Finals
Hello All,
So as the title suggests this thread is about finals. As of today, I officially now have 3 months till the big exams in medical school. The only problem is the fact that I have no strategy and am seeing all my peers working extremely hard.
I feel the workload is impossible to complete in a few months and am opened to any suggestions/ tips other finalists may have.
So as the title suggests this thread is about finals. As of today, I officially now have 3 months till the big exams in medical school. The only problem is the fact that I have no strategy and am seeing all my peers working extremely hard.
I feel the workload is impossible to complete in a few months and am opened to any suggestions/ tips other finalists may have.
Oh god don't say that, I've got 1 month left and haven't done too much up til now besides just engaging with my placements for the year! And my precious time is being wasted guinea pigging this PSA exam - plus I've just realised they send your results to the foundation schools whether you consent to it or not, as signing up to the exam is considered 'consent' to have this done. Sly sly sneaky devils. Even though it's not a real exam, hasn't been validated yet and I'd previously had no intention of doing any work for it, I am now spending the weekend re-capping prescribing facts (which I'm then going to have to do AGAIN later...) just in case a poor score might come back to bite me in the future. /rant
My plan for things to cover is:
- find patients, examine patients with real findings so you can be confident with them, consolidate OSCE skills on them and practice presenting your findings fluently and with panache!
- work on being able to provide differentials for all possible physical findings
- also look at data interpretation: ECGs, XRs, the works so you can interpret them on the spot under pressure
- clinical skills re-cap...
- never forget the ethics and law stuff
- go back over ALL of your notes from previous years and go crazy on passmedicine etc. trying to push your level of knowledge back into the realms of "I am a living guideline, how may I be of service?" ...for the written exams, where you will need very detailed book knowledge
- prescribing
That's all I can think of to do. However much that helps!
My plan for things to cover is:
- find patients, examine patients with real findings so you can be confident with them, consolidate OSCE skills on them and practice presenting your findings fluently and with panache!
- work on being able to provide differentials for all possible physical findings
- also look at data interpretation: ECGs, XRs, the works so you can interpret them on the spot under pressure
- clinical skills re-cap...
- never forget the ethics and law stuff
- go back over ALL of your notes from previous years and go crazy on passmedicine etc. trying to push your level of knowledge back into the realms of "I am a living guideline, how may I be of service?" ...for the written exams, where you will need very detailed book knowledge
- prescribing
That's all I can think of to do. However much that helps!
Original post by PeterSmith89
Hello All,
So as the title suggests this thread is about finals. As of today, I officially now have 3 months till the big exams in medical school. The only problem is the fact that I have no strategy and am seeing all my peers working extremely hard.
I feel the workload is impossible to complete in a few months and am opened to any suggestions/ tips other finalists may have.
So as the title suggests this thread is about finals. As of today, I officially now have 3 months till the big exams in medical school. The only problem is the fact that I have no strategy and am seeing all my peers working extremely hard.
I feel the workload is impossible to complete in a few months and am opened to any suggestions/ tips other finalists may have.
You already know a lot. More than you think you do.
I wouldn't focus too much on what other people are doing: different people work differently (and not necessarily efficiently). That said, having a study buddy or group/someone to pitch higher than on your firms can help.
What's the format of your exams? Our writtens (as opposed to our PACES) are only pass/fail & our PSA is summative. So inevitably the endgame for us boils down to practicing picking up signs/differentials/investigations/management/general viva, and also picking up an unreasonably priced PSA book.
What are your weaker areas? I've spent proportionally more time on areas that I haven't learned properly over the years because I didn't like them (cardio)/didn't understand them (neuro, renal)/they weren't taught very well (surgery).
you know more than you think (tis always the case)
3 months is long enough. but start soon. better to peak late than do all your work earlier and a) burn out or b) forget everything before exams start. Keep calm. I would only tell you to worry if you were posting this with 4 weeks to go until your exams.
at the very least be able to say 1 sentence for all the common diseases with regards to 1) aetiology/causes/risk factors 2) symptoms 3) signs 4) differentials 5) investigations and interpretation 6) management .... you don't need to be a "living guideline" like someone above said, but for the important things you'll probs need to know more detail (e.g. ACS asthma PE etc.)
consider two students (A and B) revising treatment for acute alcohol withdrawal/delirium tremens:
student A: you should give a reducing dose of chlordiazepoxide over 7 days starting at 30mg a day.
student B: I would give chlordiazepoxide 30mg in 4 divided doses for the first 2 days, then I would give 20mg daily in divided doses for 2 days, then I would give 10mg daily in divided doses for 2 days, then 5mg daily for 2 days.
EDIT: I just copied these from a book I don't know if it's correct but you see my point
although student B knows more (and may get more marks in an OSCE) both will pass and student B is probably wasting his time learning that much detail.
buy an online question bank (for me passmedicine is the best and cheapest), if you feel you can't be bothered to revise then listen to some music and plough through some questions. I wouldn't say they are as good for learning as reading the oxford handbook but it's good for pattern recognition. maybe start doing that 2 months before exams.
OSCE: practice exams so that it looks like you have done them 100 times, have a way of interpreting basic tests (e.g. DRABCDE for X-rays), be able to explain/present your findings and come up with differentials, getting a diagnosis is important but comes secondary to these.
keep calm, if you work well for 3 months you have enough time. just the last push and then finals are over. you can do it.
3 months is long enough. but start soon. better to peak late than do all your work earlier and a) burn out or b) forget everything before exams start. Keep calm. I would only tell you to worry if you were posting this with 4 weeks to go until your exams.
at the very least be able to say 1 sentence for all the common diseases with regards to 1) aetiology/causes/risk factors 2) symptoms 3) signs 4) differentials 5) investigations and interpretation 6) management .... you don't need to be a "living guideline" like someone above said, but for the important things you'll probs need to know more detail (e.g. ACS asthma PE etc.)
consider two students (A and B) revising treatment for acute alcohol withdrawal/delirium tremens:
student A: you should give a reducing dose of chlordiazepoxide over 7 days starting at 30mg a day.
student B: I would give chlordiazepoxide 30mg in 4 divided doses for the first 2 days, then I would give 20mg daily in divided doses for 2 days, then I would give 10mg daily in divided doses for 2 days, then 5mg daily for 2 days.
EDIT: I just copied these from a book I don't know if it's correct but you see my point
although student B knows more (and may get more marks in an OSCE) both will pass and student B is probably wasting his time learning that much detail.
buy an online question bank (for me passmedicine is the best and cheapest), if you feel you can't be bothered to revise then listen to some music and plough through some questions. I wouldn't say they are as good for learning as reading the oxford handbook but it's good for pattern recognition. maybe start doing that 2 months before exams.
OSCE: practice exams so that it looks like you have done them 100 times, have a way of interpreting basic tests (e.g. DRABCDE for X-rays), be able to explain/present your findings and come up with differentials, getting a diagnosis is important but comes secondary to these.
keep calm, if you work well for 3 months you have enough time. just the last push and then finals are over. you can do it.
(edited 9 years ago)
10 weeks, havent started. My colleagues have or claimed they have and I feel the same as you (like I am going to fail). Any advice would also be helpful to me as well
Original post by reginaking123
10 weeks, havent started. My colleagues have or claimed they have and I feel the same as you (like I am going to fail). Any advice would also be helpful to me as well
10 weeks is enough, but start now and start well.
I posted advice above, but you can ask your colleagues how they are revising. just put the work in mate ... 10 weeks is fine, but then 10 weeks becomes 9, which becomes 8 weeks ... 6 weeks, don't leave it too late.
having the fear of failure can help, for sure ... it can motivate you, but being anxious all the time will also hinder working, there is no point in worrying. you have made it to final year, it's just about crossing the finish line now
sorry for the non-specific advice but at this stage it's more of a case of getting down and doing something!
Original post by Etomidate
Think I would end up seeing myself off if I tried to revise for 10 weeks. You guys are nuts.
Did you revise 6 months before your finals?
Honestly, they are not as hard as the hype. After all what exactly have you been doing for the last five years?
You know so much more than you give yourself credit for. All the revision is about building confidence and structuring answers, these are vital.
Posted from TSR Mobile
You know so much more than you give yourself credit for. All the revision is about building confidence and structuring answers, these are vital.
Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by carcinoma
Honestly, they are not as hard as the hype. After all what exactly have you been doing for the last five years?
You know so much more than you give yourself credit for. All the revision is about building confidence and structuring answers, these are vital.
Posted from TSR Mobile
You know so much more than you give yourself credit for. All the revision is about building confidence and structuring answers, these are vital.
Posted from TSR Mobile
Sure, thats a fair point. I happened to look at the osce unofficial guide recently and realised I don't know so much. I have been on the wards but have probably been behaving like an f1 rather than learning the management pathway (by this I mean helping out with the job list).
Obviously we all have done something right to get at this stage. Its probably this mentality that I had over the past year that resulted me leaving revision this late. I am now panicking as I have the similar amount of time as OP and don't want to mess up at my final hurdle.
Original post by MarinaElliot007
Sure, thats a fair point. I happened to look at the osce unofficial guide recently and realised I don't know so much. I have been on the wards but have probably been behaving like an f1 rather than learning the management pathway (by this I mean helping out with the job list).
Obviously we all have done something right to get at this stage. Its probably this mentality that I had over the past year that resulted me leaving revision this late. I am now panicking as I have the similar amount of time as OP and don't want to mess up at my final hurdle.
Obviously we all have done something right to get at this stage. Its probably this mentality that I had over the past year that resulted me leaving revision this late. I am now panicking as I have the similar amount of time as OP and don't want to mess up at my final hurdle.
Btw I'm not suggesting anyone just sits back and chills.
Posted from TSR Mobile
Sure. I know but I think the question being asked was if 10 weeks is realistic to fit all the work in? Whether that is to go crazy mad at revision is subjective to the person studying.
Original post by reginakingg
Sure. I know but I think the question being asked was if 10 weeks is realistic to fit all the work in? Whether that is to go crazy mad at revision is subjective to the person studying.
If you develop an effective strategy then yes 10 weeks is plenty of time.
Posted from TSR Mobile
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