NST part II subject advice

I lurk around on TSR but did Part II Physiology and Psychology a few years ago... as there's not many of us around I feel compelled to come out of the woodwork

Regarding reading papers - it's good to read as much as you can, but realistically you won't have time to do absolutely everything in depth. I'd focus on the areas that interest you most, but try to at least read abstracts for most areas. Definitely worth reading recent reviews thoroughly, they can give you a lot of info and sometimes some context which can help with understanding disagreements in the field/how opinions have changed over time. Try to find a couple of recent relevant references as well if you can, they look good in your essays (you'll be expected to cite references in the exam, or at least you were when I did it).

I enjoyed my project a lot - exactly what they're like will obviously depend on the lab you're in though, whether you're in PDN or Psychology (2 term vs. 1 term) etc. Everyone I knew seemed to enjoy them too though. There is good statistics teaching that the Psychology department put on, and I found that it was possible to get specific advice on your project statistics if you asked (they're not going to do them for you, but they will give you help!) Your lab should also help you if there's any specific analyses that they do that aren't generally taught.

Wow thanks so much, I actually didn't expect to get a response here (like you said there are so few of us). Thanks so much

Out of interest did you do natsci or medicine when you went in to do it? Either way is it a lot harder than other years? Or is the work manageable?

I just came out of 2nd year med and that was kinda hellish XD

Edit: I'm with dept of psychol so ill be doing the 1 term project. Is that in lent or can you choose which term you do it?

I did natsci, though most of the other people in my year were medics! I don't think it was harder, just different - fewer contact hours so more self motivation required. In the course book gumph they tell you that Physiology and Psychology is regarded as a "demanding option" but I think the only thing you need to be careful with is Psychology module choice. You can technically only do 2 (I did) but it doesn't give you very much choice on the exams (you'd have to answer 3 out of 4 essays possible to you on at least one of the papers) - but if you try to do loads of them you have a massive workload! You should get a 'coordinating supervisor' from the department who you'll meet up with at the beginning of term who can probably give better advice than me on module selection and so on

Yeah, the Psychology projects are in Lent I think, though you'll pick them early in Michaelmas so you can do some reading/prep before you start!

Thank goodness; one of the most daunting things is picking from all the psych modules. There seems to be SO many to choose from so I'm glad we will get some guidance. The papers we sit are separate from the neuro/psych papers right? The past papers seem to be a bit different giving us a bit more choice of questions from which to answer rather than being forced to answer say '2 from section A, 2 from section B' as an example?

So I'll go to these stats classes in michaelmas and get to grip with the stats early before I embark on my project. The project is one of the most exciting bits it seems, but I'll need to balance my time between project and lecture learning