The AMC prep continues

I'm in week 2 of my 6 weeks full-time AMC study prep.

We moved house last week which threw a massive spanner in the works. I sacrificed my study time to unpack and set up furniture to be able to live. It's so much more time consuming with kids, plus our new place needed a number of immediate renos. I love it though, so much character and oh boy was it a bargain for where it is. All I see is the potential. I just want to stay there but who knows where I'll get my internship next year.

I'm still studying AMC Handbook of MCQs against Murtaghs as my primary focus, then looking at some other topics that are known to come up in the AMC part 1.

My colleagues have been doing well passing their exams which makes me more optimistic, although they are a lot smarter than I am!

That's all I have to update, I have to reach my set daily study questions quota in the library before I go home. Luckily I moved just around the corner so I can go home for lunch break. Today I want to do 20 questions which should take 8-10 hours.

AMC prep

My AMC prep is now in full-swing.

My 3yo has started kinder two days a week from 9-2 and I put the baby in daycare the same times. Then I go to the library and study.

I was also doing Sundays at the library (6 hours) which was fantastic but hubby was feeling the exhaustion a little too much so I decided to drop the Sundays and hope and pray the kinder hours are enough.

Hubs has 6 weeks off starting week after next. I will be studying full-time during that time. I have broken the AMC handbook down into 6 weeks and will complete all the questions and do the necessary back-reading in Murtaghs etc. This will be the bulk of my prep.

I am still intending on taking AMC1 mid-year. I would LOVE to postpone it to end of year but I'm not sure how much more benefit I would get as I'm wanting to return to work part-time as well as my long service leave pay is about to finish.

Happily, my brain is finally able to switch into student/doctor-mode the times the kids are in care, which is fantastic. I finally feel like myself again. I'd personally prefer twice as many hours to study but that is not my current reality. I'd love to stay up at night an study when they go to bed but to behest, I am exhausted by then and bubs is still waking twice a night. I don't think I can do it. Maybe closer to the exam I'll caffeinate myself eve further.

In the past I'd watch a doctor show like ER to get me motivated when I'm feeling like a professional student and not a doctor but seeing as I haven't really watched TV since the kids were born, now when I do-so it just seems so lame. BUT, someone did recommend I read When Breath Becomes Air and that definitely sparked some motivation within me. I think I should try and get another medical memoir to read.

Having kids...it's just such a huge obstacle for mothers wanting to do anything else than be a mother. I am so thankful to have this current balance. The kids are loving kinder/daycare so mum-guilt is not very strong right now. Baby smiles and waves when he sees the educators at daycare. He happily plays with their toys and naps better than at home. I think he is benefitting from the daycare as much as I am.

In my vast experience as a mother (lol), I believe that finding the right balance is unique to each family, takes trial and error to find, and is immensely dynamic require readjusting the sails as you voyage.

I am very, very nervous about AMC, but each day I study my optimism grows a fraction. The honest truth is, I am not confident because I am simply not ready, I haven't studied enough and my knowledge is not where it is expected to be. I will overcome this by studying more and improving my knowledge as preparation is the best cure for nervousness.