The Student Room Group

Stressed about medical school finals

Hi everyone. As the title suggests, I've really been anxious to the core with these upcoming med school exams. I'm in third year and while this year has been a lot more relaxed in terms of content compared to the previous one, I've just been burnt out. My studying has been inconsistent over the year and this semester it has just been practically non-existent. My finals are coming up in about 4 weeks and since this is our last pre-clinical year it will encompass practically everything. combine that with the OSCEs and it just starts to become so overwhelming. I've tried sticking my head down and forgetting about the exam but I can't go 5 minutes without getting panicked and losing focus.

This is the first time I've really felt this way as I've usually been better prepared for exams but this time around I'm just too burnt out to even study. I've tried taking breaks to reset my head but it never really works. I even stopped anki for 4 months and have forgotten everything from the first 2 years.

I guess what prompted me to make this post is a combination of things. For one, I'm not really sure who to talk to. I don't want to come across as complaining to my friends as we're all in the same bout and no-one is to blame for being less prepared other than myself really. It's starting to affect my eating and sleep which in turn is messing up my studying and it's all become some sort of positive feedback loop from hell!

All rambling aside, has anyone been in a similar situation and have any advice on how to escape these deadly burn-out + cramming combo? Or any words of comfort that cramming 3 years worth of content into 4 weeks isn't as impossible as it sounds?