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Finding clinical years pretty tough - any advice

I found year 1 and 2 pretty tough at times too but managed to pass everything with a satisfactory.
Now I'm in 3rd year at a PBL based school so we have no lectures at all. I'm worried I'm going to fail having got a low pass In my most recent exam (a test that all 5 years sit and the content is that it can be on absolutely anything, but it's aimed at 5th years). Iv never had a low pass before so this concerned me.

I find it hard being in clinics with consultants when they ask me questions as I feel I don't know the answers most of the time. This applies to being on the wards/teaching sessions too.

I'm starting to really worry about exams and have a fear of failure (I think we get kicked out if you fail a resit, atleast that's how it was in years 1-2. I'm not entirely sure what happens in 3rd year)

I don't know how to structure my revision at all, any ideas?

Reply 1

Medicine Man

I may be absolutely wrong but are you at (what was formerly known as) Peninsula? Perhaps Carcinoma may be able to give you more specific advice...

carcinoma

blah

More generally, what I found useful for clinical years was to take each heading from the Cheese and Onion and read around the topic/make notes/watch videos - basically go back to basics to learn it properly. Remember that it's impossible to cover absolutely everything in detail, but make sure you know the common things well and can identify (and initiate management for - though that's more final year) the life threatening emergencies. Learning third year properly often makes finals revision so much easier when you get to it. See how many weeks you have till your finals and just split thee headings up such that you cover them all before the exams. Most importantly, don't panic - pace yourself and it'll all be fine.

Re feeling like you don't know the answers to consultant questions, just remember you are not alone in that. We've all been there. Its like a rite of passage as a student. You can learn to 'sound clever' on firms by knowing the common questions consultants tend to ask (e.g. give me 5 respiratory causes of clubbing etc.) but it's not just about answering these questions - just pace yourself and learn things properly. That's more important than trying to impress a consultant - there are far too many of them to try to impress! :p:

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 2

Da CorrupteD KiD

I have two suggestions for you:

1. Clerk or take history/examine as many patients as you can. Don't just stop there, find a friendly doctor and present it to them, volunteer your management plans or ask them how they would manage such patients. You could also ask them to show you the ECGs/X-rays. Follow up by reading the relevant sections on cheese and onion. I suggest tackling the common presenting complaints such as chest pain and acute abdomen. Leave out the specialist stuff like the vasculitides or fancy renal conditions and whatnot for now as you're still in Year 3. You can anonymise your clerking and do a full write up including reflections/learning points. Works great for your portfolio if your med school requires one.

2. Subscribe to pastest. You may find the questions challenging at first but with time it will get easier and especially if you read up on the topics that you have failed to score. These questions are more than likely to surface in your finals so you'll be off to a good start.

Lastly, don't forget to brush up on your practical skills too. Volunteer to do the bloods/cannulas/ABGs/catheters/NGs. Junior doctors are usually more than happy for you to do these especially once you're quite good at it. Ask to be supervised if you're just starting out rather than stabbing blindly. Don't ever think you've mastered the venflons, you can never do too many of them. Keep practising.

Good luck!

P/S: Don't bother going to clinics if you haven't got a specific learning goal in mind. It's painful to sit through a clinic full of regular follow ups and is not a good use of time. Important things to learn in clinics are for for example examinations of hernias, breast, otoscopy, opthalmoscopy etc. Tell the consultant your goal right at the start to avoid wasting time.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 3

Dexa

A good place to start revision for clinicals are your core systems - cardio, resp, GI, neuro, urology. Learn about the most common presentations in each of them before going into more in-depth conditions e.g. chest pain, SoB, collapse, loin pain etc. A good book for clinical years is oxford handbook of clinical diagnosis. I wish i stumbled across it earlier in my studies. It's got presenting complaints for all your core systems, and gives the most common differentials - their features, appropriate investigations and treatment, in a very concise form.

Reply 4

41jms

Original post by Medicine Man

I may be absolutely wrong but are you at (what was formerly known as) Peninsula? Perhaps Carcinoma may be able to give you more specific advice...

More generally, what I found useful for clinical years was to take each heading from the Cheese and Onion and read around the topic/make notes/watch videos - basically go back to basics to learn it properly. Remember that it's impossible to cover absolutely everything in detail, but make sure you know the common things well and can identify (and initiate management for - though that's more final year) the life threatening emergencies. Learning third year properly often makes finals revision so much easier when you get to it. See how many weeks you have till your finals and just split thee headings up such that you cover them all before the exams. Most importantly, don't panic - pace yourself and it'll all be fine.

Re feeling like you don't know the answers to consultant questions, just remember you are not alone in that. We've all been there. Its like a rite of passage as a student. You can learn to 'sound clever' on firms by knowing the common questions consultants tend to ask (e.g. give me 5 respiratory causes of clubbing etc.) but it's not just about answering these questions - just pace yourself and learn things properly. That's more important than trying to impress a consultant - there are far too many of them to try to impress! :p: