Philippine Medical Licensure Exam

I created this blog to narrate my journey to becoming a licensed medical doctor. It wasn't easy. I needed a lot of motivation and affirmation that I can actually do it.

I decided to create this entry because during my time (preparation for the med boards) I had to search the net and google up for others' experiences and stories for the med boards, why? ...Maybe because I needed to reaffirm myself that I was not the only one feeling cold feet for this "dreaded med boards" and I somehow wanted to look up for "tips" or "guides" given by medical people just as I am, who already went through the ups and downs to finally pass it. But unfortunately, I only found 1 blog entry that narrated her story. So here I am, doing it, just in case there'll also be someone like me who feels the need to hear someone else's story to motivate them. :)

First of, I'd like to introduce myself, I am a graduate of De La Salle University- Health Sciences Institute where I took both my Doctorate degree in Medicine and my post-graduate internship ( well the 3/4 of my internship). After my med graduation, I decided to take my post-graduate internship first in Saint Louis University, Hospital of the Sacred Heart in Baguio City and went back again to De La Salle University Medical Center to finish the remaining 10 months of training. It wasn't an easy move but I had no regrets. Hence, I had to take the February 2013 medical boards for the first time, instead of August 2012. I finished my internship by August 2012 and spent the remaining 1 1/2 months ( September and first 2 weeks of October) to enjoy myself and do nothing but bum around.

I am just an average med student during my time. I got lazy here and there, I just really took my time to get by, I was once a competitive type, but sadly, in Medicine, my powers didn't work! lol
I tend to lose my discipline and tend to take all my time just sleeping so I decided to enroll myself in a review center. There was no midyear in-house review in La Salle so I had to pick up the most talked about review center- no other than Topnotch Review Board Prep.

The duration of the review in Topnotch I had to take was from October 15, 2012- February 9, 2013. And our actual medical boards were February 10, 11, 17 & 18.
The review was comprehensive, they allot 2-3 days for each subject but some entailed spending 3-5 days for some subjects like Pathology and Physiology. And the review each day started at 8am and should normally end by 5pm, which is always impossible to do, hence, we somehow ended up having the review up to 10-11pm (maximum).
What I like about the Topnotch system is the schedule itself. Because they provide you Self-study & consultation time for 1-2 days right after the scheduled review for each subject., which gives you enough time to finish your reading for that subject and re-inforce your knowledge. And sadly, as per my experience, I didn't and wasn't able to keep up with that system. lol

I am the type of person who takes her time and just enjoy everything!


I'm gonna start to talk to talk about my intensive review which I did starting January up to 1st week of February and i'd go retrospectively.

DURING THE MONTH OF JANUARY:

       Topnotch provided us 23 free days supposedly for us to spend doing our second reading for all the med boards subjects where all the memorizations must be imposed! 

Sadly for me, I spent these days finishing my first reading for all the subjects. I wasn't able to touch my pediatrics topnotch notes nor any review book, just simply because I ran out of time and it was a 90++-paged handouts. lol but I could say that the pediatrics lecture in Topnotch instilled in me 50% of what I must know.

For most of the subjects, I used my topnotch handouts. For biochemistry, just because again, I ran out of time, I wasn't able to finish doing my first reading for roughly 50-paged biochem handout, hence I just opted to finish reading the book Digging up the bones for Biochemistry.

Honestly, during this time, I felt like I was reading everything freshly for the first time! And it scared me cause I only have a month before the med boards! But I really tried to finish all my readings!

I suggest you focus studying and really do master the concepts during these times and do the intensive memorizations during the first week of February ('cause thats what i did.lol)

DURING THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY ( first week):

I could say that this is the most critical days I had to go through. This is when I finished my second reading and be really ready for the med boards.

During this days, no more petics days, no more sleeping all day, no more going to the mall!

I locked up myself in my dorm room the entire day and would just go out for few minutes to buy my meals.

This is my schedule for the first 6 days of February, I did not religiously follow it but I could say I finished my second reading for most of the subjects.

                             

• But I gave emphasis to Surgery and Anatomy. I studied Topnotch Handouts  for  Surgery as I think it is really high-yield plus the notes I took down during Dr. Loubimir Antonio's surgery lectures. I also attempted to read the first 3 chapters of Schwart'z as I was really scared of this subject because of the common stories  shared by those who previously taken the boards wherein Surgery was their downfall.

• For anatomy, I studied Dr. Vibar's Anatomy lecture handouts c/o Topnotch and I finished Hi- Yield Anatomy review book to supplement my knowledge for the application/clinical part of Anatomy. Dr. Vibar's lecture handouts, may seem not to be so good, but trust me, it is really high-yield and it helped an average student    like me, to master anatomy with Hi-Yield review book supplementation. I suggest  you study this subjects and do the memorization during the last few days before the med boards so that everything will still be fresh in your memory! :)

• For Microbiology, I would suggest you study the Made ridiculously simple  Microbio (MRS). No other else. It would really suffice. As per myself, I read the topnotch handouts and the first part of the MRS Micro, which I think I shouldn't have done because the lecture I had for microbio was last october of 2012 pa, and it's hard to study a bulletted handout. I should've just sticked to MRS. Honestly, I struggled for Microbio 'cause the pressure of the thought that it is one of the easiest subject in the boards but i barely ace it. I suggest you study and memorize the concepts and apply it to a clinical vignette, as that's how it would go in the med boards., at least for my med boards.

• For Pathology, I suggest you focus studying this subject and don't just memorize!It might be easy studying this because one would thought it is plain memorization... but it definitely is not! It is tricky and it is presented in the boards in a clinical vignette and you must really be able to recollect all the knowledge you have studied in the past months. I suggest you should not waste your time memorizing all the buzzwords or keywords. Instead, take time to understand the concepts & symptomatology pertaining to certain diseases and apply it in a clinical scenario.

• For Biochemistry, If you are lacking of time, I highly recommend you just readDigging up the bones Biochem and really master it from cover to cover! If you havemore time, do second reading of the topnotch biochem handouts!

• For Legal Medicine, it would be a waste of time if you will read the book of Solis. I  suggest you just study the compilation of questions for Legal Medicine andJurisprudence. You can get it through those selling review books. If you still have the luxury of time, you may read up the first 20 pages of the topnotch legal med handouts.

•  For Prev Med, I suggest you just study the Pre-Test Review Book because 80% of the questions in our boards were lifted verbatim from that book. Sadly, I didn't finish  reading that book! Poor me! As I took my time reading the handouts, waaaa it was really a wrong move!

•  For OB-GYN, I studied the topnotch handouts solely. It is a good foundation for  your theoretical knowledge. But I would suggest that if you have extra time, read the  OB-GYN blueprints most especially the sample examinations and explanations part.

• For Pediatrics, I studied Topnotch handouts only. With emphasis to the Congenital  Valve Heart defects and Exanthems. The bulk of our med boards came from there,  fortunately.

• For Internal Medicine, I think this is the subject that could sum up everything... so  I  suggest you study this subject last among the clinical ones. For I.M, I just studied Dr. Rabe's handouts (Topnotch) and the notes i took down during his lecture. During my boards, the questions were not really pure IM, it was a  mixture of everything! So your good knowledge in other subjects like microbio,  pedia, pathology and physiology could give you an advantage!

•  For Pharmacology, I studied nothing but the Topnotch Pharma Handouts! You should not read anything more as this would certainly suffice! But be sure you have already finished reading pediatrics and internal medicine before taking this exam!

• For Physiology, I suggest you read the BRS Physio and supplement it with   Topnotch Physio handouts. This subject is the basic or the works! Which I personally think is really hard. I did fairly good in this subject during med school but  it was just real hard for me during the med boards review.

I also did answer samplex during this time to gauge my knowledge and testing skills.



In retrospect, this is the platform of my schedule during the past few months of my review for med boards:
DURING THE MONTH OF OCTOBER (starting at 3rd week):

        Topnotch provided schedule for us to follow:
                *FIRST READING/LECTURE FOR:
                            - MICROBIOLOGY, 
                            - HISTOLOGY, 
                            - INTERNAL MEDICINE SAMPLEX RATIONALE
                            - BIOCHEMISTRY

- I attended the review lectures in Topnotch. But because I felt like I wasn't 100% ready yet to fully involve myself to the review, I would somehow absent myself to some lectures and just sleep the whole day in my dorm room, or sometimes go to the mall, or just simply go home to my family.

- I tried to read a review book like Made ridiculously simple for Microbiology during this time, along with the Topnotch review notes but again, I wasn't able to finish my first reading during this time.

- I was absent for Histology lectures, and some microbio and biochem lectures. I just am lazy. lol but I tried to catch up with what I missed by reading.

*** Microbio and biochem lecture was real good.
*** According to my classmates, the lecture in histology was also good and comprehensive.

DURING THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER & DECEMBER:

        Topnotch provided schedule for us to follow:

                *NOVEMBER: FIRST READING/LECTURE FOR:

                            - PHYSIOLOGY, 

                            - OB-GYN, 

                            - PREV MED, 

                            - LEGAL MEDICINE,

                            - ANATOMY

                *DECEMBER: FIRST READING/LECTURE FOR:

                            - PHARMACOLOGY, 

                            - PEDIATRICS, 

                            - SURGERY, 

                            - PATHOLOGY,

      

- I missed all the 5 lectures for Physiology and 1 lecture of OB-GYN because I had to go abroad to attend my sister's wedding.
-  I was only present for 1 lecture out of the 3-day lecture series for Anatomy. Simply because I thought I would learn best if I self study for this subject because Anatomy was really my weakness. So I had to focus more and work on it at my own pace. But sadly I wasn't able to finish my first reading though. :p



Lastly, I would just like to courageously say to you that you can reach your dream, as I have reached mine, if you are truly sincere to turn your back on non-sense things you are used to doing and really dedicate yourself to study and review for the medical boards. 

I do agree that the medical boards should not be the gauge of anybody's capability and capacity to be a truly licensed physician but I also believe that the medical boards reaffirms one to surely believe in yourself that you can truly and responsibly hold the noble gift of healing.