MotivationMRCP

How To Hustle Your Way Through MRCP

This post will brief you on how you can use the power of hustle to pass MRCP.

All throughout my life I relied on my short term memory to jump through academic hoops set by school and university. I became addicted to poker during medical school and very almost dropped out during third year and finals because of this. Most people joke about an addiction like chocolate but this was a full blown problem that thankfully fizzled out by itself.

After med school I clearly didn’t learned my lesson and for MRCP I continued to rely on cramming in the few weeks or couple of months before each exam. I simply couldn’t find the motivation or energy to study for months or a year in advance due to having many other interests and being tired from on call duties.

As a result I never managed to consolidate information well in my head and tend to “forget” revision as quickly as I gained it. They call it superficial learning.

Let’s assume your dream is to become a consultant in a specific branch of medicine. Okay, dream is a strong word for most but it’s our career goal at the very least. If you continue the way you’re currently working at will you get there eventually?

Almost certainly.

But chances are you’ll become a very mediocre consultant with average ability and an occasional cloud of clinical uncertainty will always follow you. If you’re content with this because you have other serious commitments in life then that’s fine but most of us want to be the best versions of ourselves.

All of us can attain this level of mediocrity as it’s just a matter of time. Doing the on-call is tough for sure but all of us get through the night shifts. Passing the annual review of competence progression every year is arduous at best but we all eventually pass. Basically we all ultimately arrive at our destination.

If everyone is going to work and doing the night shifts, what sets doctors apart from each other? It certainly isn’t just academic intelligence because I come across people who hardly managed to get the grades required for medical school and those are the people who are often the impressive doctors.

We can only be so good-looking, so tall, so charismatic, so funny, so intelligent so what is the only differentiating variable?

It’s definitely hustle. It’s the ability to work harder than you’ve ever worked before.

It’s the four hours between 7PM and 11PM that make or break you. Studying and working hard isn’t just to pass MRCP because even if you continue at your current rate you’ll eventually pass. Instead studying and working hard is to make your future life as a consultant easier. Even if you take the arbitrary weekends entirely off, these four hours every day give you an extra 80 hours every month.

Do not moan or complain about how difficult the exams are or think about switching on Netflix because the doctor who is working harder than you deserves to pass more quickly than you. Two more tips I can’t stress enough are to strategically use coffee and get more sleep.

If you enjoyed this article make sure you get your own copy of my MRCP Part 1 & 2 Written Guide. In this guide, I explore the above and other concepts such as time allocation and the most preferable resources for the written exams in much more detail.

Alternatively, if you’ve passed the written exams then How to Pass MRCP PACES in 8 Weeks will take you through your next and final hurdle. The reason an entire new guide has been written about this mammoth clinical exam reflects the different skills and attitude you need when tackling MRCP PACES. Instead of simply relying on reading textbooks, you’ll need to utilise a concept called the PACES Triangle to successfully navigate the examiners’ obstacles.

60 thoughts on “How To Hustle Your Way Through MRCP

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *