LASUCOM: OUR EXAM STORY.By Ayomide Akinsanya and Halima Olalekan.

Examinations are nothing new, especially not for the newly admitted 200 level of the Lagos State University College of Medicine. The examination styles werent exactly identical to the previous exams written by most students and in no way identical to the most recent school examinations written in 100L pre-med school at the Lagos State Universitys Main Campus. Various Examinations styles included Essay writing, Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs), German Questions, OSCE (Objective Structured Clinical Examination); Problem based questions and Objective Questions (occasionally for pharmacology students).

The first semester examination for the nursing, physiology and pharmacology students really caused a lot of tension for the students due to fact that the new system comprising of essay writing and multiple choice questions (MCQ) were unlike the computer based examination students had written in their first year.

Relating the essay writing to the questions being asked was not easy and totally different from the computer based exams used in the Ojo campus, even worse was the one year gap between students’ last exams in 2019 and the exams they wrote in February 2021. Students have had their hopes up about the exams more than once and it was a relief as well as a terror to finally have to write the exams. Some students recount the experiences below:

“Ive always wanted to be in LASUCOM obviously OJO was not conducive enough for a student like me. After finally getting to LASUCOM another struggle started, seniors wouldnt allow you to rest with every day motivational speeches. I felt the lockdown added to my problem, Im a girl who learns and understands more in physical classes but when the pandemic started and we had to leave the school and begin online classes, truth be told I cried like a baby because I had to adapt with the LASUCOM world first and now online classes. I was depressed during the pandemic and I think this was the reason why I hardly attended the online classes. The urge and vibe wasnt there because I wouldnt understand. Upon resumption I started collecting PDF files and I felt like Id die in the process. The first in-course that shook me was Anatomy, weve been doing two blocks of anatomy TAPP and upper and lower limbs but on that day I got confused, finding TAPP (Thorax, Abdomen, Pelvis and Perineum) in upper and lower limbs. I wondered if my prayers, everyday night readings, leaving my home and the healthy food, the events I missed, I wondered if they were all insufficient for LASUCOM.

Sometimes writing some exams with some carryover students of my department didnt help my fear. Our seniors already instilled enough fear in us which was already making me shaky and I promised myself not to motivate upcoming Medical students because its something theyd see themselves”. Halima
“No-one can prepare you enough, everything was completely different here. Mariam.
“I answered questions on hypertension and I was almost having hypertension, nothing in LASUCOM is funny at all.” Charis
“It is impossible to read all that has been taught, even if you do questions can still come from where you dont expect” Ayomide

The strict rules are another story entirely. Strict dress codes and exam procedures were always adhered to with no exceptions. Theres also a rule in LASUCOM that states that students arent allowed to submit after 30 minutes to the end of any examination, this could be very frustrating especially when a student finishes about 25 minutes to the end of the stipulated time and has to wait till the end. This pressures the student to submit before the 30 minutes mark if they have another exam to prepare for on the same day.

Another deadly part of the exam style is the negative marking system. This system of marking subtracts mark from a students total score if they get an MCQ question wrong. If a student gets 50 answers right in 100 questions, depending on the mark subtracted the student could still get zero for that exam.

This encourages the students to be sure of their answers, as there is no penalty for leaving a question unanswered.
The exam time table didn't favour some students like the pharmacology students having two courses on the same day and not having enough time to prepare for the second one. Even worse for them was when they had to prepare for exams they had no past questions for.

All in all LASUCOMs examination style is a good exam system because it encourages individual work, so one would know one's true potential instead of relying on others in the exam hall. The halls are conducive and the lecturers are mostly nice, But there still wasn't enough time to prepare and the course outlines were not completed due to the long covid-19 break and upon resumption of physical classes, there was no time to cover up for the courses that were untouched.