This is a presentation summarising some of my conclusions after 2nd ye

1. 2nd Year Wisdom.
Info for Cambridge 2nd year medical students
and anyone else who’s interested ;-)
by Christiane Riedinger 2012

2. Some info upfront.
No doubt, 2nd year is challenging, in terms of layout but also in terms of mass.
The content to learn is huge: ~200 lectures and practicals with at least 1500 pages of text to absorb.
Nothing seems off-limits in exams.
Working steadily throughout the year is the only way to get through without a last-minute panic.
To sum up:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/30-awesome-teachers-you-wish-you-had

3. Negative marking.
Negatively marked exams are scary and unpleasant.
But with the right exam technique, everyone can do it.
You need to find out how much you know and how well you know it:
• Work through the exam content by sets of questions arranged by subject
• Answer and highlight the questions of which you are 100% certain (I)
• Answer and highlight the questions of which you are not certain but think you know the
answer (2)
• guess and highlight those questions where you have no clue what the answer is (3)
Now evaluate your results.
• is the percentage of answers in group (1) high enough? do you get a high enough score to
pass? if not, study more... don’t guess more!
• does answering the questions in group (2) give you a better or worse score? if yes, you can
be more confident. if not, you can’t afford to answer when you’re not 100% sure... study more.
• in the exam, you should always leave some answers blank (3), unless you are a genius or an
extremely lucky b****rd ;-)

4. The learning curve.
(For me, a graduate student not having to write essays and not having any holidays,)
Proficiency the learning curve felt really steep all year
until very shortly before exams.
However these last few weeks/days when you’ve arrived at the
shallow bit are the best time to appreciate the connections
between the different subjects and lift your knowledge to the
next level.
Many subjects are interrelated and pulling it all together is the
best preparation for the clinical years, so it’s good to arrive there
as early as possible.
Time to exams
(Perhaps the undergrads will reach the shallow bit earlier? I hope so for you guys!)

5. The subjects.
A mini-overview of all the subjects and a quick word of advice on each of them:
Pathology Pharmacology Neurology Reproductive Biology
• Immunology • Drug-Receptor Interactions • Cerebral bloodflow and CSF • Endocrinology
• Virology • Neural transmission • Somatic sensation and pain • Ethics
• TSEs • Cardiovascular • Motor systems • Sexual Differentiation
• Parasitology • Renal • Sensory systems • Gonads, Gametes and ovarian cycle
• Fungi • Pharmacokinetics • Development • Fertilisation
• Bacteriology • Inflammation • Motivation • Pregnancy
• Cardiovascular • Chemotherapy • Mental Illness • Population
• Cancer • Memory • STDs
Every single word of the • Cognition
Immunology is the • Pharmacology Needs the least amount of work of
handout can come up in all subjects. No negative marking.
most important path the exam, especially the
subject as it is footnotes! The first term is more
contained in all other physiological, the second
subjects covered Needs by far the most term more psychological,
later in the year. Make amount of work, not only but still requires
sure you start the because of the negative understanding of complex
year knowing this marking. information.
well.
Even though there is no
Negative marking in negative marking, the open
the exam means you questions require quite
need to know intense preparation.
everything well and
with certainty.

6. The connections.
The lines show subjects that are interrelated.
Just appreciate the connections, no need to look at the details.
Pathology Pharmacology Neurology Reproductive Biology
• Immunology • Drug-Receptor Interactions • Cerebral bloodflow and CSF • Endocrinology
• Virology • Neural transmission • Somatic sensation and pain • Ethics
• TSEs • Cardiovascular • Motor systems • Sexual Differentiation
• Parasitology • Renal • Sensory systems • Gonads, Gametes and ovarian cycle
• Fungi • Pharmacokinetics • Development • Fertilisation
• Bacteriology • Inflammation • Motivation • Pregnancy
• Cardiovascular • Chemotherapy • Mental Illness • Population
• Cancer • Memory • STDs
• Cognition
• Pharmacology
• Neuroanatomy
You can immediately see that there are no horizontal lines...
This is why most things only come together in the end, when you have worked through the whole material.
Ideally, subjects should be taught alongside each other, but now you know what to expect.
You have to be patient... ;-)

7. The connections. ...more pleasantly displayed showing interrelated topics.
Signaling
Receptors
Pathology Immunology Pharmacology
Cardiovascular
Bacteriology
Parasitology
Cancer
Chemotherapy
Signaling & Receptors
some of Virology, TSEs Neural transmission
(perhaps these two have the least in common)
Inflammation
Histopathology Neurology Signaling
Immunology Receptors
Hypothalamus
Pituitary
Reproductive Biology & Ethics

8. The connections. ...now the most important connections are highlighted.
Signaling
Receptors
Pathology Immunology Pharmacology
Cardiovascular
Bacteriology
Parasitology
Cancer
Chemotherapy
Signaling and Receptors
some of Virology, TSEs Neural transmission
(perhaps these two have the least in common)
Inflammation
Histopathology Neurology Signaling
Immunology Receptors
Hypothalamus
Pituitary
Reproductive Biology & Ethics

9. The gist of this introduction.
Now we know how things connect, and it is useful to keep
this in mind when learning individual subjects throughout the year.
Most connections are obvious, so no need to spell them all out in more detail.
However, when I was studying, I found myself constantly referring back
to a single set of notes no matter what subject I was looking at.
These were my notes on signaling and receptors.
Out of all the connections between topics,
SIGNALING AND RECEPTORS
touches on almost every subject in second year.
I found it really useful to have all the info about this in a single place.
This is what the rest of this presentation is about.
Use it as a reference whenever you need to.
Hopefully it will save you some time!

10. Signaling and receptors.
Cell surface receptors:
• Ionotropic receptors
• Metabotropic receptors
• GPCRs
• Tyrosine kinase receptors
• Intracellular receptors
Cell signaling molecules:
• Substances released at the synapse
• Arachidonic acid derivatives
• Cytokines

11. Signaling and receptors.
Remember from 1st year Biochemistry, there was something about G-proteins?
This year, G-proteins will become your best friend...
Cell surface receptors:
• Ionotropic receptors
• Metabotropic receptors
• GPCRs - this is one of the most important topics this year.
• Tyrosine kinase receptors
• Intracellular receptors
Cell signaling molecules:
• Substances released at the synapse
• Arachidonic acid derivatives
• Cytokines

12. Because they are so important, let’s start off with GPRCs.

13. AHHH! - It’s 6 months later and I have run out of time to finish this presentation!
That’s why I’ve now just scanned my most used MODA flashcards on GPCRS
in the hope that you find them useful.
Stage 2 keeps me pretty busy and I will probably not get back to seriously
creating more website content until June 2013... SORRY

14. Muscarinic AChR
stupid pneumonic: quit it quickly

15. Adrenoreceptors
stupid pneumonic: quit it sufficiently slowly

16. Adenosinereceptors
stupid pneumonic: see simplicity quickly

17. Histamine Receptors
stupid pneumonic: quit smoking immediately (or) quickly

18. Serotonin Receptors
stupid pneumonic: improved quality ion source (my favourite ;-))

19. Opiate Receptors
stupid pneumonic: opiates intoxicate instantly

20. Prostaglandin Receptors
extremely stupid pneumonic: stupid SI unitS

21. Dopamine Receptors
stupid pneumonic: dopamine sucks intensely

22. Angiotensin Receptors

23. Imidazoline Receptors

24. Bradykinin Receptors

25. Endothelin Receptors

26. Purinergic Receptors

27. Other

28. To be continued....