EOR exams are your chance to figure out what study techniques work for you so that by the time the PANCE rolls around, you know exactly what you need to do. Everyone studies differently; my particular routine won't work for everyone! SO, if only for the sake of inspiration, here's how I tackled my EORs:
Use PAEA EOR topic list.
Create study guide.
Make flashcards.
Study.
Pass EOR exam.
...okay so that was pretty simplified. Let me break it down a little bit.
I usually started my study schedule about one month before exam day, but this did NOT mean I was ‘nose to the grindstone’ from day one. The first two weeks were casual and predominantly used to set up my study materials in preparation for the last two weeks when I kicked the studying into high gear.
Week 1-2: Laid back. Unstructured. Probably watching Netflix simultaneously.
1. Use PAEA EOR topic list:
Visit this link to find the PAEA topic list for each of your seven EOR exams. Then, download the list and paste into a word document (I recommend Google Docs so you never have to worry about losing it!). This will lay out the foundation for your study guide. I kept the original organization of each topic list provided (i.e. Cardiovascular, Pulmonology, etc.), typing each heading in underlined, bolded, and all-caps text so it's easy to jump from one body system to the next as you study what will likely become a fairly long document.
2. Create study guide:
Next, use questions banks (Rosh Review, Exam Master, Smarty Pance, etc.), readings (didactic lectures, PANCE Prep Pearls, etc.) or whatever your go-to study source may be to fill in your study guide. Here’s a simplified example of the format I used for each condition:
Broad heading (i.e. Gastrointestinal)
Specific topic (i.e. GERD)
Definition
Risk factors
Symptoms & complications
Exam findings
Diagnostics & screening
Treatment
From there, being the anal person I am, I highlighted. For instance, I highlighted all medications a certain color and all organisms (bacteria or viruses) a different color. You may not be a color-coding person at all and that's okay! Do what works for you—I just personally appreciate the visual recognition aspect of color-coding.
3. Make flashcards:
Once my study guide was complete, the next step was to read through it top to bottom, making flashcards as I went. I fully acknowledge that this step may just be a ‘me’ thing, BUT, I found that it worked to make flashcards for the difficult concepts—whether that be a medication I could never remember or a classic symptom constellation I wanted to know by heart. Once I made it through the entire study guide once, I was left with a big ‘ole deck of notecards.
Week 3-4: Methodical. Motivational dance music on. The official ‘study grind’.
4. Study:
Now is when I consider my studying to OFFICIALLY start. These final two weeks before the exam included a mix of question bank practice questions, flashcards, and working through my study guide (again).
As I went through my flashcard deck, I organized each card into ‘Know,’ ‘Sorta Know,’ and ‘Zero Clue.’ Once I had three different piles, the ‘Know’ cards were set to the side, never to be seen again (buh bye). The other two piles were reviewed separately, sorted once again using the same “3-pile strategy.” Eventually the ‘Sorta Know’ pile disappeared completely, and by exam day, what at first seemed impossible turned into just a couple ‘Zero Clues’ to review.
I also made it a goal to read through my study guide at least once more before exam day, giving myself the last few days or so to just go through question banks and study flashcards.
Example: So if my study guide happened to be 150 pages long, my schedule ended up looking something like this:
14 to 5 days prior to exam
Read 15 pages of study guide per day
Complete ~35 - 50 question bank practice questions per day
Go through ~⅓ of flashcard deck per day
4 to 2 days prior to exam
Go through the entire flashcard deck each day (by this time, it should be fairly small as you continually discard more and more into the ‘Know’ pile).
Complete ~50 - 75 question bank practice questions per day
Day prior to exam
Cabernet
Netflix
Kinda sorta studying remaining flashcards
5. Pass EOR exam:
Hopefully by this time, you are SO sick of studying the material that the nerves disappear and all you want is to get the exam over with (at least that’s how I felt).
After each EOR exam, remember to save all of your flashcards and study guides so you can access them when it comes time to study for the PANCE!
Overall, regardless of how you study, I 100% recommend 1) adhering to a study schedule, 2) taking advantage of the PAEA's topic lists, and 3) utilizing a mixture of question banks and readings, however that may look for you. It seems overwhelming at first, but you'll eventually find your groove—promise.
Good luck all!
- Taylor