How to Pass MRCP exam part I and II
MRCP covers big knowledge and the idea of you passing without putting effort or passing after studying from books is not right.
MRCP knowledge tends to be specific to the practice in UK and guidelines published by NICE or SIGN.
The advice I am providing here is based on my own experience and couple of my friends who followed the same plan.
I will try to be concise and to the point
Time needed at least 3-4 months if you are sitting it for the first time and less than 3 months if it is your next attempt.
So, you have got nearly 13-14 branches for MRCP part 1 and less for MRCP part 2, multiply by 3-5 days average per branch depending on your ability, that’s maximum of 70 days of continuous study.
Build the number of hours slowly, starting with 4 and accelerate up quickly to 6-8 within 2 weeks.
Your aim should be answering questions and understanding the answers, understanding the small bite of knowledge in it, so if it recurs in the exam from a different angle, you would be able to answer it. Read around the topic of the question only if needed.
Don’t worry about the amount of knowledge required to pass the exam, you will have it if you put enough effort in questions. ‘You will finish the elephant doing those small bites’.
Basic knowledge questions annoying, you need to memorise some, I would advise to leave it to last and redo the wrong ones just before the MRCP part 1 exam.
Percentage of speciality questions tend to vary from one exam to another, so you would find some who would say we had lots of cardiology questions, others would say we had lots of rheumatology questions, the idea you should be prepared.
What I tend to do is to do branches separately, that helps me to build a basic knowledge about each speciality questions and because some topics recur in different questions, I found that I start to build knowledge around each topic without realising.
Plan your study around the precious statement and give yourself good time to for the specialities you score badly in. note I am not saying the branches that you are not good in, you may be a cardiologist that would score badly in cardiology questions because you are practicing in another country.
Leave space for breaks, work, family, etc. apart from the fact that you will need it, that is life and you will have to comply with your commitments, either you agree or not.
Example of plan built on 5 days per branch, is 5 branches per month that is 2 months and half and one week for repeating wrong questions. Don’t worry the number of questions you would be able to answer at that time would be significantly higher than your starting rate.
So what to do after I finish? You will need to repeat all questions that you answered wrong. That will vary on your first set score.
What books do I need to use? I used none, if it worked for me why it should not work for you. The advice I give is just do questions, questions and only questions.
Where to get questions from, pastest or on examination, don’t use old course contents as that would have changed, both websites are professional and keep updating their data bases with new questions and answers. Save the money of the books and the money of sitting the exam again and pay them, I believe it is worth it.
So to plan you need an aim, aim is to finish questions from one those websites and repeat wrong ones, if you managed to finish that before the exam, next aim is to simulate exams by sitting random 200 questions at 3 hours.
Sleep is essential for good memory; make sure you get 8 hours daily the last week before the exam.
Go to the exam in a good set of mind as you would come across questions that you know the answers for and questions that you don’t have clue about and trust me you can figure the answers of both if you are relaxed. on the other hand you can answer both wrongly if you are stressed and tired.
Don’t think about passing rate as that is variable from one exam to another, Royal college has passing standard if you achieve it you will pass.
Finally, enjoy the process as the target is to make you a better doctor and you will be, that doesn't come over days or weeks, it takes years but again small bites will get you there.
Leave a comment or question if you have any
for communication skills for PACES and other OSCE exams please check
http://patientdoctorpartnership.blogspot.co.uk/
Allah al Mowafek
MRCP covers big knowledge and the idea of you passing without putting effort or passing after studying from books is not right.
MRCP knowledge tends to be specific to the practice in UK and guidelines published by NICE or SIGN.
The advice I am providing here is based on my own experience and couple of my friends who followed the same plan.
I will try to be concise and to the point
Time needed at least 3-4 months if you are sitting it for the first time and less than 3 months if it is your next attempt.
So, you have got nearly 13-14 branches for MRCP part 1 and less for MRCP part 2, multiply by 3-5 days average per branch depending on your ability, that’s maximum of 70 days of continuous study.
Build the number of hours slowly, starting with 4 and accelerate up quickly to 6-8 within 2 weeks.
Your aim should be answering questions and understanding the answers, understanding the small bite of knowledge in it, so if it recurs in the exam from a different angle, you would be able to answer it. Read around the topic of the question only if needed.
Don’t worry about the amount of knowledge required to pass the exam, you will have it if you put enough effort in questions. ‘You will finish the elephant doing those small bites’.
Basic knowledge questions annoying, you need to memorise some, I would advise to leave it to last and redo the wrong ones just before the MRCP part 1 exam.
Percentage of speciality questions tend to vary from one exam to another, so you would find some who would say we had lots of cardiology questions, others would say we had lots of rheumatology questions, the idea you should be prepared.
What I tend to do is to do branches separately, that helps me to build a basic knowledge about each speciality questions and because some topics recur in different questions, I found that I start to build knowledge around each topic without realising.
Plan your study around the precious statement and give yourself good time to for the specialities you score badly in. note I am not saying the branches that you are not good in, you may be a cardiologist that would score badly in cardiology questions because you are practicing in another country.
Leave space for breaks, work, family, etc. apart from the fact that you will need it, that is life and you will have to comply with your commitments, either you agree or not.
Example of plan built on 5 days per branch, is 5 branches per month that is 2 months and half and one week for repeating wrong questions. Don’t worry the number of questions you would be able to answer at that time would be significantly higher than your starting rate.
So what to do after I finish? You will need to repeat all questions that you answered wrong. That will vary on your first set score.
What books do I need to use? I used none, if it worked for me why it should not work for you. The advice I give is just do questions, questions and only questions.
Where to get questions from, pastest or on examination, don’t use old course contents as that would have changed, both websites are professional and keep updating their data bases with new questions and answers. Save the money of the books and the money of sitting the exam again and pay them, I believe it is worth it.
So to plan you need an aim, aim is to finish questions from one those websites and repeat wrong ones, if you managed to finish that before the exam, next aim is to simulate exams by sitting random 200 questions at 3 hours.
Sleep is essential for good memory; make sure you get 8 hours daily the last week before the exam.
Go to the exam in a good set of mind as you would come across questions that you know the answers for and questions that you don’t have clue about and trust me you can figure the answers of both if you are relaxed. on the other hand you can answer both wrongly if you are stressed and tired.
Don’t think about passing rate as that is variable from one exam to another, Royal college has passing standard if you achieve it you will pass.
Finally, enjoy the process as the target is to make you a better doctor and you will be, that doesn't come over days or weeks, it takes years but again small bites will get you there.
Leave a comment or question if you have any
for communication skills for PACES and other OSCE exams please check
http://patientdoctorpartnership.blogspot.co.uk/
Allah al Mowafek
aoa,u said these are 13 or 14 branches n each branch needs a week,will u plz explain which are they in wide sense,and another thing is kindly explain the role of pathology n if we do it question by question then the description on net is enough or we weill have to follow any specific book.
ReplyDeletecheck the new post
ReplyDeletei am very thankful :)
ReplyDeleteyour topic is inspiring i was lost with only remaining 14 days to exam and i did not know what to do ,,and now i ll start applying ur idea of answering those questions i got wrong in it
please wish me luck and god welling i ll inform you about my test result :)
best wishes
Hows ur study schedule. What time u wake up n sleep? Hws ur daily routine. Pls write
ReplyDeleteHello, The study schedule was quite intense 4 hours in the first 2 weeks up to 6-8 in the following 6 weeks. I used to study on the job breaks and after I go home. My answer is based on my memory from nearly 4 years ago now.
ReplyDeletevery motivating ehab aziz....i really liked the way u explained, I jus gave my PART 1 AND FAILED BY FEW MARKS. Demotivated now,but will try hard to crack it
ReplyDeleteAny advice for repeating the exam...I'm soo demotivated rt now but I know I have to redo it. Should I use both pastest and onexamination?
ReplyDeleteHello. I have bought the onexamination, pastest and pastmedicine books. Is it ok? Or should i go for the online material on their websites as u said they keep their websites updated??
ReplyDeleteI just Failed the exam a second time. I am so crushed and demotivated. I don't know how I should change my strategy. I work the a/e and so we have 8h shifts at different times of the day and some days I am just so tired to study. I don't have a study partner. This is upsetting.
ReplyDeleteThis is ridiculous advice. You can't do six hours of revision while practising as a doctor
ReplyDeleteI did an hour of questions a night and passed.
well how many times did you take the exam because every time you take the exam studying becomes easier as you already tried it before and seen the questions before.
Deletei'm gonna sit for the exam today and im very nervous. trying out past year paper scored 52-53% only. Last minute, what else i can do, beside praying? :')
ReplyDeletePassmedicine
ReplyDeleteMRCP part2
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