it’s the night before our trunk/abdomen/pelvis exam in anatomy, and I don’t feel confident about anything on the exam. Not the histo, not the embryo, not the gross. 
Staying up later is not going to help; I am just trying to stay positive, and remembering efex’s exam story with the moral to keep trying even if you are absolutely sure you failed.
I know you other MS1 students are right there with me, which is a little comforting!
Yeah just keep at it…and do not worry you are doing your best.
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it’s the night before our trunk/abdomen/pelvis exam in anatomy, and I don’t feel confident about anything on the exam. Not the histo, not the embryo, not the gross.
I know you other MS1 students are right there with me, which is a little comforting!
Hi there,
You can’t know everything. You study as much as you can and you walk into the test knowing that you will know something. Everyone in medical school has things that they master quicker and faster than others. In the end, you do what you can and move on. Just keep moving forward because you will get another chance to master this material as you study for USMLE and then on your in-training exams.
I never felt 100% prepared for any exam that I took in medical school. In the end, I did OK and kept plugging away. You will reach a point where you at peace with what you can accomplish and the rest you will pick up later but in the end, you will have a solid knowledge base.
I also used this strategy when taking my exams, I would spend no more than 30 seconds on any question. If I could not answer the question in 30 seconds, I would move on. At some point, I would get to a question that I would know. You have to be very careful when marking your answer sheets but the strategy behind this approach is that by making sure that you read the entire exam, answering questions as you go, you string together a series of positive answers that trigger the information that you know but may not have been in your mind when you started.
Getting a good nights sleep before the test isn’t a bad idea either. You will be rested and ready to make sure that you don’t make silly little mistakes because you didn’t get enough sleep.
Keep plugging away and don’t beat up on yourself because you are not perfect. Every test that you take is experience for the next test that you will take even if you don’t get the grade that you want. This is the very beginning of your medical school career and you will shift and adjust until you get everything where it needs to be.
Good luck on the exam.
Natalie
well now its done…
I suspect you won’t know for a few days how it went. I also suspect this will not be the last time you get that sinking feeling before you come out the other end. I am hoping to hear good news then that it went better than expected. But if not, it’s just one test. There will be others; many more “opportunities to excel”
It’s true you will never know all you feel you should, but you will most likely learn enough. Good luck, good rest, keep plugging.
Steve
Olde Pharte doc Gonna Be,
(if thst ain’t a scarey thought) 
Meowmix,
I hope you did well on the exam-- I’m sure you did. For what its worth, I’m in my third year and I have yet to walk into an exam feeling confident that I’ll pass. And yet I have managed to pass them all, usually fairly comfortably, and sometimes I’ve even done quite well. And I’m not kidding-- I have been absolutely convinced that there was no way I knew enough to pass. I’m slowly coming to the realization that I am just going to have to live with feeling that way for exams. Talking with my classmates I’ve come to realize this is not uncommon (although I think I am a bit of an extreme case in this regard). So try not to worry about that sickening feeling-- you’re not alone!
Good luck.
Epidoc (who is still waiting to go to an exam feeling confident)
I think that the sickening feeling thing is par for the course for many medical students. In a way this IS good - it means you are taking learning seriously. I mean, if you go into exam week totally relaxed there may be something wrong!! On the other hand, constant anxiety is bad. I’ve suffered pre-exam-week jitters for the last 1.5 years of med school but have been managing it, increasingly, by:
1)talking to my class friends - nothing helps like being able to bitch about finishing Lilly in three weeks with someone who truly “feels your pain”
2)Focusing on the “big picture” - a single exam seldom determines your future - this includes going to a conference once in a while to get inspired again
3)Taking time out for FUN stuff - even the weekend before exam block: sounds intuitive but I had to learn to FORCE myself away from studying. Now I take my fun time as seriously as my study time.
FINALLY a question to everyone: Do grades predict our success on the USMLE and our success as clinicians? Why or why not?
well, I failed the written exam but passed the practical, and overall I passed by 0.5%. We are on pass/fail, and Pass Is Pass!
I am learning a lot about studying in med school. saralane’s tips are right on (I tend to overemphasize #3 at the expense of studying!). I think the most important thing I have learned is that I have to start studying the first day of every block with the goal to never get behind, never let one course take over at the expense of another. Those were my big mistakes in this block.
As far as grades - the people doing best on our anatomy exams are the ones who have already had anatomy. They are the ones getting over 100%. Those of us with no anatomy experience are struggling to barely pass. I would be amazed if these grades are at all correlated with clinical grades; I don’t know about board scores.
Well at least you passed girl! good for you. Here at Mayo if we do not pass any part we have to retake period regardless of overall grade…anyways I am so happy for you for believe I know what it feels like…
congrats! Not super score to be sure, but as you say a pass is a pass. I had a lot of similar squeakers. I am not super proud of the “nearly failed” scores, but I am proud to have servived.
two quotes come immediately to mind: 1) What do they call the medical student who graduated last in his/her class?
ans: "DOCTOR"
2) do you realize the 50% of ALL physicians graduated in the bottom 1/2 of they class?
Steve Y.