Preparation for Exams

At the moment, I still attend university in the week because we are still learning content. We are still learning about the Neuro system (which involves the brain, central nervous system and peripheral nervous system) and the Endocrine system (which involves the glands and hormones around the body). As mentioned before, this content is being delivered through lectures, facilitation sessions (because we are doing CBL), laboratory sessions and the clinical placements at the hospital and the GP.

How the majority of my days were spent throughout May!

Between these hours at university, I have been finding the time to balance revising for my exams. I have two exams this year which are both written multiple choice exams. Whereas in my January exams, if you can remember, I had to complete a written examination of MCQs (multiple choice questions) but also a 'spot' function exam (which involves cadaver specimens with pins labelling structures we should identify / explain their function fully) - but in my summer exams, I just have two written papers! Both of these exams are MCQs, 80 of them, which will test all aspects of the course from the beginning (Yes! ... from September 2017!)

So, I had to revise all of the ethics, all of the behaviour and social sciences (including sociology), some of the law content and the biomedical parts. Alongside this, I had to revise anatomy, histology and the function of each of the structures I could identify from a variety of photographs.

The worst part about revising for these exams is that I love working from past papers! They were my 'go to' resource which helped consolidate my knowledge. But unfortunately, I have no bank of past paper questions to go by! Some of our lectures though did give a small example of what a multiple choice question concerned with the lecture would look like, so I did stick all of those into a document that I printed and made an attempt at.

I did find quite a few online MCQ flashcard applications which had pre-made Year 1 medical questions which were composed by other medical students. Obviously, there were a lot of questions I didn't know because they weren't part of my curriculum. Therefore, I broke up the content and searched for questions on those individually. For example, looking up quiz MCQs on 'Anatomy of the Thorax' or 'Histology Images of Epithelial Cells'.

My exams are in the beginning of June which is very late in comparison with my friends. My friends finish their exams mostly in the middle of May, where they will be heading home for summer. So, I will be revising in the flat alone! Some of my friends from other universities studying other courses had a few exams at the end of April and were done for the summer! I'm very jealous.

To revise, I found the best way to learn anatomy was to study myself! I drew on my body quite a lot, highlighting different areas which were important to remember. For example, remembering the palmar arches in the hand, and whether it is the radial or ulnar artery which supplies them mostly individually.

With all of the other notes I had typed up based on attending my labs and lectures, I practised writing them out by hand in a notebook. It was quite good practice to consolidate my learning in this way, as I was reading my notes and then testing whether I could reproduce the information on a blank page. If I made an error, I could learn from such mistake.

I drew on my arm to try and get an idea where the structures were located on myself.

This was also during the period of the heatwave that hit England! You can imagine how horrible it was to sit in the library as the scorching sun shone through the window and burnt your arm. It was more of a killer getting invited to join mates in pub gardens when you know you should be studying hard!

Caffeine overload! To stay awake, I found myself turning to Red Bull and coffee for the boost I needed!

I did give in though, I cooked a barbecue for my flatmates and we sat on the field drinking ciders and soaking up the sunshine while it was here!

Barbecuing on the downs!