Exams, here we come

At last, the exams are about to start. This year, revision has been so much harder than last year, mostly reflecting the complexity of the subject areas. And I think that last year the focus was on just covering the basics, making sure that everybody was up to speed, including those who hadn't previously studied biology. Lucky for those whose degrees take just three years - my course is four years, and last year doesn't count at all towards the final grade. Which is a pity, since there's no way I can match last year's marks.

In previous revision periods, I've written little blog summaries of what I've been learning as I've gone along. I'm told by my blog statistics that 'Digestion: the facts' is one of the most popular pages in the blog. That pretty much hasn't been possible this time, partly because I've felt much less confident that I'd get everything done in time, and partly because immunology, endocrinology and mammalian development are so complicated that simple blog summaries aren't possible. I might have done it with the molecular pharming module, but there hasn't been time. Perhaps I'll do some after the pressure's off - I'd really like to write about Golden Rice. And I'll be re-posting the three segments about the edible Hepatitis B vaccine very soon.

The other difference is that last year, the the exams were scheduled one week earlier. Given that I've put in a similar number of hours revision per day this year, I would have been in a bad way without that extra week. As it is, I'm just about ready for this first one, although my brain is fried, and holding a conversation is quite beyond me this evening.