MSCAA advice - from a student who failed the exams

I don’t, sorry! But if you google it they should be somewhere on there or online through your university library.
These are the books
- get ahead surgery 250 SBAs for finals
- get ahead surgery 100 EMQs for finals
- get ahead medicine 300 SBAs for finals
- get ahead medicine 150 EMQs for finals
They also have speciality ones

Would you say it was important to know the mechanism of action of drugs for the exam?

Would you say it was important to know the mechanism of action of drugs for the exam?

hi all.
im really struggling with motivation! Failed my finals (first time failing anything) and really struggling with revision especially as all my peers graduate this week and can start early!
i feel like I’m being punished for failing finals, and it’s really hard seeing all my friends post their graduation posts! I know I should switch off all socials, but I was wondering if anyone else feels the same? I think I’m looking for reassurance!!
the covid thing is driving me crazy also!!!! It’s so anxiety inducing!
love ❤️

hi all.
im really struggling with motivation! Failed my finals (first time failing anything) and really struggling with revision especially as all my peers graduate this week and can start early!
i feel like I’m being punished for failing finals, and it’s really hard seeing all my friends post their graduation posts! I know I should switch off all socials, but I was wondering if anyone else feels the same? I think I’m looking for reassurance!!
the covid thing is driving me crazy also!!!! It’s so anxiety inducing!
love ❤️

Anthony Joshua, the boxer lost in a fight and his heavy weight titles. He used the wrong strategy. So he went back, learned, adapted, and won the next one.

He said:

"I did not let victory get to my head, nor defeat to my heart. Winning the championship once was nice, so i had to do it twice!"

You are not alone. Many of us are in the exact same situation, facing the very same things. I personally have gone through a lot of mental heart ache, sadness, but i have found resolve to carry on, and it isn't easy.

To get to where we have, we clearly belong here. Medicine can induce imposter syndrome in any normal day, let alone when we fail an exam. Many of us - me included - never failed anything before. It is a shock, but it is not a reflection of our ability. It is more a reflection on our strategy, and that's what we are going to work hard for and focus on.

Many people are too mentally burnt out to volunteer, due to personal circumstances, family with the virus, the isolation. They will spend the next few months studying anyway, in preparation for FY1. Try to think of this as the same for people in our situation. This is an opportunity to learn so much, to think like a doctor to such an extent, when we start working we will look back and consider this the biggest blessing in disguise.

The key thing i've found is to strategise better. Do a proper post-mortem, think smarter, work smarter, think deeply about concepts and what various scenarios could come up.

The Covid scenario alone is enough to drive anyone crazy. We are all hurting. You aren't behind, and this chance to study and work hard might give you the advantage in FY1.

I don't know you, but just from the fact you made it this far in the way you have, i have next to no doubt you have what it takes to pass, and not just pass, but excel in the exam.

This thread is for supporting each other, strategy, and obliterating this exam the next time round, so we can actually enjoy doing the exam and grow.

It is much easier said than done. Honestly, i'm keeping busy, trying to just work, work , but give myself me time, watch something. Look myself in the mirror and tell myself well done for making it so far, appreciate the hurt i have, forgiving myself, to allow myself the chance to go at this again.

You are NOT alone.

But we will all make it. My future self sent me this:

"Hey, me of April. It's you of August. I know you're hurting, i know the pangs of disappointment you felt on top of the crazy time the world is going through. But the truth is, i would not have it any differently. The level of knowledge, the understanding, the resilience and how much you grew from this has allowed me, you of the future, to be so much more mentally and academically prepared that i'm actually frightened if i would have been without this experience. So hang in there. Don't think too far. Take it day by day. One punch, one step, one round at a time. Day by day. Reward and treat yourself every day, because you will get through this, and time will pass. Time does not discriminate. Our happy moments pass, but the beauty is so do difficult periods. Don't let victory get to your head, nor defeat to your heart. You did not fail, you merely learned and grew. You were not alone - many extremely capable doctors have failed an exam. So take a bit of time to get yourself mentally ready, it won't be easy, but the fact you've made it this far, means you have what it takes to carry on. Now go get this"

Much love to you and everyone else going through this. We'll all make it through.

I found the level of the Get Ahead books similar to the exam, I would say though not to take all the answers as gospel as (very few) are outdated and there are some typos. The explanations are sometimes helpful, sometimes not.

I think Pastest and Passmed are decent resources. In terms of general tips I would say to know the rationale behind the answers - you need to know why you're doing the investigation, why you're using this score, and don't rely on pattern recognition. A lot of medical schools like students to use pattern recognition (RUQ pain + episodic = gallstones) but this exam is NOT like that. You need to know the rationale, don't go "oh he has AF so we need to anticoagulate him", use the CHADVasc to see if he actually needs to be anticoagulated.

It's a tough exam but you should be able to get through it as long as you have the right mindset.

1. Are the MSCAA questions very different to the ones in the practice papers ? (2017/2018/2019)
2. Not sure I understand why you'd say that MSCAA questions involve more synthesis than question banks. Have you been on Passmed?

Did you do the exam as an online open-book format? I've done an open book exam before but that was for maths/engineering... very difficult type of exam. Did you find it useful to look something up in this exam?

Did you do the exam as an online open-book format? I've done an open book exam before but that was for maths/engineering... very difficult type of exam. Did you find it useful to look something up in this exam?

Our uni is doing it as closed book but using the MSCAA questions. iirc in the article about Imperial doing it, they have said that the questions were initially intended to be done as closed book (as they are just the normal MSCAA questions that have been used for in-person exams in previous years), and they hadn't adjusted the pass mark based on how well people have done, i.e. they didn't put the pass mark up for closed book vs open book