Revision Strategies

Dear Friend,

Hope you are having a lovely weekend. It was my birthday this week – turning the big 27. Unfortunately, I was working on my birthday, and it was my 9th consecutive shift (out of a total of 11), but I did manage to go out for a really nice dinner afterwards. On Wednesday, I officially became an IMT2. That’s one of the nice things about medicine, each year you feel like you get promoted!

Whilst I am lucky enough to be done with exams (for now), a few close friends of mine find themself in the midst of revision this summer, revising for important postgraduate exams. Everyone views exams differently, most people loathe them, some people don’t mind – I seem to find myself in the very small minority who actually likes exams. Or should I say, I like the process of learning the information as I feel I am becoming more knowledgeable. 

Unlike my pre-clinical years at Cambridge where many of my exams were essay based, these day most exams are MCQs. This means that more and more students resort to using question banks like PassMedicine. Don’t get me wrong, these question banks are super helpful, and I use them myself. But I use them as a tool to test myself, rather than a primary resource to revise from. 

In my opinion, using question banks purely to learn from is a massive trap, and from experience it often doesn’t lead to good results. Learning the knowledge, making your notes, and getting an understanding of the material is far superior, and then using these question banks to highlight areas you might have missed or learn nuances is how I would go about revising.

Don’t learn straight from question banks

One of the best features of PassMedicine is the detailed explanations they give you for each question. So much to the extent that many see this as a primary revision resource. However, this information is often limited to that specific question phrased in one specific way. 

From my experience, when revising, I preferred to write my own notes. I would split the body into the various systems e.g. cardiovascular. I would make sure I understand the basic physiology first, then the drugs and them move onto the conditions. This seemed to make sense in my mind. 

Once I have written my notes, I would then use spaced-repiition to commit this to memory. Only then would I take on the question banks. However, my revision was not finished there.

After this I make notes on the question I got wrong and re-read that chapter in the book. By doing this, I can ensure I have not missed out any crucial areas of knowledge. This has worked out fairly well for me. 

One of the other issues with learning from MCQs is that you only care about the ones you get wrong. You might guess a few questions and get them right – and so you get a false sense of security you know that topic. If you get it right, ask yourself, do you still read the explanation and theory for that question?

If you need any help, check out my book

The problem with my method is that it takes time. Many students say in an ideal world they would love to go through the theory first, make notes and then do questions, but they don’t have enough time for this. 

Well, if you are in this position, do check out my revision guide. It’s formatted out exactly as I described – divided into specialties and split into physiology, pharmacology and conditions. I’ve done the hard work for you, so all you have to do it learn it. 

I hope you find this useful. Check out the free 100 page sample on Amazon to have a look for yourselves by clicking the button below.

Drug of the week

Temocillin

Temocillin is a β-lactamase-resistant penicillin. It is used primarily for the treatment of multiple drug-resistant, Gram-negative bacteria.

It is not active against Gram-positive bacteria or bacteria with altered penicillin-binding proteins.

The common dose is 2 g intravenously every 12 hours and the high dose, notably in critically ill patients, is 2g every 8 hours.

It is used to treat sepsis, urinary-tract infections, lower respiratory-tract infections caused by susceptible Gram-negative bacteria.

A Brain Teaser

A 30-year-old woman is 24 weeks pregnant and she receives a letter about her routine cervical smear. She asks her GP if she should make an appointment for her smear. All her smears in the past have been negative. 

What should the GP advise?

A: Reschedule the smear to at least 12 weeks post delivery

B: Take smear now

C: Miss the smear test, she can have routine screening in another 3 years

D: Perform a speculum exam to see the cervix for any abnormalities

E: Seek advice of an obstetric consultant