If you’re in the middle of clinical rotations, you might be wondering how in the world you’re going to make time to study for shelf exams. Trust me, you’re not alone!
M3 year is one of the most difficult parts of your med school journey so far. Not only are you expected to be a standout student who helps take care of patients, answer difficult questions on rounds, and help out with tasks around the hospital, you also need to make sure you’re retaining everything you’ve learned during rotations.
I get it—making the time is not easy. I remember a time when I was a third-year medical student during my surgery rotation, where I didn’t finish until 9 p.m. for three nights in a row! When I got home, it felt impossible to find the time (and willpower) to study for my shelf.
While it might be tempting to put off studying until the last minute, you’ll thank yourself later if you start studying early on (and with a solid plan). After all, you take shelf exams for a reason—they’re designed to gauge what you’ve absorbed during your rotation, and also help you build a foundation of knowledge for Step 2!
If you’re approaching your shelf exam and aren’t sure how to gauge where you are in your studying, use this quiz to find out whether you’re ready for exam day (or if you still need more time to prepare).
Common Shelf Exam Study Mistakes
If you’re struggling with your prep, check out these common shelf exam study mistakes to see if we can diagnose the problem:
1. Forgetting to check the exam’s content blueprint
One of the top mistakes students make before their shelf exams is studying the wrong material.
To stay on track, most rotations will have a content blueprint that outlines the information that should be covered throughout your clerkship (and will likely appear on your shelf exam). You can use this blueprint to guide your studies towards the most important concepts!
2. Trying to “DIY” your exam prep
While DIY projects can be fun in your spare time, we definitely don’t recommend applying them to your med school exams.
Rather than putting together your own study guide from a textbook alone, we recommend using a specific resource created with your shelf exam in mind using the content blueprint mentioned above.
Here at Blueprint, we recommend using the combined Step 2 & Shelf Exams Qbank to complete practice questions that resemble those that look like the ones you’ll see on your actual exam!
3. Relying on how long you’ve studied rather than the effectiveness of your studying
Can you spot the difference between these two students?
Student A: Studies for six hours while watching a movie and passively answers questions.
Student B: Actively interacts with questions and carefully reads each explanation for three hours, fully immersed with their phone out of sight.
You probably guessed that Student B is going to be far better off on their shelf exams, even with fewer study hours. This approach is called deliberate practice, which helps make better use of your limited time (and makes it easier to correct any practice questions you missed previously).
4. Relying on isolated practice questions rather than practice exams
While isolated questions are great for studying on-the-go and building up your knowledge, practice tests are the best way to practice your test-taking skills and have a “dry run” of your exam day.
Practice exams allow you to set up in a test-like scenario with a time limit and take an extremely similar test to what you will see on your actual shelf exam.
5. Memorizing instead of comprehending the material
Instead of simply memorizing the concepts on your Anki cards, take one step further and think about how they apply to patients. How does this relate to other parts of medicine? Where have you seen this before?
Remember, the body is interconnected, so approach your studying more as a system working together (rather than isolated facts).
Don’t forget that learning from your patients and your team is also a huge component of your studies!
6. Lacking a study plan
As I mentioned before, rotations are taxing and your time will be limited. Having a well thought-out study schedule will help you organize your day, sticking with it consistently will boost your confidence before your exam!
7. Not seeking help until it’s too late!
If you’re feeling overwhelmed with a rotation or not reaching where you want to be on your practice exams, I highly recommend seeking help as soon as you can. Specialized shelf exam tutors can be your greatest cheerleaders and help mitigate the stress planning, clarify concepts, and help develop effective studying habits and test taking strategies. You’ve got this!
