Medical Biophysics I + II

One of the big three subjects in the first year and also one that most students do not take seriously. This is a mistake as it is as hard or maybe harder than the both Anatomy and Chemistry.This is a year long course that consists of practical experiment lab time and lectures. In addition to this a report of each experiment must be completed and passed. A data sheet will be given to you at the start of the year indicating what lab will be done each week. Take a picture of this so you know which lab sheet to bring in each week so you don't have to bring in the entire folder. There is an official course book but I didn't look at it once. So far many of the topics covered in this subject do come up again in the 2nd (Physiology), 3rd (Medical Imaging) and 4th (Radiology) year in different contexts, learn it well the first time and your life will be easier later on

How to pass 

Before you start the course make sure you know or at least review some basic algebra techniques, basic electronics knowlege and report writing. (e.g. rearranging equations, what are volts, amps etc. and what to write in a conclusion) Doing this will help you pass the first few weekly tests and lab reports and understand the material better.

The lab attendance is recorded, don’t miss more than three, or make up for it with another group (plan ahead, if you know you can't make your class on friday,talk to a friend in another class earlier in the week, if you attend 9/10 labs and your exam is about the one you missed you can be fucked.

Don't miss a lab, theory will be given before each experiment and it is generally better than the lectures

Bring in the relevant lab worksheet, it has additional information plus ready made tables for entering in experiment results

Make sure you have written the introduction for the days' lab before you arrive, you may be kicked out of the class and given an absence if you did not do it

Go to every lecture, they are not always great but they give you a good indication on what is going to be on a mid-term

If you are having trouble with some topics watch the Yair Meiry videos on you tube, they will give you the basics that you can add upon

Don't copy a past report and hand it in, the teachers and TA's are not idiots and will know (Also you are going to have to make a lab report - mostly orally but with graphs and calculations - on the exam, if you just copied someone and didn't do it yourself you are going to fail your exam)

However, using the theory-part from a past report is mostly acceptable, it is there for you only and the teacher will not generally look at it

Past papers will only work so far in this subject, use then as a guide rather than memorising the answers.

☀http://i.imgur.com/aOIjwiU.jpg (here's an example for the theory test in Physics, a bunch of these together are called past-papers, the teachers know we have them and do their best to make sure the questions don't pop up again, so MEMORIZING past-papers is a waste of time, HOWEVER, studying past-papers and WORKING out how the answers work is very useful.

Do not memorise the formulas, they are in your formula sheet and will be given to you in a test LEARN WHERE TO FIND AND HOW TO CHANGE THE FORMULAS IN THE GIVEN SHEET.

Do learn what the formulas mean and what they consist of

Do know where the formulas that you are likely to need are in the formula sheet

Practise transforming the equations so you can do it very fast and know how to substitute equations into each other

Know every S.I. unit and how to convert to it (This point alone fucks many people, learn how to convert cm3 to Liters and how many zeros there are in a microgram or a nanometer.

Find a guide to the calculations where the answer and the method has been explained, doing on your own from nothing takes too much time

LEARN HOW TO MAKE A FUCKING LAB REPORT. I'm saying this again because way too many people shoot themselves in the foot by not learning how to make a graph.

Aim for the semi final and final entry test exemptions, they save an enormous amount of time studying (You will be exempt from the WRITTEN part of the exam by achieving an average of 7/10 on your weekly tests, if you are close you can talk to your teacher and try to make a deal (good luck lol))

Flow, ECG and Diffusion are a very important topics that will come up in greater amounts again in Physiology in the 2nd year, if you learn it well first time it will be easier later, ECG is a complex topic that also appears at the start of the 3rd year.

Exams
Mathematical and Physical Basis of Medical Biophysics (only in first semester) Midterm:
 * 40 (if I'm not mistaken) multiple choice questions
 * Calculations
 * 4 definition questions
 * If you get 80%< on the calculations you get exempted from the lab and calculation parts on the first attempt on the semi-final exam

Entrance exam Oral exam: ==The difficulties    == In order to go on with Biophysics I in the first semester, you need to pass a multiple choice test on basic physics (as of 2016). This might be challenging to students who have not done physics before.
 * 2 calculations
 * 1 lab problem plus theory (This will essentially be the same as making a lab-report without any assistance, they will give you a computer with Excel 2009, you will be given lab results and you have to convert (calculate and graph) that into a conclusion (e.g. "From my result i can conclude that lead absorbs more radiation than ice-cream")
 * 2 theoretical questions (These questions will be based on the template shown in the Physics Final Mathafacka.pdf, ask around and find someone who has this and can share it.)

Failing a semi final / final with exemption will cause the loss of the exemption for the retake

Thermodynamics is very hard and will come up again in the 2nd year

You cannot CV a failed first semester and continue with the second. Getting an average of lower than 50% on the two midterms will result in having to do a retake, which includes material from the whole year. If both retake exams result in failure, you will fail the semester. Failing three attempts on the basic physics test will also result in failure of the semester. In both cases you will need to repeat first year physics again the next year and you will probably be stopped from taking Physiology I in the second year.

==Conclusion    == Of the first year main 3 subjects this should become the easiest by the end of the year but it's very difficult at the beginning. A week of study before exams should give you a great chance of passing.

There is a book that accompanies the subject but I didn't look at it once and still passed. If you want to pass the competition then reading it is a must.