Personally, I feel the above guide is a bit outdated and needs some corrections and clarifications. I would like to alter a few points given the complexity of the exam each time, with, for example, 2024 having a pass mark of around 185-189/300, the lowest ever as per my knowledge (You should be knowing why).
For anatomy - use Acland’s Anatomy videos; binge-watch them at 2x speed in a day. (RCS offers a free subscription to Acland’s with membership because it acts as the gold standard), then refer to TeachMeAnatomy for images and other resources, which saves a ton of time.
I bet only 0-5 questions will come from eMRCS, so it doesn’t mean you don’t need it; it’s a must. The explanations for each question form your basics, but that won’t yield you a pass.
There have been people who used eMRCS alone to pass the exam, but it doesn’t mean eMRCS is the only thing needed; it’s because their basic knowledge is very good.
You need Pastest. Yes, you cannot trust a random anonymous person on the internet, but after you’ve gone through eMRCS, now take recalls and compare, and laugh. It doesn’t mean Pastest will make you pass either. The idea is for each topic - let’s say eMRCS has an average of about 100 questions, and 50-60 are repetitions of the first 40, which means you actually cover 1300 questions but 300-400 topics. So, which means, every time the exam has to come from these 400 topics to get a pass, which is beyond unimaginable.
Pastest, on the other hand, had 7000 Pages in the 2020 offline version (I used this, as I don’t have a budget for the online version, of course), and in each question, they individually explain why each option is incorrect, which increases the number of topics you’re exposed to, thereby increasing the pass percentage.
Salah notes and bullets, etc., have an incredible amount of mistakes, so unless you are in the revision stage, I recommend not using them. I don’t know how there could be so many mistakes, but they are there. Use at revision stage to get exposure to few more topics or to strengthen your base.
Fawzia sheets - a group of 180 questions (good luck in finding the correct source without mistakes) - but these 180 questions have a high chance of repetition - word for word in the exam, and a lot of questions, like 10-15, get repeated, so it’s a must.
Whatever source you use other than eMRCS or Pastest - they will have 1000 mistakes, so do your own research with a group of friends with a common motive.
With the above point in mind, recalls are the most mistaken, useless, incomplete garbage - as most are incomplete, broken, incorrect, but - this is the only thing that will give you a sure shot pass, so now you know what to focus on more. Get a good source of recalls; there is a free app on the Play Store by a fellow doctor.
Steps -
use Acland - then eMRCS + Teach Me Anatomy - Pastest - recalls - recalls - recalls - Fawzia - recalls - recalls - recalls - recalls - recalls - recalls - recalls - recalls - recalls - recalls - recalls - recalls - recalls - … - n, n+1.
Yes, I didn’t miss Raftery; you don’t need to read it cover to cover, but whenever you get stuck in eMRCS or Pastest, you can refer to Raftery. Personally, I didn’t use it, as the internet is far easier and clearer to search; it’s up to you.
Omima sheets have the most mistakes, so again, at your own risk, but personally, I did to increase my knowledge pool.
Tip 1: Recalls – this is the real pain. There are a lot of broken recalls. I read recalls – which make sense, whatever I know I read. Whenever I faced broken recalls or an answer I wasn’t sure about, I took a screenshot and moved on without discussing. By this way, I ended up with ~2400 screenshots, which I could randomly throw into the subgroup and discuss. This allowed me to complete all the known and easy recalls and also to focus on hard ones. Now I had ample time to discuss in the group or research my answers.
Tip 2: A 3-year-old with leukemia presents with excessive salivation, marked halitosis, and a grey discoloration of the mucous membranes of his oral cavity spreading to his palate and nose. What is the most likely bacteria to be cultured? Select one answer only.
Borrelia vincenti
Klebsiella
Staphylococcus aureus
Staphylococcus epidermidis
Streptococcus pyogenes.
I can be pretty sure to most if not all, this is a new question, and this is how the actual exam is; not as easy as eMRCS, nor as difficult as Pastest.
Tip 3: Important topics – like ABG, SIADH, hyperparathyroidism – kindly understand these concepts so you can answer any questions asked. There are times where they ask more ABG questions than usual – in those scenarios, be ready. If you are not ready with these topics, dont go to exam.
Tip 4: I have good reading skills – so that’s barely an issue for me. I set eMRCS mocks for 100 questions in 15 minutes and try to complete them under 10 minutes – because they are the questions I have seen 1000 times. eMRCS is so good because the option to answer and move to the next question is far away for mouse movement on the computer – which is great practice for test day: on test day, it’s not a touch screen which will magically make things far faster, do mind that.
Warning – scammers – Never, I mean never, pay anyone except for royal college exam fees, eMRCS/Pastest subscription, or any other subscription. You might have failed, couldn’t find the desired centre at Pearson Vue - frustrated when someone comes and says pay us 1500-3000 pounds, we will hack the Royal College system and book your seat or make you pass – don’t lose money. There are people in this group who lost money, so always be careful. They are multilateral organizations, and these individuals cannot hack into their system, and there are no shortcuts or magic.
I personally used **Dr Laam's offline version of Pastest from 2020**. I didn’t use it for basic science, so I had 4000 pages to read. It was tiring, so I read the question, answered it, moved on. If wrong, I noted why and any new information to learn. I never looked back at Pastest again. I simply reviewed my notes and read those points which I took from incorrect Pastest questions.
My exam – I had no breakfast but had lots of chocolates, energy drinks to top my brain with lots of glucose to drink, reached the exam hall on time, the process went well, dressed comfortably, prayed – For Paper 1 I took 64 mins for 180 questions, it was easy for me. Paper 2 was a bit difficult; it took 61 mins for 120 questions. So, I had a lot of time to reread, revise, etc.
a lot of free time after marking – and still under stress – so I read questions again and made a few stupid decisions. For example – there was 1 question – Addison’s disease – I marked cortisol deficiency. Then while proofreading – I thought ACTH test is done so ACTH deficiency. Then later I thought – Addison is adrenal insufficiency so it’s adrenal and not cortisol and ACTH, and boom I lose 1 mark like magic.
Lesson to be learned – trust your instinct. I don’t know why I marked cortisol deficiency in the first place; it’s my brain and veins which marked without conscious thinking, and when I used conscious thinking – it screwed everything.
Personally, scores 249/299.
