stress

I think at this time, all my groupmates already stressed out since the exam is less than 2 weeks. The situation gets worse when we couldn't answer the questions asked by the doctor. I try not to ask too many questions to my groupmates since this will certainly make them more stress.

Sometimes, when there are too many cortisol (stress hormone) being released into the blood, this may impair our thought process. We really need to cool down a bit and find ways to relax.

How to handle pre-exam stress?

...The first step in destressing involves gaining some perspective. Having been in the clinical setting for a few years now, I have been exposed to life and death situations that legitimately stress people out. Given those experiences, I now find it hard to believe that I ever stressed out over my medical school examinations to the extent that I did. In fact, I remember developing a different (and more healthy) attitude toward studying and exams after I started my clinical rotations, which made me realize just how insulating the pre-clinical years can be. So, if you are a first- or second-year medical student, shadowing a physician in the hospital might help put your exams in proper perspective.

Another way to gain perspective is to remember why you chose to attend medical school (hopefully, doing well on medical school examinations was not the reason). Studying really should be viewed as a means to a much larger goal than just passing a test. Exams should never be treated as ends in themselves. They are really just little check marks of approval on your way to becoming a physician -- nothing more.

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I like the thought of gaining perspective over the exam. It is not the exam that will define a good doctor, but it will help you checking any significant gap in your medical knowledge. If you want to be a high achiever and score the maximum mark in exam, you have to work harder than everyone else but that doesn't necessarily mean you are a better doctor than everyone else.

For the time being, I will satisfied if I get good mark in this exam and able to get to the next semester. This is certainly different from achieving excellent mark, you should know that by the way ;)