Category: Blog

Exams booked and 4 months to prepare for the first step in reaching my dream of becoming a specialist. More than enough time but sufficiently short enough to apply some pressure to start studying and successfully pass medical exam. Or so I thought. The demands of work and ensuring that I spent the remainder of my spare time avoiding anything medically related meant that the first 2 months were not very productive.

I spent most of my time attempting to study sections in between work and calls and searching my network for any and all past papers. The second part I was more successful at and managed to get hold of and spend a small fortune photocopying a whole stack of past paper questions. Time seemed to disappear and with 1 month left I focused entirely on past papers. This was a fantastic way to learn what to expect and how to perform well in the actual exam. The most time-consuming part of this however, was having to refer to textbooks to substantiate the answers and gain a clearer understanding of why I was right or wrong.

In the end, it was all worth it just to see my name on the pass list and know that I’m one step closer to my dream. If Passmed had been available at the time, this would have made life 100x easier.

Having troubles with remembering and learning new things? Check out our medical study tips that will help you better organize your learning process and successfully pass exams.

1. Study, Sleep, Repeat.

Sleep is almost as important as study time. It’s during this downtime that the brain strengthens new memories which means that there is a good chance we’ll remember whatever we review right before we sleep. Don’t bring your books to bed though, as this encourages bad study habits and subconsciously takes your bed from a sleeping haven to a study den. We have all attempted an all-nighter before but these have been linked to impaired cognitive performance and greater sensitivity to stress. So tuck in and get yourself some slumber time.

2. Space it out.

“Cramming” is often the weapon of choice and is actually a very effective way of passing exams. However much of what is learnt is forgotten in an equally short period of time. “Spaced repetition,” first described in the 1880s by German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus is a far more effective way of retaining those golden nuggets of information. So instead of spending a week or two, dosed up on your energy supplement of choice, rather spend an hour a day going over smaller chunks of information and review them consistently over a longer period of time.

3. Be creative.

A lot of medical learning is didactic and the easiest way to remember those long lists of complications, signs etc, is to create your own memorable mnemonics. Passmed have added a few here and there to spark your imagination, however your own are often the best.

4. Change it around.

Change topics, location, or even the music you listen to whilst studying as this forces the brain to make new and stringer associations.

5. Test yourself

Testing yourself is one of the best ways to assess how prepared you really are. This is why Passmed has an exam mode which recreated time test like conditions.

We hope that these medical study tips will help you better learn new material, prepare and pass exams successfully.