After promising a comprehensive post on how I revised to pass my first 2 years of medical school, here it finally is! Compared to people who worked consistently hard throughout the year, with some hard cramming during the holidays I managed to pass with relatively little work. However, I did ensure that I had pretty much memorised of all the main topics by exam time. Here’s how I did it…
1. OneNote
During lectures, I would import the slides into OneNote, and type in any additional information, or fill in gaps that the lecturers would deliberately leave in the slides.
2. Written Summaries
I realised that the most important subjects covered in exams were pharmacology, anatomy, physiology, pathology and sociology/ psychology. As long as I had a good foundation of knowledge in these core subjects, the majority of written questions would be easily answerable. If I had time during the semester I would go through lecture slides and pick out topics which could be asked about in the exam, and made written summaries for them.
3. Written Flashcards
Flashcards are a good way to learn drug and their mechanisms. Although time consuming to make, you can use them again and again, and they really make the content a lot easier to memorise. I also made mini flashcards for any tough content for the written exam that I kept forgetting or found particularly hard to remember.
3. Quizlet
If you don’t have time to make paper flashcards, Quizlet is a great tool for learning definitions and drug mechanisms. In the run up to exams, I often turned to Quizlet as it is an easy way to test yourself and the cards are quick to type up. It’s also quite a nice way to break up a long day of revision, as its more fun than traditional rote memorisation.
4. Write Your Own Exam Questions
This is a much more active form of revision, and gets you to think like an examiner. As well as practicing topics which are likely to come up, it allows you to think about how you would structure your answers, as well as identify any areas of weakness in your knowledge. I would write out a series of different potential exam questions, then six or so bullet points which answered the question. I would then use my answers as further revision, memorising each bullet point.
5. Past Papers
Unfortunately, at the medical school I attend we are given very little practice exam material. I think we were given one practice MCQ (Multiple Choice Question) paper in the run up to exams last year, which I only did once I had revised the majority of the core content. However, if your medical school gives you access to past papers or a question bank, I would recommend using these, as it will give you an idea of the style of question that will be asked, and a chance to assess how you are doing.
6. Anatomy Spotter Paper Revision: Acland’s Video Atlas & Rohen’s Colour Atlas of Anatomy
Our end of year anatomy papers were in the form of a spotter exam, which tests practical knowledge. As well as attending anatomy practicals throughout the year, and spending additional time in the lab during the revision period, the essential resources I used were Acland’s Video Atlas & Rohen’s Colour Atlas of Anatomy. Acland’s covers all of the human body in great detail, and I found video earning to be really helpful, as the 3D view enables you to see how the structures relate to one another.
Rohen’s Colour Atlas contains lots of colour images of cadavers, and it is a good way to practice identifying different structures. I used a book to cover up the labels on each specimen in the book, and would then guess what structure each arrow was pointing to. This gets you used to having to identify structures quickly during the exam.
I realise that these methods of revision won’t work for everyone, but I hope this helps if you are struggling to find ways to learn the huge amounts of content!
Laughter is the best medicine 