What are my 3 final exams in medical school
It’s surreal to say but I’ve made it from my first week to the end of my first term in medical school! My final lecture was yesterday. Which is incredibly freeing. But this also means that I have final exams now. Three final exams, in fact. Here are the 3 final exams in medical school that I’ll be writing over the next 4 days.
Final lab exam
The first of my 3 final exams is a lab exam. This is based on the labs from the MSK and CPR modules. Since online students couldn’t be in the cadaver lab, we had to do things differently. Our lab sessions were streamed from the lab as our professors pointed out the relevant anatomical structures on the cadaver. They also discussed the functions of the structures to further enforce lecture content.
There were worksheets associated with each lab. These contained cadaver images or scans with specific structures that we needed to identify. The professors went over the images and structures at the end of the lab and it was up to us to fill out. We didn’t need to submit them for grading, however they were good practice. And now, they are a helpful resource to prepare for the exam.
The final lab exam is supposed to be a mixture of first and second order questions. So we can be asked to simply identify labeled structures or be asked about the blood supply, nerve innervation, or muscle function. In the mock exam, there were also questions about the embryological origin of labeled structures.
I’ve been preparing for this exam by re-doing the quizzes that were associated with each lab. We have unlimited access to the quizzes and can review our answers. I felt pretty good about the mock test so I’m not too worried about this exam. Also, the lab exam is not weighed that heavily so I’m not spending too much time preparing for it.
Final clinical skills exam
The second of my 3 final exams is a clinical skills exam. Throughout the term, we’ve had tutorials to further enforce certain lecture topics. Where appropriate, we also learned about related clinical skills. Such as how to take a blood pressure reading, or test for carpal tunnel syndrome or test for medical cruciate ligament injury. The clinical skills exam will test us on this knowledge.
We have a list of the tutorials and topics to review, and also practice questions in order to prepare for the exam. Luckily, there’s also an Anki deck from an upper term student which I started to use at the beginning of this final block.
About 2 weeks ago, we were able to take a practice exam to get a feel for the questions. It felt quite straightforward. The clinical skills exam is longer and weighed a little more than the lab exam. But in the grand scheme of things, it’s not weighed that heavily. Which means I can spend most of my time prepping for the big exam – CPR exam #2.
Final content exam: CPR exam #2
The last of the 3 exams, and my final exam for the term, is related to this final block. This exam will cover all aspects of the respiratory and urinary systems. From embryological development to histology, clinical anatomy, and of course, physiology. And like with all the other exams, there will be a handful of cumulative questions from earlier blocks.
Once I’m done with these exams, I’ll discuss what I’ve been doing differently to prepare for the second CPR exam. But for now, I need to get back to practice problems.
-M
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