Episode 5 – Study Break – Can You Have A Life While Studying For This Exam? With Dr. Mel McNiff

Is it really the ‘thousand hour exam’?

People will tell you that in order to pass the ED primary, you must give up your entire life to study.  Dr. Mel McNiff joins me in this episode to explain how (and why) she thought ‘bugger that!’ She instead opted to take on her first ever half-ironman triathlon at the same time as the exam. In this episode we cover the ups and downs of exam preparation & some realistic approaches to revision timetabling. We also cover what it’s like preparing for a sporting event you’ve never done before, and how to make the work and study balance work for you. I really loved recording this one and I think you’ll enjoy listening! 

Mel with her finishers medal for the half-ironman
Mel and I cycling together on one of our favourite loops

1 thought on “Episode 5 – Study Break – Can You Have A Life While Studying For This Exam? With Dr. Mel McNiff”

  1. Love this podcast!

    Mel basically describes a ”Setting yourself up for Success” mindset and studying is only a small part of it.

    Setting Up for Success is:
    – Finding the innate motivation towards this goal (What is your deepest reason WHY? behind passing this exam)
    – Resourcing yourself with all the non-exam-related elements of high performance (support group, people who will promote you towards your goal rather than hinder you, nutrition, physical health and mental health)
    – De-cluttering your internal and external environment from unhelpful influence (Whatever that is for each one of us)

    I love this attitude and I hope that we can move on from the old transitional and rigid mindsets of exam prep which can even be detrimental to a doctor’s physical and mental health :):)

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