So I had a request to do a post on tips for revising for your year-end medical exam. To be honest, every person will have a different way of revising. The most ideal way to revise for exams is to start from day 1 of the course. After every lecture/day, gather all your notes together and make sure your notes have enough info for you. If not, look at your recommended reading and add info to your notes. Or after end of each day is to consolidate all the things you have learned and to go over it. Some people like to consolidate their knowledge on weekends as most lecture days go from 9-5pm and by the time you finish your day, your brain will be fried. If you stay on top of your notes, when it comes to exam time, you should know your material quite well and just need to commit things to memory and you will not be needing to learn anything "new".
What I just described is the ideal way...but realistically, the chances of that happening is quite slim, unless you're quire organized and on top of everything. For me, that method got tossed out 2 weeks into my course. What actually happens is that you take notes during your lectures/print out your lecture slides. If you're having a good week and have some spare time, your notes will go into a binder so your room stays relatively neat and that you will be able to find your notes. If your university only does 1 year-end exam, like mine, on average, medics begin studying between 4-6 weeks prior to exams. You would think that's ridiculously too far in advance, but the sheer amount of material you learn in one year...it just as ridiculous. I personally need 6 weeks to go through a whole year worth of material, but do keep in mind...I don't really look at my notes again until my 6 week revision period. So here I will list some tips on how to get on top of your revision period:
1) Make a revision schedule. Try and figure out how many days/weeks you will need to go over a topic (eg. 1 week for Paediatrics, 5 days for O&G). How much time to dedicate to each topic will depend on how well you know a topic/how confident you are with the topic. Always leave 1 week prior to exams for leeway/time to go over sample/past papers/revise stuff you don't know very well/last minute cram. I usually start thinking about making my revision schedule well in advance or else if you do one too late, you'll realize you have too little weeks left and too many topics. To avoid that, maybe think about your revision schedule when you come back from your last holiday before exams.
2) Find a study buddy! If you live with other medics, then that's sorted. If you don't, try finding a study buddy who has the same sort of revising method as you. It's a great way to make sure you don't miss out any topics and also a great way to test each other's knowledge. Make sure this study buddy won't be a distraction though or else you won't accomplish much!
3) Rest! I cannot stress enough how important it is to get enough rest during your revision weeks. No point of pulling all-nighters when your brain can't even function anymore. Nothing will get absorbed. Your body will tell you when it is time to take a break (usually when you find yourself reading the same page over and over again and nothing is going in). Try and get a good nights sleep every day. Pretty basic stuff, but it is so easy to forget to just rest.
4) Use cue cards for memorizing things. Some people don't like cue cards, which is fair enough. In medicine we have to learn a lot of names that aren't even related to the condition such as drug names/some medical syndromes. Once you write it down, you can put it to the side. Also great for the last minute cram a day or two before exams.
5) Start early. At the same time I'm not saying start revising 10 weeks before exams. Obviously this is down to personal preference. I think I started too early for this year's exam, but it's not something I regret. It was extremely tiring and boring though. At the same time, last year I started too late and regretted it and it was extremely stressful. Because I started a bit too early (or maybe even perfect timing), I could sacrifice a day or two to take a break or to spend a few extra days on a topic such as Paediatrics. I originally allocated 10 days for Paediatrics, but actually ended up taking 2 weeks to go through all of Paediatrics, but because I started revising early, I was able to give up a few days and shift my other dates around for my other topics.
6) Use revision books to AID knowledge, not gain knowledge. There are some books called Crash Course or At a Glance, which are really good books which gives you a quick glance at a topic. These are good books to help you look up stuff quickly or to double check info, but these are books you should not base your revision around as it misses out fundamental/basic knowledge that you will get from a proper textbook/lectures.
To be honest, I think the key things for revision is to be organized, good time management, rest lots, and try not to stress out too much. Exams are extremely stressful and your anxiety levels go through the roof. Everyone will be feeling the same so don't think you're the odd one out. On top of revising, you might still have to go into placement as some unis only give you 1 week of revision (where nothing is timetabled), so you'll need to be able to balance going to placement and revising. If you aren't organized, your revision will get quite messy. At the same time, don't start skiving placements so you can revise because at the same time, you can learn/revise while on placement. Sometimes really useful tutorial sessions will be held and you can learn/revise during those sessions. To be honest, this whole revision business sounds a lot harder than it really is. You'll know what to do when it comes to revision.
Hope this helps!
Showing posts with label revision. Show all posts
Showing posts with label revision. Show all posts
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Revision Time Again.
So exams are in 3 weeks. Truthfully, I'm not as nervous about these exams as I was last year. Last year was a disaster. It was horrible. Actually those exams last year could be deemed scarring. Worst experience ever. I have been constantly telling myself that nothing can be worse than last year's exam. This year, it is fairly obvious what we need to know for our exams and it has been clearly laid out for us. I think what's making revision difficult is that we still need to go to placements. We only get 1 week of revision. Consultants expect us to be on the wards 9am - 5pm and by the time you get home, you're exhausted. On average, you're looking at around about 3 hours of revision time. I am finding it quite difficult to juggle and obviously have to adapt my revision style to my placement schedule. I am quite used to staying up quite late to revise as I work best at night. On top of that, I am on my Neurology placement, which is an examinable topic for our exams, so I'm trying to learn and revise while on placement. Swear my brain feels like it can explode as I'm trying to do so much all at the same time.
The neurology ward in general has been interesting. We have got various different cases ranging from stroke to epilepsy to multiple sclerosis. If I had this placement at any other time in the year, I would enjoy it a lot as there are so many examination signs to see and the patient histories are really educational. As I've mentioned above, the brain is focused on revising so any time I catch a break, I am heading to the library or a quiet room to revise instead of spending time on the wards. Because we don't have OSCEs this year, I'm not too bothered about seeing signs, but it is certainly affecting the experience I am having on the placement. It is quite annoying as I find neurology quite fascinating...and challenging, but certainly something that does not bore me. It makes you think and it makes you think laterally as well. Anyways I'm going to keep this post short as I have to hit the books. Exam season is tough. I cannot wait for this to be over and bring on the new year.
Work hard. Play harder.
The neurology ward in general has been interesting. We have got various different cases ranging from stroke to epilepsy to multiple sclerosis. If I had this placement at any other time in the year, I would enjoy it a lot as there are so many examination signs to see and the patient histories are really educational. As I've mentioned above, the brain is focused on revising so any time I catch a break, I am heading to the library or a quiet room to revise instead of spending time on the wards. Because we don't have OSCEs this year, I'm not too bothered about seeing signs, but it is certainly affecting the experience I am having on the placement. It is quite annoying as I find neurology quite fascinating...and challenging, but certainly something that does not bore me. It makes you think and it makes you think laterally as well. Anyways I'm going to keep this post short as I have to hit the books. Exam season is tough. I cannot wait for this to be over and bring on the new year.
Work hard. Play harder.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Request: Top Tips for Managing the Workload.
Alright so this has been requested by one of my readers so I'll try my best to answer this request: Top Tips for Managing the Workload.
1) Stay on top of reading and lectures.
Let's be honest here...it's not exactly the easiest thing to do. So it's pretty unrealistic to constantly be on top of it and I have always struggled with it. I mean try your best to do recommended/relevant reading, but there are days where you just don't have time/there is way too much to read - to the point it is ridiculous. At the end of the day, you start asking: "How much reading should I be doing?" To be honest, it depends on your lecture. Sometimes I have amazingly detailed lectures, so I tend to skip out on the reading unless I need some clarification/extra details. Now if I had a lecture which was incredibly brief as in the lecturer spent maybe a total of 20 minutes talking about his confusing topic, then I will definitely need to read and make notes. It's really hard to say exactly how much reading is needed. You really have to judge that yourself as every school's lectures are different and every lecturer is different. I think another way to stay on top of lectures (if this is available to you) is to read next day's powerpoint/lecture the night before. For my university, our lectures' powerpoints get uploaded online for us to download so we can read what will be covered. Even if it doesn't make sense, just reading it helps a bit as when you get to the lecture you'll be more focused on what the lecturer is talking about and will probably make better notes as you know what to expect/know what he/she will be talking about. Also taking notes during lectures is also a great way to help you remember stuff...and it'll make your life a bit easier when it comes to revision as your notes will be ready for your revision.
2) Staying awake in lectures/Go to lectures.
I don't know about you, but I surely have difficulties staying awake in some lectures. Yes they can be horrendously boring, BUT it makes such a big difference when you're actually paying attention as no matter how little attention you're paying, you will absorb some info and the lecturer may even highlight a key point that you need to know for exams. And same thing with staying awake...if you ain't at the lecture...how are you going to know if it is important or not. There are lectures for a reason - go to it! I can't stand it when people think they'll be clever and skip lectures. Then when it comes to revision time they call me up and start asking me about the lecture that they missed. My answer: "Well if you actually cared and bothered coming to lecture, you wouldn't be in this position would you?!" It's not rocket science.
3) Use your weekend effectively.
"YAY WEEKEND!" Unfortunately, weekends are great at distracting you from your work. By all means go have fun. I usually go out and play sports on the weekends, but I do dedicate SOME weekends to working/catching up (most likely doing more catching up than anything else). It's the perfect time to catch up on work. If you have caught up with notes and have no plans, spend an hour just reading for the topics for next week, then you can ease the amount of work you have to do during the week.
4) Take a break!
Hey, no one can work forever. Take a break from time to time! No one said shut yourself in your room and become a hermit to do your work. GO OUT! Catch up with friends. YOUTUBE! Watch some TV! Do something else OTHER THAN medicine, plus it'll make your life a bit more interesting. When you take breaks, you become more effective at working. Work for short periods vs. doing a long haul. Well that depends on your personality. I'm horrible at working in short periods as it takes me quite awhile just to get going/working. I'm a long haul worker however that means I take really long breaks. For example: Recently I had my essay due for this attachment...I spent the entire Saturday doing nothing/being distracted/staring at a blank word document. From 1am - 7:40am, I managed to write up 4200 words for my essay. Went to sleep...Sunday - finalized my essay and it was ready to hand in for Monday. I like to say I'm quite efficient, and again it'll depend from person to person. You know yourself best. Do what works for you. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
5) Make a revision schedule.
I know some of you who are already in medical school will probably have exams coming up pretty soon. Go do yourself a favour and design a revision schedule EARLY. Predict how long you'll need for each topic. For example in 2nd year I dedicated 5 days per topic I had over an 8 week revision period. I tried my best to stick to it, but I always give myself a 1 week grace. So I aim to finish revision 1 week prior to exams just in case anything goes over time or takes longer to revise. If I finish revision on time, then I have the week to go over anything I'm not very sure about or to solidify some things. I also use the week to go over sample papers and any past formatives/quizzes that we got throughout the year. By making a revision schedule, this will probably temporarily cause your stress levels to shoot through the roof, but eventually it'll actually keep you from cramming and you'll feel like you know what you need to still study/you can keep track of your revision progress.
6) Don't leave everything to the last minute.
Aka do not procrastinate. It is extremely tempting to procrastinate, but we ALL know what happens when you procrastinate. Stuff gets real and you start stressing out because you realize you haven't done a lot of work and everything has stacked up. It is tempting to leave your lectures to stack up and just go over em over the weekend (I'm very guilty of that), but in the end, if you are busy on the weekend with sports or whatever, then the work just keeps piling up. The best thing to do is to PREVENT this from even starting in the first place and to avoid procrastinating. It is natural to procrastinate so don't think you're weird or you've got issues. I think every normal person procrastinates. Like some of you have noticed...I am very guilty of procrastinating, but thankfully I'm fairly efficient/effective when it comes to deadlines as I'll work my heart out if that means staying up all night to meet deadlines. Guess it is a give and take world and like I've said already - only you know how you work. Optimize it and use it to your advantage.
7) Get your work done EARLY.
Again just stressing the previous point - don't procrastinate. Yeah the deadline is like 2 months away, but if you get your assignment done now...well you don't have to think about it anymore. Done and dusted. No need to stress you out anymore. I'm actually very glad I finished my essay 2 weeks earlier than my colleagues as they are now stressing out as my placement is coming to an end. Me? I'm just chilling. Supervisor is off my back as he doesn't need anything else from me as I've finished my essay. Happy supervisor = happy student. Get your work done early. You'll never regret finishing work early...well ok maybe you might...but UNLIKELY you will regret finishing your work early. So just get on with it!
8) Be organized.
When you're organized, you're on the winning side of the workload. Organize your notes into binders or split them out. Cardiovascular notes in one binder. Respiratory notes in another and so on. I'm horrible at keeping my notes organized and every single time when it comes to putting notes away into binders after going through 2+ topics, I start regretting not staying on top of my organization Print out lectures if you can, type out notes if that's what you do, etc. Put them into the respectful binder and you'll be happy with yourself and it is less likely you'll lose those notes when they are slotted into a binder and when it comes to revision - everything is there and ready for you. Easy.
...I can't think of another 2 points to make it a nice round 10 points, but I will think about it. For now here are 8 points. I hope they are useful. I'm just telling how it is. No student is perfect...so I think the general rule is if you stay on top of your work early - less regrets at the end. I will openly admit that I am very guilty of not always staying on top of my work and I do stress about it near the end. I have no one else to blame but myself as I got to manage my time better/not procrastinate. If you know you're going away for the weekend/busy on the weekend/busy for the week...do your work ahead of time. Don't let it get out of control. Easy to say - extremely difficult to do.
Anyways good luck! If you readers have any requests for me...I'll try to write up a post for you. If you've got a question, I'm sure other readers will think the same. Obviously when I'm busy, I won't be able to get to requests as quickly, but I'll try my best.
More posts to come! :)
1) Stay on top of reading and lectures.
Let's be honest here...it's not exactly the easiest thing to do. So it's pretty unrealistic to constantly be on top of it and I have always struggled with it. I mean try your best to do recommended/relevant reading, but there are days where you just don't have time/there is way too much to read - to the point it is ridiculous. At the end of the day, you start asking: "How much reading should I be doing?" To be honest, it depends on your lecture. Sometimes I have amazingly detailed lectures, so I tend to skip out on the reading unless I need some clarification/extra details. Now if I had a lecture which was incredibly brief as in the lecturer spent maybe a total of 20 minutes talking about his confusing topic, then I will definitely need to read and make notes. It's really hard to say exactly how much reading is needed. You really have to judge that yourself as every school's lectures are different and every lecturer is different. I think another way to stay on top of lectures (if this is available to you) is to read next day's powerpoint/lecture the night before. For my university, our lectures' powerpoints get uploaded online for us to download so we can read what will be covered. Even if it doesn't make sense, just reading it helps a bit as when you get to the lecture you'll be more focused on what the lecturer is talking about and will probably make better notes as you know what to expect/know what he/she will be talking about. Also taking notes during lectures is also a great way to help you remember stuff...and it'll make your life a bit easier when it comes to revision as your notes will be ready for your revision.
2) Staying awake in lectures/Go to lectures.
I don't know about you, but I surely have difficulties staying awake in some lectures. Yes they can be horrendously boring, BUT it makes such a big difference when you're actually paying attention as no matter how little attention you're paying, you will absorb some info and the lecturer may even highlight a key point that you need to know for exams. And same thing with staying awake...if you ain't at the lecture...how are you going to know if it is important or not. There are lectures for a reason - go to it! I can't stand it when people think they'll be clever and skip lectures. Then when it comes to revision time they call me up and start asking me about the lecture that they missed. My answer: "Well if you actually cared and bothered coming to lecture, you wouldn't be in this position would you?!" It's not rocket science.
3) Use your weekend effectively.
"YAY WEEKEND!" Unfortunately, weekends are great at distracting you from your work. By all means go have fun. I usually go out and play sports on the weekends, but I do dedicate SOME weekends to working/catching up (most likely doing more catching up than anything else). It's the perfect time to catch up on work. If you have caught up with notes and have no plans, spend an hour just reading for the topics for next week, then you can ease the amount of work you have to do during the week.
4) Take a break!
Hey, no one can work forever. Take a break from time to time! No one said shut yourself in your room and become a hermit to do your work. GO OUT! Catch up with friends. YOUTUBE! Watch some TV! Do something else OTHER THAN medicine, plus it'll make your life a bit more interesting. When you take breaks, you become more effective at working. Work for short periods vs. doing a long haul. Well that depends on your personality. I'm horrible at working in short periods as it takes me quite awhile just to get going/working. I'm a long haul worker however that means I take really long breaks. For example: Recently I had my essay due for this attachment...I spent the entire Saturday doing nothing/being distracted/staring at a blank word document. From 1am - 7:40am, I managed to write up 4200 words for my essay. Went to sleep...Sunday - finalized my essay and it was ready to hand in for Monday. I like to say I'm quite efficient, and again it'll depend from person to person. You know yourself best. Do what works for you. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
5) Make a revision schedule.
I know some of you who are already in medical school will probably have exams coming up pretty soon. Go do yourself a favour and design a revision schedule EARLY. Predict how long you'll need for each topic. For example in 2nd year I dedicated 5 days per topic I had over an 8 week revision period. I tried my best to stick to it, but I always give myself a 1 week grace. So I aim to finish revision 1 week prior to exams just in case anything goes over time or takes longer to revise. If I finish revision on time, then I have the week to go over anything I'm not very sure about or to solidify some things. I also use the week to go over sample papers and any past formatives/quizzes that we got throughout the year. By making a revision schedule, this will probably temporarily cause your stress levels to shoot through the roof, but eventually it'll actually keep you from cramming and you'll feel like you know what you need to still study/you can keep track of your revision progress.
6) Don't leave everything to the last minute.
Aka do not procrastinate. It is extremely tempting to procrastinate, but we ALL know what happens when you procrastinate. Stuff gets real and you start stressing out because you realize you haven't done a lot of work and everything has stacked up. It is tempting to leave your lectures to stack up and just go over em over the weekend (I'm very guilty of that), but in the end, if you are busy on the weekend with sports or whatever, then the work just keeps piling up. The best thing to do is to PREVENT this from even starting in the first place and to avoid procrastinating. It is natural to procrastinate so don't think you're weird or you've got issues. I think every normal person procrastinates. Like some of you have noticed...I am very guilty of procrastinating, but thankfully I'm fairly efficient/effective when it comes to deadlines as I'll work my heart out if that means staying up all night to meet deadlines. Guess it is a give and take world and like I've said already - only you know how you work. Optimize it and use it to your advantage.
7) Get your work done EARLY.
Again just stressing the previous point - don't procrastinate. Yeah the deadline is like 2 months away, but if you get your assignment done now...well you don't have to think about it anymore. Done and dusted. No need to stress you out anymore. I'm actually very glad I finished my essay 2 weeks earlier than my colleagues as they are now stressing out as my placement is coming to an end. Me? I'm just chilling. Supervisor is off my back as he doesn't need anything else from me as I've finished my essay. Happy supervisor = happy student. Get your work done early. You'll never regret finishing work early...well ok maybe you might...but UNLIKELY you will regret finishing your work early. So just get on with it!
8) Be organized.
When you're organized, you're on the winning side of the workload. Organize your notes into binders or split them out. Cardiovascular notes in one binder. Respiratory notes in another and so on. I'm horrible at keeping my notes organized and every single time when it comes to putting notes away into binders after going through 2+ topics, I start regretting not staying on top of my organization Print out lectures if you can, type out notes if that's what you do, etc. Put them into the respectful binder and you'll be happy with yourself and it is less likely you'll lose those notes when they are slotted into a binder and when it comes to revision - everything is there and ready for you. Easy.
...I can't think of another 2 points to make it a nice round 10 points, but I will think about it. For now here are 8 points. I hope they are useful. I'm just telling how it is. No student is perfect...so I think the general rule is if you stay on top of your work early - less regrets at the end. I will openly admit that I am very guilty of not always staying on top of my work and I do stress about it near the end. I have no one else to blame but myself as I got to manage my time better/not procrastinate. If you know you're going away for the weekend/busy on the weekend/busy for the week...do your work ahead of time. Don't let it get out of control. Easy to say - extremely difficult to do.
Anyways good luck! If you readers have any requests for me...I'll try to write up a post for you. If you've got a question, I'm sure other readers will think the same. Obviously when I'm busy, I won't be able to get to requests as quickly, but I'll try my best.
More posts to come! :)
Saturday, March 17, 2012
O&G Theatre Week
So far so good! I'm enjoying this placement 100% more than my paediatrics placement. I feel much more comfortable and it's a nice feeling to be looked after. Yes it is annoying that someone is keeping a hawk eye on your progress and your work, BUT at least someone cares. In my last placement I felt like I could get away with anything and there wasn't enough motivation/pressure for me to work hard. I'm working much harder in this placement and I am learning loads. This week was my theatre week and as you probably know - I'm a bit biased towards surgeries as I really enjoy surgery. If you tell me to stand in theatre from 9-5 and watch surgery all day...I will happily do that - no complaints. If you tell me to stand in the ward from 9-5...I'm pretty sure I won't be as happy about that. I don't know what draws me to surgery so much. It's just nice being able to fix things immediately right there and then.
Anyways all in all the week had its highs and lows. Monday and Thursday were my two highlight days of the week. Oddly enough these two days were the two days where I had theatre sessions with my supervisor (Mr R). Right before joining Mr R for theatre, I was told by his registrar that he enjoys quizzing his students in theatre. I found it quite weird as when I was in clinic with Mr R, he didn't seem to be the "quizzing" type of consultant. Before surgery even started, I was grilled about common gynaecological problems. Luckily the questions weren't too challenging and Mr R seemed fairly impressed with my knowledge. I was just lucky that I had clinic prior to theatre which covered the conditions that Mr R quizzed me about. Phew. After the grilling, Mr R invited me to scrub in and to assist in the surgery! I was obviously very excited and it was nice being right at the table and I got to actually assist. I felt a part of the team and I felt like I was helping out. Unfortunately, this gave Mr R the opportunity to quiz me on the pelvic anatomy (which was VERY rusty). My lack of knowledge in the pelvic anatomy was not exactly impressive and I was promptly told to review my anatomy. Oops. Other than that I was able to get my hands in and I learned quite a lot as I did not get a female cadaver dissection specimen during my 2nd year so it was nice to be able to actually see the organs. I was also lucky to help out in a total hysterectomy as it was an open surgery so I got to see the organs more clearly. As the days went by I realized this was the only open surgery I will be watching as the rest of the surgeries I saw were laparoscopic surgeries. Pretty lucky to be honest. When surgery finished I had a good time and had some good banter going on during the surgery. Got to know my supervisor and the registrar better. No joke I really felt welcomed and I didn't feel so much like a medical student. I didn't feel like a joke in the theatre. People were taking me seriously and the nurses were all very friendly to me and I got along with everyone. Definitely a good start.
Tuesday I was with a different consultant for surgery and then realized to appreciate my supervisor as this consultant did not teach me at all. We were performing laparoscopic excisions of endometriosis and these were fairly complicated surgeries in general so the consultant was busy concentrating and I felt forgotten. I casually stood at the the back of the team as I was not offered to scrub in so I just observed. It was horrendously boring and I was getting fairly restless. After a fairly boring/dull Tuesday morning I went to look back at my schedule and realized I have the same consultant that I had in the morning on Thursday. I did a bit of snooping around and found out Mr R had a day theatre list Thursday morning so I decided to make amendments to my schedule and decided to follow Mr R. You would think why would I want to follow Mr R as he loves quizzing and it's quite a lot of pressure as this is my supervisor who will be assessing me at the end of my placement. After following a different consultant on Tuesday, I realized that despite all the quizzing, I learned a lot more with Mr R and in general had a lot more fun in theatre. Yes it's nice not needing to use your brain, but because I'm interested in surgery I rather get quizzed and learn things. On top of that Mr R lets me scrub in and help out so it really makes my experience a whole lot better. I guess it's a give and take situation.
Unfortunately I caught Mr R on a bad day on Wednesday and managed to "anger" him as I didn't know I was scheduled in for an audit in the afternoon as it wasn't on my schedule. Because I had my schedule in advance I decided to arrange a few meetings on that day in the afternoon as I assumed I had a half day. I had to explain to Mr R why I cannot attend the audit and he was not impressed whatsoever. I was properly pooping myself as we have been getting along and he's been pretty chill. I didn't think he would care that much about me missing an audit. I obviously felt really bad on Wednesday so I knew I had to redeem myself on Thursday. Wednesday night I decided to dust off my anatomy text books and revised my pelvic anatomy very well and read up on various gynaecological conditions. I also found out that Mr R consents his patients at 8am on Thursday prior to starting theatre so I decided to head in early and join him in his consent clinic. Let's just say he was pleasantly surprised that I was there so early and I managed to get consent from all the patients for the list in order to allow me to do examinations while she is under general anaesthesia. When in theatre I was promptly grilled on common gynaecological problems and because I had done my revision I was able to answer his questions with ease. To be honest...it was extremely satisfying. On the first patient I was told to put on a pair of gloves and to quickly do a vaginal examination. I was a bit disappointed I wasn't asked to scrub in, but I assumed Mr R was still annoyed with me from the previous day. Fair enough. I was essentially ignored for the rest of the procedure and then I guess Mr R remembered about me and then quizzed me on the pelvic anatomy. Again having revised anatomy the night before, I named all the parts with ease and Mr R was very impressed. He gave me the nod of approval and again I got that sense of satisfaction. It felt really good. Had a bit of banter in between patients and because I had "passed his test", I earned the right to scrub in for the rest of the list. It was amazing. I got to move the uterus into position for the procedures and the quizzing stopped. Yes it may sound daft "maneuvering the uterus"...big deal right? But something that small can make a huge difference to your experience in theatre. Yes I was doing a pretty dull job, but I knew I was making it easier for Mr R to perform the procedure with his registrar. I was then taught how to properly do a vaginal examination and was also taught how to do a speculum examination. I think this was the first time where Mr R took the time to teach and explain things thoroughly. Usually Mr R briefly explains things and is usually quite vague, but this time he was detailed and was really patient with me. He made sure I got a hang of it and made me do all of this with all the patients in the list. By the last patient I was doing the examinations with ease and was getting good at maneuvering the uterus. Haha. Was in a VERY good mood for the rest of the day. I was really proud of myself and it was nice getting praised by my supervisor. He seemed very impressed and I felt like I redeemed myself from the previous day's mishap. What a day.
At the same time I was a bit sad that it was my last proper theatre session for the rest of the placement. I will miss it a lot. My whole of next week are clinics and I'm not a huge fan of them. Will be a hard change and I'm sure I will be craving to go back into theatre. It was a shame I only got 2 sessions with Mr R in theatre as I learned so much. And with his quizzing, I realized I remember things much better. I guess in the end he ain't that bad of a teacher. I guess first impressions aren't always that accurate.
Anyways all in all the week had its highs and lows. Monday and Thursday were my two highlight days of the week. Oddly enough these two days were the two days where I had theatre sessions with my supervisor (Mr R). Right before joining Mr R for theatre, I was told by his registrar that he enjoys quizzing his students in theatre. I found it quite weird as when I was in clinic with Mr R, he didn't seem to be the "quizzing" type of consultant. Before surgery even started, I was grilled about common gynaecological problems. Luckily the questions weren't too challenging and Mr R seemed fairly impressed with my knowledge. I was just lucky that I had clinic prior to theatre which covered the conditions that Mr R quizzed me about. Phew. After the grilling, Mr R invited me to scrub in and to assist in the surgery! I was obviously very excited and it was nice being right at the table and I got to actually assist. I felt a part of the team and I felt like I was helping out. Unfortunately, this gave Mr R the opportunity to quiz me on the pelvic anatomy (which was VERY rusty). My lack of knowledge in the pelvic anatomy was not exactly impressive and I was promptly told to review my anatomy. Oops. Other than that I was able to get my hands in and I learned quite a lot as I did not get a female cadaver dissection specimen during my 2nd year so it was nice to be able to actually see the organs. I was also lucky to help out in a total hysterectomy as it was an open surgery so I got to see the organs more clearly. As the days went by I realized this was the only open surgery I will be watching as the rest of the surgeries I saw were laparoscopic surgeries. Pretty lucky to be honest. When surgery finished I had a good time and had some good banter going on during the surgery. Got to know my supervisor and the registrar better. No joke I really felt welcomed and I didn't feel so much like a medical student. I didn't feel like a joke in the theatre. People were taking me seriously and the nurses were all very friendly to me and I got along with everyone. Definitely a good start.
Tuesday I was with a different consultant for surgery and then realized to appreciate my supervisor as this consultant did not teach me at all. We were performing laparoscopic excisions of endometriosis and these were fairly complicated surgeries in general so the consultant was busy concentrating and I felt forgotten. I casually stood at the the back of the team as I was not offered to scrub in so I just observed. It was horrendously boring and I was getting fairly restless. After a fairly boring/dull Tuesday morning I went to look back at my schedule and realized I have the same consultant that I had in the morning on Thursday. I did a bit of snooping around and found out Mr R had a day theatre list Thursday morning so I decided to make amendments to my schedule and decided to follow Mr R. You would think why would I want to follow Mr R as he loves quizzing and it's quite a lot of pressure as this is my supervisor who will be assessing me at the end of my placement. After following a different consultant on Tuesday, I realized that despite all the quizzing, I learned a lot more with Mr R and in general had a lot more fun in theatre. Yes it's nice not needing to use your brain, but because I'm interested in surgery I rather get quizzed and learn things. On top of that Mr R lets me scrub in and help out so it really makes my experience a whole lot better. I guess it's a give and take situation.
Unfortunately I caught Mr R on a bad day on Wednesday and managed to "anger" him as I didn't know I was scheduled in for an audit in the afternoon as it wasn't on my schedule. Because I had my schedule in advance I decided to arrange a few meetings on that day in the afternoon as I assumed I had a half day. I had to explain to Mr R why I cannot attend the audit and he was not impressed whatsoever. I was properly pooping myself as we have been getting along and he's been pretty chill. I didn't think he would care that much about me missing an audit. I obviously felt really bad on Wednesday so I knew I had to redeem myself on Thursday. Wednesday night I decided to dust off my anatomy text books and revised my pelvic anatomy very well and read up on various gynaecological conditions. I also found out that Mr R consents his patients at 8am on Thursday prior to starting theatre so I decided to head in early and join him in his consent clinic. Let's just say he was pleasantly surprised that I was there so early and I managed to get consent from all the patients for the list in order to allow me to do examinations while she is under general anaesthesia. When in theatre I was promptly grilled on common gynaecological problems and because I had done my revision I was able to answer his questions with ease. To be honest...it was extremely satisfying. On the first patient I was told to put on a pair of gloves and to quickly do a vaginal examination. I was a bit disappointed I wasn't asked to scrub in, but I assumed Mr R was still annoyed with me from the previous day. Fair enough. I was essentially ignored for the rest of the procedure and then I guess Mr R remembered about me and then quizzed me on the pelvic anatomy. Again having revised anatomy the night before, I named all the parts with ease and Mr R was very impressed. He gave me the nod of approval and again I got that sense of satisfaction. It felt really good. Had a bit of banter in between patients and because I had "passed his test", I earned the right to scrub in for the rest of the list. It was amazing. I got to move the uterus into position for the procedures and the quizzing stopped. Yes it may sound daft "maneuvering the uterus"...big deal right? But something that small can make a huge difference to your experience in theatre. Yes I was doing a pretty dull job, but I knew I was making it easier for Mr R to perform the procedure with his registrar. I was then taught how to properly do a vaginal examination and was also taught how to do a speculum examination. I think this was the first time where Mr R took the time to teach and explain things thoroughly. Usually Mr R briefly explains things and is usually quite vague, but this time he was detailed and was really patient with me. He made sure I got a hang of it and made me do all of this with all the patients in the list. By the last patient I was doing the examinations with ease and was getting good at maneuvering the uterus. Haha. Was in a VERY good mood for the rest of the day. I was really proud of myself and it was nice getting praised by my supervisor. He seemed very impressed and I felt like I redeemed myself from the previous day's mishap. What a day.
At the same time I was a bit sad that it was my last proper theatre session for the rest of the placement. I will miss it a lot. My whole of next week are clinics and I'm not a huge fan of them. Will be a hard change and I'm sure I will be craving to go back into theatre. It was a shame I only got 2 sessions with Mr R in theatre as I learned so much. And with his quizzing, I realized I remember things much better. I guess in the end he ain't that bad of a teacher. I guess first impressions aren't always that accurate.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Practice Makes Perfect.
I was signed off from placement on Monday so I haven't been doing anything particularly interesting other than revising for exams. Met up with a friend on Thursday to do some physical examination practice on patients at the hospital. As you may recall in my first attachment back in the summer (doesn't seem that long ago...time flies) I was drilling Cardio an Respiratory Examinations. Well exams are in 2.5 weeks so I got to get drilling on the rest of the examinations.
So we went and practised Abdominal, Shoulder, and Knee exams. Got that down pretty quickly. Never really had trouble with those examinations to be honest. Then we practised Cranial Nerves, peripheral neuro, and hand examinations. We did these with each other as these exams have quite a lot of steps. Before practising, I was hopeless at Cranial Nerve exams. I was not slick at all and obviously needed some serious practice. After a few attempts, I have finally gotten it down and was starting to get slicker at it. Did the same with the other examinations and I could definitely see an improvement. I was starting to feel much more confident with my examination skills and a bit more confident for my OSCE exam. Have arranged another physical examination practice session for Monday so hopefully I'll continue to improve and get better at these things.
Today I finally reached the last system to revise (Gastrointestinal). It surely doesn't feel like the last unit as my binder is still full of notes and it just doesn't seem real that exams are so soon. It's really weird. Most of my friends and I agree that exams don't seem near and the panic still hasn't set in. Generally been feeling quite unmotivated so I constantly have to remind myself how close exams are which results in mini panic attacks/a kick up the ass. I guess it kind of works as I've been revising furiously for these last few days and really pushing to get ahead of my revision schedule to give myself an extra half week of revision for anything I'm unsure of. At the moment I have scheduled in 1 extra week prior to exams for random revision/going over sample questions. Hopefully if I work hard enough I can make it 1.5 weeks of extra revision time to actually properly learn Microbiology. I swear Microbiology is my new nemesis. It used to be histology, but because we don't do that as much anymore...Microbiology has quickly taken Histology's crown of being my nemesis. There are so many things to remember! And all the stains for the different bacteria. Mental.
Pharmacology comes close behind. Drug treatments for Cardiovascular disease and respiratory are fairly straight forward. The minute you get to Dermatology...oh wow. You start feeling like a walking BNF (British National Formulary - it is a book of drugs)...but more like a BNF written with fading ink. Put some new drugs into my brain...the old drugs fall out. Dermatology...endless amount of drugs. So many names as well! Half of them I can't really spell! I can picture myself writing drug names in my exam and writing the first few-ish letters and then squiggling the rest and making sure it looks like the drug I'm thinking of. Thank goodness spelling doesn't count in our exams! As long as the word is recognizable they will take it.
My Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine is also finally getting beat up. It had been in mint condition for 2 years and FINALLY it is getting used...and I am seriously using it to death. Also random note - think I might be getting tennis elbow as my desk isn't great to write on as it is fairly deep. That means my elbow is constantly resting on the hard surface and sometimes I can feel my hand go tingly and numb. Also my elbow is sore from resting on the hard surface. The things you sacrifice for exams. Sacrifice sleep, good food (yay for quick microwave food), social life, going out, sanity, blah blah blah, and now sacrificing joints! Prospective future for my body. YES!
I hate revision. I miss lounging around and being lazy.
So we went and practised Abdominal, Shoulder, and Knee exams. Got that down pretty quickly. Never really had trouble with those examinations to be honest. Then we practised Cranial Nerves, peripheral neuro, and hand examinations. We did these with each other as these exams have quite a lot of steps. Before practising, I was hopeless at Cranial Nerve exams. I was not slick at all and obviously needed some serious practice. After a few attempts, I have finally gotten it down and was starting to get slicker at it. Did the same with the other examinations and I could definitely see an improvement. I was starting to feel much more confident with my examination skills and a bit more confident for my OSCE exam. Have arranged another physical examination practice session for Monday so hopefully I'll continue to improve and get better at these things.
Today I finally reached the last system to revise (Gastrointestinal). It surely doesn't feel like the last unit as my binder is still full of notes and it just doesn't seem real that exams are so soon. It's really weird. Most of my friends and I agree that exams don't seem near and the panic still hasn't set in. Generally been feeling quite unmotivated so I constantly have to remind myself how close exams are which results in mini panic attacks/a kick up the ass. I guess it kind of works as I've been revising furiously for these last few days and really pushing to get ahead of my revision schedule to give myself an extra half week of revision for anything I'm unsure of. At the moment I have scheduled in 1 extra week prior to exams for random revision/going over sample questions. Hopefully if I work hard enough I can make it 1.5 weeks of extra revision time to actually properly learn Microbiology. I swear Microbiology is my new nemesis. It used to be histology, but because we don't do that as much anymore...Microbiology has quickly taken Histology's crown of being my nemesis. There are so many things to remember! And all the stains for the different bacteria. Mental.
Pharmacology comes close behind. Drug treatments for Cardiovascular disease and respiratory are fairly straight forward. The minute you get to Dermatology...oh wow. You start feeling like a walking BNF (British National Formulary - it is a book of drugs)...but more like a BNF written with fading ink. Put some new drugs into my brain...the old drugs fall out. Dermatology...endless amount of drugs. So many names as well! Half of them I can't really spell! I can picture myself writing drug names in my exam and writing the first few-ish letters and then squiggling the rest and making sure it looks like the drug I'm thinking of. Thank goodness spelling doesn't count in our exams! As long as the word is recognizable they will take it.
My Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine is also finally getting beat up. It had been in mint condition for 2 years and FINALLY it is getting used...and I am seriously using it to death. Also random note - think I might be getting tennis elbow as my desk isn't great to write on as it is fairly deep. That means my elbow is constantly resting on the hard surface and sometimes I can feel my hand go tingly and numb. Also my elbow is sore from resting on the hard surface. The things you sacrifice for exams. Sacrifice sleep, good food (yay for quick microwave food), social life, going out, sanity, blah blah blah, and now sacrificing joints! Prospective future for my body. YES!
I hate revision. I miss lounging around and being lazy.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Exam Preparation.
To be honest...I haven't really done anything in placement, hence, the lack of updates. As you probably noticed from previous posts, my exams are coming up which involves 2 written papers and 1 OSCE. It's my first year of taking OSCE and doing more clinical based papers, so I'm quite nervous as I don't know what to expect. Yesterday, I finally got an idea what the OSCE will be like though as the school held a mock OSCE session for the students.
Essentially, our OSCE will be 6 stations of patient histories, and 6 stations of physical examinations. Each station will be7-8 minutes long. Before going into the mock, I had an impression that it will be really difficult. To my delight, the mock turned out a lot easier than I thought. Obviously could have done better as I didn't study for it (haven't had time to) or really practice for it. All in all, it wasn't too bad. I do have to work on making my examinations more slick and quicker as I take too long examining the peripheries. For example in Cardiovascular examination, I spend too much time looking at the hands and face. I think I need to just quickly glance over the hands and really just scan it instead of really looking at every single detail. Obviously the most important part of the exam is to examine the chest and I felt that I spent less time on the chest than the peripheries. Again, I think this is down to practising more.
It was really nice getting feedback from people on how I did in the mock OSCE and I now know what to focus on. Prior to the mock, I wasn't too sure what I needed to work on so I will be making a trip to the hospital tomorrow with one goal in mind: get slick at examinations. It should be good and I'm quite determined to get this down as the OSCE is worth 70% of our mark. In terms of history taking, it has always been my "strong point" as I do enjoy talking and I feel that I have a really good logical system of asking questions. In a patient history you would ask Presenting Complaint, History of Presenting Complaint, Drug History, Family History, Social History. Once I get that in my head, I find that asking questions and getting info from the patients quite easy. During mock, I was also helping out and was a patient for a station. Some people don't have a system at all and you can tell as their questions are all over the place. It's nice to see the level of history taking other students are at as it gives me a good idea of how much I need to work on my history taking skills.
Other than that.....3.5 weeks until exams. Eep.
Essentially, our OSCE will be 6 stations of patient histories, and 6 stations of physical examinations. Each station will be7-8 minutes long. Before going into the mock, I had an impression that it will be really difficult. To my delight, the mock turned out a lot easier than I thought. Obviously could have done better as I didn't study for it (haven't had time to) or really practice for it. All in all, it wasn't too bad. I do have to work on making my examinations more slick and quicker as I take too long examining the peripheries. For example in Cardiovascular examination, I spend too much time looking at the hands and face. I think I need to just quickly glance over the hands and really just scan it instead of really looking at every single detail. Obviously the most important part of the exam is to examine the chest and I felt that I spent less time on the chest than the peripheries. Again, I think this is down to practising more.
It was really nice getting feedback from people on how I did in the mock OSCE and I now know what to focus on. Prior to the mock, I wasn't too sure what I needed to work on so I will be making a trip to the hospital tomorrow with one goal in mind: get slick at examinations. It should be good and I'm quite determined to get this down as the OSCE is worth 70% of our mark. In terms of history taking, it has always been my "strong point" as I do enjoy talking and I feel that I have a really good logical system of asking questions. In a patient history you would ask Presenting Complaint, History of Presenting Complaint, Drug History, Family History, Social History. Once I get that in my head, I find that asking questions and getting info from the patients quite easy. During mock, I was also helping out and was a patient for a station. Some people don't have a system at all and you can tell as their questions are all over the place. It's nice to see the level of history taking other students are at as it gives me a good idea of how much I need to work on my history taking skills.
Other than that.....3.5 weeks until exams. Eep.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Common Sense.
On tuesday at clinic my consultant looked me in the eyes and told me: "No matter how smart you are, in order to be a successful doctor, you must have common sense." Since then, I can't stop thinking about what he said.
So I've started revision for my December exams and as I'm studying up on management and treatments of conditions, "common sense" suddenly pops up. I realized I can know nothing about the disease, but if I know the symptoms from a history and use common sense - I can figure out how to manage a patient and treat. What my consultant told me on tuesday was really starting to click.
Clinical years of medicine is all about logic and common sense. A person can study all they want and flip through every textbook and know everything, but without common sense: they won't know how to apply their knowledge. It's all about going back to basics. Picking out key bits in a patient history and focusing on it. Unfortunately, in pre-clinical years of medical school - students tend to forget what is common sense. 2 years of pre-clinical almost trains your brain to just retain information and splurge at exams. Because questions in exams are structured in such a detailed manner such as where cells of something is asked - common sense can't really be used. It's either you know the answer or you don't. It's that straight forward. Now in clinical years, you can work your way through a history and physical examination. It's really difficult to describe but in high pressure situations, you got to stop, relax, and think. Think basic and work through all the clues and start piecing the puzzle. Lots of people have the tendency to just jump to the most ridiculous diagnosis as they panic and don't think how one symptom can lead to a sign.
It sounds easy, but as a medical student it is difficult to remember to just use common sense. 2 years of pre-clinical medical sciences in our brains - we can't help but panic and just dig/try to remember information/answers that we crammed for exams. There were times where I would get put on the spot with a question and I would panic. My consultant had told me off a few times for blanking out as all I need to do is just stop trying to dig for an answer but instead work it out. I guess the closest thing I can relate it to is that in maths we learned 2 + 2 = 4. By now we've all memorized it - don't put any thought into it whatsoever. It's kinda like that in medicine. We see 2 + 2 = 4 (symptom + symptom = disease x) - easy. Sometimes we don't know the answer so when we get 1238 + 236, we will panic. Our brains will go "I haven't memorized this!". Instead break it down and try and link them together to come to your answer.
Anyways I hope that made sense. But only now, after 2.5 years - it has clicked. Medicine is all about common sense. We can't memorize everything. At the end of the day we'll need to use our brain to solve/work out things. It won't all be 2 + 2. But as we encounter more problems, we learn more. The beauty of medicine - never ending knowledge.
So I've started revision for my December exams and as I'm studying up on management and treatments of conditions, "common sense" suddenly pops up. I realized I can know nothing about the disease, but if I know the symptoms from a history and use common sense - I can figure out how to manage a patient and treat. What my consultant told me on tuesday was really starting to click.
Clinical years of medicine is all about logic and common sense. A person can study all they want and flip through every textbook and know everything, but without common sense: they won't know how to apply their knowledge. It's all about going back to basics. Picking out key bits in a patient history and focusing on it. Unfortunately, in pre-clinical years of medical school - students tend to forget what is common sense. 2 years of pre-clinical almost trains your brain to just retain information and splurge at exams. Because questions in exams are structured in such a detailed manner such as where cells of something is asked - common sense can't really be used. It's either you know the answer or you don't. It's that straight forward. Now in clinical years, you can work your way through a history and physical examination. It's really difficult to describe but in high pressure situations, you got to stop, relax, and think. Think basic and work through all the clues and start piecing the puzzle. Lots of people have the tendency to just jump to the most ridiculous diagnosis as they panic and don't think how one symptom can lead to a sign.
It sounds easy, but as a medical student it is difficult to remember to just use common sense. 2 years of pre-clinical medical sciences in our brains - we can't help but panic and just dig/try to remember information/answers that we crammed for exams. There were times where I would get put on the spot with a question and I would panic. My consultant had told me off a few times for blanking out as all I need to do is just stop trying to dig for an answer but instead work it out. I guess the closest thing I can relate it to is that in maths we learned 2 + 2 = 4. By now we've all memorized it - don't put any thought into it whatsoever. It's kinda like that in medicine. We see 2 + 2 = 4 (symptom + symptom = disease x) - easy. Sometimes we don't know the answer so when we get 1238 + 236, we will panic. Our brains will go "I haven't memorized this!". Instead break it down and try and link them together to come to your answer.
Anyways I hope that made sense. But only now, after 2.5 years - it has clicked. Medicine is all about common sense. We can't memorize everything. At the end of the day we'll need to use our brain to solve/work out things. It won't all be 2 + 2. But as we encounter more problems, we learn more. The beauty of medicine - never ending knowledge.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
5 Weeks.
Well okay not exactly 5 weeks but close enough. Anyone care to take a guess 5 weeks until what?
If you said exams...you are CORRECT! It has come to that time of the year that every medical student dreads - EXAMS. Well for my university...not sure about others...passing the year 100% relies on 3 exam papers which are done 3 days in a row. Stressful much?! I dread it so much. It can easily be the 3 worst days in my life. No matter how much you study you will not know everything on the paper. Unlike back in school - you study...you go to the exam...you know everything - easy. Medicine? Study like no end...think you've covered everything...get to exam day and first page of the exam - BAM - you have no bleeping clue about the question. It is BOUND to happen. Now as a 2nd year medical student we have to also know last year's material so technically we will be examined on 2 years worth of knowledge. Not like one year isn't hard enough eh?
I have started studying since end of February...now I am about 3/4 way through the material. Now thinking back...I don't think I remember really anything from what I studied in February (which was all of last year's material). Great. Oh and NEVER look at a specimen paper in the middle of revision just because you got curious or whatever. With no doubt you will most likely scare the crap out of yourself as you'll see questions in there that you have no clue about and then cue panic attack/major stress. I made that mistake a few days ago...and I nearly cracked, but I haven't actually studied the section that the question was aimed for, but still - it was not a pleasant feeling.
The only nice thing about only having 3 papers is that we can get it all done with in 3 days. Nice and short - just extremely torturous. At least now having already taken an exam last year, I know now what to expect in this year's exam and will be more prepared. Last year, I had absolutely no clue what the exam would be like. Armed with experience I think I am a bit more confident this year than I was last year. One major difference is that I started studying MUCH earlier than I did last year so I won't be rushing through revision and causing unnecessary stress.
5 weeks...jeez. I'm really scared. Haha. Instead of losing an hour sleep can we possibly increase the days to about 30 hours just until exam time? It would be very useful. Oh and to make matters worse, the SSC attachment I have been talking about...well my final report (2500 words) is due in a few days. Great...time to wave goodbye to good quality sleep and hello long hours of studying through the night!
If you said exams...you are CORRECT! It has come to that time of the year that every medical student dreads - EXAMS. Well for my university...not sure about others...passing the year 100% relies on 3 exam papers which are done 3 days in a row. Stressful much?! I dread it so much. It can easily be the 3 worst days in my life. No matter how much you study you will not know everything on the paper. Unlike back in school - you study...you go to the exam...you know everything - easy. Medicine? Study like no end...think you've covered everything...get to exam day and first page of the exam - BAM - you have no bleeping clue about the question. It is BOUND to happen. Now as a 2nd year medical student we have to also know last year's material so technically we will be examined on 2 years worth of knowledge. Not like one year isn't hard enough eh?
I have started studying since end of February...now I am about 3/4 way through the material. Now thinking back...I don't think I remember really anything from what I studied in February (which was all of last year's material). Great. Oh and NEVER look at a specimen paper in the middle of revision just because you got curious or whatever. With no doubt you will most likely scare the crap out of yourself as you'll see questions in there that you have no clue about and then cue panic attack/major stress. I made that mistake a few days ago...and I nearly cracked, but I haven't actually studied the section that the question was aimed for, but still - it was not a pleasant feeling.
The only nice thing about only having 3 papers is that we can get it all done with in 3 days. Nice and short - just extremely torturous. At least now having already taken an exam last year, I know now what to expect in this year's exam and will be more prepared. Last year, I had absolutely no clue what the exam would be like. Armed with experience I think I am a bit more confident this year than I was last year. One major difference is that I started studying MUCH earlier than I did last year so I won't be rushing through revision and causing unnecessary stress.
5 weeks...jeez. I'm really scared. Haha. Instead of losing an hour sleep can we possibly increase the days to about 30 hours just until exam time? It would be very useful. Oh and to make matters worse, the SSC attachment I have been talking about...well my final report (2500 words) is due in a few days. Great...time to wave goodbye to good quality sleep and hello long hours of studying through the night!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
That's It?
After some good banter after our critical analysis presentation for our SSC research attachment, we were told by our supervisor that we essentially will not go back in/see him until the LAST day of our attachment which is in 2.5 weeks. In the meantime we are supposed to do our final task: data analysis. I am absolutely ____ing my pants about this as I do not know anything about stats. Doh! This is definitely going to be a REALLY tough task and thank goodness we have 2.5 weeks to figure it out. At the same time when I found out we will not be going in for 2.5 weeks you would assume that I would be doing a victory dance the minute I left the building. Wrong. I was actually really bummed out. I hate to admit it, but I have THOROUGHLY enjoyed this attachment and I am having a really good time! I think it is because I have an amazing supervisor coupled with amazing group members as we get along extremely well. Once you get into med school and make medic friends you tend to talk about medicine with each other, but with my group members - we all play sports and we are quite athletic and to be honest - we NEVER talk about medicine when we are around each other. We actually have something interesting to talk about and it is quite nice. Such small things can make quite a big difference.
As well, we were promised at the beginning...okay not promised...more like notified that we will probably get to go to the gait lab to try out the equipment and test out what the volunteers will be going through in the trial. Because our supervisor has to leave for conferences and stuff, we apparently will not be going in. I was really excited about going to the gait lab and now seeing that we won't go in until the last day - we obviously will not be getting the opportunity to try out the machines. Boooooo. Super bummed.
So essentially our last day of attachment is 2.5 weeks away and that means we have already been at this attachment for 3 weeks now. It definitely does not feel like 3 weeks and I know earlier I was whining about doing a research attachment, but I loved it. I think the main reason is because of the tiny little things like a great supervisor and a great group really made things a lot more enjoyable. On top of that, my attachment is very clinical based and it was nice not being in a lab all day (actually we never went to the lab) and the hours were quite "slack". Definitely a good balance. Go in just enough to get a feel for the attachment, but at the same time we get enough free time to get some revision done for exams. When I looked at my calendar and looked at the last day of our attachment I said: "That's it?" Before embarking on this attachment I would NEVER think I would be saying this as I thought by the end of this I would be sick of the attachment and hate the attachment. I am soooooooooooooo wrong and I am happy to admit that it was wrong of me to have such a close-minded view of this attachment prior. Can't believe that this is it. Today was my last proper day of being at the attachment. The final session will be a quick presentation and then getting feedback. Wow. Time flies. Scary stuff.
As well, we were promised at the beginning...okay not promised...more like notified that we will probably get to go to the gait lab to try out the equipment and test out what the volunteers will be going through in the trial. Because our supervisor has to leave for conferences and stuff, we apparently will not be going in. I was really excited about going to the gait lab and now seeing that we won't go in until the last day - we obviously will not be getting the opportunity to try out the machines. Boooooo. Super bummed.
So essentially our last day of attachment is 2.5 weeks away and that means we have already been at this attachment for 3 weeks now. It definitely does not feel like 3 weeks and I know earlier I was whining about doing a research attachment, but I loved it. I think the main reason is because of the tiny little things like a great supervisor and a great group really made things a lot more enjoyable. On top of that, my attachment is very clinical based and it was nice not being in a lab all day (actually we never went to the lab) and the hours were quite "slack". Definitely a good balance. Go in just enough to get a feel for the attachment, but at the same time we get enough free time to get some revision done for exams. When I looked at my calendar and looked at the last day of our attachment I said: "That's it?" Before embarking on this attachment I would NEVER think I would be saying this as I thought by the end of this I would be sick of the attachment and hate the attachment. I am soooooooooooooo wrong and I am happy to admit that it was wrong of me to have such a close-minded view of this attachment prior. Can't believe that this is it. Today was my last proper day of being at the attachment. The final session will be a quick presentation and then getting feedback. Wow. Time flies. Scary stuff.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Quick Recap.
Finally have some downtime to update my blog.
Anyways as some of you would know I'm now starting 2nd year of medicine in England and wow. We literally jumped right into lectures on the first day of school (20th Sept). First unit is on Skin/Urinary/Endocrine/Reproduction.
Same with last year - my enemy is still physiology. I can't get my head around renal physiology. It just seems so complex. This year's topics are starting to make last year's topics seem like child's play. Getting a bit worried - especially for exams. This year's exams will include some material from first year and they will not be specifying which materials from last year will be examined...so that means reviewing all of last year. Hopefully I'll survive, but this year I have adapted a new way of studying/reviewing.
Last year, I used to print out my lectures the day before and take a quick glimpse of it. After a whole year I realized it is a horrible way for preparing for next day's lecture. You cannot even consider it as preparation. This year I have decided to take my laptop with me to lectures. The night before I would type up the powerpoint for next day's lectures and when I get to class I'll add to the powerpoint that I typed up the night before. My notes are looking much nicer and organized. Also this forces me to read my lectures beforehand as obviously to type the powerpoint...you gotta read it. It has helped quite a bit as when I go to lectures I know what to expect and am more ready. Also this year I am trying to keep up with the recommended reading. Last year I left all my reading to the last 5 weeks prior to exams and it was the WORST idea ever. It was torturous and dumb. This year I have started marking all my recommended reading and actually taking a quick read through first so when I go back to read em before exams it won't be new/fresh. Hopefully this new method of preparation and revision will help me out.
Also side note: I hope all you freshers had loads of fun during freshers week. Hopefully no one is feeling homesick yet and have made lots of friends! Most importantly I hope everyone is enjoying their course and not regret their decision of studying medicine/regret their uni choice. If you are feeling a bit down/regretting your choice - please keep your chin up and try to enjoy it as much as possible. Let go of your previous impressions of the uni and try and experience the uni. Hopefully as weeks pass you'll get more and more used to the environment and actually start liking your decision to study at that uni.
Good luck to all with your course and hopefully I'll have more time later on to keep updating.
Anyways as some of you would know I'm now starting 2nd year of medicine in England and wow. We literally jumped right into lectures on the first day of school (20th Sept). First unit is on Skin/Urinary/Endocrine/Reproduction.
Same with last year - my enemy is still physiology. I can't get my head around renal physiology. It just seems so complex. This year's topics are starting to make last year's topics seem like child's play. Getting a bit worried - especially for exams. This year's exams will include some material from first year and they will not be specifying which materials from last year will be examined...so that means reviewing all of last year. Hopefully I'll survive, but this year I have adapted a new way of studying/reviewing.
Last year, I used to print out my lectures the day before and take a quick glimpse of it. After a whole year I realized it is a horrible way for preparing for next day's lecture. You cannot even consider it as preparation. This year I have decided to take my laptop with me to lectures. The night before I would type up the powerpoint for next day's lectures and when I get to class I'll add to the powerpoint that I typed up the night before. My notes are looking much nicer and organized. Also this forces me to read my lectures beforehand as obviously to type the powerpoint...you gotta read it. It has helped quite a bit as when I go to lectures I know what to expect and am more ready. Also this year I am trying to keep up with the recommended reading. Last year I left all my reading to the last 5 weeks prior to exams and it was the WORST idea ever. It was torturous and dumb. This year I have started marking all my recommended reading and actually taking a quick read through first so when I go back to read em before exams it won't be new/fresh. Hopefully this new method of preparation and revision will help me out.
Also side note: I hope all you freshers had loads of fun during freshers week. Hopefully no one is feeling homesick yet and have made lots of friends! Most importantly I hope everyone is enjoying their course and not regret their decision of studying medicine/regret their uni choice. If you are feeling a bit down/regretting your choice - please keep your chin up and try to enjoy it as much as possible. Let go of your previous impressions of the uni and try and experience the uni. Hopefully as weeks pass you'll get more and more used to the environment and actually start liking your decision to study at that uni.
Good luck to all with your course and hopefully I'll have more time later on to keep updating.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Reality.
Yes finally done exams!
If I had to summarize my medicals exams in one word it would be: Reality.
As a medical student we are all used to being top of the class and breezing through exams. It is quite rare to not know how to do something, but wow talk about crashing into the reality wall. I had 3 exams in 3 days: MEQ, Multi-Station, and EMQ. Overall the exams were challenging but it was do-able. It was a good reality check that there will be times where you won't know how to do something and you are going to have to overcome the feeling. First day was definitely tough. I went back to my room and I just felt really dumb and my confidence level was pit bottom. It was definitely hard to pick myself back up but I was pretty determined to make it up by doing well in multi-station and EMQ. All in all I tried my best in all 3 papers and hope I did enough to pass! Results release on June 10 so I guess I'll be camping out at the medical school. I'll probably be a nervous wreck though.
On a lighter note: summer holiday has officially begun! Right after exams I went out with friends and just make up for the last 6ish weeks of complete "hermiting". Then went for a night out with the rest of my medical year - great celebration. Today, I finally got the time to go and play some field hockey in pretty nice weather. Was a bit cold, but it was sunny out and I watched the sunset. Very relaxing. And then in 4 months it'll be the official start of 2nd year of medicine! I'm also planning on going to freshers events as they are so amazing. It is also a chance for me to go to parties with a group of people who I know and have a lot more fun. Also the perfect chance to meet new people and hopefully make some new friends! Looking forward to it.
If I had to summarize my medicals exams in one word it would be: Reality.
As a medical student we are all used to being top of the class and breezing through exams. It is quite rare to not know how to do something, but wow talk about crashing into the reality wall. I had 3 exams in 3 days: MEQ, Multi-Station, and EMQ. Overall the exams were challenging but it was do-able. It was a good reality check that there will be times where you won't know how to do something and you are going to have to overcome the feeling. First day was definitely tough. I went back to my room and I just felt really dumb and my confidence level was pit bottom. It was definitely hard to pick myself back up but I was pretty determined to make it up by doing well in multi-station and EMQ. All in all I tried my best in all 3 papers and hope I did enough to pass! Results release on June 10 so I guess I'll be camping out at the medical school. I'll probably be a nervous wreck though.
On a lighter note: summer holiday has officially begun! Right after exams I went out with friends and just make up for the last 6ish weeks of complete "hermiting". Then went for a night out with the rest of my medical year - great celebration. Today, I finally got the time to go and play some field hockey in pretty nice weather. Was a bit cold, but it was sunny out and I watched the sunset. Very relaxing. And then in 4 months it'll be the official start of 2nd year of medicine! I'm also planning on going to freshers events as they are so amazing. It is also a chance for me to go to parties with a group of people who I know and have a lot more fun. Also the perfect chance to meet new people and hopefully make some new friends! Looking forward to it.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Final Lap.
So exactly 2 more weeks left until my first exam.
Thoughts?
Eek.
Feelings?
Nervous.
But if I was not nervous/anxious about exams I might question my motivation to study medicine. Nervousness is what kicks you into the next gear. You work 10x harder for your exam as you know it is important and you care!
I've gotten through quite a bit of material since my last post. I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm on one of the last chapters for the year and will very soon be going over my notes briefly for a refresher prior to exams. We finally got our exact exam schedule and I'm a bit iffy about it. Not loving the fact that my first exam will be "Modified Essay Questions" - which is more like one word answer questions. I would much prefer to have the Extended Matching Questions first as it is multiple choice and I guess a better way to "ease" into the exam. Despite seeing a specimen paper already - I still don't know what to expect from the exam. I have questioned myself several times about the amount of detail I've been studying in. I feel that my method of studying is very clinical based so I know the pathology of diseases quite well. But when it comes to the fine details of cell interactions and stuff, I may be a little bit screwed? I really hope the exam won't be that detailed.
I'm pretty determined to do well in this exam as I have put a lot of work into studying. I have high expectations.
Hopefully all will go well and you'll be seeing a happy post instead of a long rant in the near future.
Thoughts?
Eek.
Feelings?
Nervous.
But if I was not nervous/anxious about exams I might question my motivation to study medicine. Nervousness is what kicks you into the next gear. You work 10x harder for your exam as you know it is important and you care!
I've gotten through quite a bit of material since my last post. I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm on one of the last chapters for the year and will very soon be going over my notes briefly for a refresher prior to exams. We finally got our exact exam schedule and I'm a bit iffy about it. Not loving the fact that my first exam will be "Modified Essay Questions" - which is more like one word answer questions. I would much prefer to have the Extended Matching Questions first as it is multiple choice and I guess a better way to "ease" into the exam. Despite seeing a specimen paper already - I still don't know what to expect from the exam. I have questioned myself several times about the amount of detail I've been studying in. I feel that my method of studying is very clinical based so I know the pathology of diseases quite well. But when it comes to the fine details of cell interactions and stuff, I may be a little bit screwed? I really hope the exam won't be that detailed.
I'm pretty determined to do well in this exam as I have put a lot of work into studying. I have high expectations.
Hopefully all will go well and you'll be seeing a happy post instead of a long rant in the near future.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Exam Revision.
4 weeks left 'til exams.
I really shouldn't be complaining though. Been working like mad for the last 2ish weeks. Revision is coming along...but could be better. My aim is to finish studying with 2 weeks left before exams...so technically I have 2 weeks left to finish studying. Definitely cutting it close. I finished my first module IMMS (which was an absolute MONSTER - binder was 2" thick crammed full with notes). Now studying Cardiovascular. Should be finishing tomorrow. Then two more main modules left to study: Respiratory and GI/Liver. After that I have the "miscellaneous" binders such as: Public Health (...ugh), Histology (pink and blue blobs!), Clinical Skills, Critical Numbers (literally need to self-teach myself), and Study Designs. Funnnn. Also I have to go through my revision books: Crash Course and At a Glance. Hopefully these books won't take too long to get through and would be a good refresher right before the exam.
Surprisingly I thought I was going to be at war with Physiology...but so far it has been fairly okay (probably will change when I get to Respiratory Physiology). Not as bad as I thought. A lot of people think anatomy is really hard, but I disagree. Anatomy is pretty much just a test of your memory. Simply open your textbook and memorize! Much rather sit and stare at pictures - memorizing parts than trying to understand pharmacology. Actually the truth about passing the medical exams (I think...as I haven't passed one yet...) is that it is just one big test of who has the best memory - literally. Sounds kind of ignorant but it really just is a matter who can remember the most.
Hopefully I am putting in enough work into passing the exam and hopefully doing well as well! Trying to aim to get a high mark so fingers crossed. Head down for 4 more weeks then SUMMER HOLIDAY! Can't wait. Seriously though, this year went by really really fast. Next thing you know: it'll be graduation day and becoming a Doctor!
I really shouldn't be complaining though. Been working like mad for the last 2ish weeks. Revision is coming along...but could be better. My aim is to finish studying with 2 weeks left before exams...so technically I have 2 weeks left to finish studying. Definitely cutting it close. I finished my first module IMMS (which was an absolute MONSTER - binder was 2" thick crammed full with notes). Now studying Cardiovascular. Should be finishing tomorrow. Then two more main modules left to study: Respiratory and GI/Liver. After that I have the "miscellaneous" binders such as: Public Health (...ugh), Histology (pink and blue blobs!), Clinical Skills, Critical Numbers (literally need to self-teach myself), and Study Designs. Funnnn. Also I have to go through my revision books: Crash Course and At a Glance. Hopefully these books won't take too long to get through and would be a good refresher right before the exam.
Surprisingly I thought I was going to be at war with Physiology...but so far it has been fairly okay (probably will change when I get to Respiratory Physiology). Not as bad as I thought. A lot of people think anatomy is really hard, but I disagree. Anatomy is pretty much just a test of your memory. Simply open your textbook and memorize! Much rather sit and stare at pictures - memorizing parts than trying to understand pharmacology. Actually the truth about passing the medical exams (I think...as I haven't passed one yet...) is that it is just one big test of who has the best memory - literally. Sounds kind of ignorant but it really just is a matter who can remember the most.
Hopefully I am putting in enough work into passing the exam and hopefully doing well as well! Trying to aim to get a high mark so fingers crossed. Head down for 4 more weeks then SUMMER HOLIDAY! Can't wait. Seriously though, this year went by really really fast. Next thing you know: it'll be graduation day and becoming a Doctor!
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Offical Countdown to Exams....in 2 days.
Finally got the draft timetable (most likely will not change) for our exams and we will be the first bunch taking exams. May 24-26. 3 exams in 3 days. Funnnnnn. Pro: Done with exams nice and early! Con: LSKFJSLK:AKLJF SO SOON?! *hyperventilates*
Uhmm I was not expecting our exams to be so early so I had a mini wake-up call when I found out about our exam schedule. Pretty much have been burying my head in my notes ever since I found out. I really need to get snapping and get studying properly. I'm pacing at about 2 lectures a day...not good enough (and pathetically slow). I will not finish in time. BUT the last few days I have been studying biochemistry and I really do not like it. I am finally done with biochem so hopefully everything else will go smoothly and quickly. I'm hoping to finish revising 2 weeks prior to exams so I can break out my revision books! So in 2 days it will officially be properly 6 full weeks before exams. Eek.
Uhmm I was not expecting our exams to be so early so I had a mini wake-up call when I found out about our exam schedule. Pretty much have been burying my head in my notes ever since I found out. I really need to get snapping and get studying properly. I'm pacing at about 2 lectures a day...not good enough (and pathetically slow). I will not finish in time. BUT the last few days I have been studying biochemistry and I really do not like it. I am finally done with biochem so hopefully everything else will go smoothly and quickly. I'm hoping to finish revising 2 weeks prior to exams so I can break out my revision books! So in 2 days it will officially be properly 6 full weeks before exams. Eek.
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