Should I use AMC MCQ recalls? What the AMC says and what to study instead

Recalls are lists of questions that candidates say they remember from their exam, often passed around in groups or sold online. Candidates ask whether they are worth using, and it is a fair question when the exam is expensive and the stakes are high. The short answer is that the AMC itself warns against them, and there are better ways to spend your time.

What the AMC says

The AMC's exam specification makes three points that matter here.

• Reconstructed papers are unreliable. The AMC warns that papers circulating online, claimed to be accurate copies of past exams, often contain incorrect question stems and answer options. Candidates who prepare from them may form a distorted view of the format and content of the exam.
• The content is protected. The AMC holds the copyright in all exam materials. Candidates must not disclose or try to compromise exam content, including offering to supply or sell material that claims to be AMC content.
• Breaches have consequences. The specification says they can lead to exclusion, withdrawal of results, refusal of future exams or certificates, and referral to regulatory or law enforcement bodies.

The Pearson VUE rules that candidates agree to say the same thing in simpler terms: you may not share or discuss the questions or answers you saw with other candidates, and you may not take copies of them out of the test centre.

Why a recall cannot be "the paper"

There is also a practical problem. The MCQ is a computer adaptive test, and the specification says each candidate receives a unique set of questions. There is no single paper to recall. What circulates is one person's partial memory of their own set, which may have been a very different mix of questions from yours. Even a fully accurate memory would tell you little about what you will meet.

What is worth doing instead

• Use the official material first. The AMC's free MCQ preparation app has 210 questions written by AMC contributors. Our post on official practice material explains how to get it.
• Study the blueprint. The specification lists the six patient groups and their weights. Spend your time in proportion.
• Learn how Australian practice answers things. Many questions turn on current Australian guidelines, not on what you did in your home country.
• Practise with original questions that explain themselves. A good explanation teaches you the idea behind the answer, which carries over to questions you have never seen.
• Sit full mocks. They teach pacing, which a list of remembered questions cannot.

Talking to people who have sat the exam

You can still learn a lot from them. Ask how they paced themselves, how they felt, what they would do differently in the final weeks and how they handled the day. The rules stop you sharing and discussing questions and answers, not experience.

Questions people ask