We just completed 3 out of our 4 second year exams (last one is end of June). Pushing through to get to the end required so much stamina. Don’t get me wrong, I have done exams before and have been used to the stress of exams however these exams were something different to what I had experienced before. It was just so much volume, SO MUCH VOLUME.
To summarise what we needed to revise over easter once lectures had finished:
Anatomy– Head, Neck, Spine, Upper Limbs, Lower Limbs.
Neuroscience– Covered so much from brain anatomy to what controls us being conscious to how we balance.
Endocrinology– All our hormones, diseases to do with hormones and how to treat them.
Human Life Cycle– How a foetus grows, how we age, all the puberty stuff.
Musculoskeletal– Bones, diseases, treatments.
Pharmacology– You could end up memorising about 200 drugs here and their mechanism of action.
Cancer– How does it develop, different types, treatments and cell pathways.
Psychology– Lots of diagrams and lots of theories to learn.
Microbiology– Fungus, bacteria, virus, protozoa…names, diseases and treatments.
Diagnostics– Lots of diagnostic tests and what the results mean.
Haematology– Blooooooooooooooooooooood.
Immunology– Hypersensitivity, our immune response, vaccines.
It was a lot. And it is hard to see the end goal when you are not even a 1/3 into your degree. I really enjoyed learning about it all but am just tired and exhausted now it is all over. Hope everyone is relaxing and enjoying life now, but we start lectures again in a couple of days so not much of a rest.
Don’t worry prospective students, it is hard but at the end of the day medicine is a profession where you kind of want doctors to know everything. Every degree is difficult and even though medicine is hard it helps that everyone in medicine knows that the pain of exams is worth it to get to become a doctor. Sorry if this put you off medicine, I am not aiming it to. But I want you to know that it is hard, and you should really think about if you want to be a doctor/do medicine before you apply. Otherwise, exams are a lot worse…
Anyway, off to relax!
Mala xx
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