MIND CONTROL FOR USMLE

The thought process is a subject that is rarely discussed and one that can have a powerful effect in your performance during a standardized test, in this case the steps, for many candidates the stress and anxiety builds up from what they are thinking minutes before they start doing the test as well as during the test itself. It is possible to take control of our thoughts and change them into something that will generate our best performance.

It is when you are by yourself sitting in front of that computer that all of this happens, when you make a pause between questions or blocks, ideas start to come up that may generate anxiety or insecurity in what you are doing, I will discuss some ideas that may come up during the exams.

 Thought produce feelings and modify our behavior so it’s important to have a positive mindset during the test, ideas that can limit your performance are related to the difficulty of the test, pressure to get a high score, its importance in your career or the idea that you are not doing very well, these are some examples of ideas that come up while answering questions or in between blocks of questions.

First it’s important to clarify that this is a big test, meaning it has a lot of questions, its common to feel you are not doing well enough since every question you don’t know or when you take a random guess makes you feel like failing, the feeling is greater than reality and this is something you should take with you to the test, you might feel like you are failing but in reality it could be for example because you have made 5 random guesses in a block of questions,  this represents a really low percentage of that block and you don’t know if the next block will have less, although in your mind you think there will be even more and suddenly you may start thinking about overall failure in the test, like a snowball effect, this is a wrong perception that will generate anxiety, and make you feel anxious and desperate about its consequences,  always remember that in these exams you may feel overwhelmed because of its length but it does not mean you are failing at all, it’s just a feeling, replace your idea and it will change what you feel, so instead of thinking there is something you don’t know, start thinking about all the questions you did know and the test will start to feel easier. 

Thinking a step is hard will make it hard, so think about the tons of people already in resident positions over the years and you will see that this is not impossible, instead this is possible, if so many before have done it you can get your goals too, from now on think about the exams as something easy, you can do this, it’s not above your possibilities in fact it’s just a start for what great achievements you will make in your life.

Visualize, this is an important technique for all sports, and it will help you too, to visualize is to imagine, everyone can use this as a tool for better performance, close your eyes for a second and imagine yourself getting your score transcript with and excellent score, it’s a perfect score, now imagine what you may feel about this result, see yourself in a perfect place, doing what you like, in the place that you want to be, imagine yourself walking in the hospital, taking the rounds, see it all as detailed as possible, when you feel all that good things coming your way, open your eyes and continue with what your where doing, this is an important tool that will help you during your preparation and while you are in the test room. Visualize as many times as needed and you will feel more relaxed during your tests.

Focus, we are only aware of  things that receive our attention, this means that for example if I ask you

what’s going on in Denmark, it’s very likely you don’t know and couldn’t possibly know because it was out of your focus of attention, like this example to avoid thinking about anything else focus on each question, not about the last, not about the clock, not about the ones you have left unanswered, just the one in front of you, stay focused during your tests and your performance will be better.

Hopefully this ideas will help you in your exams, if you have other experiences and ideas, please share them with us in the comments, 

Dont forget to visit us at www.usmleprepguide.com and try our tutoring guides for all usmle steps, also if you have any comments or advice for fellow candidates leave it in the comment section.