstacle I had to overcome was taking my finals after being jet lagged from an international trip. My freshman year of college I took an international trip for winter break, but my last final got moved back to the day after I left. I talked to the professor to see if I could take it early, but she said due to policy no one can take exams early, so I must take it on the make-up day when I get back. I was worried how jet lag would affect my ability to perform on the exam, but I didn't let that stop me. Staying up late and putting wet towels on my face, I was determined to study hard until I fully grasped the material. With consistent studying and dedication I did exceptionally well. This taught me perseverance and hard work prevails even in the face of suboptimal conditions. I learned to make the best of situations which may not seem the best in the beginning. It taught me to adapt to situations and keep moving forward no matter what. Deal what life throws at you. Difficulty I had to overcome - A difficulty I've overcome was talking to my grandmother on her deathbed and comforting my entire family, especially my mom because she was most closest to her. I spent every day for a week with my mom, allowing her to vent and cry. She lives alone and I wanted to make sure she had someone to talk to and was taking care of herself, both physically and mentally. Being my family's support system during difficult times was important to everyone's wellbeing. I will continue to cherish my grandmother's life and support my loved ones throughout difficult times by promoting love, empathy, and strength. Are you a leader or a follower? - People have told me that they enjoy having me as a leader because I consider everyone's opinions. For instance, as the co-organizer of Wildcats Walk for Wellness, a community wide suicide awareness walk and fundraising event, I held meetings with my team every week where I encouraged others to express ideas and concerns to improve our event. Then we all discussed each suggestion together. By promoting team effort, listening, and gathering different perspectives we were able to make a strong impact on the community. As a leader, I always strive to encourage others to contribute and voice their opinions. How do you handle conflict? - With all conflict i stop and try to assess the situation, take an objective stance and do not try to personalize the issue. I handle conflict by hearing all sides of the story and making a collective decision with all the individuals involved. I will first have private conversations to rule out other possible issues needed to be addressed. After clarifications, I will set up a meeting with everyone where all issues can be discussed respectfully. As a mediator, I will help choose the fairest solution for all parties to alleviate any tensions and maintain a safe and welcoming team environment. Regardless of what we do in life, there will be times when we will come into a disagreement with an authority figure or superior. Describe a time when you came into conflict with an authority figure and how you dealt with it? - While assisting and shadowing my pediatrician I came into a minor disagreement with the doctor. We were trying to implement a new filing system for our patients. My doctor did not agree with my approach, and I was not certain of her reasoning. However, as a student I realized that it could very well be my own lack of experience and knowledge that is making me feel that way. I decided to talk to her privately so I could gain a better understanding of why she felt that was the best way to do it. I was also able to explain my opinion and reasoning on the matter. In the end, we were able to collaborate and come up with an even better way to organize our patients. From this experience, I learned how to effectively resolve conflicts with superiors. It is all founded upon humility and good communication. Describe one time when your boss had to confront you about an issue with your work. - I worked as a scribe in the ER. About a month into the job while I was working my boss told me that I did not properly fill out a section of the patient charting. Though I felt a little embarrassed, I asked if I could watch her fill out that section next time so I could see the correct way to do it. She agreed, and I was able to do it correctly from then on out. She also gave me tips on how to chart faster and more accurately next time and I was able to learn from it. Time when you made a mistake at work. - When I first started shadowing a neurologist, I once had a new patient call in to schedule an appointment. I was frazzled with other patients and forgot to ask which insurance they had. When they came in, I had to be the one to tell them that we didn't take their insurance and apologized profusely. Thankfully, we did offer a competitive self-pay rate, which she ended up doing and had a good experience at our clinic despite my mistake. Since then, I learned to be extremely careful about focusing on one task at a time. Describe a past situation in which your ethics were challenged. - A few years ago, I was taking a test at our testing center. I noticed that a guy next to me had notes which he was pretending was scratch paper. I was nervous to say something in case I was wrong...maybe it was just scratch paper. I felt that it was my responsibility to say something to someone, so I told the supervisor at the testing center. Though I don't know for certain what happened, I felt good knowing that I did what I believed was right, even though it was difficult. Describe a time when you used teamwork to solve a problem. - In my pre-medical honor society, we did medical case studies every few weeks. We were divided into groups and given background information and medical history. As a group we had to figure out the diagnosis of the patient. At first, we really struggled with this, always running out of time before we could figure out what was wrong. However, as we learned to work as a team, we got significantly better. We would create a google doc, divide out what each person was going to research, take turns discussing what we found out, and would go from there. Each person had a job, and we were all contributing, and we were able to figure out the diagnosis so much faster. Have you ever been at odds with a coworker? How did you handle this? - When I was working as a scribe, I worked with one coworker who wasn't participating and contributing much to our team. I decided to talk to him about it, and just suggest that we switch off charts because I was taking on most of the charts that he hadn't been doing. He ended up taking it really well and was really nice about it. I'm glad I addressed the problem with him directly to come up with a solution. What is the greatest challenge you have ever faced and what did you do to overcome it? - The greatest challenge I ever faced was when my grandfather was diagnosed with cancer. I was extremely close with him, and I've seen him fight cancer before and go through other health problems. The hardest part about this was being far away, and not knowing what was going on. As well, as feeling like there was no way to help because he was so far away. To overcome this, I decided that the only thing I could do was to learn as much as I could about it. I couldn't change his diagnosis, but I could learn about it so I could understand what was going on. What quality or personality trait is most important