Failed my first med school exam

[spazz911]

Hey all--

I'm about 5 weeks into med school and took my 1st exam last week. It was on biochemistry. This module has only 1 midterm and 1 final. My midterm grade was received today and I failed it: 66%. The average was an 83%. There were 30 questions total.

The good news: it's worth 15% of the course grade, while the final is 85%
The bad news: I failed my first med school exam, in lieu of studying day in and day out, being the last to leave campus on any given day.

I'm not sure what to do here. If the average was lower then at least I'd have felt better about that, though I can't even justify my grade that way. This has definitely been a tough thing to deal with considering I've always struggled in the hard sciences, and now I'm questioning my intelligence.

Seems like now I need to find a new strategy to study. So I've come here to ask:
How do I bounce back? How do I study "smart"?

Currently I make sure I pre-read lectures, take good notes in class, then review the notes right after class. I often will write notecard questions on the lectures to review them later as well -- this is my review method, while others may do outlines, drawings, etc.

I study hard, I'm happy, and I *thought* I understood the material. I really cannot fail, and there must be a way for me to excel...

I beg you all not to be uncouth about it either. I know SDN has a habit of berating me in the past, but I think I'm already teetering emotionally to take any more negativity.
Thanks everyone

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[scorm]

Damn man sorry to hear that. Hopefully someone posts a good strategy/tip that works for you. Keep your head up and realize that many people fail exams and most still manage to make it through to the end. I have no doubt you'll be one of those people. Good luck

 

[DrBowtie]

How many in class hours do you have? Does your school record lectures?

 

[spazz911]

How many in class hours do you have? Does your school record lectures?

Yes we have recorded lectures but many days we have other things going on that require me to be present on campus and I find I'm much more efficient on campus.

Class hours is a bit tough for me to recite since we have a lot of random small group learning exercises and so on/ so forth.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Are you looking at questions and saying "I've never seen that before" or what? Are you not remembering little details? The big picture? Were questions placed in a clinical context that you weren't prepared for (if X is inhibited then Y and X happen)?

What made the exam hard for you? If you can identify that, then that would help you and us figure out what the next step is.

 

[Koalafied]

Hey all--

I'm about 5 weeks into med school and took my 1st exam last week. It was on biochemistry. This module has only 1 midterm and 1 final. My midterm grade was received today and I failed it: 66%. The average was an 83%. There were 30 questions total.

The good news: it's worth 15% of the course grade, while the final is 85%
The bad news: I failed my first med school exam, in lieu of studying day in and day out, being the last to leave campus on any given day.

I'm not sure what to do here. If the average was lower then at least I'd have felt better about that, though I can't even justify my grade that way. This has definitely been a tough thing to deal with considering I've always struggled in the hard sciences, and now I'm questioning my intelligence.

Seems like now I need to find a new strategy to study. So I've come here to ask:
How do I bounce back? How do I study "smart"?

Currently I make sure I pre-read lectures, take good notes in class, then review the notes right after class. I often will write notecard questions on the lectures to review them later as well -- this is my review method, while others may do outlines, drawings, etc.

I study hard, I'm happy, and I *thought* I understood the material. I really cannot fail, and there must be a way for me to excel...

I beg you all not to be uncouth about it either. I know SDN has a habit of berating me in the past, but I think I'm already teetering emotionally to take any more negativity.
Thanks everyone

Learn from your mistakes, move on, and work harder next time. 👍

Then again, easier said than done: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=1031107.

Regardless, I'd still definitely work harder though, always.👍

 

[spazz911]

Are you looking at questions and saying "I've never seen that before" or what? Are you not remembering little details? The big picture? Were questions placed in a clinical context that you weren't prepared for (if X is inhibited then Y and X happen)?

What made the exam hard for you? If you can identify that, then that would help you and us figure out what the next step is.

The exam wasn't particularly difficult. I found myself missing 4 or 5 questions that I could've gotten right if I merely used better exam taking strategies. I found myself leaving the exam room going "Oh well why the hell did I think that was the right answer..."

The remaining questions that I missed were ones in which I knew I had seen before, but merely didn't remember the fine details. e.g. what vitamin deficiency leads to ____.

Though this was for biochem where it's all pretty much memorization. Now we're in genetics and the concepts are tough while the memorization is easy..

 

[bluv1212]

It's okay. first two years, and especially the first year is redeemable in terms of residency. You absolutely need to bounce back. What you should do is get your hands on some high-yield materials like BRS Biochem and First-aid - these will isolate your studying towards topics that are more likely to be tested. Don't obsess over every detail, the key to succeeding amidst a busy med school schedule IMO is to selectively drill yourself on topics that are of highest yield. Also, chances are that if you know the broad strokes, the details tend to fall in to place. Med school is not about memorizing alone, it's about employing your didactic knowledge. If you need conceptual clarification and lecture doesn't seem to be thorough enough, Lippincott's biochemistry is a great supplement. Also, consult your classmates about topics that they deem most important for your school; 2nd years are a good resource as well. Also, Do questions beforehand, do as many as you can - BRS is good for questions. Lastly, do not lose confidence - when your confidence waivers on an exam, you compromise your ability to think clearly. Good Luck!

 

[fourhumours]

Failed at least part of my first anatomy exam (they split it up into practical/written. did class average on written and 23 points below average on the practical). basically I realized my study strategy was crap (focusing to much on the why things work this way or the histology/physiology, which isn't the course, and not enough on just memorize landmarks and structures through sheer brute force). adapet and move one. like you said you still have 85% left. so out of the first 15% you got 10% worth (66). that means you have only dropped from a potential of 100 to 95 (if you aced everything else). you are fine man just get to work...speaking of which I need to get of SDN

 

[sinombre]

The remaining questions that I missed were ones in which I knew I had seen before, but merely didn't remember the fine details. e.g. what vitamin deficiency leads to ____.

If you haven't already, you might want to look in to Anki or another spaced repetition flashcard program. There's kind of a cult following of Anki on sdn, but for good reason. If you keep up with it, it works really well for this sort of thing.