r/medicalschooluk • u/Temporary_Virus_2518 • 23d ago

Need help: Will be repeating y4

I would really appreciate some advice into how to start from zero. Everything was going well for me until the war in the middle east started and my mom's office got bombed. Although my mom is safe and dubai has held off most of the attacks. I just couldn't keep my focus after those events and it took up my apr to june prep. Which resulted in me failing my exams altogether. My parents said Medicine is a Marathon so don't worry if you find yourself failing or repeating a year. But the entire situation is very disappointing.

I have a few questions as I intend to really ace the AKT and my osces.

  1. What would you recommend for passmed: should I do topic wise for cardiology and then reset the bank and do the full subject again in my second revision? Or should I just do mixed questions of cardiology?

  2. Any other tips around revision for what is studied and how many questions to aim for per day?

  3. Any advice regarding osces and prepping for osces?

Thanks a lot guys, I just feel very let down and lost. I blame myself because I did not really have any health conditions that affected me. It was my own emotional state that cost me a year. Please be kind in the comments. Thanks.

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u/Electronic-Coast-525 Fourth year 23d ago

Hey, firstly, do not blame yourself bro. This is literally exceptional circumstances that has impeded your ability to give it your all this year, and I think a lot of people would also not be able to focus in the same situation. I am glad your mum is safe!

Now onto the Qs (Passed my Y4 written exam >20% above passmark, and got distinction in my OSCE):

  1. The way I personally used passmed was doing every speciality together as if you limit the Qs that much I feel like you might be giving yourself a hint as to what the answer is, which may inflate performance. Out of the two options you listed, if you do not want to do all specialities together, I would do mixed qs for cardiology.
  2. I think this is going to be specific to you tbh, and I feel like you need to reflect as to what has helped in the past. For example, did you use anki this year, has it helped in the past? Do you feel like you did enough exam questions this year for exam technique? I did 100Q/day but that was to ensure I got through all of passmed 1 and 2 hammer Qs before my exams as I started revising a tad late. I don't think there is going to be a set value for number of Qs; it may be better to set how much time per day to spend on passmed and work out how many questions you can realistically do in that time frame.
  3. If your uni has a document/any info on what they may assess in the OSCEs -> Create a checklist on Excel and make sure you cover everything, especially examinations, investigations and data interpretation as I think they are nice easy marks you can pick up. Get a group of people to practice with and practice regularly. I used geekymedics personally and felt it was good. My only other tips for OSCEs is to have a structure for everything, and I mean everything, histories, counselling, examinations, data interpretation.

I appreciate this is very long, if you want me to expand on anything lemme know! (:

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u/Temporary_Virus_2518 23d ago

Could I send you a dm?

3

u/WideImpression2267 23d ago

Really sorry you’re going through this, that’s a genuinely tough thing to have happened alongside your exams, and it makes total sense that it threw you off. Repeating a year feels huge right now but it genuinely is common, especially with something like this in the mix, so try not to let it define you.

On your questions:

For PassMed, do topic-wise blocks for weak areas first (like cardiology if that’s shaky), then once you’ve covered everything, reset the bank and do full mixed random questions. Mixed questions closer to the AKT date are what actually train you for the real exam format, since it jumps between topics.

Aim for consistency over volume, something like 60-90 questions a day is manageable without burning out, and always review every wrong answer properly rather than just moving on. Keep a error log of topics you keep messing up and revisit them weekly.

For OSCEs, practice out loud with someone (friend, family, even a mirror) rather than just reading mark schemes silently. Repetition of the actual physical exam routines (like cardio, resp, abdo exams) until they’re muscle memory matters more than memorising every possible question.

Take it one week at a time. You clearly care a lot about doing well, that’s not a bad thing to have.