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If there is anything that the nursing community can agree on when it comes to reflecting on nursing school, it’s that Med Surg can really make your head spin! I remember going into my program and being terrified at the thought of Med Surg and just hoping I could make it through. Well, friend, I did it. And I’m here to tell you that you can too – and you will!  Here are a few study tips that helped me become a “Med Surg Survivor”: 

1. Read that book! The book is where your professors are going to get their information from to create those exam questions, so might as well put it to use.
   
2. Take your own notes! This may sound daunting to some, but I absolutely love having my own notes to quickly refer to in case I need to.  These also came in handy when it came time to working on my study guides for my final exams.
   
3. PRACTICE QUESTIONS, PRACTICE QUESTIONS, PRACTICE QUESTIONS! Anyone who knows me, knows that I fully believe in doing all the practice questions/EAQs through Elsevier.  The more, the merrier is my motto. Even if you do 10-20 questions a day… those will add up quickly and you’ll feel more prepared for your exams. 
   
4. Look up YouTube videos! I understand that reading the book isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, so that’s where I would recommend looking up YouTube videos regarding different topics that may not be clicking as well as you are reading the material. I still to this day can hear the voices of different YouTube content and it’s definitely saved me on exam questions.
   
5. Go the extra mile! Complete those study guides from your professors, attend exam reviews, teach the content to others, reach out to your professors – do it all. The more you are exposing yourself to the material in different ways, the more it will reflect not only in your grades, but your career as a nurse. I made sure to always complete any study guides that were provided to us, and I’d read through the completed study guide 2-3 times.  When attending exam reviews, I made sure to take notes throughout the review session so I could refer back to them when I continued to study and made sure to come ready with any questions that I had for my professors.   

You are about to move Med Surg mountains, my friend! The world is full of nurses, so that means that people are passing their Med Surg courses, and you are on the path to joining them. YOU GOT THIS!