"Many undergraduate and postgraduate dental students will be familiar with the PasTest series of books. They provide example questions covering various different testing methodologies including extended matching, short answer and single best answer questions along with a compilation of objective structured clinical examination examples.
A new addition to these texts is an online revision tool which provides access to example questions. For a subscription fee you are able to gain six months' online access to over 700 samples of the above four question types. The specialities covered are wide-ranging and similar to the published books but the specific questions do differ.
Unique to this product is the ability to structure your own exams. You can specify the question types, difficulty and specialities examined along with a time limit for completion. On completion, an overall performance indicator can be accessed to show the subjects where questions have been answered poorly. Using this tool, the facility also exists to monitor your progress over time and how your results fare with other users.
Having used the PasTest books as an aid to sit the MFDS exam, I feel they are useful in targeting areas of weakness in one's study. Any questions for which the answer was not readily known subsequently yielded an area for review. I could see this online tool providing a similar function and the ability to accurately target which topics require further revision would be very helpful.
This product is aimed at those sitting undergraduate, MJDF/MFDS and ORE exams. The online instructions suggest working through all the specialties with random questions 3-4 months prior to your assessment, with the aim of building to full length practice tests at least four weeks before your exam.
I would recommend this product for those approaching exams. Those who are confident of their knowledge and wishing to test their ability in a variety of exam formats would find great use in this online course."
N Stanford
Published in the BDJ (Vol 208, No 8, 24 April 2010)