About this event
Medical Spelling is a solo two-round event for the Secondary and Postsecondary/Collegiate divisions. Round One is a 50-item multiple-choice test in 60 minutes that asks you to pick the correctly spelled term for a definition. Test items and the spelldown word lists are built from Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary and its audio glossary. The top scorers advance to Round Two, a spelldown in front of judges, seated from lowest to highest test score. Terms are played from Taber's Audio Glossary and get harder each round (easy, moderate, complex, complicated). You pronounce the term, may ask for up to three re-pronunciations and a definition, then spell it aloud within two minutes, saying hyphen, space or apostrophe where needed, and pronounce it again to finish; one letter change is allowed. The Round One score does not carry into the spelldown; it is only used to break a tie if the last spellers are still standing when time runs out. Business attire is required to compete in Round Two.
Test day
What to expect
Round One test, then live rounds
Round One is a 50-question test in 60 minutes; the top scorers advance to the live rounds. Official format: 50-question test, 60 minutes, then a live spelldown with 2 minutes per term for finalists.
Written from the test plan
Questions follow the event's published test plan, section by section, and are written from the listed reference texts. Practice questions here are drawn in the same proportions.
How you advance
How many advance from regionals to states and on to the International Leadership Conference (ILC) depends on your association's rules. Study the official test plan: it lists each section and its share of the test.
What judges score
What's on the test
Study resources
Bookmark to saveCurated by ChapterPrep. Free unless noted. External links open in a new tab.