panic!!!

[mshealer]

k..I had originally planned to take the exam last week of june..but hell i've hit a block..i haven't done more than four pages in physio for the past one week! no kidding...i keep reading the same pages, keep thinking more than getting any work done.. so i've finally moved the date to 2nd week of july ....and I def need to get my act together..need a swift kick in my butt!)

...anyways..i've read quite a few posts on this site..and it helps knowing therez a few others out there in the same boat (mabe not panicing like i am,..but still...worry w/ me:

I'm a hunterrrrrrr...bjork

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[kcrd]

I'm feeling the same way. I scheduled my exam for the end of june, bc I knew I would need to slack off a bit after our last exam (2nd week of may). You are lucky your school lets you take the exam into july - we have to take it by the end of june. I slacked for 2 weeks, and then had to drag my butt to the library. I was getting there by 12pm - 1pm, and could barely stay for 4-5 hours. I started with physio, my worst subject, and after 5 days of physio, I feel like I still don't know anything about it. I'm actually reading through the material faster than you are, but I'm not really focusing on it. I just have to get motivated! Maybe we can start a "get motivated" club, sort of like the chubb club for friends who motivate each other to exercise!

 

[mshealer]

I'm just taking the month of july off...decided i can't start my rotations right after taking the exam...i'm just starting my rotations a month later..god help me! and yes that motivation club thing sounds like a great plan..i haven't been to a library since my finals

 

[Peeshee]

I understand completely what you guys are talking about. I feel the same way. I have my good days and my bad days. At least, I know I am not the only one!

Sometimes, I am able to study continuously for the whole day and others, well, let's just say I'd be lucky to get through a couple pages. It just gets kind of monotonous studying for this exam.

I try to go to the library or study in a different location when I get bored or feel sleepy. This helps out somewhat. I guess maybe you should try changing your routine or something that will make studying seem more interesting....

This is something we have to go through, but I am sure we will all get through it.....eventually.....


good luck

 

[kcrd]

your suggestion of changing location is a good one, peeshee. I think I'll try to get out of the house tomorrow. it has been raining practically every day here - it makes me just want to stay inside in my pj's and sit on the couch. terrible excuse for not going to the library, I know.

so, tomorrow...library!

 

[nr1]

Same here...Its just really hard to study day after day after day and feel like you haven't gotten much done. I've been 'studying' for 3 weeks now and it doesn't feel like I covered that much. So now I keep track of the number of hours I study (without breaks) and if its anything less than 8, I feel terribly guilty and study for a couple more before going to bed. Also I've made out a schedule for myself (which looks terribly imposing and impossible to adhere to) but I'm going to try to follow it. Getting out of the house is also a great idea.

 

[rubyness]

it's a relief to hear others saying the same things I've been feeling.

THe first week of studying I hardly got anything done. I freaked out a lot. Then it began to get better. Now, I'm back to slowpoke pace. I read over stuff, but who knows if it sinks in? There is only time to review, not to actually learn much new stuff. It takes more time than I feel I have in order to get through all this material. I guess in the end it will all come together, but I don't know how exactly!

 

[j_sde]

ditto here.

also.. since there is just an endless amount of material one can study, i never really feel like i'm steerin in the right direction. i started off with review books... but after reading thru a few brs books, just thought that was way too much to cover ... so next plan was to focus on first aid.. but that wasnt really comprehnsive enugh to answer questions ( unless questions wanted a high yield point that i recall from first aid)... so then i did a few days of just questions from qbank and lange review... that went well, but takes forever. ALso the thing about doing review questions is that... i'm startin to feel as if the time verus benefit for doin questions is not really worth it. doin like 50 questions in a hr... seems like i really just learn about 10 new points and get a review of like another 10 points..... whereas, i feel as i coulda spent that hr just really studyin material. esp cuz... if i those questions dont show up on the real exam. i coulda spent that hr studyin material which seems like it would be more benefical/high yield on the actual test. seems to me the only real benefit of doin questions is to get a sense of disease presentation and to build stamina... other than that, i'm startin to feel like i need to just sit down and straight study. anyone else agree? or do you guys still feel like doin quesitons is the most beneficla?

 

[kcrd]

In addition to all the other reasons to do the questions, I like to do them because they give me a little "heads up" on what to focus on when I'm reading through the review books. (Um, that is when I get my butt off sdn to read them.) I tend to remember the questions that I got wrong and I focus on those when I read. If there weren't so many questions on glycogen and lysosomal storage diseases in nmbe and q bank practice exams, for example, I would have just skimmed right over those beasts.

 

[mshealer]

hmmm...reading about ya'll has helped tons! i actually got up at 8:00am (thats early for me!) and step out to borders for a bit. back home now but..yesS! i did get about 5hrs of studying till now.
about the ques vs. reading.. i feel like i need to have a base knowledge to do the questions.. and everytime i did questions w/out much reading, the no. of ques I missed only made me feel like i didn't accomplish mucho.. so rite now i'm sticking to reviewing material and doing questions at the end of the week.

hang in there...i'm quite sure we'll get thru this is one piece!!

 

[LoneSEAL]

Unfortunately, I feel the same way as you guys. I can't seem to study more than 50 min w/o having to get up, stretch, check email, or nap. Strangely, I'm super sleepy these days even though I'm getting all this sleep -- I guess board review books are the best way to induce sleep. Come to think of it, there hasn't been one board review book that keeps me awake -- most are just dry, crusty books that are written to cram info. I wish sometimes the authors would inject some sense of encouragement, levity, humanity, whatever so that it doesn't seem like these authors are robots.