2004 SAAAPA Challenge Bowl

Call For Questions

By Cyndi Brown
SAAAPA Staff Advisor

The Student Academy of the AAPA (SAAAPA) requests your help! The SAAAPA National Medical Challenge Bowl needs new questions for the upcoming contest at AAPA’s 32nd Annual PA Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, Each program is asked to submit 20 questions by March 22. Registration for programs will open on March 15.

Because the Medical Challenge Bowl is an oral competition, questions which may perform well on written examinations may not be appropriate for use. For example, multiple-choice questions are okay, but only a few should be included. Please keep in mind the unique way the questions will be used when submitting them.

The following are some helpful hints in preparing questions:

• Questions should ideally be written in the form of an open-ended
  question with only one, clear answer;
• True/false questions are not useful;
• Generally, treatment-oriented questions are problematic because so
  many variations in a condition are involved and opinions vary;
• Diagnostic questions should present the “textbook” case and include as many details as possible to avoid the controversy of an unclear diagnosis;
• Questions and, ideally, answers should be as short as possible;
• If the question pertains to a specific population (e.g., pediatrics), this should be stated explicitly;
• When submitting the question, include the question, answer, and reference.

Electronic submission of questions greatly reduces data entry time and the possibility of errors. Please direct questions to me, Cyndi Brown, cynthia@aapa.org; 703/836-2272, ext. 3311.

Thank you for your help in contributing to the success of  the 14th Annual National Medical Challenge Bowl, a perennial conference favorite among students and faculty alike.

APAP Update - January 2004