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HPAT Interpersonal Understanding: 5 Tips For Success
Interpersonal Understanding is the second section of the HPAT. It examines your ability to gauge emotions and people’s reactions in specific clinical, personal and professional settings. Interpersonal Reasoning is arguably the least time-pressured section of the HPAT, but do not think it is any less important! It is equally weighted with the Logical Reasoning section and worth 40% of your final score. All HPAT sections need to be carefully prepared for. You need to ensure that you do not neglect it, as the number of correct questions required to score high tends to be greater than in the other two sections. These five tips will help you to succeed with your HPAT preparation.
1. What You See in Others is a Reflection of You
Shape your mood – be positive, optimistic and empathetic when reading the stimulus, and consciously smile as you read! Believe it or not, this will affect how you approach and answer questions. This section of the HPAT is designed to examine your temperament as an empathetic and morally reasonable person. You can do some extra reading around ethics, situational judgment and professionalism guidelines for doctors if you find this is an area where you need practice. Generally, the best approach is to try to focus on the attributes that society ideally wants in a medical professional, i.e. honesty, integrity, probity etc. and try to channel those characteristics while reading the exam stimulus.
2. Expand your Vocabulary
The main struggling point for students with section two tends to be a lack of intimate understanding of the subtleties that separate different terms we use to describe emotions.
The words used in this section can be pretty obscure, and the options all look similar.
As the HPAT past papers are not publicly available, it can be hard to get a sense of what the level of vocabulary candidates are required to have.
You can use resources like the Emotion Wheel to learn the differences between words used to describe emotions.
Source: https://humansystems.co/emotionwheels/
You can also use resources such as dictionary.com and create a vocabulary bank whenever you stumble across a new word in your preparation.
3. Study the Background Behind Emotional Reasoning Tests
By bearing in mind some of the different attributes that the second section of the HPAT exam is attempting to assess, you will better ascertain which option to select as your answer.
As there are few resources available in the way of HPAT preparation books or guides, it is best to examine emotional intelligence at a general level.
Emotional Intelligence refers to one’s ability to assess, identify and manage the emotions of themselves and others around them. Emotional Intelligence is indicative of an individual’s likelihood to consider the emotional needs of others concerning areas such as decision-making or team-based exercises.
- Team Working suggests the extent to which an individual may be comfortable working with others and the efficiency of the work completed during such tasks. Those with good teamwork skills are likely to contribute to a group and support others’ ideas while helping to maintain productivity and a high level of performance overall.
- Empathy indicates how able the candidate is regarding recognition of others’ current emotional states as well as their own. Those with increased empathy are generally better at recognising and understanding how others feel through specific cues that may not be detected by those who are less empathic.
- Integrity relates to the consistency of your values, actions and truthfulness. It is often influential in how respected an individual you may be and the value placed in their opinion. Someone with high integrity may avoid that which could contradict their principles even in the case of personal gain and could be considered trustworthy and fair-minded.
4. Understand What Can Appear in Section 2
Section 2 consists of 36 questions with a time limit of 45 minutes. Candidates have approximately 1 minute and 20 seconds to answer each question.
According to ACER’s official website
“Section 2 assesses the ability to understand and think about people. Questions are based on a scenario, dialogue or other text representing specific interpersonal situations. Most passages will have several questions. The questions assess your ability to identify, understand, and infer the thoughts, feelings, behaviour, and intentions of the people represented in the situations.”
Generally, this section gives students plenty of time to go back over their work and double-check their answers. Do not waste this extra time; you can use your spare time to mull over any questions you have any significant difficulty with.
The questions that appear in Section 2 tend to take the form of:
- Dialogues
- Novel excerpts
- Discursive essays
- Clinical Interactions
- Cartoons
Your preparation should focus on viewing these different question types as separate areas of study. You can learn specific techniques for each genre of questions, and it is best to try to cover all three equally as there tends to be an equal number of each type on the exam.
Once you see that only a limited amount of different types of questions appear on the exam, preparation becomes far less daunting.
5. Track your performance
Monitoring your progress is one of the most efficient ways to optimise your section 2 HPAT result. If you find out early on that you are naturally adept with this section, it is best to spend time trying to improve in the others instead of focusing on what you find easiest. It’s vital not to compare yourself to others in a self-deprecating way. Most students find that their confidence in their interpersonal reasoning abilities only starts to build at the end of their HPAT preparation. There is no point in being hard on yourself early on when you struggle, as the questions are designed to catch you. With enough preparation and repeated exposure to the styles of questions part of section two, you will see your skills improve dramatically over time.
Frequently Asked Question
→What is the HPAT Interpersonal Understanding section?
The HPAT Interpersonal Understanding section is a component of the Health Professions Admissions Test (HPAT) that measures a candidate’s ability to understand and analyze interpersonal relationships, emotions, and behavior. It assesses a candidate’s empathy, emotional intelligence, and interpersonal skills.
→What are some tips for success in the Interpersonal Understanding section of the HPAT?
Here are five tips for success in the Interpersonal Understanding section of the HPAT:
Practice active listening: Listen carefully to the scenario presented in the question and pay attention to verbal and nonverbal cues.
Develop empathy: Try to understand the perspective of the patient or individual in the scenario and consider how they might be feeling.
Analyze behavior: Analyze the behavior and actions of the individuals in the scenario and consider the underlying emotions and motivations.
Use clear and concise language: Use clear and concise language to communicate your understanding of the scenario and your proposed solution.
Practice, practice, practice: Practice answering sample questions and scenarios to become more familiar with the format and develop your skills.
→Can interpersonal skills be learned and improved?
Yes, interpersonal skills can be learned and improved through practice and intentional effort. This includes active listening, empathy, effective communication, and conflict resolution skills.
→Why is the Interpersonal Understanding section important?
The Interpersonal Understanding section is important because it assesses a candidate’s ability to communicate effectively and empathetically with patients, colleagues, and other healthcare professionals. These skills are essential for a successful career in the healthcare field and are highly valued by medical schools and other health profession programs.
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