Medical Microbiology I + II

 Medical Microbiology a.k.a. the sketchy micro course. A whole year of memorising bacteria, viruses, protozoa, fungi and helminths along with various diagnostic tests. How to pass

If you don't know about sketchy micro yet then look it up, it is the single best source of help for this subject

If you just want to pass and grades are not important for you then Sketchy micro will consist of 75% of the work you will do, the Katalin notes will provide the rest

If you want the top grade you will have to comb carefully through the lectures

The sketchy videos do get less useful are the year goes on so you will need to add additional information yourself

The lectures are not brilliant, its mostly just a list of things that you need to memorise, there is nothing to understand really

I wouldn't suggest going to the lectures unless you are using them to re-enforce subjects you have already learnt, it is easier and quicker to read them yourself

I also didn't find the labs to be useful or interesting, some teachers will go through everything and take the whole 2 hour lab time, others will just give you the basics of what you need to know and finish early, you should decide which would be best for you

Bacteria - this is the section you should know the most, almost every subject in the exam can be reverted back to this

Fungi - Since they are very similar try to remember the differences

Protozoa - learn some morphological differences but not in detail

Helminths - focus on the life cycle

Virus - know the basics of its DNA, RNA, caspids etc.

I focused on the diseases and pathology because I want to be a doctor and not a microbiologist and this seemed to be acceptable to each examiner that I had

Most teachers are open to negotiations about the content and date of the midterms so try and get a deal that works best for you The lab exam is done at the end of the second semester, again it will have no significance and is completely useless medically Don't bother studying for this, you will not fail The competition is also not really worth doing, you will not have to answer the bacteria topic in the final if you pass but due to the fact that all other topics can have specific bacteria questions asked with them you will still have to revise this topic thoroughly

The exams
2 midterms The grade will not have any significance at all, you need to get 80% to pass Lab exam Semi final Final Still dependant on the examiner, some will be happy with the sketchy information and will not ask anything more, others will want some extra information
 * 5 open questions of the material from the lectures done so far
 * Identify
 * 1 microscope slide
 * 2 test tubes or agar plates
 * 3 topics
 * One topic from each of the following:
 * <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:16.5pt;vertical-align:baseline">General bacteriology - Katalin notes
 * <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:16.5pt;vertical-align:baseline">Systemic bacteriology - Sketchy Micro
 * <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:16.5pt;vertical-align:baseline">Bacterial diagnostics - Katalin notes
 * 5 topics
 * One topic from each of the following:
 * General bacteriology - Katalin notes
 * Systemic bacteriology - Sketchy Micro
 * Systemic virology - Sketchy Micro
 * Systematic mycology and parasitology - Sketchy Micro
 * Clinical microbiology and microbiological diagnostics - Katalin notes

Difficulties
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:4.8pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt; margin-left:0cm;line-height:16.5pt;vertical-align:baseline"> There is a lot of information to remember and it can seem very daunting at first

There are a lot of similarities between all the microorganisms

<h2 class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:12.0pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom: 12.0pt;margin-left:0cm;line-height:16.5pt;vertical-align:baseline">Conclusion If you watch some the the sketchy micro videos weekly and re-watch older ones every now and again you will only need a few days to study for these exams