Good luck for all of the dental students, in University of Sydney, Charles Sturt University, University of Western Australia and, especially, the University of Otago (go NZ!).
Studying for an exam is hard and tough. Some of you guys and gals are also doing some job searching during your final year: biggest good luck I can give you. Jobs are tough, even in the dental industry, do you best and be yourself. Spruce up your CV as well! A well designed CV will let you stand out from the crowd!
Some tips and tricks to help you survive the exams:
- Sleep well and eat well! It will make you less tired other than just cramming it all at once.
- My study methods are as so: 20 mins concentrated study, 10 mins of break, another 20-30 mins of intense study as I tend to find that I focus the best in the first 20 minutes before I start to go in a tangent.
- I like to know the big picture then start to focus on the small details. E.g. Bacteria or plaque causes dental decay (thats the big picture). The small details will be how the plaque or bacteria causes dental decay (mention the biofilm formation with different bacterial communities etc.)
- Pace yourself!
- If you can get the final exam paper, do those first in a simulate environment (e.g. 3 hours) write as much as you can and compare it to the model answer.
- Once you go through the years of final exam paper you will see a pattern of the same question in different wording or ways of asking. If you see that pattern remember that it looks pretty important
That’s all I can think of for now. If you want to talk to me personally, contact me and I may be able to help you with specific tips and tricks!
All the best!