I get a asked a lot…
“I just found your show and I’ve got two weeks before my exam. Can you give me some advice?”
Or…
“I’ve been following you for years and I can’t believe my PANCE is 2 weeks out. Is there anything else I can do?”
Everyone freaks out in that last week. And it’s pretty reasonable. No matter how you look at it you’ve been working for months or years to pass this exam. There is a lot riding on it.
All that worry and concern is a huge mental drain. It sucks the life out of you before you even get started. Then you add in studying. Cramming. Wondering what little tidbit will make the biggest difference in that last week.
That last few days.
Should you focus on ECGs?
What about vaccination schedules?
What about diabetes? I’m sure diabetes is going to be on there.
Were vascular ulcers painful or was it venous stasis ulcers?
Ahhhh!
My number one piece of advice for the week of your exam is to take the day before your test off. Two days if you can. Don’t study no matter what.
Before my PANCE, I took a whole week off. No studying. Nothing.
Before my first PANRE, I didn’t have that luxury, so I did one day off. For my second, I only took one day was well, but that had a lot to do with the way I set things up. You see I decided to take my PANRE and then registered for a date only 10 days out. I didn’t have a lot time to prepare, but I still took one day off.
Your brain needs to be at its best. It needs to be nimble and agile. It needs quick reflexes.
Most of all, it needs to build connections and recognize patterns without you getting in its way.
When I went in for my PANCE, I figured I’d already spent 3 YEARS preparing for this day. I had spent the better part of a month hitting the books hard. I did the Live Rutgers review course and was bombarded with 3 years of medicine in one week.
There wasn’t anything left to do. There was no more I could cram in my brain. Nothing I could study was going to change anything.
The one thing that could change things was taking some time to rest my brain.
5 hours of reading and answering questions. In my most rested state, that’s hard.
Then there are the things your brain isn’t doing that you don’t feel. It isn’t making abstract connections like it should. It isn’t going to obscure references you read months ago. It isn’t doing those things, and you don’t even notice.
A well-rested brain is worth 10x what you could study in that last day.
If you don’t do anything else I recommend, if you think all of my strategies are silly, I beg of you heed this one.
Give your brain a rest the day before the exam.
Marathon runners don’t run the day before an exam.
MLB pitchers don’t pitch the day before a game.
Smart test takers don’t study the day before a 5-hour exam.
My #2 piece of advice it to get a copy of The Final Step and use it the day before you stop studying to rest. (Hence the name of the book)
Brian Wallace
P.S. Want a free copy of the Final Step? Run a group sale for your school and you’ll get your copy for FREE. Your friends and classmates get a huge discount (thanks to the savings on shipping) and you get your book for zero dollars. It’s a total win. Hit reply and I’ll send you the details.
