#drdavismd

A lot of people like to romanticize this journey.. studying late nights, the slowly developing coffee addiction, the feeling that maybe you’re not cut out mentally to be a doctor.. the constant battle between doubt and confidence. I have never wanted something so bad in my entire life but trust me... this is not easy..

I have enjoyed using the free trial of UWorld Questions. Since my test is in about three weeks and I don’t want to buy a subscription starting at $219 for 90 Days. I will continue signing up for the trial to just practice free questions and instead buy AAMC Full Length Practice Exams (Max 3 FL for $105). I have been using my full length exam questions to study content and concepts. It gives great explanations and even gives you how much time you spend per question, which I’ve learned is pretty important in regards to scoring high on the exam.

I am personally struggling with finishing sections so, this is helping me a lot as far as seeing what subjects I need to review in order to find key words to get to the answer quicker.

More questions answered = more points, that simple. So, getting 15/20 questions you answered may seem fantastic, however if there are 48 questions, you essentially left 28 questions (and X amount of points) up for grabs. Although not answering them didn’t count against you, it didn’t help you either... so, again, this feature is super helpful for improving scores.

All in all, I would highly recommend using the UWorld question bank if you can afford to purchase it!!

May 4th, 2020 | 54 days until MCAT

One of my friends, who was a Biology Major actually let me borrow his old Microbiology book since I didn’t take the course. A lot of the questions have been Microbiology-related, which is pretty frustrating since I never enrolled in the course. However, I choose to prevail, so I’m going old school in my study session today. NO MCAT Prep books, NO Anki Cards, and NO Khan Academy vids. Just textbooks, Passages and Questions from my FL Exams, and pen/paper.

By using my exam questions as a guideline, I’m actually able to target specific material. I’m hoping this works in my favor.

Today was rough... Although I was pumped about my FL exam, I couldn’t fall asleep last night. I was completely off my study game today... I actually woke up and when back and laid down because I felt like I was not studying effectively at all.. After a getting in another two hours of sleep, I sat down study around 9:30am. I had lost three hours of study time. However, I decided to make some coffee thirty minutes after and was on it. I started off with my first section of missed questions and ended up going through about three different areas of content. I was super pumped going over Physics because I ended up going over some material that we didn’t get to cover in the regular semester (Chapter 9 Kaplan book which is probably why I got the exam question incorrectly). At around 1:30p, I made some soup and that honestly took me out. I actually don’t usually eat during study periods because of this reason exactly. I ended up just doing Anki cards for the about 30 minutes and calling it. I plan to be in the bed again and hopefully I’ll be about to get up and get a lot done tomorrow.

In-Depth Content Review

I’ve found myself taking all this great notes after reading my textbooks, however, my mistake during the semester when taking classes was that I never went back actually re-read the notes until the week of test. Instead of doing that, I’m actually just watching videos (AAMC Khan) and adding back additional notes that I’ve missed.

I love my red pen because it helps me note what I’ve already written and where I need to add. I’m thinking of transferring my final notes in a notebook after every FL I take. For me, I learn best if I keep writing something down, almost like muscle memory. This technique means that I know have written and reviewed the content three-four times and over and over again by using my Anki Cards.

These notes are based off topics from my exam questions from my previous FL that I missed and got correct. I noticed from my first FL, the question I got correct, I missed on my second FL because I didn’t go back and review the content since I got it right. Hopefully, reviewing everything each time will help me. I plan to take anothe FL July 1st.

April 28th, 2020 | 60 Days until MCAT

Heading into Finals week and I’m completely swamped in school work. I’m using my MCAT Kaplan prep book to study for my Organic Chemistry Lab Final. Been praying about the news about the MCAT being cut down to 5 hours and 45 min instead of the usual 7 hours. I even reached out my professor, Organic Chemistry ironically, to get her opinion. I believe this is another blessing and opportunity for me to get the score I need to get accepted to a great medical program!

Moving my test date a month later was a pretty big decision. After taking only two practice exams, I felt like I was at a slight disadvantage when a lot of my questions were from courses like Microbiology or Cell Biology, which I haven’t taken. Although they aren’t required to apply to medical school, the major concepts of each course are tested heavily on the MCAT. Given this past week of going over exam questions from my last FL, I decided that another 30 days or so would allow me to really hone in concepts and topics I’m not as familiar with.

I struggle with test anxiety and not being confident going into any exam always triggers that. If I know 60% of the material, I will be taken aback by the 40% I don’t know and ruin any chances of doing well all together. It is absolutely crucial for me to be honest with myself and not rush this process, which was a mistake I made before (trying to beat a ridiculous time table I made for myself).

I feel great about rescheduling my exam and because of the pandemic, all rescheduling fees are waived until further notice, so it was only a matter of finding an open test date and sensible location. I have a sense of relief and have given myself more time to take at least three to four more FL practice exams. I have about seven weeks until my exam and I plan to use it wisely. I’m hoping to only take this exam once and want to be both confident and fully prepared going into the exam.