hey guys..i just took my part I today...and i would like to tell you guys straight out what i thought.
1-its not like everybody hasnt said it enough...but DO TMJ....know all ligaments, muscles, compartments..what attatches what....especially Lat pteerygoid and Temporalis...both their heads, where they attatch what they do. I cannot emphasize how much detail they went into...at some points i just wanted to slap my mouse because they just kept going ON AND ON AND ON AND ON about TMJ.
2- adjust ur sleep cycle...i had a habit of studdying late into night (sometimes 4am) and wake up at 11 am......change it!...i caught myself yawning even w/ so much stress...but it wasnt because i was bored, it was because my body wasnt sure what was going on. all that physical inactivity just doesnt help your body stay alert.
3- take breaks...even after 1.5 hrs...take a break, drink water...even if for 3-5 mins.
4- there is more than enough time to attempt the questions. do the easy ones first....if u are even 20-30% unsure about a q...mark it, move on...come back.
also, do not keep going back to the questions.....i can promise u...the more u go back, the more u'll change ur answer...i was sitting at a q for like 5 mins and i was going...a,b,a,b,a,b,a,b,a,b....do not do that.
5- before u begin ur exam....write down eruption/calification/tables/charts on the sheets they give u...that way u wont be wasting 'exam time'
6- do ur basics...do ur basics...do ur basics!...do not go into high fi stuff....seriously, sometimes it just came down to....what tooth is tooth replaces tooth B in primary dentition (not always that easy but just giving an example).and i was like....SERIOUSLY?
7- eat well, sleep well, dont stress ( coming from me, i dont even know what else to say)
8- personally, i thought 1st half was harder than 2nd.
9- clical vignettes are pretty straight forward...but read ALL HISTORY ETC.....
10- panicking will make u lose conc...when i came back from break..i was SO panicked....that made it hard for me to conc on about first 30 mins of 2nd part.
11- i dont know how i did...i personally felt so WEIRD/depressed.......for some reason i did not feel releived....god knows what the result is....but all i know is...i did ALOT MORE THAN I HAVE EVER DONE. ....
12- there were some qs from released papers...my suggestion would be to keep time to go over released papers twice. get urself in the habit of reading question carefully....learn the answers....if u have enough time, learn why other choices are wrong....i only had time to go over released papers once...wish i could have done it once more.
13- kaplan q bank..i felt was only good for its explanations....scoring/toughness of qs....i would say about 50 qs were AS tough as kaplans....other than that, things were straight forward...
14- some questions came out of left field....i just marked and went on and came back to them.
at the end, u can only do so much....I did what i could....Now it is in the hands of god, right where it belongs.
Good luck guys, and thanks to all those who helped me out in any way.