It was one of the most gruelling academic experiences of my life and I hope you find some value in the words written below.
"It doesn't matter if you win by an inch or a mile, winning's winning" - Dominic Toretto
"Aim for the stars and you might land on the moon" - unknown, definitely not Rupi Kaur
"pain is temporary, glory is forever" - possibly Lance Armstrong although not confirmed
1. Prepare your loved ones. You will be making sacrifices socially. Book in some quality time in term 1 and term 2. Term 3 and 4 make time with them count.
2. Loosen the purse strings. This year is a big financial hit. 10K is a good amount to have stored up for use this year, remembering the tax man will be giving some back. If you study better on paper than on a computer screen, spring for that textbook. If you like a question bank, buy it.
But do consider what you are paying for. Some courses you wont need to go to, some you will find extremely useful. I do appreciate that some people have difficult financial situations and this may not be possible for all but do whatever is best for you.
3. Start study group early. It's pretty nerve wracking and you feel on the spot but just going for dinner or a coffee outside of work first is a great start. It doesnt have to be super intense but for the first 2 weeks get in the habit of regularly meeting. you wont all be able to make all sessions but just get a quorum every week. If a member isn't attending a few weeks in a row check in on them.
4. Study group timetable - there are many templates floating around. refashion it to suit you, dont reinvent the wheel. We borrowed one from concord. It was pretty intimidating so we modified it to suit our needs. We chose a topic based approach and made powerpoints for questions with detailed explanations of 5 questions each. we had 5 in our group, sessions lasted 60-120 minutes.
5. Get your health in order - If you have any issues playing or your mind or any routine things due soon like the dentist just get everything done early for peace of mind. Stuff happens but much better to be on top of it early this year!
6. Try and get as fit as possible in terms 1 and 2 with exercise and diet because terms 3 and 4 will not be kind to you. I tried to stay healthy throughout but studying every day after work and on weekends really takes a toll and leaves you exhausted. If I could change something I would have probably tried to do more yoga and running because i was starting to look and feel like the shape of a question mark in January.
7. Find your study style and try different things out. I know that I learn by talking to people, experiencing things, visuals, phrases and repetition so i tried to focus on that early on. Textbooks are not great for me but a good supplement and reading from a computer screen is almost useless in isolation for me. spend a couple of weeks working it out.
8. write stuff down on the ward in a little notebook. If you dont know something, write it down and try to learn it. You may go back to it, but you might!
9. Copy people you respect who passed before you. I took advice from a collection of now ATs and consultants who I wanted to emulate and listened to what they said. You wont like all of what they say but they were successful for a reason.
10. If its all getting a bit much tell your study group. We had some sessions where no study was done and we just vented about things. It's really important. This is all so new for many of you and everyone has challenges in work and at home. The bulk of study is done by yourself, the study group wont study for you but they will be there for you.
11. If you notice a problem in your job tell the PTU early, sure try and fix it first yourself but don't let it percolate. I did this but then decided to get help and it lifted a big weight from me at a stressful time.
12. do not try and use every resource, do not get FOMOOR - fear of missing out on rescources! Pick a proven resource and stick with it. You can cheat on your resources every now and then but try and be consistent.
13. Consistency is key. In anything. If you dont study for 2 weeks you will forget huge amounts. If you have a crisis and have to miss out its not the end of the world, but you will notice it. Start slow and build up, start incorporating 1 weekend morning a week, then a day, then towards the end it wont be so awful when youre hitting it hard.
14. Study course. One of the highlights for me was the study course. Your opportunity to actually absorb and take in information without stress. We went away as a study group to do ours online which I cannot recommend enough
15. Resources:
- armando hasudungan immunology on youtube - first thing I watched as immunology is the backbone of a lot of the basic sciences paper.
- passmedicine.com
- pastest.com
- First aid usmle step 1 physical copy
- passing the fracp written examination physical copy
- RPA course
- uptodate
- ETG mobile app
- past questions bank
-MKSAP haematology book - it was a weak topic and a good read
- college lectures
- Liverpool in person teaching - ask questions, feel no shame, "I assume you all know" - loudly and proudly exclaim that you do not!
- pestering ATs for tutorials and help with MCQs/presentations
- phyically printing off past question papers and answer sheets
- Liverpool Dropbox for pdf presentations of previous journal clubs for investigations phase of JC
- technique technique technique - just as important as content. The way they write sometimes gives you the answer, how is your stress management? Ensure hydration through the exam. I take a break at halfway and go to the toilet to do 10 squats to get the brain working. Shamelessly.
questions, questions, questions and deep analysis of questions.
Finally - I was extremely anxious about the basic sciences paper. I had absolutely no idea what they could ask so I acutally did the RACP 2018 basic sciences paper really early to see what it actually involved and to write down what areas to work on. You will forget it all come January anyway and that really helped me personally to guide my study.
Resources I didn't use:
- NEJM board question bank - looks great and really well reviewed for USMLE but I already had 2 banks.
- Any weekend study course.
- I did not get through all the college lectures. When it gets down to it, select the high yield ones, listen on 1.25 speed and replay key bits.
- Do not use old clinical questions. Old basic sciences yes. If you're really flash do old clinical questions and highlight why they are wrong!
I think the final thing to say is the saddest. The exam does not care if you are a good person, it doesn't care if you are a good doctor and it doesn't care if you pass or fail. You have to find a balance between being a diligent, safe and caring medical practitioner, educator and human and selfishly studying for your exam. That balance can be the hardest thing to achieve.
I hope this help!
@medicine.daily
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