What to expect in Third Year UCC

Assalamua'laikum wbt.

Semoga kita semua sentiasa dalam rahmat dan kasih sayang Allah sentiasa. 

Pertamanya, tahniah diucapkan kepada bakal-bakal Third Years. Alhamdulillah, you all have made it so far. :) (dah nak separuh jalan dah yeay!) Memandangkan ramai yang bertanya tentang persediaan untuk ke Tahun 3, well here is an overview of what you gonna face soon,

Ok, for Third Year, there are only 5 subjects but there are lottss of stuff that you gonna have to master. In Third Year, you will go in detail about the diseases and stuffs. These are the subjects you gonna have for Third Year.

FM3003 (Pharmacology)

Kalau in Second Year, there are only 4 major topics right? Well, here in Third Year, we have lotts of topics, according to each system (cardio, respi, GIT, neuro, skin, GU, etc). In this module, you gonna learn about all the drugs for each diseases. Most important thing that you need to focus is the first line treatment, the drugs (of course), all the classes of the drugs, the mechanism of action of each drug (pharmacodinamic and pharmacokinetic) and side effects of them. Do remember, different drugs have different side effects. So make sure you dont mixed them up. 

Tips belajar:

1. It depends on the individual. Some people just use the lecture notes and tambah-tambah sket from Pharmaco Condense. I think Pharmaco Condense is really helpful. Having a strong basic in 2nd year will surely help.

2. Exam: 

- Akan ada beberapa kali assessment yang open book, based on practical. This one make sure you score highest mark as possible. Nama pun open book kan. Dan bila kata based on practical, waktu practical tu make sure datang dan focus. Jangan main nak cepat habis ja.

- Ada juga assessment macam biasa. Last year we got all MCQs. Not sure this year macam mana. Hope the format is still the same. Ada dua kali assessment. Try to do your best in these assessment so that you will not burden yourself during summer exam.

-Summer exam is in essay format. You got to write 5 essays in 3 hours. Memang sakit sternocleidomastoid muscle. We got so many sample questions. So untuk summer exam, cuba go through past years and study how to tackle the questions. Boleh tengok sample answer from previous seniors. This one we can discuss later bila dah nak summer exam. (Please remind me k.)

3. Sound a bit scary sebab banyak nak kena hafal especially all the drugs and their MOA. Tapi jangan risau insyaAllah ok je. Summer exam will help a lot. 

FM3004 (Pathology)

This is the killer subject in Third Year. Never fail to kill someone. But don't worry, ramai je yang perform.

Again in this module, you gonna learn according to the systems. There are so many things you need to focus and the learning pace is very quick as well. One system for one week. At the end of the week, you will have CPC (as usual) where you gonna discuss the questions given in smaller groups.

Tips belajar:

1. Most seniors said lecture notes and buku merah (yang kene beli from medschool) is enough to pass the module. However, extra information is crucial. I suggest BRS Pathology. Buku ni kalau baca dari kulit ke kulit insyaAllah ok exam nanti (quoted from M, senior final year sekarang).

Kalau tanya medschool, dia nak kita study ikot Underwood (buku tebal warna oren yang berat lebih kurang 2kg tu). Well, its up to you. If you have extra time and for extra understanding, boleh ja guna buku tu.

2. The tricky part in Patho is that the questions asked are slightly different from what we had been taught. They can ask you ANYTHING. Even the very minor details could come out in exam. So make sure jangan tinggal even satu ayat pun bila study. Focus more on the presenting complain and the signs and symptoms of diseases so that you can recognize the pattern in questions.

3. Make sure all the common diseases (angina, heart failure, MI, lung cancer, pneumonia, pneumothorax etc) are all at your fingertips.

4. Buat sampai habis all the past years. Even though the questions wouldn't be the same (coz medschool got lotts of question banks) but you will get used to the pattern of the diseases and surely it will help you a lot!

5. Exam: You will have two assessments and a summer exam.

- It is very crucial for you to perform in each assessment, if not you gonna be in trouble during the summer exam. The are many cases where people perform in their summer exam but the assessment marks drag the average mark down. So be extra careful.

CP3002

The fun time begins! :) 

This time around, you will start to attend a hospital rotation 3 days a week (before Christmas) and a full hospital rotation after Christmas. Here is where all your knowledge will be tested. You will also learn many clinical skills (phlebotomy, cannulation, injections, drug administration) and have chance to practice them on real people instead of dummies! (Masa ni baru rasa macam doktor sikit.Hehe..)

This is the time where you will be introduced to the hospital settings and surroundings, so take your time and enjoy it! Reminder : Jangan ponteng rotation! You will miss lotss of stuff. 

During hospital rotation, practice your history taking skills and clinical examination skills. Aim at least one Hx taking and clinical exam each day.

OSCE

You will have two OSCEs. Before Christmas and during Summer exam. Selalunya Summer OSCE lagi susah. So try to get a high mark for the christmas one. 

Assessments

You will have tonnes of CP assessment (over) this year. Ada clinical essays, assessment at the end of hospital rotation, and also peer assessment. So selamatlah sikit sebab pembahagian markah tu mencapah. Make sure you submit all the assessment on time. Late submission will cause you to lose some marks. 

Summer exam is a bit harder coz the questions are integrated ones. It is best for you to finish your pharm and patho revision first before the CP exam coz it will be really really really helpful.

Tips belajar:

1. Master your Pharm and Patho, insyaAllah boleh jawab dengan mudah.

2. Practice, practice and practice! (especially the clinical examination skills)

3. Jangan ponteng rotation.

BH3003

The subject that most people tend to ignore. Well, don't coz this time it is a bit different. Good news for those yg ambil statistics last year. This time you will apply what you learn in BH. You will also have to do an essay (after Christmas). Even though the classes seems boring, but really important coz kalau tak datang, memang merana jugak la nak study balik nanti.. So better datang and familiarize yourselves with all the terms. Nanti nak study balik, takdela berlaku penderaan kepada otak. :)

Last but not least...

SSM

For SSM, ambillah SSM apa pun. Most people prefer SSM yang takda summer exam. :)

General Tips

1. Third year best sebab you gonna face new challenges, new experience. So enjoy the moments! :)

Again, jangan ponteng kelas, jangan ponteng rotation coz you will miss lots of things and opportunities.

2. Practice your skills. Very important in OSCE. And this time, make sure you know by heart why do you do this and that. They ask in OSCE. All the signs in clinical examination, make sure you know a bit bout them and the diseases that cause them. (eg: splinter haemorrage untuk infective endocarditis)

3. After Christmas, you will attend a full hospital rotation. Bila balik dari hospital usually dah penat dan lembik especially those yang hospital jauh. Tapi apa pun, don't forget to study. Jenguk-jenguklah buku tu so that kita tak kalut nanti bila dah dekat nak exam. For the unlucky ones (including me), your last rotation only end a few days before summer exam starts. So nak taknak, memang kena study continuously.

4. All the assessments yang kecik2 ni, jangan diperkecilkan. Try to do your best so that during summer you don't need to struggle like dying untuk pass. 

5. There will be times where we had done our best but the results are not as good as what we had expected. Just remind ourselves, kejayaan Allah yang bagi. Banyakkan berdoa kepada-Nya. Dont give up and strive harder. :)

"Dan Tuhan kamu berfirman: Berdoalah kamu kepadaKu, nescaya aku perkenankan doa permohonan kamu. Sesungguhnya orang-orang yang sombong takbur daripada beribadat dan berdoa kepadaKu, akan masuk Neraka Jahannam dalam keadaan hina.

[Surah Ghafir: 60]

6. Ponteng kelas sangatlah tidak digalakkan. Even kalau hujan ribut pun, pergilah kelas coz once you miss the class, you miss so many things. Third year lecturer ramai yang best cara pengajaran dia. Jadi sangat rugi kalau ponteng kelas.

Apa pun, bittaufiq wan najah dan all the best to all of you. Your batch semuanya bright students. I'm sure you can face the challenges well. :) May Allah bless us and ease your way.

Aim to be a better doctor for a better future. :)

Pembakar semangat. InsyaAllah, its our turn soon. :)

May Allah ease.