1. A proper arrangement of your time is essential for a success, make a good schedule. Staying in one room with your book does not mean studying! While you study, do it with full concentration and make sure you also have time for fun!Try to watch yourself for a week and you will find plenty periods of just wasting time - sometimes hours just pass and nothing happens - neither studying nor pleasure.
2. Another prerequisite of a successful exam is: not to be scared. Being stressed before an exam is normal to a certain extent - especially before an exam of a huge material - it helps thinking. Before the exam you may feel a "chaos" in your head. If you really studied, then after getting a specific question, your brain will focus immediately on the particular topic, the chaos will clean up suddenly and you will have the answer!
3. Plan your exam period well in advance - around the 10th week of the semester at the latest - and stick to your original exam-plan! Being stressed and fearing the exam may urge you to postpone your exam. Postponing a few days usually does not improve your result. Also, there is a danger for "over studying" - you start memorizing the footnotes and may be lost in details while forgetting how many limbs a human has... Postponing may mess up your well designed exam schedule. The shortage of time itself will cause problem for you not the material. Unless you have a serious reason (being really sick, big problems in the family, etc.), do not postpone! Running out of time may shorten or eliminate your deserved vacation, you will be tired at the start of the consecutive semester - and the problem will recreate itself.
4. Trust your own brain and not the stimulants!
5. Forceps and lab coats will be provided by the Department but if you think your own forceps and coat are more comfortable you may bring them. You may bring your own gloves (new ones, for easy pull-lo) for the exam if you wish so!
6. Have a hair style (boys too!) that does not cover your eyes during demonstration. It is not hygienic to adjust you hair with your hand soiled with the cadaver while demonstrating!
7. In the contrary of the general belief, exams (in general) do not evaluate your knowledge but your actual performance! A real evaluation of your knowledge would last much longer - could take weeks. For a good performance it is necessary - but not enough - to know the material. At least as important to possess an ability to apply your knowledge, to show your skills and to utter out properly. Your praxis, later, requires the same skills. Your patient will not evaluate your work on your knowledge, he/she can not judge it, but on your performance, on his/her impression about you. Also, the rapid response is important. Sometimes, as a doctor, you will have to react rapidly to save a patient's life and you cannot tell the relatives that you knew what to do just right but you needed time to come in to your mind... Being able to apply your knowledge with ease is not an inborn characteristics, you have to practice it. Exams and preparing for the exams are excellent ways to acquire this skill.
8. You will be able to show your knowledge only if you come to the exam in proper physical condition. Do your best to sleep well before the exam and eat and drink something in the morning - primarily something containing sugar, the energy source of the brain. If not else then chocolate, milk, fruit juices, regular Coke... The hours before the exam are not the proper times for a diet...
9. We (the examiners) try to do our best to help your performance. If for any reason you do not feel comfortable please let us know, we are ready to help you. Sometimes in the winter period the exam rooms are cold, so dress accordingly. If you feel cold, you may take on an extra lab coat.
We would be glad to hear the actual rumors about ourselves. You may inform us though e-mail or anonymously dropping a note to the box on the wall next to the office. And we will include them into this list...
Rumor
On the first week of the exam period better marks are given, - close to the end we run out of the good marks, more people fail.
Rumor
It is best to have the exams around Christmas.The results depend on the performance, not on Christmas. But as you know, Christmas is at the beginning of the exam period - see the note above!
Rumor
To pass on a "C" exam or on the "dékáni" is more difficult.The requirements are the same on all exams. The results of retakes are worse (however some students get good notes), but the better students pass their exams in the first round.
Rumor
If you tell all what you know at once then you will get more difficult questions.You will get better marks if you willingly tell everything you know (be concise and logical). If you have to be asked questions to get the same information that is somewhat less worthy. However, it is true that those who told more will get more difficult questions, but probably those questions are then for deciding whether the person will get mark 4 or 5.
Rumor
In case of retakes and correction exams, the previously taken slides will not be asked.Students can take exactly the same topics.