Behavioral Science

Behavioral Science

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“It’s psychosomatic. You need a lobotomy. I’ll get a saw.” ––Calvin, “Calvin & Hobbes”

A heterogeneous mix of epidemiology, biostatistics, ethics, psychol- ogy, sociology, and more falls under this heading. Many medical stu- dents do not study this discipline diligently because the material is felt to be “easy” or “common sense.” In our opinion, this is a missed op- portunity.

Behavioral science questions may seem less concrete than questions from other disciplines, requiring an awareness of the social aspects of medicine. For example: If a patient does or says something, what should you do or say in response? These so-called “quote” questions now constitute much of the behavioral science section, and we have included several examples in the high-yield clinical vignettes. Med- ical ethics and medical law are also appearing with increasing fre- quency. In addition, the key aspects of the doctor-patient relationship (e.g., communication skills, open-ended questions, facilitation, si- lence) are high yield, as are biostatistics and epidemiology. Make sure you can apply biostatistical concepts such as specificity and predictive values in a problem-solving format.