Retrospective Revision: The Secret to Question Bank Mastery

Visual Element: A decision tree for analyzing a wrong answer. "Did I not know it?" -> Knowledge Gap. "Did I misread it?" -> Attention Error. "Did I panic?" -> Anxiety.

There is a common fallacy in medical exam preparation: "If I just do 5,000 questions, I will pass." This is false. Doing questions measures your knowledge; it does not inherently increase it. Reviewing questions increases knowledge.

The average candidate spends 1 minute answering a question and 10 seconds reviewing the answer. The master candidate spends 1 minute answering and 5 minutes reviewing. This technique is called Retrospective Revision.

Part 1: The Anatomy of an Error

When you get a question wrong (or guess it right), you must perform a "Root Cause Analysis." Why did the error occur?

Type 1: The Knowledge Gap ("I didn't know it")

• Diagnosis: You have never seen this fact, classification, or disease before.
• Treatment: You cannot "logic" your way out of a knowledge gap. You must fill it.
  • Action: Stop the quiz. Open your reference text. Read the section. Make one high-yield Anki card.

Type 2: The Memory Slip ("I forgot it")

• Diagnosis: You knew this facts 3 months ago, but it has decayed.
• Treatment: Your Spaced Repetition algorithm has failed.
  • Action: Re-activate the Anki card. Force yourself to write the fact down 3 times.

Type 3: The Application Error ("I couldn't use it")

• Diagnosis: You knew the facts (e.g., the Gustilo classification), but you failed to apply them to the specific clinical vignette (e.g., didn't recognize the farmyard injury implied Grade III).
• Treatment: This is a thinking error.
  • Action: Analyze the vignette. What keyword did you miss? Highlight it.

Type 4: The Forced Error ("I misread it")

• Diagnosis: You clicked 'A' but meant 'B', or you missed the word "EXCEPT".
• Treatment: You are going too fast.
  • Action: Slow down. Read the last sentence of the question first.

Part 2: Distractor Analysis

Don't just read the correct answer explanation. Read the Incorrect options.

• The "Why Not?" Game: For every incorrect option (Distractor), ask yourself: "What would the question stem need to look like for this to be the correct answer?"
• Example: Question describes Osteosarcoma. Distractor is Ewing's. Ask: "How would I change the age/location/X-ray to make the answer Ewing's?"
• Value: This turns 1 question into 5 questions. You are revising the entire differential diagnosis.

Part 3: The "Knowledge Garden"

Where do these pearls go? If you just read the explanation and click "Next", you will forget it in 20 minutes. You need a system.

1. The Digital Notebook (Obsidian/Notion): Have a page for "Question Bank Pearls."
2. The Flashcard (Anki): Make a card for the specific fact that tripped you up.
   • Bad Card: "What is Osteosarcoma?" (Too broad).
   • Good Card: "What is the characteristic translocation in Ewing's Sarcoma?" (Specific, testable).

Part 4: The 24-Hour Rule

The Rule: If you get a question wrong today, you must review that specific topic within 24 hours.

• Why: The emotional sting of getting a question wrong ("I can't believe I missed that!") creates a fertile window for neuroplasticity. The brain remembers trauma. Use the frustration to encode the memory.

Conclusion

Treat every incorrect question as a gift. It has identified a hole in your armor before the examiner did. Don't hide the mistake; autopsy it.

Error Analysis Log

Download our Excel template for tracking your MCQ performance and categorizing your errors.