MCQ PREPARATION ADVICE

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Over the years, candidates have developed multiple approaches to prepare for these tests. In general, if people have the financial resources, they prefer to afford an MCQ preparation course, but they tend to be expensive and there is no guarantee that you are going to pass. Besides, they may not suit everyone’s learning style. Nowadays, candidates are opting for more effective self-study strategies to save money and have more control over the kind of resources and information they rely on to study. These courses may have the added benefit of their being instructors to assist you in understanding the reason behind certain questions.  You will also be studying with other students so this can help from a motivation perspective.

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However, I did not use any courses and personally I do not feel that they add any benefit over and above having question banks and other good resources and a study group.  On the contrary, I have noticed that people doing courses are failing more in their first attempt because first they relay mostly on passive learning through the lectures and second, they limit their studies to the material provided by the course, instead of practicing more recalls and question banks. So my recommendation would be to save your money for other things.

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What Are the Best Resources for the AMC Part 1 CAT MCQ Examination Preparation?

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A common misconception is that using more resources equates to better AMC Part 1 CAT MCQ Examination performance. One pitfall of utilizing too many resources is that you tend to dabble in each resource rather than focusing on comprehensively utilizing all the material in a handful of high-yield resources.

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It is advisable to select three or four high-quality resources and focus all of your attention on the material within these. Your study schedule should include enough time to thoroughly and completely review all of your selected resources.

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Doctors can commonly fall into the trap of assuming that “If I review ‘everything’ in each of these study resources, then I’ll be more prepared than if I only reviewed a single resource”, or so goes the argument. This is a fallacy. Based upon my experience and the consensus of several peers the highest yield resources are:

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• John Murtagh’s General Practice. 

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• the official AMC Handbooks (aka the blue book) - You need to read it at least once

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• AMEDEX or MEDBULLETS question banks.

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AMC PART 1 STUDY GUIDE 

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Here there is guide on how you can plan your own MCQ preparation based on the common advice provided by successful candidates who recently passed their examinations on the first attempt.

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Remember there no single recipe for success when it comes to the AMC examinations, everyone has different learning approaches, so you can create a plan that works better for you.

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1. Find a good study group AND create a recall-based study plan from the beginning so that you do not get lost in the vast number of materials and resources that you will find available.

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a. Recalls means previous papers or previously asked questions in the exam. You can find them Facebook groups such as AMEDEX.

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b. With your study group try to collect as many recent recalls as you can (at least the last 6 months, but ideally the last year)

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c. You could subdivide the recalls by subjects, subspecialties, and then specific topics (BUT you need to collect your recalls first to be able to then organise your study plan accurately. Otherwise, you will waste a lot of time studying topics that are not commonly asked in the exam)

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2. Start solving the recalls with your study group

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a. Set a weekly and a monthly plan divided by subject (Internal Medicine, Surgery, Gynaecology) and systems or specialties (Cardiology, Neurology, Endocrinology. Etc)

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b. These will take a long time that is why it is better if you do it in group and have a good structure. It is advisable to dedicate at least 4-6 hours per day to study for this test.

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c. Also make sure that you back up your answers with good sources (Hospital guidelines, therapeutic guidelines, reliable Australian medical websites, Australian books) and never allow empty answers.

 

d. Once you are solving recalls you may find some of them are incomplete because under the pressure of the test most candidates do not remember the whole stem. BUT don’t worry, you will be able to get the main idea and you could use resources such as MEDBULLETS to find similar questions to give you a better idea of the long questions that you can get in the test. Additionally, MEDBULLETS can also have more difficult questions, which can be a great thing to level up your preparation in complex subject such as Cardiology and Neurology.

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3. Now, an example of how you can actually organise your study subject by subject

 

a. For Medicine Block: first do the recall solving part and make your known notes based on the information that you get from the back up resources. Then do some lectures reinforce the most common or complex topics for the test (here you have different options: Lecturio, Osmosis, Kaplan video or YouTube SLEM2 prep videos). Another recommended book is John Murtagh and Kaplan. It is also particularly important to practice with MELBULLETS questions and AMEDEX q-bank including the guidelines that they provide in the reference part. You can subscribe to those two as per need.

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b. For Surgery block: solve your recalls and make your own notes of the topics. Some good resources for these subjects are: AMEDEX q-bank (where you can study all the questions related to surgery and PO complications) and Oxford Surgery Handbook.

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c. For Paediatrics: recalls solving followed and making your own notes based on the sources and guidelines used to back up the answers. The best reference for this subject is the RCH guidelines https://www.rch.org.au/clinicalguide/about_rch_cpgs/Welcome_to_the_Clinical_Practice_Guidelines/.

I would also suggest going through AMEDEX question bank and John Murtagh for some topics. Have a look at the RCH handbook especially for immunisations and do MEDBULLETS question if you feel weak in this area (BUT AMEDEX and RCH are usually enough).

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d. For Obstetrics and Gynaecology: Apart from solving the recalls and making your own notes, there are some valuable resources. It is recommended to read through JM’s chapter of Women’s Health. Lastly, review AMEDEX q-bank and your AMC -MCQ Handbook cases (this part is especially important in this subject). If feel weak on this topic you can watch some lecture’s videos as well. If you want to find out more about Australian protocols,  have a look at the Queensland Health guidelines https://www.health.qld.gov.au/qcg/publications/ or go to the Royal Women’s Hospital website

https://www.thewomens.org.au/health-professionals/clinical-resources/clinical-guidelines-gps/

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e. For psychiatry questions: Lecture’s videos (Lecturio, Kaplan, AMEDEX). For drugs-related questions you can go through AMEDEX q-bank and canadaqbank mostly. Other resources include Medbullets and uworld psychiatry q-bank. Finally, do not forget to check again your AMC -MCQ Handbook cases.

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f. For Emergency cases: Most people read from JM and do AMEDEX questions. Other useful resources include Emergency Medicine Oxford handbook or Emergency Care Institute NSW website https://www.aci.health.nsw.gov.au/networks/eci/clinical/clinical-resources/clinical-tools if you want to become more familiar with Australian guidelines (But NOT necessary at this stage).

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g. For statistics, Epidemiology and Public Health: For this subject it is helpful to do your recalls solving and making your own notes as previously mentioned, but do not forget to check your handbook cases. Also, to complement this it is advisable to watch some related lecture videos.

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h. Radiology and Dermatology: AMEDEX q-bank, JM and the handbook cases are your main tools. However, have a look at various images including x rays and CT. I recommend Radiopedia website https://radiopaedia.org/encyclopaedia/cases/all and radiology assistant https://radiologyassistant.nl/. Do not make the mistake of underestimating this part, many questions are about imaging interpretation.

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4. Preparation for last months before the exam

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a. Go through AMEDEX again and again including mock test if possible.

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b. Do also Mplusx including high yield recalls and past recalls, as well as, at least 2 mock test.

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c. Mock test help you get more psychologically prepared for the actual exam and if you do it at least to weeks before the test , you can still review your weak areas once more.

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d. DO NOT FORGET YOUR HANDBOOK, though a bit old, you can still get questions from there.

 

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​REMEMBER THIS IS JUST A GUIDE , JUST A CHOICE , AN IDEA OF HOW TO STRUCTURE YOUR STUDY PLAN, but everyone is different. Some people pass by studying only the handbook and JM. Some people do not even know what is JM and still pass. If this plan is NOT for you, that is alright, just feel free to check and use the suggested resources.

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FINALLY, be kind to yourself. Acknowledge and appreciate your little accomplishments on a weekly basis and do not forget to take enough breaks. You do not want to get burn-out, you need to maintain your motivation extremely high to keep up with your studies.

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Suggested reading resources from AMC website: https://www.amc.org.au/publications/suggested-reading-material-for-examination-preparation/

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Acknowledgements: special thanks of gratitude to Dr Laura Salado for sharing her experience and input in regard to MCQ exam preparation.

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