Know your exams

This year I have written exams and clinical exams, which is generally the case for every year in Medical School. Knowing this has meant I plan to balance my revision between learning the material that will be assessed in a written exam whilst also making time to practice the practical tasks and skills we can be assessed in an OSCE (objective structured clinical examination).

Personally, I prefer studying the written content alone with a coffee at home or in the library whereas I find clinical skills practice is best done in pairs where you can give each-other constructive feedback and practice things in real-life.

For OSCEs there is great content on the QUB Med Portal with DOCS (suggestive mark schemes) to allow you to test yourself with a friend and see how you might have scored were that station to come up in your exam. These should form the mainstay of your revision for OSCEs.

Work Smart NOT Hard

_{My Weekly Study Timetable}

At first this seems counter-intuitive; of course you should work hard? Well, yes, but I would argue that managing your time and breaking up revision into manageable chunks can reduce the time you spend studying but make that time more worthwhile. So, work smart with your time.

For me this has meant building a timetable with “absolutes and ideals”. “Absolutes” (in red) are things I have to do every day - for me this is testing myself with flashcards each day and looking over some clinical skills from either Year 1 or 2. The “ideals” then are things that if I have time I can try to get done, like looking over some of the lectures for Year 1 or 2 which I have found more challenging.

I also build in time for going to the gym, for breaks and then allow some time over the weekend to catch-up if there is anything I haven’t got finished during the week. All of this is designed to take pressure off me when I’m studying and to allow me to make the most effective use of my time.

Habit Building

There are some days where we lack motivation to study, or at least I do anyway!

This is why I prefer to rely on habits rather than my own motivation. By getting into a habit of doing flashcards every day for example, this has become a non-negotiable part of my daily routine. Now I don’t think much about doing my flashcards each morning and it’s a relatively quick way to review quite a lot of material from across the curriculum.

This is relying on habit building as opposed to motivation and has helped me to study in a way that is reliable.

I found that writing a daily to-do list can help as by ticking off what I get done each day. This serves as a reminder of what you are supposed to do each day, and also helps to build a daily habit which can make you more disciplined in planning you’re studying.

Notes, Flashcards, Practice Questions?

_{My flashcard Anki deck}

This is something that causes a great deal of debate and something that realistically I can’t answer for everyone because everyone learns differently.

Initially I began writing notes although I changed to a more “active-learning” style. This has meant me turning lecture content into flashcard questions and putting them into them into an app (I use Anki) which makes me do a certain amount every day.

This means I review lecture content from across the course regularly and can test myself as I go. I’ve found this helps me to put the material into my longer-term memory and this has been useful when it comes to exams. I also use online question banks (there are plenty available for reasonable prices online) as these can help to put the lecture knowledge into clinical scenarios and reflect the question style the exams will take.

With that said, if note taking works for you then do that! Don’t let what I do or what anyone else does sway you into changing your style. Some people are more visual learners and use mind maps and diagrams, others prefer to write notes and the repetition of this can help to make things stick. There is no right or wrong way to study medicine.

Remember

These are just my experiences and ideas. Everyone learns and studies differently. Also, it’s okay to change you revision style as you go, or to adapt other people ideas to make a plan that suits you best.

It’s easy to panic about how much others are studying or how well you are scoring in practice questions. Just remember that you only need to pass to become a doctor and that everyone else probably feeling similarly unsure about how they will do - lean on your classmates for support.

Exams are not what defines your worth as a student or a person, so you have to make time to look after yourself and be kind to yourself. Exams time can be stressful, especially if there are other things going on in your life that make it harder to devote time to studying. I’ve linked some great resources below if you need to reach out to get support with exam stress affecting your mental health.

Resources

Mental Health:

QUB Counselling

Samaritans

Lifeline

Medical School Revision Aids:

QUB Medical Education Portal

BMJ Best Practice

Passmedicine

Quesmed

Geeky Medics

 

Patrick Doherty (He/Him) 2nd Year Undergraduate Medical Student | NI I'm a 21 year old currently in my second year of studying Medicine here at Queen's University Belfast. I was a school-leaver when I came to university, having went to school in Ballymena beforehand. I'm not sure what I'd like to do when I graduate although the idea of writing or medical education appeals to me.