How to Avoid Burnout?

Feeling some level of stress, worry and anxiety while preparing for the MCAT and medical school applications is absolutely normal. Some experts believe that these emotions may motivate certain individuals to study and learn.

However, excessive stress and negative thinking can lead to procrastination and negative emotional states that are unhelpful to create an effective studying state and may hinder progress.

The first step to building a healthy study mindset is to identify sources of stress so that you can address them. Based on our years of teaching experience, common sources of stress we have noticed are:

1. Time pressure: When beginning MCAT preparation many test-takers aim to finish in a specific number of weeks, months, or days. As Test Day draws nearer, they realize there is far more to complete than time they have left or are not hitting their target scores and will not be able to do so over the time remaining. The lack of time or needing to write by a certain date create feelings of fear, negative thinking, and low self-confidence – all which diminish good studying.
2. Procrastination: We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again – the MCAT is NOT like any exam that you have studied for previously! Test-takers often believe they have more than enough time and approach the exam too lightly. Towards the middle and end of their allotted study times, they notice much more time and effort will be needed to reach their goals. By this time they may not be able to meet their deadlines and considerable negative emotions and stress ensue.
3. Anxiety and need to prove you are capable: Many students studying for the MCAT set high target scores for themselves and some test-takers unfortunately tie their self-worth and esteem to test performance. As you race to show yourself just how much you can accomplish, you may neglect your physical and emotional health which can often cause stress and harm your performance. (Oh the irony!)
4. Burnout: We’re going to give it to you straight – doing nothing except studying for the MCAT for 3 months, 7 days a week for 8 hours a day is a surefire way to drive yourself up a wall. DO NOT DO THIS! Burnout robs test-takers of their motivation to continue preparing and inevitably, performance is negatively impacted. But burnout is different for everyone and occurs at different times. Being self-aware and checking in with yourself can help make salient signs of exhaustion or lack of motivation early on.

KEY TAKEAWAY
Every individual has stressors that affect them in varying ways. The important part – also the difficult task at hand – is to become deeply aware of your stressors. Are there certain events, environments or situations that you find unnecessarily challenging and difficult to cope with? Become aware of what affects you and then actively work to address or target these aspects. By simply acknowledging the individual factors without working towards a solution to eliminating them, you will not be preparing yourself best for success. For example, if you know that time pressure adversely impacts your performance, you can address any overarching challenges by creating a schedule, speaking to a tutor or enrolling in a prep course that may give you structure and alleviate time concerns.

After knowing all of the stressors, what is the single best thing you can do to help you prepare ideally?

Make a study schedule and stick to it.

Your study schedule is essentially a map that leads you to optimal preparation for test day. Assuming you’ve factored in all of the content to know, have done sufficient practice, and scheduled time to address your areas of weakness, you have probably accounted not only for stress factors but are also on your way to achieving your best score.

Check out our take on how to create an MCAT study plan.

The MCAT is a monster of an exam and if you have been educated in the Canadian system, chances are that you’ve never written a standardized exam before. With the added stress of performing well, you may find yourself in periods of high stress and anxiety.

The first thing you can do is acknowledge how you are feeling and second, understand it is not uncommon to feel this way. There is probably a lot of importance you are placing on this exam and therefore, any feelings of stress and uncertainty are justified.

At the same time, by getting into medical school you are signing yourself up for four more years of exams and probably longer. Managing the stress and anxiety that come with sitting important exams is going to be a part of your life. If you haven’t already, the time to build coping skills is now. So where do you begin?

Having been in the teaching industry for years, one of the main pieces of advice we can give you is this: do not be afraid or hesitate to reach out and ask for help! Friends and peers can often act as stress relief and provide you with an outlet to think about and do things not related to the MCAT. Interacting with others in your MCAT prep course or members of a study group may help bring awareness to the fact that you’re not in this alone and others to are experiencing similarly.

We also recommend engaging in healthy activities that keep you active. Over the years, study after study has found that there is a strong positive correlation between levels of physical fitness and academic performance. Scientists hypothesize that exercise improves concentration, memory and sleep. Physical activity may not be thought of as ‘support’ but it too alleviates the stresses of studying.

In a more traditional sense, support can also be sought from professional sources. MCAT instructors and tutors can offer support and guidance specifically related to this exam based on their teaching experiences. Though the variety of students they’ve worked with and the sheer range of experiences they have at their disposal, booking time with an instructor may help you discover strategies that work for you. Psychotherapists and other mental health professionals are also a great outlet for support. Cognitive behavioural therapy and other forms of psychological practices have been known to help a variety of students and may help in building lifelong stress coping skills.