There are two main sides to the current internal war.
One is convinced we are going to fail the exam no matter how hard we study. This is regarded as the Worst Thing. It leads directly into some pretty nasty catastrophizing and self-deprecation, even though we have gone over again and again the plan for what happens if we do fail out.
The other is convinced we can only pass the exam if we study every waking moment, and push ourself too much. While the first side brings some kind of peace (”We’re going to fail anyway so we don’t have to break ourself trying to study”), this side brings only anxiety. The feeling that we need to be studying at all times. That if we slack off for even an hour, we are going to fail, and it will be our fault.
All of this is very difficult for me to navigate. My take on the situation is this:
We have high odds of failure. That said, we also have 2 additional attempts to take the exam this year. Following that, we can re-apply to take the exam next year; tedious, but possible.
If we fail out this year, it is not a sign of our potential. It is a sign that we have been out of school and out of the field for a year and a half. Reviewing an entire 2 years of academic and clinical information takes time. Time that we did not manage well, true--and we can be better about that for the next attempt, if necessary.
Studying involves balance. You can not study effectively if you are not taking care of your body and mind--spending every moment studying, or worrying about studying, is counterproductive to information retention.
Even if we fail, we will be all right.