Topper Talks - Altruisianz 2017 Batch

 

Hi Freshers I’m A Senior from Altruisianz! 

I hope that you are all doing well and staying safe during this difficult time.

1^st year exams are the first set of exams that you will face in Med school. But don’t worry. You were chosen to do this course and you will succeed. You have it in you to pass this and you will do it. 

You are a unique batch. A new pattern for ur papers and a lot of study leave  :p

But there’s one truth.  We are all medical students and this is something that we have all had to face. So here is what helped me during the 2 months of preparation.  It might help you/ might not but you are welcome to share in my experience and benefit from it.

 

1.       DON’T WORRY. By getting anxious, you cannot suddenly become super human. You need to be aware of the exams and concerned about them. Not anxious or worried. U can get thru, even if u are starting now—as long as you don’t give up and determine to keep ur eyes fixed on ur goal.

 

2.       Meditate / Pray before u begin to calm and clear ur mind for  5 minutes before you start.

 

3.       Plan out what u are going to do, don’t put unrealistic goals. Do do able goals. Which is different for everyone

 

My mother  used to say-“ Divide and conquer”.  Divide ur portions into small bits. Plan for 3 days. If u can’t stick to it, set realistic goals. Then a week. Then for the month. Don’t plan too far ahead. Start small and know what pace u are comfortable with.  But make sure u will finish and have time to revise.

 

Example:

Anat-

 upper limb – 13 chapters

Thorax- 10 chapters

 

Physio-

 Renal has 7 chapters

Cvs 7 chapters

Biochem –

carbohydrates - 6 chapters

( these are just random numbers I thought of)

 

So

Today: I will do 6 upper limb chapters. 4 renal chapters and 3 carbohydrates chapters

Tmrw: I will do 7 UL chapters. 3 renal chapters and 2 cvs chapters and 3 carbs chapters

Day after tmrw: I will do 10 thorax ( thorax is small) and 5 CVS chapters.

 

So set ur pace. If u like Anat more ( I liked thorax) u can do more chapters of that subject for a day.

 

But whatever happens. Make sure u do something every day.  Do not sleep that night till u have read something, even if it is just a page.

 

4.       Plan out how much u study and take breaks.

 

How a day for me was;

8am – Wake up

8 to 8;30am- Bath , breakfast. Meditation

8;30 to 10am- session 1

10 to 10;10am- break

10;10 to 12;40pm- session 2

12;40 to 12;50pm- break

12;50 to 2;20pm- session 3

2:20 -  3:00pm- lunch break

3:00 to 4:30pm- session 4

4:30- 4;40pm- break

4:40 – 5:30pm- session 5

5;30- 6:00pm- break

6:00-6;30pm- refreshment

6;30- 8:00pm- session 6

8:00- 8:30pm- dinner break

8;30 – 10;00pm- Session 7

10- 10;10pm- break

10;10- 12;00am – session 8

12:00am – Sleep

 

Some important things. I would not sleep in the afternoon  ( u can if u want  to! Just make sure its in a time limit) but I would get 8 hours of sleep.

Its good to take breaks- whenever u get saturated ( even in the middle of the study sessions).

 Some things to do during breaks:

Walk ur dog.

Bake / cook

Clean some part of ur room

Draw/ paint

Talk to parents / sibling

Play a musical instrument

Do not use ur phone.

 

Avoid using ur phone. Especially insta, and youtube. Check messages if u need to once a day. Avoid social media. Do not use ur phone during breaks.  

 

So I would not sleep in the afternoons but I would sleep longer in the nights.

Take a break when u are saturated.

Eat healthy food. Ur brain needs the glucose!  Eat homecooked meals and avoid oily food. Exercise and go for walks to refresh urself.

 

Sundays can be used to review the weeks portions- best way is to flip thru or look at those topics past qs.

 

 

5.       Ur past questions are  good guides.  Thankfully u guys have E med q. We didn’t have that. We used to have to compile the qs ourselves. So before u  take  chapter- look at what short notes and essays have come.So when u read the chapter. Ur mind will focus on those parts and u can prepare accordingly.  But go thru the whole chapter. Not just the past qs. Cause ur batch it unique :P

 

6.       Very important. Stick with the book u used during the year. Do not try to read from a new book / read extra stuff. These 2 months are important and precious.

 

 Example-

if u read from Vishram singh only. Then focus on that. Don’t try to read grays anatomy. If u have notes from class, u can Add that info. If not just leave it. Don’t try to learn new stuff of a topic. Bu t if u example didn’t read properly for endocrine – from that one book. Buckle up and read it. Or if u are weak in CNS and u didn’t understand from some complicated book, ask the professor for a suggestion- do this early . If u read one topic in another book when it was taught/ tested  and felt it was better read that one topic from that book.

 

7.       Have enough time for revision.  What I kept was 4 days for each subject at the end of the month for revision. So 2 days for Anat 1 portions. 2 days for Anat 2 etc. So finally. 12 days for revision. At the end of the last month. Anat  1  was revised last because it was our first exam.

 

8.       Okay so more about presentation and how to answer  a question. U might think ur essay is the most important. It is important but ur short notes carry more  marks and we tend to score more there. And u have mcqs also.

 

Presentation - big writing and colourful diagrams. When u are studying, make it a point, even if it is just scribbling to PRACTICE diagrams with the colour coding ( Anat) if possible . Just v rough ones. 1 min.

 For all 3 subjects be schematic. Yes, even Biochem make it colorful,

Esp :( if possible)

 Anat- Essay- 5 diagrams

Short note -3 diagrams

And for physio and biochem not as many diagrams are there, but draw if u can and make sure u draw flowcharts.

 

Something that is very important is subheadings. Be it Anat, Physio or Biochem. Anat u know.

Eg Knee joint- Introduction, Type of joint, Relations. Movements. Blood supply,  venous drainage, nerve supply. Applied anatomy.

For Physio

-  eg Shock: definition, types , mechanism, examples, clinical features, applied aspects, treatment.

And write these subheadings in bold

 

U should have content but more than paragraphs- space out and draw good diagrams and write clearly in point form

 

Time management:

 Don’t spend too much time on essays. What I feel is Mcqs can take max 20 min . Essays 1 hour or a little more. It is important to have ample time for short notes. 1 and a half hours. But u time and practice for urself. This is only a suggestion. Do not follow blindly. It is important to finish ur paper, no point in writing the perfect essays and skipping short notes or  mcqs, it will affect ur marks.

 

As for what to prepare and omit, I am I firm believer that u cannot read only important questions and write the exam. For our batch, we didn’t expect our Anat 2 essay- cerebral fibers . We didn’t think it was very important but it came. So just read what is in the book notes u took in class if u did. Please ask ur professors whom u are comfortable with on any more doubts about the topic because they will know the best solution, we can only advise from the student perspective.

 

I would like to conclude by saying, Everyone is different and these are just tips that I followed and what helped me to set a goal and achieve marks. Do not take this to the dot, but modify it to your plan. If you are feeling overwhelmed or need any more suggestions from me feel free to ask the Academic secretaries for my contact and I will be available.  All the best and see u on the other side!