The Glasgow Medic

5th Year – intro

glasgowmedic — Sat, 09 Sep 2006 10:23:33 +0000

There’s just no getting around it – finals are stressful. For most people, the exams themselves aren’t the worst bit – it’s the horrendous period before the exams that’s toughest. Having just done them, we remember clearly what it’s like. So we’re putting together a detailed section on revising for finals – when, how and what; useful techniques and books (and the useless ones to avoid…) and what areas to be sure to study well…

The other big thing that happens in final year is applying for jobs. We’ll walk you through how our applications worked, but there’s no guarantee that yours will be the same.

4th Year – intro

glasgowmedic — Sat, 09 Sep 2006 10:16:36 +0000

Cases…
We’ve always wished we’d seen a few portfolio cases before attempting to write our own first ones and getting it shot down by a consultant. Empty portfolio case proforma type things really aren’t enough to learn how to do your own. This is never more true than when you’re doing a specialty block. However, we definitely believe that plagiarism is a bad idea, so we can’t give you all ours! Our solution… fake cases with silly, comic and obviously made-up symptoms! (-:

We’ll also find space to talk about: preparing for the block that starts next week when you’ve only just managed to get some sort of handle on the current one, when/what/how should i revise (for block assessments and for finals…), do i need to plan my CV in advance?

Intercal

glasgowmedic — Sat, 09 Sep 2006 10:15:10 +0000

So you took the plunge and decided to intercalate. Welcome to a year of…well, something completely different, really. We’ll have advice on surviving projects, statistics, journal clubs and all that other scary sounding stuff.

3rd year – intro

glasgowmedic — Sat, 09 Sep 2006 10:13:55 +0000

By now you should have a good grasp of how to study in med school. But, just when you think you’re safe, it’s all change! So, we’ll talk about making the best use of hospital and GP slots, surviving 3rd yr PBLs, travelling to placements, and the third yr OSCE. We’ll also have a bit on electives and the big decision: to intercalate or not…

2nd Year – intro

glasgowmedic — Sat, 09 Sep 2006 10:11:40 +0000

By second year, you should hopefully have a fair idea of how to study. Your personal studying style got you through first year, but it’ll face a bigger challenge in Year 2 – affectionately known as “Biochemistry Year” and sometimes as “The killer year”. It’s rumoured that if you get through second year alright, you’ll be fine. Glasgowmedic isn’t sure how true that is, but second year is certainly a tough old year. Among other things, we’ll be looking at:The importance of going to frustratingly dull-seeming FRSs (our 2nd yr paper was basically a jaunty hike through FRS-land), “do i really need to buy Dr Dow’s book?”, facilitator’s notes and their illegality/insufficiency as exam notes (ohh! controversial!), how to pass the 2nd yr OSCE.

1st Year and general stuff

glasgowmedic — Sat, 09 Sep 2006 10:10:24 +0000

The main course-related problem I had to deal with on starting first year was the change to an entirely new style of learning. We’ll try and give advice on how to cope with that, as well as specific curriculum-related issues. We hope to get some words of wisdom from second years too – in case our old brains have forgotten what it’s like!

More specifically, we’ll cover: how to do PBL, what not to do (aka how i spent my first few years at med school), how much time to spend on coursework, “the med school is NOT for spending your nights in!”, and what books to read.

Much/most of this is also good advice no matter what stage you’re at.