revision

[Madeeha]

hey!
is it just me or does the second year get much much harder than the first year?
i am really struggling to keep on top of things and im having such difficulty revising...like everything taked ten hours too long and so then im behind but even worse i cant seem to remember what i learn.
any suggestions?

[James]

You just have to learn the crap and struggle through. There is alot of pointless stuff you have to learn in the pre-clinical which you will never need again (until membership anyway). But if you just get through it, then next year you get what you've wanted ever since day 1 - some decent clinical contact.

[Kev]

I found the second year tougher than the first. I am not so sure it gets harder in the content covered, it's just that the modules we covered were harder for me to learn (neuro and pharmacology for example :evil: ). In addition we had an overarching exam on all subjects covered from day 1 of the course, so that was added stress

Also perhaps we tend to push ourselves a bit harder so that in itself adds more pressure?

[sparky21]

Im in the second year at the moment and I can sympathise... although the work load is less, the subjects contain vast amounts of information.. all needing to be retained for exams. I was told the 2nd year would be nicer than the first and to be honest I am just living between deadlines - have been for the past 3 weeks

I think the problem is that we have to learn clinical work - without the added bonus of being on the wards to see cases. I desperately want to get out there and do medicine.. but am still doing all the physiology and the like. I asked a Dr friend if she found the second year difficult and she said it was one of the worst.

I think you need to take the attitude of one step at a time. If I started to think about the state of the exam period in June I may lose it :lol: :wink:

X

[M Clayton]

I can only agree with what's already been said.

Year 2 of my course was an absolute nightmare (memories of covering the anatomy of the upper and lower limbs in just a week spring to mind :shock: )

However, clinical medicine is absolutely wonderful. I can't enthuse enough about it - there's nothing like working in a hospital when it's all you've wanted to do for the last 2 years.

Keep going - it will be worth it.

[mooncarotts]

so what revision techniques do you all use?

[Whiz_Fiz]

yep, second year is tough! We've just done the lower limb in a week n I don't seem to have retained much of the anatomy. Already feeling sick thinking about next week and the rest of the term....only thing keeping me going is the thought of clinicals next year!

[Huw]

could someone explain how the exams in medicine are structured? are they just loads of essays, or multiple choice?

[kittykat025]

Year 2 of my course was an absolute nightmare (memories of covering the anatomy of the upper and lower limbs in just a week spring to mind :shock: )

yeah, we had to do that in 1st year - horrid!
at Birmingham it's meant to be:
1st year - hard becuase you're getting used to it
2nd year - hard becuase there's so much more to learn
3rd year - lovely (apparently)

the way we're assessed is we have written papers, MCQs (multiple choice), spotters (anatomy and histology, looking at diagrams), very few essays (about 2) in term time and we also do presentations