Studying Physiotherapy at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels comes with multiple academic and personal challenges as well as the exams that prove your competency can be difficult to navigate. To be able to practise independently as a Physiotherapist, you must pass various exams, and in order to pass these exams, an effective game plan for studying is crucial. To help you succeed, we have put together several tips for Physiotherapy exam preparation that other students have used to successfully pass their exams.

Start Studying Early & Carefully Manage Your Time

Studying Physiotherapy can become exhausting at times. Between your classroom lectures, practical sessions, and clinical placements, it may feel as if you get minimal time to study or even sleep. Because of this, it is important that you start preparing for exams early on in the academic year. We would recommend that you create a personal timeline that includes specific dates for each individual topic you need to learn. After this, aim to study all of these topics throughout each semester and plan to leave enough time to review older material as well. Despite this diligent approach, do your best to avoid excessive studying – be sure to take some time for yourself as this will rejuvenate you and stave off the dreaded burnout.

Find The Right Location & People

As exam day draws closer, it may be tempting to study in any location where you have time to stop and read. Although, it is possible to find a location that allows you to study more efficiently. Whether it’s a library, a coffee shop, somewhere on campus, or even the peace of your accommodation, work out where you seem to best focus on your work and keep that location for studying only. This might take some trial & error, but that is fine provided you give yourself plenty of time to work out the best location for you well in advance before exam day. Studying in groups can be advantageous as everyone in the group can share their knowledge and get help from others to fill knowledge gaps or improve a particular skill. To get the most out of group studying, ensure your study group is committed to learning rather than discussing non-academic matters.

Do Practice Exams Little & Often

Taking practice exams early on in the academic year will help you become more familiar with the application of your knowledge to answer similar questions that would appear in your exams. Your university may offer numerous past paper questions for which you can practise under time-limited conditions or you could use the extensive AcePhysio question bank to practise quick-fire questions or case study questions under different conditions of your preference. You can also manually repeat the same questions from your university past paper questions over time with spaced intervals, however, the AcePhysio question bank automatically does this for you by repeating questions you previously answered incorrectly to allow you to re-attempt the question, read the answer rationale and consolidate your knowledge – this is efficient learning. Not only will you become more confident going into the exam, but you will also be able to identify your strengths and weaknesses, and most importantly modify your study routine based on these strengths and weaknesses.

Please Look After Yourself

The literature on academic performance and self-care is clear, showing that students who actively take care of all aspects of their health (physical, mental & social) tend to perform better in examinations compared to their peers who do not invest time and effort into their health. To optimise memory recall and decision-making, you need to have a healthy and balanced diet with adequate sleep. Sleep appears to be the easiest aspect to sacrifice but we highly recommend that you strive to get at least seven hours of sleep every night, aiming to go to bed and wake up at the same time each day – this helps you get into a healthy sleep routine.

We understand it can be difficult to follow these tips at times, especially when you have many things on the to-do list to complete, but focussing on these simple habits will make a significantly positive difference in the future. Comment below if you have any useful tips you would like to share with the AcePhysio community and click the link below to start your exam preparation early with our question bank!

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