A previous candidate shares his MSRA revision methods that helped him successfully secure a spot in GP training.

Previous MSRA candidates have generously and anonymously shared their revision strategies, advice, and the methods they used to prepare for the exam.

Key themes from the advice of previous candidates:

Start Preparing Early

‘Start revising early and just do a bit each day’
Start early and aim for little and often otherwise it can feel a bit overwhelming.’

Out of 112 responses, the recommended amount of time for revision was:

• 1-3 months (56.3 %)
• 39 >3 months (34.8 %)
• 10 <1 month (8.9 %

Use Question Banks:

‘Questions banks are great prep for clinical, not sure they were any use for the SJT’

‘Focus on breadth not depth, use question banks consistently e.g. 100 questions per day – helps to drill in facts, apply knowledge, pattern recognition, just do deep dives into conditions you’re really struggling to understand/consistently getting wrong‘

On approaching the Professional Dilemmas Paper:

‘Start SJT loosely at same time as clinical’
‘Start revising for the SJT early and put equal effort into it’
‘Spend more time on the SJT then you think you need to‘

Revision Strategies – Repetition, Focus on Weaker Areas and Make Flashcards

‘Focus on your weaker topics. Answer questions from chosen question bank as many times as possible. Also avoid SJT questions from question banks and focus on past papers/official mocks.
Put in the hard work and it will pay off…I also made flashcards on all topics suggested by the official MSRA website as being tested.‘

‘Revise the same qbanks twice or three times, CKS NICE guidelines thoroughly and understand the main topics. For PDS read good medical practice and do UKFPO qbanks at least three times…Create a study group and prepare for this as you would for any other exam. Do not underestimate it! Best wishes!’

‘For questions that you got wrong, make a flash card out of it and collate all the concepts you have gotten wrong. Write down what your weak topics are (questions you mostly get mistakes in) and hammer down your weak areas on your days off‘

‘Do a 1 liner summary of each condition with its buzz words/key features/spot diagnostic features with its gold standard investigation/management – this helps to cover lots of info without the excess detail e.g. sudden electric shock across face = trigeminal neuralgia – treat using carbamazepine‘

Exam Techniques:

‘Practice timed conditions near the time as much as you can’
‘Don’t change answers from your gut feeling in the exam!’