How Do I PASS pre-clinical exams?

An issue every Medical / Dental student face is theory exams.

the pre-clinical exam involves more of a memory-based factual theory exams, rather than clinical vignettes or diagnosis / management examination. 

I would like to suggest ways to improve the efficacy of learning, as the students would realize at some point of their university life, that learning in a university is different from studying for high-school examinations.

First message I would like to give to my juniors is to Be Realistic.

first thing to know about examination in medical university is that you don't have to blame yourself for not having a distinction or a gold medal. the chances are that most of the students in your university was a high-achiever in primary, secondary, and high schools. in the midst of high-achievers, is it understandable that you have a few gifted students whom would achieve double with half the effort? 

most of us have to realize that Passing in a medical / dental institute is an achievement, and aiming for distinction should come only if passing is a breeze for you. for most students, it is NOT! the important thing here is to do your best, and not kill yourself in the process.

how can we improve the efficacy of learning? 

1. concentrate when you're studying.
   
   this applies to every aspect of the learning process. whether you are in class, during group projects, or studying by yourself, it is better to concentrate for an hour than studying with half the concentration for 2 hours.
   
   I don't suggest playing music when trying to retain facts - especially music with lyrics. classical music may help you relax while studying when you're too tense (I will talk about stress shortly)
   You may listen to music however when you're trying to pull out information from your mind - i.e. when doing past year papers.
   
   One suggestion to make such concentration possible, is to time yourself while studying. try to achieve the maximum amount of learning in the shortest time possible - this skill of mental sprinting will also be useful in the future, when there is literally no time to waste.
   
2. control the amount of stress, and use stress to your advantage.
   Everyone gets stressed out before exams - but not everyone knows that stress can be beneficial!
   Stress and task performance follows an inverted U-shape according to a psychological research (1) [yes, this blogpost has references!] which means, you should have an optimal amount of stress for you to perform maximally. If you're feeling too sleepy or relaxed, drink a coffee or think about failing, If you are having palpitations because you are too stressed, accept the fact that you won't function so well, and go talk to your classmates, joke about something, or go for a drink.
   
   try to be at the middle of the curve (the part that says "optimal arousal") or a little right of the curve, so that you will recognize your stress and slowly move your stress-managing capability.
   
3. recognize that learning involves input AND output
   memory has no use, if you cannot output it from your mind. therefore, you need to make conscious efforts to practice on out-putting what is in your mind... through writing, ( like exactly what I am doing right now!), teaching others, and doing essay-based past year questions.  It takes practice to put concepts into coherent sentences, but it really does promote learning because when you try to put things into words, you realize that you need to recall the facts, and link the facts together when doing so.
   
4. Do past year questions
   Past year questions are your strongest allies when tackling exams. every examination has its own trends, and you should make every effort to attempt past years - sometimes multiple times. not only to recognize the trend of the questions, but to realize which areas are your weaknesses, so you can revisit them.
   
5. Plan your learning early
   why do we have to plan early? various reasons. One - we have to allow ourselves some time to fail. if you set your plan too stringently, say, 5 repetitions of a particular topic over 2 months and you figure out that you can probably do only 3, you need to readjust your plan accordingly. Two - it is always better to study a little everyday, than to study for the whole day for a day in a week. early planning will enable you to spread out your learning so that studying everyday would be a breeze. Victory loves preparations!
   
6. Find your own studying methods
   everyone has a different strengths in cognition. some people can remember better when they read things aloud, and some others remember better when writing things down. try to find how you study best, and stick to it. when it is not working, change it! try many methods to find the one best suited for yourself.
   This blog is partly an attempt by me, to test out studying methods - as you can see, I have made several mind-maps! 

how do we improve our memory and recall?

1. Memory improves with emotional involvement.
   we remember things better when we FEEL something when we try to retain facts. therefore, try to make opportunities to link emotions to facts - a good way to link them is through humour. try to make jokes out of facts. the sicker the joke is, the better, because that sense of disgust will also enhance memory. Have friends with a sense of humour around. they're usually good at turning everything into jokes.
   
2. Memory improves with associations
   
   When we are young, we can remember facts as it is, but as we get older, we tend to remember more when it is associated with other information.
   
   for example if you were foreign to English language, and to remember the word... say, "ubiquitous" - if you were 5years old, you would probably be able to recall next week. if you were 55, you most probably will not. but if I were to explain the meaning of the word, that it means "Being or seeming to be everywhere at the same time" and because this 55 yearold man is a religious man, I tell him - "like god and his holy presence, it is ubiquitous", he may be able to remember this word not only for a week, but his whole life.
   
   try to relate everything you have learnt, to each other, and to something you known previously -which brings us nicely to my next point.
   
3. Don't just study all the time.
   
   I just mentioned that people remember better when things are associated together. this means that your ability to memorize things will increase proportionally to your current memory of various things.
   
   If you have spent your whole life studying in your room, you won't be able to easily relate things together - simply because you have a lack of retained facts to link together! this explains why people who does lots of sports, and has lots of hobbies seem like they have less trouble remembering new things.
   
   having lots of things to do, is good for your hippocampus. what is that you say? it is the part of the brain responsible for remembering new facts. you can memorize new things thanks to this organ in your brain. In a nutshell, doing new things in life will stimulate your hippocampus, therefore making your ability to memorize more powerful.
   
   Having hobbies will be hugely beneficial in relieving stress. doing extra curricular activities in university will help you find friends whom you can turn to. the list of benefit is endless. when in university, join at least one extracurricular activity. Trust me, it is worth it.
   
4. Teach people!
   
   Teaching is a highly complicated task that requires a lot of skill! but when we actually attempt to teach someone else, we are forced to search into our minds into our retained facts, and summarize them and output them as coherent words so others can understand. this will make us realize parts of our memories that are lacking, so that we can go back and learn them again, and train us in the terms of output. the person who benefits the most from teaching, is actually the teacher him/herself!
   This blog, including this post is the embodiment of my attempt to use this technique of memory and recall. I remember most things that I have written on this blog, because I had to crack my head over it. I am helping myself more than anyone else.
   
5. More to be added!
   
   

1 - Yerkes RM, Dodson JD (1908). "The relation of strength of stimulus to rapidity of habit-formation"; Journal of Comparative Neurology and Psychology 18: 459–482.