How do you deal with pre exam nerves?

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coreytayloris

coreytayloris

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8 days out from our summer exams...they're worth 70 % of our overall grade...i have so much stuff still to review its unnatural, probably gonna be cutting my sleep back to 6 hours max from here on out...
to put it politely, my dinner is touching my shorts, or
''i'm touching cloth'' as they say.
* sigh *

so how does everyone else deal with pre exam stress

🙄

🙁
 
weed.
 
Not to promote this- because I don't think most people need it- but if you get extremely nervous maybe ask your doc about Propranolol.

This is by no means a first treatment and you should probably try to work on your anxiety through therapy or some other means first.
 
UAAWolf said:
Not to promote this- because I don't think most people need it- but if you get extremely nervous maybe ask your doc about Propranolol.

This is by no means a first treatment and you should probably try to work on your anxiety through therapy or some other means first.
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A beta-blocker will only help with the physical manifestations, assuming the OP has any. It won't do anything for the mental aspect of the anxiety. An SSRI or benzo would be best.

But my vote goes to weed.
 
coreytayloris said:
probably gonna be cutting my sleep back to 6 hours max from here on out...
Click to expand...

The worst thing you can do is get less sleep. Getting good REM sleep will help with memory formation and you will retain more information of the material you studied for during the day. I don't have the paper with me, but researchers' have found that the brain does problem solving when you are in REM sleep and tries to peace together information that you acquired during the day. So getting 7 to 8 hours of sleep would actually benefit you more than being sleep deprived and getting 2 more hours of studying in. I could never understand why people pulled all nighters studying...you don't even retain 60-70% of the information.
 
Nerves can come from worrying too much about the outcome.
Your final grade on an exam has a bit of luck involved.
For ex: did the ask questions on the stuff you happened to know well?
Know if you know everything well, I guess luck doesn't come into play.
Kind of hard in med school when there is so much material to learn.

I'd say to focus more on executing your study plan and just know you are going to do the best you can on that given day.

It's also good to have a strategy for actually taking the exam.

If this is the standard med school multiple choice exam:
Is time an issue for you? Do you read the questions first? Do you read the answers first? What do you do about guessing? Do you go back and change answers if you have extra time?

Coming up with a strategy beforehand may decrease your stress.

This will be more important for shelf and licensing exams.

:luck:

BTW - I remember reading that some of the anti-anxiety meds can mess with your memory recall. I may just be making this up. Not sure which classes: benzo v. b-blocker
 
countthestars said:
The worst thing you can do is get less sleep. Getting good REM sleep will help with memory formation and you will retain more information of the material you studied for during the day. I don't have the paper with me, but researchers' have found that the brain does problem solving when you are in REM sleep and tries to peace together information that you acquired during the day. So getting 7 to 8 hours of sleep would actually benefit you more than being sleep deprived and getting 2 more hours of studying in. I could never understand why people pulled all nighters studying...you don't even retain 60-70% of the information.
Click to expand...

QFT, cutting back on sleep is never the answer
 
1258052844-spank_the_monkey.jpg
 
don't take meds lol, that's gonna get you addicted/dependent to whatever you are taking cause you ll be taking plenty of stressful tests as a med student/doctor. Just relax, I usually take that energy and use to pump myself up before a test and listen to music etc. Find what works for you and stick with it, it's such an important skill to have to get you through med school, at least year 1 and 2
 
Just relax and do your best! dont worry about the results, it will work out in the end. Don't take meds / drugs, a stupid exam is not sacrificing your health.
 
coreytayloris said:
8 days out from our summer exams...they're worth 70 % of our overall grade...i have so much stuff still to review its unnatural, probably gonna be cutting my sleep back to 6 hours max from here on out...
to put it politely, my dinner is touching my shorts, or
''i'm touching cloth'' as they say.
* sigh *

so how does everyone else deal with pre exam stress

🙄

🙁
Click to expand...

70%? Thats it? Our finals were worth 100%...have a bad day that day and you're gonna retake it all summer.

So be glad its only 70% dude
 
Ableton said:
A beta-blocker will only help with the physical manifestations, assuming the OP has any. It won't do anything for the mental aspect of the anxiety. An SSRI or benzo would be best.

But my vote goes to weed.
Click to expand...

Unless you've tried propranolol for an exam- I disagree. It crosses the BBB and absolutely calms you during exams. Read up on it...they've even used it to treat PTSD because it suppresses anxious thoughts. TONS of people use it for public speaking/exams. Of course- only do this if you have a prescription. Don't bash something unless you've tried it.

SSRI/Benzo would be terrible, they leave you in a haze. It would be better to take nothing than those. SSRI's are probably the most overprescribed/misprescribed drug in this country. The even scarier thing is its family doctors handing them out, not psychiatrists (who imo should be the main ones dealing with those drugs, not an FP)
 
stress has never PREVENTED me from doing well on an exam (that i prepared well for) based on my knowledge level at the time... if you prepare well enough, the knowledge is there.... once you see the test questions and know the answers, you'll start calming down as you hit the first few questions or even on your initial glance through all the exam pages

not preparing enough and stressing out - well that is a different ball game. then stress isn't to be blamed anyway

I like to exercise, call and talk to a friend, stay positive, breathe, realize this is just one test among like a million in this profession. let it happen and this to shall pass!
 
Stay the hell away from everyone else on the morning of the exam, especially the compulsive ones who are feverishly poring over facts... out loud.
 
ArcGurren said:
Stay the hell away from everyone else on the morning of the exam, especially the compulsive ones who are feverishly poring over facts... out loud.
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This is a good one for sure.

I think the best way is to be overly prepared for the test. Also try doing meditation or yoga on a daily basis.
 
ArcGurren said:
Stay the hell away from everyone else on the morning of the exam, especially the compulsive ones who are feverishly poring over facts... out loud.
Click to expand...

Yep.

Maybe if I frantically flip through illegible notes for six minutes before the exam, it'll make up for the fact that I don't know anatomy!
 
TooMuchResearch said:
Just relax and study. Plenty of sex/masturbation should help with the nerves. This is advice passed on to me by many other medical students, and now I pass it to you.
Click to expand...

.
 
Last edited:
I always go for a run or have a cigarette... or both.
One of my classmates was on propranolol for other reasons and she had really bad insomnia, exams were a nightmare for her, she was like a zombie for two weeks so I wouldn't recommend it 😴
 
VisionaryTics said:
Yep.

Maybe if I frantically flip through illegible notes for six minutes before the exam, it'll make up for the fact that I don't know anatomy!
Click to expand...

Hell it doesn't even bother me if people cram small facts right before, but when they do it out loud kills me.

Plus there's the few who always purposefully say the *wrong* thing out loud... and we all know who those people are.
 
ArcGurren said:
Stay the hell away from everyone else on the morning of the exam, especially the compulsive ones who are feverishly poring over facts... out loud.
Click to expand...

👍👍 I started arriving just before exam time in order to avoid these people. There were so many people in my class that seemed to like to get together and freak out about what they didn't know right before the exam. why??!!! Drives me nuts!
 
I started not sleeping before exams which stressed me out even more, but finally by Oct/Nov I started to embrace the fact that I was a little too wound up to sleep well and didn't stress about it.

Just in case- I always try to let myself sleep really well two nights before the exam, and try to quit studying the night before by midnight or 1am. I wind down a bit with a bath and some tv/reading. If I sleep, great, if not- I try not to worry about it because I know if I've slept well in the week leading up the exam, I'll be OK.

Sometimes it takes a while to adjust to yourself and the way your body reacts to med school. My best advice would be to roll with it the best you can- try different things, but don't give yourself more stress by freaking out over things you can't control.

Oh, and definitely stay away from other freaking out med students as much as possible!
 
My approach to this:

1) If you know the material well, then just accept the fact you will have exam nerves on the day. Plenty of sleep the night before, breakfast in the morning. I have it as a rule not to talk to anyone before or straight after the exam, otherwise it drives me nuts and I value my sanity. I always make sure I have 10mins or so at the end to go over first few questions. I tend to relax by 3rd or 4th question and think straight from there onwards.

2) it's getting close and there is no time to cram everything in: damage limitation. Learn the basic principles first, more advanced stuff later. If the worse comes to worst you can at least attempt to figure things out from first principles. Go over past papers and look at question trends, what comes up and what frequency. Not exactly 100% accuracy but better than nothing when you are cramming.
 
Why do you get nervous before exam? It's not like it's a life or death situation... just bs thru it and hope you pass. It's been working for me for years
 
anbuitachi said:
Why do you get nervous before exam? It's not like it's a life or death situation... just bs thru it and hope you pass. It's been working for me for years
Click to expand...
It is a performance based experience and it is natural to get pre-exam nerves. The question is how to deal with it.
 
TooMuchResearch said:
Just relax and study. Plenty of sex/masturbation should help with the nerves. This is advice passed on to me by many other medical students, and now I pass it to you.
Click to expand...

I think this can actually hinder your performance by making you tired/disoriented.
 
bruinhd said:
I think this can actually hinder your performance by making you tired/disoriented.
Click to expand...
I recall a study a few years ago that said the opposite in cases of athletic performance, but of course I can't find it. In any case, it's all about what works for you. Figure out your routine and go with it.
 
I typically calm down by projecting past the exam; the feeling of walking out, the next day, starting up on new material. The imagined calm certainly helps the jitters going into it.

If that doesn't work, calm slow, 10 second breaths.
 
courtnes said:
I recall a study a few years ago that said the opposite in cases of athletic performance, but of course I can't find it. In any case, it's all about what works for you. Figure out your routine and go with it.
Click to expand...

I was kidding. I was making a reference (although a poor one), to how men fall asleep post-coitus.
 
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