Cambridge Medical School Exam Guide
Exam advice for Year 1 and Year 2 Pre-Clinical Exams & Year 4 SBA
Written below is my detailed module and exam-specific advice for Year 1, Year 2, (skip intercalated Year 3) and Year 4 of the Cambridge Medicine course. Given the reputation of the pre-clinical exams and the unfamiliar nature of the first clinical exam, I hope the advice and resources cited below help relieve some of the difficulty. You cannot look after others if you aren’t looking after yourselves, so at the end of this post I have cited welfare sources that I would highly encourage if needed.
To every other kind reader/subscriber keen to learn more about law and medicine, thank you for being here - you can simply ignore this post and be glad the future doctors are revising!
Direct hyperlinks
Pre-clinical
Clinical
Year 4 (Final MB Part I)
Exams
Year 4 SBA
OSCE: Clinical Circuit
OSCE: Clinical Communication Skills (CCS) Circuit
Exams = 3
Notes
Weightings for Final MB Part I are linked here
The most recent pass mark for Final MB Part I is linked in ‘Cohort Distribution Charts.’ The pass mark for Summer 2024 was 55.1%, and the pass mark for Summer 2023 was 58%
Information on the nature of the exam is detailed in ‘Demystifying Assessments.’
Any resources for Final MB Part I cited in this guidance are linked in my Google Drive
Y4 SBA (40%)
150 questions in 3 hours = 1 min 12 secs for questions
Resources
The Clinical School recommends textbooks for this exam, but from my personal experience and consultation with other students, you can comfortably pass the Y4 SBA using a combination of the resources cited below (mainly Zero to Finals & Passmed). I revised for a solid 3 months, but if you are aiming for 70+ (and given how time pressured I discovered the exam is), I would highly suggest revising longer.
Resources can be divided into ‘content’ (which contains theory to covert to ANKI), ‘practice’ (which includes question banks to practice applying the theory) and ‘exam preparation’ (practice exam questions specifically for the Cambridge Y4 SBA clinical exam).
Content
Zero to Finals: Medicine (all specialties except Ophthalmology)
Zero to Finals: Surgery (all specialties, but Breast Surgery, ENT, Orthopaedics and Anaesthetics are optional/low priority)
Passmed: Dermatology, Statistics
Quesmed: Emergency Medicine, Statistics (because you are sourcing content but not using their question bank, I would suggest borrowing someone else’s login)
Moodle: summaries for CEL (Clinical Ethics and Law) topics
I did not review any lectures; as a graduate medic, our lectures are different and not known to be as compatible with the exams or high-yield. If you are an undergraduate medic, I would suggest reviewing all your lectures, especially for low-yield specialties (Paeds, Psych, OBGYN, Anaesthetics etc.)
Edmedsoc do excellent ‘Rapid Reviews’ per specialty and for CPCs (I did not use these as I was time constrained).
Practice
Passmed
Exam preparation
R&I Week SBAs
Mock Paper Trio (my Google Drive) containing:
Method
Zero to Finals: Medicine and Zero to Finals: Surgery
Zero to Finals is the most concise and accessible resource to introduce you to common Medicine or Surgery presentations per speciality. Although you can purchase it as a book, I recommend using their free online resource which contains the same information, but more updated to recent guidelines
Convert content into ANKI decks per speciality, and memorise.
Additional content
Create additional ANKI decks for Dermatology through Passmed and Emergency Medicine through Quesmed
Create a final ANKI deck for Statistics, and include high-yield content (e.g. ARR, RRR, NNT calculations). You can collate sufficient content through the Passmed and Quesmed ‘Statistics’ questions, or as a recap, review the formulae and calculations in my FEBP Master Document (exclude any other theory in this Master Document)
You will need to revise Clinical Ethics and Law content through the CEL summaries on Moodle (go through each CEL tab > resources > and download the summaries). I did not convert this to ANKI, but rather just read the content
Gap-fill any missing content from your lecture notes. This is particularly useful for the low-yield specialties (Paediatrics, Psychiatry, OBGYN, Anaesthetics).
Complete Passmed 1 Hammer questions for Medicine specialties. Prioritise in order of the ‘tiers’ below
Tier 1: Cardiology, Respiratory, Gastroenterology
Tier 2: Neurology, Haematology, Infectious Disease, Endocrinology, Immunology
Tier 3: Renal, Rheumatology, Dermatology, Emergency Medicine (Quesmed)
Tier 4: Statistics (Passmed & Quesmed), Ethics and Law
Tier 5: Geriatric Medicine, Metabolic Medicine, Oncology, Palliative Care (these are low yield but there are very few 1 Hammer questions on Passmed each - so you may as well do them).
Complete Passmed 1 Hammer questions for Surgical specialties
Colorectal, General Surgery, Upper GI & Hepatobiliary, Urology, Vascular
Your Passmed priorities should therefore be according to the below.
Note, I reset and repeated all of the ticked question banks a total of 3 times over the 3 months of revision before proceeding to exam questions.
To reset Passmed, click the person icon on the top right-hand corner > settings > scroll down to ‘reset question history.’
Complete additional specialties (optional)
If you are short on time, you can comfortably pass the SBA providing you proceed to exam preparation below. If you have additional time, you might want to complete any other specialties.
I did not do Passmed for other specialties (Paediatrics, Psychiatry, OBGYN, Ophthalmology, ENT, Orthopaedics and the four additional Surgery unticked above). For these, and any other specialties not ticked above, it is sufficient to just review your lecture notes. There might be 1-2 questions on each in the exam, and not difficult ones.
See the list below on weightings per specialty for the Summer 2024 exam
Exam preparation (complete the list below in order)
Review any R&I Week SBAs
Mock Paper Trio (my Google Drive) containing:
Mock Paper 1: Moodle practice papers A-G compiled into one (individually sourced here)
Mock Paper 2: I don’t remember where I sourced this
Mock Paper 3: Edmedsoc Mock (sourced here)
If you are too time constrained, skip to Mock Paper 3: Edmedsoc Mock as it is the most reflective of the exam in terms of difficulty and type of questions asked per specialty. If you have time, I haves staged it last in this list, since I prefer building my way up to the most reflective mock paper.
Passmed is indeed easier than our Y4 SBA. For this reason, expect to get a lower mark in your exam than your Passmed average. However, I found it extremely useful to add additional content to my ANKI and practice theory, and therefore reset the question bank 3 times over 3 months.
By the time I got to the Mock Papers, I still found them challenging (especially the Edmedsoc Mock!). In hindsight, some of what I learnt in the Edmedsock Mock was entirely new (such as CPC content, which I decided to learn from this resource alone). However, after I completed this difficult paper once, I can confidently say I was in good standing for the exam. It is the most reflective mock paper in terms of difficulty and style of questions, and most importantly, to my surprise, some of the questions were very similar to the real exam.
By this point, you should be in a comfortable position to pass the SBA. However, below are some final bits of optional guidance to raise your exam mark to the 70+ region:
Optional (I skipped the below)
Fill any gaps in conditions by consulting the Conditions List and Patient Presentation List linked here.
Review Y4 CPCs using your lecture notes or Edmedsoc CPC Rapid Reviews (again, I did not do this!)
OSCEs (60%)
You will sit two OSCEs: Clinical Circuit (examinations) and Clinical Communication Skills CCS (history taking). Both OSCEs are graded separately, so you must pass 3/5 stations in your Clinical Circuit OSCE and 3/5 stations in your CCS OSCE to pass each OSCE individually.
I recommend using the resources cited below and practicing examinations on other medics:
Videos and accompanying mark schemes from the Clinical School ‘Clinical Examination Handbook’ linked here
GeekyMedics ‘OSCE Guides’ and GeekyMedics YouTube videos
OSCE: Clinical Circuit
5 x 12-minute stations (4x Clinical Examinations & 1x Practical Skills)
E.g. my combination was Cardio, Resp, Abdo, Cranial Nerves + manual blood pressure.
List of Clinical Examination options
Cardiovascular
Respiratory
Abdominal
Cranial Nerves
Neurological – Upper Limb
Neurological – Lower Limb
GALS
Knee
Hip
Shoulder
List of Practical Skills options
This list is sourced from your personal ‘Practical Skills Portfolio’ book for clinical skill sign-offs.
ANTT/Aseptic technique
Manual blood pressure
Observations
Venepuncture
Blood cultures
IV cannulation (with or without bloods)
ABG
Oxygen administration
Asthma management: peak flow, nebuliser, inhaler
12 lead ECG
Suturing
Use of local anaesthetic (inject or topically apply a local anaesthetic. Understand maximum doses of local anaesthetic agents)
Basic care of surgical or traumatic wounds
Urinalysis
Swabs
Male or female catheter
Direct ophthalmoscopy
Otoscopy
OSCE: Clinical Communication Skills (CCS)
5 x 12-minute stations (5 x CCS including one Breaking Bad News).
E.g. my combination was Breaking Bad News, Resp Hx, Gastro Hx, Depression Hx + discharging the elderly.
List of CCS options
Breaking Bad News (scenario gets emailed 2 weeks in advance).
Respiratory Hx.
Gastroenterology Hx.
Cardiology Hx.
Rheumatology Hx.
Urology Hx.
Stroke Hx.
Headaches Hx.
Depression Hx.
Discharging the elderly
Individual, station-specific feedback from the OSCE gets emailed to each student a few weeks after the exam.
Please feel free to message me on Facebook if you find yourself overwhelmed, I have been there. Sending my best wishes!
About my blog: I am a graduate medicine student, and this blog bridges my journey from law graduate to medicine student. I write about overlaps between both fields in academia and clinical practice with the aspiration of contributing to the medico-legal field as a doctor and lawyer. If you would like to learn more about medicine, law, the vast grey area in between or my journey, subscribe below (personal emails since institutional emails eventually expire!):
Year 1 and Year 2 (Pre-Clinical)
Modules
Year 1
HOM (Physiology + Histology): 3 exams
MIMS (Biochemistry): 2 exams
FAB (Anatomy): 1 exam
FEBP (Introductory Epidemiology): 1 exam
SECHI (Social and Ethical Context of Ill-Health): two summative essays as a single coursework
Total exams: 8
Year 2
MODA (Pharmacology): 2 exams
NHB (Neurobiology, Psychology, Neuroanatomy, Neurophysiology, Histology): 2 exams
BOD (Pathology + Histology): 2 exams
HR (Human Reproduction + Histology): 2 exams
HNA (Anatomy II): 1 exam
Total exams: 9
You will also sit mandatory mock exams in January in Y1 and Y2, bringing your total exams to 12-14!
The weighting of each exam depends on if you are an Undergraduate or Graduate Medic. I have only included the Graduate Medicine weightings in this breakdown, but exam technique applies universally regardless of the specific Cambridge Medicine course.
Notes
Past papers and mark schemes: some departments release recent past papers, dated past papers, or none at all. Only some departments release official mark schemes. There is a great reliance on student/supervisor created unofficial mark schemes as a result, which I would highly recommend (enquire through your supervisor or through year-above medics in your College).
CGCM students only: Toby’s Google Drive contains condensed versions of handouts and practical content that he passed down for CGCM (graduate) students. These are sufficient to pass exams and to learn thousands of pages of official department handouts more efficiently.
Cambridge Medic Facebook page (Medfare): during exam season, lifesaving last-minute resources and exam tips are often posted in this student-run Facebook page.
Grade boundaries: note that achieving even a pass mark can be unpredictable, and requires more effort than meeting your previous entry requirements of A*A*A+ in A Levels or as much effort as achieving a First in your previous degree.
ANKI: all resources referenced throughout this blog are located in my Google Drive. Any ANKI in this post that is not linked separately can be found in ‘Resource 1: Master ANKI.’
Year 1
HOM (Physiology + Histology): 3 exams
(1) HOM MCQ (50%)
·Make concise notes: the handouts for this module are incredibly dense, and may include 100+ pages for a single system. The handouts are written in an explanatory format, and therefore aren’t written concisely to memorise from directly. Convert the handouts into visual notes and focus on understanding, not memorising, the physiology.
Supplement with ANKI: having understood the content, focus on memorising detail by supplementing revision with ANKI.
Practice past paper MCQs: HOM is by far the fairest exam when it comes to exam questions; the exam questions are more reflective of the syllabus than other modules. Although the past papers released are dated (from 10 years ago), they are a similar format and level of difficulty to your exam.
Complete steps 1-3 for one system (e.g. cardio), then repeat steps 1-3 for the next system in chronological order (e.g. resp, renal, digestive etc).
Repeating this method per system (multiple times and chronologically), and having a good conceptual understanding (reflected in strong MCQ performance), indicates you are prepared for the exam.
(2) HOM Practical (40%)
Review practical handout and debriefs: read the handout and get a good conceptual understanding of the physiology being investigated in the practical. Supplement this with the debrief which contains verbatim answers to the handout questions asked (normally released after the practical). Familiarise yourself with any graphs, equations and calculations and ensure you understand them.
Memorise practical handout and debriefs: memorise both documents verbatim, since the HOM practical exam questions are often word-for-word sourced from the material itself (this is the only practical for which this is the case).
Complete the weekly quizzes for each practical: this is the most reflective resource for the exam, and some questions will repeat verbatim in the real exam. There is no need to do official past papers for this exam, since the prior practical exam is based on a different syllabus and is not reflective of your paper (the older practical exam is harder).
A strong performance in weekly quizzes and the ability to conceptually understand/explain practical handout and debrief content indicates you are prepared for the exam.
(3) HOM Histology (10%)
Go straight to pre-made flashcards: the practical handouts, debriefs and histology self-study manual contains theoretical information, but it is incredibly difficult to map this without the histological slides. It is better to directly revise the theory and histology concomitantly, using pre-made flashcards. Use two resources for this:
Quizlet deck by lizzie_good8
Gap-fill flashcards with content from four resources: practical handout, practical debrief, histology self-study manual and weekly quizzes.
Repeat steps 1-2 for each system chronologically (e.g. alimentary, digestive). Eventually, ensure the ANKI/flashcards are assorted, since the exam will not be in any chronological order and slides will seldom be labelled.
Past papers: there may be some histology papers available, but generally availability is limited because the same histology slides are re-used in the exam. If time pressured, you can skip this stage; the two flashcard decks above convert the content in sufficient detail with exact/near exact histological slides.
The ability to recognise assorted histology slides and recall theoretical content from the self-study manual indicates you are prepared for the exam. This paper can be crammed 2-3 days before the exam.
MIMS (Biochemistry): 2 exams
(1) MIMS MCQ (50%)
Memorise the handouts using ANKI: this is the only memory-based rather than conceptual exam, but incredibly dense content is examined to the extent that you must memorise content in exceptionally cruel, fine detail. I skipped the lectures for this reason and resorted straight to ANKI based on official department handouts, which (if you set the cards chronologically), should explain biochemistry in a format that is easy to follow from scratch.
Practice past paper questions: this is the exam in which past papers are the most unpredictable, as you’ll find there is a great variation in exam questions per year. This said, past papers will allow you to realise the extent to which exceptionally fine detail is examined, and therefore is useful for exam familiarisation (and to allow the shock to set in!). Annotate questions you get right and wrong using ctrl search in the ANKI deck or handouts. Complete past papers from at least the last 5 years, and more if you have time.
This is probably the most difficult module in Year 1, with the most notorious MCQ and practical exam. Be aware that the pass mark for this module is the lowest due to the level of difficulty, but achieving it is the hardest in most people’s experience.
Be conscious that the weighting for MCQ: practical is 50:50 (as of 2022). Do not neglect either for the other, but because the MCQ is somewhat more predictable than the practical, you can strategically aim to get a higher mark in the MCQ.
A good target is 60-70% in MCQ and 40% in Practical; this would yield
(0.7 x 50) + (0.4 x 50) = at least 55%.
(2) MIMS Practical (50%)
There are three practicals per term, each 4 hours long. Whilst the exam board claims that the practical papers are designed around the three practicals, with past papers you will find this is not the case. Hence, due to the unpredictable nature of the exam, everyone’s approach to revision varies. The practical content alone is not enough to pass the exam, so prioritise past papers early.
Chronologically study content from each practical in the following order:
practical handout
practical debrief (written document released after the practical)
practical demonstration (timetabled separately after the practical and taught via a powerpoint).
Ensure you have conceptually understood and memorised the content: this includes the theory, features of the practical (equipment, methodology) and mathematical concepts associated (dilution, niche calculations specific to each practical). All of this content should be covered in the three resources cited in Step 1.
Past papers: past papers are nearly impossible to complete on your own, especially at the start of the course. This is largely because it will feature content you have not learnt in either the MCQ or practical revision. Begin by completing past papers in class with your supervisor (aim to do the most recent 3-4 papers with supervision). If you feel competent, independently complete as many past papers as you can, using unofficial mark schemes as guidance. Start this early and resume throughout the year - this exam is not crammable and can be incredibly challenging.
Produce a compilation: as you do past papers, you may start recognising themes or concepts e.g. for DNA, a common question is designing an experiment for sequencing or an experiment to generate a reference genome. Compile these themes to make a bank of ‘additional’ practical paper related content as you may be able to regurgitate answers or be inspired from previous answers in theoretical practical questions.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to determine if you are prepared for the practical exam with confidence. Everyone gets burnt out trying, and most people end up passing by some miracle as a result. My best advice is write whatever comes to your mind in the exam with feigned confidence - you will get something right somewhere, and aim for a realistic mark (between 40-60%).
FAB (Anatomy): 1 exam (100%)
Study content in the following order:
FAB Manual
McMinns textbook/Google images
University of Michigan BlueLink Images
Lecture content
Applied anatomy powerpoints (with answers)
Memorise FAB Manual: this contains all the baseline theory you will need. You do not need to click on the links in the manual.
Supplement with a textbook or image searches: after acquiring baseline memory of the theory, supplement by sifting through McMinns or simple Google image searches. This will help develop introductory spatial and visual knowledge of anatomy and will provide a good foundation for Step 4.
Fine tune with Michigan BlueLink Anatomy (click on the word ‘Here’). this contains prosections. Annotate BlueLink ANKI flashcards with knowledge from the FAB manual from memory. If you can identify the images accurately and recall the excepts from the FAB manual (associated organs, nerves that innervate, blood supply etc.) whilst you view the images, you’ll have mastered combining theory to anatomy accurately.
Memorise lecture content: I added this directly to ANKI.
Memorise applied anatomy: make concise notes or flashcards from applied anatomy sessions from the year. You can rely solely on the ‘answers’ that are released one week after each applied anatomy session.
Practice MCQs: practice MCQs systematically (e.g. forearm, arm, thorax, abdomen etc) in chronological order. Annotate why you got the answer right and why the others are wrong, again, recalling knowledge from the FAB Manual (which should contain verbatim answers). You may need to do a ctrl search for this through ANKI and FAB Manual due to the exceptionally fine detail examined.
Practice Steeplechase: there are some steeplechase MCQs released by the university, with limited prosection images (e.g. in revision lectures). Complete these to familiarise yourself with exam format and prosection anatomy.
A strong performance in MCQ (theoretical) and Steeplechase (combination of theoretical and practical knowledge) from memory indicates you are prepared for the exam.
Note, previously FAB was split as an MCQ and separate in-person Steeplechase. Now, the MCQ and Steeplechase are combined. You will be given a prosection images for most questions in the exam. Hence, Step 7 focuses on practicing MCQ with theoretical accuracy, and Steps 4 and 8 focus on practicing prosection recognition combined with theoretical accuracy.
FEBP (Introductory Epidemiology): 1 exam (100%)
Study content in order from the following sources:
Lecture
Handouts (multiple per lecture)
Revision lectures (practicing calculations)
My FEBP Master Document: in my experience, the organisation of this course was quite chaotic. I compiled the above content into a comprehensive document for the exam (as of 2022). You may rely on this entirely and scrap the above steps to pass the exam with full/near full marks.
Practice past papers: FEBP is the new version of the previous ISBM exam, and therefore there are not that many past papers. Complete any past papers (including mocks) to familiarise yourself with the format of the exam; it is an applied exam, rather than memory based. If you would like to practice calculations or theory further, use ISBM past papers (note, the FEBP exam is more difficult than the previous ISBM paper).
This is the first medical school exam you will sit (Lent Term of Year 1) and requires perhaps 1-2 non-intense weeks of revision. The exam only has 15 questions, which means the grade boundary to pass/fail is narrow. You will be prepared for the exam if you have memorised the content (my Master Document) and practiced applying it (FEBP past papers or revision lectures), with full/near full marks.
SECHI: two summative essays as a single coursework (100%)
This module is assessed by submitting two essays on a single date in Lent Term (March) as coursework. You will get the opportunity to submit one formative essay in Michaelmas Term as practice, which will be graded as a percentage.
Note: the percentages don’t really correlate to the standard of a First, 2:1 or 2:2 essay (marking is a lot more generous) and irrespective of percentage, this module is still graded as pass/fail.
When writing your essay, rely on the following resources:
Lecture powerpoint
Reading list at the end of the lecture powerpoint (sift through all the articles in the list and find articles relevant to your essay)
Convert content into an essay plan: thematically and structurally organise your essay ideas, before writing the essay in full. Researching and planning should always take longer than writing!
Students with an arts background or essay writing experience spared 1-1.5 days per essay (including reading, writing and referencing).
Students without an arts background mostly spared 2-3 weeks in total.
Model essays: I edited one of my SECHI essays into a shortened blog post. The formatting, research and writing style is the same as the essays I produced for the coursework, in which I scored 90%. Read it here as mini-model essay.
Please feel free to message me on Facebook if you find yourself overwhelmed, I have been there. Sending my best wishes!
About my blog: I am a graduate medicine student, and this blog bridges my journey from law graduate to medicine student. I write about overlaps between both fields in academia and clinical practice with the aspiration of contributing to the medico-legal field as a doctor-lawyer. If you would like to learn more about medicine, law, the vast grey area in between or my journey, subscribe below (personal emails since institutional emails eventually expire!):
Year 2
In Year 2, I did not watch any lectures and merely relied on handouts and pre-made ANKI; this helped save a lot of time, as I could simultaneously learn and memorise.
MODA (Pharmacology): 2 exams
(1) MODA MCQ (60%)
Study the content in the official department handout: MODA is a mixture of conceptual understanding and memorisation, so produce visual aids or revision materials to grasp different concepts across the syllabus.
Produce flashcards for specific drugs and mechanisms: the handouts are incredibly dense, and are useful for conceptual understanding. Fine-tune memory by producing drug name and mechanism specific flashcards, as very specific drug mechanisms are tested in the exam (e.g. every kind of antibiotic mechanism tends to be examined in fine, MIMS-style detail). Use my Quizlet resource for this.
Topic-specific past paper MCQs: my supervisor gave us past paper questions per topic every week. This was useful to build MCQ practice throughout the year and ensure you have conceptually understood and memorised content. Unfortunately I cannot share this, as it is not my work.
Full past paper MCQs: past paper MCQs are very reflective of the exam; there may not be repeats, but you will find the answers are directly sourced from official department handouts and similar styles of questions appear each year.
(2) MODA Practical (40%)
In my experience, the practicals completed throughout term time reinforce lecture content, but do not constitute the syllabus for the practical exam. The practical content is sourced predominantly from: pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and any additional calculations that may feature throughout the lectures. Whilst there is some predictability as to formulae you will be required to apply, calculations are often still rogue. There is also unpredictability once again in the theoretical questions, like MIMS Practical. Use past papers as your main source of practice.
Study content in the following order:
Pharmacodynamics (MT)
Pharmocokinetics (LT)
Flipped classroom calculations: you will have a ‘flipped classroom’ timetabled at some point in which the lecturer will go through calculations from a past paper. This will be your first introduction to Pharmacology calculations, so do attend.
Past papers: like MIMS practicals, initially past papers will be foreign, because they may not directly seem related to content studied above. Go through 3-4 papers with your supervisor to familiarise yourself with the style of questions. Whilst the calculations are more predictable (based on studied content), theoretical/experimental questions are more abstract, and are not directly taken from any studied content. Use unofficial mark schemes to guide your calculations and types of answers to theoretical questions. Complete as many past papers as you can (5-10).
Compile a list of equations: the department provides a formula list in the exam, but it does not include every formula or calculation cited throughout lecture content. Produce your own compilation (I did not have time to do this!)
Given that the MCQ paper is more predictable than the practical, a good target is to aim for 60-70% in MCQs and 30-40% in the practical. This would yield
(0.65 x 60) + (0.5 x 40) = at least 59%.
NHB (Neurobiology): 2 exams
(1) NHB MCQ (60%)
The MCQ paper is divided into two chapters: neurobiology/psychology (worth 60% in this paper) and neuroanatomy (worth 40% in this paper). This combined mark produces your MCQ grade which constitutes 60% of your total NHB grade.
Note: the exam format changed from SAQ (short answer questions) to MCQ as of 2023.
Neurobiology and Psychology (60% weighting in this paper)
Study the content in the official department handout: NHB is very conceptual, rather than memory based. Like HOM, draw visual aids or mindmaps to visualise and grasp content. By contrast, Psychology content is more memory based and crammable, and can be entirely learnt through ANKI.
Topic specific past paper questions: my supervisor gave us past paper questions per topic every week (note: these were from the previous SAQ format). Despite the different format, this is useful to ensure you have conceptually understood the content and to identify high yield concepts. Once you have reviewed topic-specific content, use the more detailed SAQ Master Document (old format) as a benchmark to ensure you have revised and understood everything.
Full past paper MCQs: due to the new format, there may only be a few resources to test yourself on:
specimen paper
first-sitting of the new exam (June 2023) if this has been made available by the department
mock exam produced by your supervisor
If you have conceptually understood NHB and can fully confidently formulate answers to the SAQ Master Document, you should be well prepared for the (easier) MCQ format exam.
Neuroanatomy and some Histology (40% weighting in this paper)
The format of NA is similar to the FAB exam, albeit in my experience somewhat easier. Given it is memory based, this section is more crammable, but note that the handouts are ~100+ pages in total.
Memorise the content in the NA handout each week: I solely relied on ANKI based on the handout.
Use the online resource (videos) to visualise neuroanatomy: like reliance on McMinns or Michigan BlueLink in FAB, map theoretical content from the NA handout onto prosection videos and images cited in 1) the online resource 2) the in-person practical.
Study histological slides: my supervisor created a resource for histology slides, which I am unfortunately unable to share as it is not my work. However, linked is a Neuroanatomy Histology Master Document that contains more than enough histology to succeed in the exam. Annotate the slides with theoretical content from the handout/ANKI.
(2) NHB Practical (40%)
Neurophysiology and some Histology
Study content in the following order:
Practical handout
Practical debrief
Histology slides: my supervisor provided us with all the histology slides we needed for the exam. Unfortunately, I am unable to share this resource as it is not my work.
Calculations: within each handout or debrief, there will be a few calculations. Ask your supervisor to produce some questions that test the formulae and calculations presented to familiarise yourself with them; they can be quite unconventional and cannot be improvised on the day (e.g. visual acuity calculations!)
Aside from a practical mock exam that my supervisor produced, I did not do any past papers for the NHB Practical. Memorising the practical handout, practical debrief, recognising histology slides and practising calculation questions was sufficient preparation. Some students revised for this paper in 2-3 days before the exam, but I spent perhaps a week of intensive study in total.
Calculate your NHB mark using the following example calculation:
MCQ: 70% in neurobiology/psychology section, 63% in neuroanatomy
Practical: 55%
MCQ: [(0.7 x 60) + (0.63 x 40)] x 60% = 40.32
Practical: (0.55 x 40%) = 22
Grade: 40.32 + 22 = 62.32%
HR (Human Reproduction + Histology): 2 exams
(1) HR MCQ
Study the content directly through ANKI: HR is a half-module, and is therefore not too dense. I solely used ANKI (no department handouts) to revise this module. Although mostly memory based, there may be some conceptual aspects. Draw visual aids or mindmaps to understand these and practice any calculations.
Past papers MCQs: practice applying theoretical knowledge to past paper MCQs or a mock exam. I solely used this HR Master Document and it was entirely sufficient (it is 100+ pages long).
(2) HR Practical
Includes theory from HR MCQ and some Histology
Study histology slides: using this Quizlet deck by emilyprendergast
Briefly revise high yield theory from HR MCQ section: if the gap between the HR MCQ exam and HR Practial exam is small, skip this step. It is is large enough for you to forget content, do non-intensive (half a day’s worth) recap of HR theory as it can come up in the practical exam, even though it was examined in the MCQ exam.
I did not do any past papers for the HR practical. Admittedly, many unseen histology slides came up, so ensure you understand what you are looking at rather than just image recognition. This content can be crammed 2-3 days before the exam.
HNA (Anatomy II): 1 exam
This is the only exam you will sit in Lent Term of Year 2. Revise for this module in a similar format to FAB (theory first, then prosection). Although there is less content than FAB, HNA is conceptually harder because of the intricacies of Head and Neck Anatomy. Note, the pass mark tends to be higher than FAB.
Study content in the following order:
HNA Manual
McMinns stextbook/Google Images or Michigan BlueLink
Lecture content
Applied anatomy powerpoints (with answers)
Memorise HNA Manual: this contains all the baseline theory you will need. You do not need to click on the links in the manual. I solely used the MedSoc HNA ANKI deck to memorise this.
Supplement with a textbook or image searches: after acquiring baseline memory of the theory, supplement by sifting through a textbook or Google image searches. This will help develop introductory spatial and visual knowledge of anatomy, which is crucial for HNA. Note: I skipped this step, because I added Google images directly to the ANKI deck above.
Memorise lecture content: I added this directly to ANKI.
Memorise applied anatomy: make concise notes or flashcards from applied anatomy sessions from the year. You can rely solely on the ‘answers’ that are released one week after each applied anatomy session.
Practice MCQs: practice MCQs systematically. Annotate why you got the answer right and why the others are wrong, again, recalling knowledge from the HNA manual (which should contain verbatim answers). You may need to do a ctrl search for this through ANKI or HNA Manual due to the exceptional detail examined (as suggested for FAB and MIMS).
Practice Steeplechase: there are some Steeplechase MCQs released by the university, with limited prosection images. Your teacher may also give you a mock. Complete these to familiarise yourself with exam format and prosection anatomy.
Note: the Michigan BlueLink ANKI deck resource cited under the FAB section contains HNA prosections (I did not bother using this, but it is a good resource).
A near perfect recollection of ANKI and consistently strong recognition of prosection images indicates you are prepared for the exam.
BOD (Pathology with Histology): 2 exams
(1) BOD MCQ (60%)
Study the content in the official department handout: in a similar format to MIMS, this exam tests exceptionally fine detail. I resorted entirely to ANKI for this.
Ensure you are mapping theory with pathology: supplement theoretical content with the practical performed for that week, and ensure you can map the theory onto the practical with good recognition of histology. Both memorisation and conceptual understanding will be tested in the exam, through exceptionally fine detailed MCQs or abstract MCQ questions.
Practice MCQs: practice MCQs systematically. Annotate why you got the answer right and why the others are wrong, again, recalling knowledge from the official department handouts (which should contain the answers). You may need to do a ctrl search for this through ANKI or official department handouts due to the exceptionally fine detail examined.
(2) BOD Practical (40%)
Convert the weekly practicals into ANKI as gap-fillers: the theoretical content in practicals is meant to be supplementary to your lectures. If you learn any theory in the practical that has not been covered in the lecture, gap-fill this content into the relevant ANKI deck.
Understand histological slides with theoretical accuracy: learn the theory (lectures and practical gap-fill) —> understand how and why features displayed on the histology slides have manifested —> learn to visually recognise the features on the slides. Essentially, when you identify a feature in a histology slide, you should competent in knowing why that feature has arisen and how it has arisen.
Review methodology for practicals: having understood the histology in Step 2, review the practical handout and debrief, with focus on methodology and new detail being investigated. At this point, revise calculations cited throughout lectures or practicals.
In my experience, if you can pass MIMS practical, you can easily pass BOD practical; it is less unpredictable, and you are given more prompts in the exam (e.g. images of cultures) to guide your answers.
Please feel free to message me on Facebook if you find yourself overwhelmed, I have been there. Sending my best wishes!
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Welfare
You can’t learn how to look after others if you aren’t looking after yourself - you are the first patient you are accountable to after all. The following support is available to you:
Support figures: DoS, Pastoral Tutor, Clinical Supervisors (from Index Cases on the CGCM course)
College Welfare Officer: assistance on a range of disputes, including Tutorial Office, Accommodation etc.
MedSoc and CGCMSoc: weekly Welfare Wednesday drop-in sessions
University Counselling Service (UCS): shorter waiting list to access fortnightly counselling sessions without GP referral
Clinical Student Mental Health Service (CSMHS): 3 month+ waiting list for medical students to be seen directly by a Consultant Psychiatrist and/or specialist therapists for psychological problems (GP referral necessary)
Crane Medical Fund: funding towards physical or mental health resources such as external therapy via an evidence-supported application (e.g. therapist or medical evidence)
Accessibility and Disability Resource Centre: offering free screening for specific learning disabilities or neurodiversity as of 2023.
and me, reach out if I can be of help on LinkedIn x