Contents

TOP TEN TIPS FOR

PASSING MEDICAL EXAMS........................................................................ 3

Tip 1. Start Early................................................................................... 4

Tip 2. Read the syllabus...................................................................... 5

Tip 3. Make a revision plan.................................................................. 6

Tip 4. Speak to your peers................................................................... 7

Tip 5. Take plenty of breaks when studying....................................... 8

Tip 6. Organize a study group............................................................. 9

Tip 7. Grab every available learning opportunity............................. 10

Tip 8. Practice as many questions as possible............................... 11

Tip 9. Get plenty of sleep................................................................... 12

Tip 10. Read the question!................................................................. 13

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TOP TEN TIPS FOR
PASSING MEDICAL EXAMS
Passing medical exams, both undergraduate and postgraduate, is a notoriously
difficult and daunting task. The depth and level of knowledge you will be
expected to master can be enormous. You will be tested on more than just
factual recall. To become a doctor requires intelligence and knowledge but
also integrity, resolve, technical proficiency, calmness under pressure
and many other intangible qualities. Medical schools and colleges attempt
to test all of these in the exams they set, in order to ensure that the doctors
that they produce will be able to deal with the constant challenges and stresses
that medicine presents.

Here are our top ten tips to maximize your chances of success in the medical
exam you are sitting:

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Tip 1. Start Early

Do not underestimate the amount of time that will be needed to prepare. Medical
exams take months, not weeks, to prepare for properly. Most of these exams
will require 6 months of tapered revision and some even longer. Starting your
revision early will prevent panic in the later stages and allow plenty of time to
work through the syllabus and spot problem areas that will need more work.

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Tip 2. Read the syllabus

Each medical exam has its own unique style and content. Medical finals vary
between medical schools and postgraduate exams vary between colleges.
Before your start preparing for the medical exam you are sitting it is vitally
important that you know your exam.

Try to get hold of a copy of the exam syllabus, either from your medical school
or directly from the college setting your postgraduate exam. This syllabus
should be the centerpiece of your exam preparation and may well be the most
important single document that you read. Knowing and understanding your
exam syllabus can save you countless wasted hours reading irrelevant topics
that won’t come up in the exam.

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Tip 3. Make a revision plan

Once you have a good understanding of the syllabus you can work out the
amount of content you have to get through in the time that you have available.
Try to make your revision plan as early as possible and try to work out how much
time you will need to spend revising each day. Write a checklist of topics that
you will need to have covered and then think about which ones will require more
revision time. Writing a revision timetable can be an extremely helpful way of
making sure that you have covered everything before the day of the exam.

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Tip 4. Speak to your peers

You almost certainly will know someone that has already passed the exam you
are sitting. It may be a friend in the year above you at medical school or a doctor
that you work with. They will have been through the process you are embarking
upon already and will be able to help you enormously. Ask about the format of
the examination, topics that have come up in previous exams and for any tips
that they might have.

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Tip 5. Take
plenty of breaks
when studying

Everyone’s attention span is different and yours is probably shorter than you
think. Most educators agree that the ability to focus attention on a set task is
vital to the achievement of any academic goal. There is no agreed estimate on
the average length of the human attention span but for most people it probably
lies somewhere between 20 and 40 minutes. Try to take a break after working for
30-40 minutes on any single subject and then return to studying after a 10-20
minute break. Use the short breaks that you take in between your study sessions
as a type of reward. Stretch your legs and go for a walk, watch some TV or
perhaps even play a computer game!

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Tip 6. Organize a study group

There are a great many benefits to working in groups. Just having others
around you to talk to and discuss ideas with can help understanding and
stimulate learning. Different members of the group will have different strengths
and weaknesses and by working in a group together you can maximize your
individual strengths and minimize each other’s weaknesses. Group learning
can be dynamic, fast paced and a lot of ground can be covered in a relatively
short period of time. It can also be more fun than working alone and organizing
regular group study sessions can provide a welcome relief from the solitude of
regular study.

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Tip 7. Grab
every available
learning opportunity

Clinical practice holds some of the most valuable learning opportunities that
you will be presented with, both as a medical student and as a doctor. You
will continually be surrounded by experts in a variety of medical fields, many
of whom love to teach, and will be delighted to share their knowledge with
you. Discussing cases with seniors can be an enlightening, fun and thought
provoking way to learn and knowledge gained in this setting will almost
certainly stay with you longer than facts read in a textbook. Try to grab every
opportunity, whether in clinics or on the wards, to learn new facts and discuss
interesting cases.

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Tip 8. Practice
as many
questions as possible

A large part of your exam preparation should be spent doing practice questions.
There are many books available that have practice questions for medical
exams. Look for a book or online question bank that has questions that are
similar to those that you will encounter in your exam and that also has detailed
explanations accompanying the questions. Thousands of exam format questions
can be found on our website www.medicalexamprep.co.uk.

This type of ‘question spotting’ can help to point you towards types of topics that
are commonly encountered in the exam and also acclimatize you to the style of
question that you are likely to encounter. It is a well-accepted fact that students
that are familiar with the question style and have practiced these questions do
better in the exams that they sit.

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Tip 9. Get plenty of sleep

Getting plenty of sleep as a medical student and a junior doctor can be very
difficult but your revision and exam performance will be enhanced if you have
had a good night’s sleep. It is especially important to get a good night’s sleep
the night before the exam and staying up all night to study is counter productive.

There are many things that you can do to ensure a better night’s sleep
before the exam. Try to do some gentle exercise in the late afternoon as it is
easier to sleep if you are physically tired. Taking a warm bath in the evening
can be helpful. Even if you are struggling to get to sleep just lie and relax with
your eyes closed and try to clear your mind so that you are as well rested as
possible.

It is also worth remembering that the more you have revised and the more
confident that you are, the less stressed you will feel and the easier it will be
to get to sleep.

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Tip 10. Read the question!

This last tip may seem obvious but many people, even experienced doctors, fail
exams purely because they have misread the question. Read through the paper
once and then re-read each question carefully!

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