Finals: Preparation

Of course, now that I've officially passed my final exams, I can freely comment on every single thing I did to prepare myself to pass.

I don't know about each person's individual studying styles; but mine definitely revolves around requiring external help, in the best form of:

Study group.

That's what I call sharing IS caring ; siphoning knowledge from the better ones into my less than better brain.

But never underestimate the average medical student for what they do.

For you will see not only is their room littered with medical paraphernalia...

Yes that is Baliga's 250 Cases in Clinical Medicine book that I eventually burnt and swallowed with water due to the fact there is no way I can read 250 cases

so is their kitchen table.

Our many prescription of different drugs

And also never underestimate the amount of caffeine (and it's power) that can be consumed just to read that one line that says:

"Meniere's Disease of inner ear : dilatation of membranous labyrinth because of accumulation of endolymph causing vertigo, tinnitus and deafness."

I know. I don't understand half the words in that sentence.


But what made the revision and process much easier was the fact that there were moments when the 'student' of us truly reveals itself.

If I'm still alive 10 years from now, I will still look back at these moments and laugh.

Among the top said things were:

Alvin on explaining to a pseudopatient, aka Faizi, that he is just to be started on warfarin (which is something to make your blood thinner so you don't develop clots):
In the most un-Alvin-like-specially-engineered-for-patients-voice, "Ok, sir, so we are starting you on this drug called warfarin. Traditionally warfarin is used as rat poison..."

Faizi (eyes wide) : Are you freaking kidding me??!?!?!

And I as the pseudoexaminer : -_-"'

No, I don't think telling your patient the fact that the drug they are taking is used as rat poison is the most ideal way. Some things are better left unsaid.
Not the way forward at all, Alvin.
Not. At. All.


Pseudoexaminer Alvin: "Ok, Faizi. I see you have prescribed cyclizine (a drug that stops vomiting). Can you give me some side effects of cyclizine?"
Faizi, bristling with confidence : "Vomiting..."

In his defense, the side effects of most drugs IS vomiting, but I hardly think that a drug given to stop vomiting would come along with a side effect of... er... vomiting.

Ah, yes we have our moments.

Of course I made plenty of bloopers among incessantly asking "what causes death" in a most examiner-fashion like way (only to realise that examiners do not really think that asking what causes death is particularly thought provoking nor a great question to wheedle out the 1st class students from the mediocre ones) and also putting forward a question most innocently, "Now, tell me, what causes the consequence of what?"
Which really, could potentially be asked on exam day if only I remembered to fill a word or more into the 'what' spaces.

See?

Oh, bugger off, I have attained my MBChB title.