Timeline
Most people choose to study for a 3-month period or a 6-month period. We have suggested 3-month and 6-month study calendars to help you schedule your studies. These are only a rough guide, so tweak the one you need as is appropriate for your life. This can help you map out the coming months so it is less daunting trying to get through it all.
On day 1 plan to spend a couple of hours looking around in Zuku to get a lay of the land, and watching our Effective Study Strategies for NAVLE® seminars (each runs about 20 min) that cover some new developments in our materials, and how to improve your strategic test-taking. Even though you are taking the BCSE (not the NAVLE®, yet), parts 1 and 3 may help you with your study plan/test plan. Then organize the calendar to suit your needs and set you up for success in completing all the material.
- Part 1: Get in the ballpark: Strategic test-taking
- Part 2: What are NAVLE® questions really like?
- Part 3: Study smarter: Visual learning with cases
- Part 4: When time is short: NAVLE® Study Strategy in the Home Stretch
Developing a study routine
You want your study prep to be a routine thing, a habit you do through each week, like going to the gym. Aim for 15–20 hours of study per week.
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A typical day: ~ 1 to 3 hours, depending on your time and alertness. DO take breaks every 45–50 minutes. One hour of prep 3–5 times a week is better than 6 hours crammed into a Saturday.
- Test practice (~1 hour): An hour or so of practice testing (make note of ones you don't know).
- Study and review notes (~1 hour): Look up answers to the questions you didn't know. Review key diseases and notes. Look for IMAGES to help key concepts stick.
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Physically write down 3-4 key points about each topic and you can also say it out loud as you go:
- Classic presentation, Key differentials, Test of choice, Treatment of choice
- Physiology or anatomy related to the condition
- Put an image in there (or remind yourself of a case you've seen that is related) because that makes it clinical and helps you remember
- SAVE it and then each weekend review each week's notes
- Get to the point where you can rewrite these notes from memory -- practice that!
- In the final 5–7 weeks before your BCSE exam, try to do 2–3 test-mode tests every day. THIS IS IMPORTANT! Doing timed test-mode tests, which mimic the real thing, is the best practice you can get right before the real test, even if you haven't finished the study-mode questions.
Note: You will still see questions you don't know on the exam; the idea is NOT that we have the exact same questions as the test. The questions have you cover the relevant material and get used to test-taking so you don't feel rushed during the real thing. The re-review helps you to gain confidence and a comfort level with timed tests to minimize anxiety on test day, while giving you a review of the key topics and helping the info stick.
Coping with (the inevitable) questions you don't know
No matter how hard you study, you will see questions you don't know. That’s ok, it’s totally normal. Here are 4 steps that are a big help for improving your effectiveness at answering multiple choice questions.
1. SCAN the answers (5 seconds), then READ the question, then look away.
2. PREDICT - Do you know an answer - Yes or No? (protects you from distractors among the answer choices...)
3. Read the answer choices - If your prediction is there, SELECT it. If not, or if you don't have an answer, does one jump out? If not, then....
4. ELIMINATE the ones that look wrong and take a wild guess from what’s left. Then move on.
Books
We recommend investing in a couple reliable books; it really makes a difference. The Zuku editors strongly prefer physical textbooks for looking up information. If that is a possibility, it's worth considering. Something about the physical page makes a difference, plus it gives your eyes a break from the screen time. Check out Zuku’s Recommended Reading (reference list) here.
Things to keep in mind when studying
Read questions thoroughly...
- Improve your test-taking capabilities by taking the time to thoroughly read the question, determine the relevant information, understand what is being asked, and pick from the available answer choices
- Remember: For any question, not all provided information may be pertinent; distinguish what is important before attempting to answer the question
- Rushing to get through questions only hampers your progress in the long run
Make use of the explanatory text
- For each question, always review the answer in the default feedback and explore the provided links
- Often the answer for any follow-up questions can be found in this information
- If you answer incorrectly, go back and re-read the question and assess the required information
- Most often an incorrect answer selection is due to an incomplete understanding of the provided data or the specific information that the question is assessing, rather than the question itself being incorrect
- If, after fully reassessing the question and reviewing the answer choices and explanatory text, you still have questions please do not hesitate to reach out to us via the tester report
Do your own research...
- An essential part of preparing to be a successful clinician, and for a test of this magnitude, is learning independent study skills
- Use Zuku to develop the skill of utilizing multiple resources to learn more about a topic: this is one of the most important skills you will carry with you into your future career
- Even the Zuku editors, who each have over 20 years of experience, regularly use independent research to learn more about emerging disease and new treatment modalities
- Zuku questions cover the relevant material for board exams and provide valuable practice and tips for successful test-taking
- Use the questions to guide your study: they get you thinking about a specific concept as a starting point for your own research so you can learn the KEY features about that topic
- Use textbooks (when possible, here's our recommended list), the links provided in the explanatory text, and this list of recommended websites to make your own notes as you move through the questions
- We are always here to help if you have a query or concern about the question after you've read the default feedback. Each tester report is read by one of our editors, and we will personally respond within 24-72 hours.
General suggestions
Try to foster a realistic, pragmatic, triage-like attitude. Remember, you do not need a 100 to pass this test. You basically need a "C" so don't give up, even if it feels like things are not going well.
-Keep it real, keep it practical. Don’t invest emotion in your daily homework. Just sit down and do it.
-Don't beat yourself up over stuff you didn't do—focus on what you can do.
-If you are exhausted, rest.
Here is a great TED talk on building confidence before a challenge from Dr. Amy Cuddy at Harvard.