Study hard or study smart?

It’s that time of the year again: the RACGP AKT/ MCQ and KFP exams are approaching and it’s time to start thinking about studying. Find out how to prepare a smart study plan so you can maximise your study time and maximise your exam success.

We know you know how to study hard … but do you know how to study ‘smart’?
To do this you need to understand the exam as well as understand yourself.


Check the list below to make sure you’re studying smarter with a smart study plan:

1. College resources – are you using them?

2. Practice the practice exams

  • Do the online practice exams provided by the RACGP or check our resources: Dr KFP, Dr MCQ, Dr CCE and Dr MCQ + Dr KFP Bundle courses
  • Do other practice exam questions, especially those in the same format as the Fellowship exams.
  • Use the practice exams to familiarise yourself with the style of questions.

It’s not too late to subscribe to Dr MCQ  and Dr KFP.

Dr MCQ – is a comprehensive Australian-based online exam preparation tool available for registrars and international medical graduates. Our team of experienced medical educators have tailored this training resource to suit your level of confidence prior to sitting the AMC, RACGP AKT or ACRRM MCQ exams. Practice with over 1,000 MCQ questions, customisable quiz-builder and 3x timed mock exams covering the RACGP and ACRRM curricula that reflects BEACH data upon which the exams are modelled.

Dr KFP – Effectively prepare for the KFP exam. Test your knowledge and technique, identify your gaps and understand how the exam is marked to take the step from good to great. Dr KFP focusses on helping you develop the technique required for this challenging exam. It includes expert advice, recorded webinar, and 170 exam-style KFP questions.

3. Find your weaknesses and make up a study plan

  • Read the RACGP public exam reports – learn from the mistakes of others, and note down those questions you think you probably would have got wrong too.
  • Use the practice exams to find your areas of weakness.
  • Use your clinical practice to do the same – which consultations did you struggle with; need to ask for help; need to look things up? Which areas do you have less experience?
  • Make a list of all these difficult topics and use them to make a study plan
  • Learn how to deal with procrastination, time management, study techniques/habits, and exam anxiety. If you are seeking guided preparation supported by quality and reputable learning to achieve your Fellowship exam success we suggest you read – ‘Why you need a Performance Coach when preparing for your KFP, AKT-MCQ, OSCE-RCE Fellowship Exams’

4. Focus on exam topics

  • It is also important to understand that the exam question topics and their frequency are based on a matrix of the 5 domains of general practice and the Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health (BEACH) data.
  • The BEACH data summarises the frequency and type of general practice presentations in Australia.  What this means is that you need to plan your study around topics that are likely to come up in the exams, and not around what you find the most interesting.
  • Don’t spend a month learning every intricacy of ophthalmology which accounted for less than 2% of presentations, at the expense of respiratory, musculoskeletal and skin – which combined accounted for over 45% of presentations.

 

5. Make your study plan work for you

We wish you all the best with your exam preparation,

The GPEx team