Patsy Tremayne - Study Less and Still Blitz your Medical Exams

To our family and good friends

Dr. Kell Tremayne and Dr. Patsy Tremayne 2022

First published in 2022 by Dr. Kell Tremayne and Dr. Patsy Tremayne. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means without written prior consent of the publisher.

This book uses personal stories and examples from clients to highlight key points. Names have been changed to protect individual privacy.

Every effort has been made to trace and acknowledge the original source of material used within this book. Where the attempt has been unsuccessful, the publisher would be pleased to hear from the author/publisher to rectify any omission.

Edited by Kath Walters.
Typset by Liz Seymour, Seymour Design.
Printed and bound by Ingram Sparks.

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry

Title: Study Less and Still Blitz Your Medical Exams

Subtitle: You wouldnt use old technology on patients, so dont use outdated study methods on yourself

ISBN: 978-0-6485482-1-8 (paperback)
ISBN: 978-0-6485482-2-5 (eBook)

Subjects: Psychology, physiology, communication, performance, education, neuroscience

TESTIMONIALS

Oh, to have met Patsy before it all. Before university and GAMSAT and medical school. Before interning and basic training and Fellowship. Before ever studying for, or sitting, an exam.

This book, a little bit of Patsy, contains the tools to make succeeding a little easier and failure more productive. I continue to employ these techniques daily to the amusement of colleagues and patients alike!

Dr Fred A English
MB BCh BAO Hons. BSc. Hons. (Physiol.) Dip. (Health Sci.) FRCEM FACEM Consultant Emergency Physician, Perth Childrens Hospital, Western Australia Country Health, and St John of God Health Care

The words Dont Panic should be inscribed in large friendly letters on the cover of Patsys new book. Written in an engaging and warm style, this book is a reassuring and helpful guide for medical specialty trainees.

I recommend Patsys performance coaching to all my intensive care trainees after my experience of Patsys coaching and its wonderful that her evidence-based and practical approach to study is now available for all my junior staff and medical students to read.

Patsys advice to treat the exam as a challenge (rather than a looming threat) inspired me to change my mindset towards studying and approach the exam with a new perspective. I particularly enjoyed the advice to sing or dance to music to relieve stress and depression. Even long after my Fellowship exam has passed, I use this technique to change the mood in my household on difficult mornings.

Dr Joanna Longley FCICM, FACRRM, FRACGP
Staff Specialist, Hervey Bay Hospital, Qld

Postgraduate medical exams are best tackled by likening yourself to an athlete your brain being your strongest yet most flexible muscle. The muscle that will be worked beyond what you thought was possible.

Patsys second book (written with her son, Kell) is an extension of her initial delivery of an approach to study, but now explores why we are not alone in the experience of what is an all-consuming vortex of work and study. This book could be completed front to back, or as per the chapter that applies to you. Its conversational, yet impassioned prose is designed for easy reading, which is perfect for any time-poor student tackling adult learning alongside life itself.

Dr Kristen Tuffin MBBS

Advanced Trainee in Anaesthesia (ANZCA)

Victorian Regional Training Network

Ballarat Health/Austin Hospital

Heidelberg, Victoria

I was four months pregnant with our third son when I failed the RACGP written exams on my first attempt. After extended maternity leave, and returning to work part-time, my confidence to attack them again was in the gutter. I felt like I never had enough time to study everything I needed to know, and I was struggling to enjoy time with my family. I was totally overwhelmed and didnt believe I could do it.

A friend recommended Patsy, and it was without a doubt the saving grace. Honestly, I only studied the way Patsy advised me to study. I breathed the way she advised me to breathe. I slept. I spent time with the family. And I trusted the science and physiology behind everything she was recommending, everything that is recommended in this book. My memory improved, my exam technique improved, and my quality of life was miraculously steady. I passed each written exam on the second go, and then my clinical exam the first time. I will be forever thankful for navigating my path to Fellowship with Patsy and cannot thank her enough.

Dr Anna Corbin

BMedSci MBBS FRACGP

RAAF Base Williamtown, Health Centre

Patsy taught me to work smarter, not harder. She restored my faith in my own ability to pass the Fellowship exam. I recommend her to all my registrar colleagues, whether they are struggling or not.

Dr Jean ORiordan

MB BCh BAO FRACS (Urol)

Patsys earlier book Ace Your Medical Exams distilled her vast knowledge and experience, focussing on clinical examinations. This new book by Patsy and Kell is based on their vast experience and illustrated through case-based teaching, which always appeals to medicos. If our junior doctors (and senior medical students) read it carefully and implement the key strategies for success, then contentment and happiness will follow!

Professor John Watson AM

BSc (Hons 1), MB, BS (Hons1), MD (Syd), DPhil (Oxon), FRACP, GAICD

Patsy and Kell have a wealth of knowledge that they have taken the time to collate in this fabulous resource that I would strongly recommend to any doctor who is preparing for exams in their vocational training pathway. I was embarrassed to read through this book and reflect on how much well-meaning misdirection I have given to junior doctors in retelling war stories about my own marathon study timetable!

Instead, I will now be handing them a copy of this excellently constructed guide to much more efficient and effective study that will allow junior doctors to maintain their wellbeing and health while also achieving excellent academic results. Thank you both for supporting the medical profession in such a meaningful way.

Dr Bronwyn Avard

FCICM, MLMEd, PGCertCU, BMed

College Examiner

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Patsy and Kell have joined forces to combine their knowledge and experience in this book to help junior doctors ace their exams and triumph over a system that is stacked against them. This alliance has made for a very strong and dynamic psychology practice, with Patsy having decades of experience working in this industry, and Kell having an up-to-date rigorous research background.

Patsy and Kell have PhDs in psychophysiology and psychology respectively, and their career paths have many similarities.

For instance, both work at Western Sydney University. Patsy is an adjunct associate professor in psychology and Kell is a senior lecturer in the same department. At the same time, they each have different areas of expertise that they bring to this book. Kell lectures in subjects such as resilience, sleep hygiene, and factors that increase well-being and performance. Patsy loves non-verbal communication and the shortcuts to effective study and creative testing of exam components.