If you or someone you know are preparing to take exams that you actually already dread just imagining preparing for them, this is for you.

Eventhough I have always believed that whatever works for one person might not work for another, I still would very much like to share what did wonders for me in my quest through different board certification examinations given in two countries. All in the hope that I would be able to help others who see the entire experience as a seemingly daunting and impossible task.

In all three instances I did have around, under 4 months to prepare. I also enrolled in review programs prior to studying on my own for a brief period of time. I took a Dental Board Examination in the Philippines and two Nursing Board Exams one in the Philippines and another one, the NCLEX-RN given by the Nursing Board of California. I passed all three on my first attempt.

Attitude is Everything. As it is in almost any endeavor, everything starts with the right attitude-- and outlook! It is imperative that you come and set yourself out to start with the right frame of mind, knowing and believing that the task at hand is possible to surmount and that in the end you would achieve what you came for to accomplish. Throughout my experiences in review classes, groups, sets of friends going through the same exam preparations, those who are chronic doubters and those who are pessimists, they are the ones who actually end up failing the exams. The moment that you allow even just an iota of doubt regarding your ability and capacity of earning that much coveted license, or advancing in your respective career, it sends a wrong signal to your brain and to your whole body in general. It tells every cell in your genetic makeup not to cooperate. You actually become psyched into believing that a concept, a principle or even a simple formula is not something that you can understand and make sense of. When you start to see something as an extremely hard subject matter to even begin to understand, it is already almost impossible to master whatever way you study it. Exams that give professional licenses to practice in a respective field or career, are all about mastery of concepts. I never really entertained self doubt much for I saw how unhelpful it could be. I have always told myself that because I work hard I deserve to emerge triumphant. Hard work plus a great deal of positivity is equal to success!

Look for books, review programs and materials that would eventually gain your faith and confidence. There is nothing more encouraging about reading and studying than having faith in your mind and heart that what you have in your hands are extremely competent materials from reputable authors and publishers, successful review centers and just about the right people in the academe and in the review industry. I don't want to send the wrong signal though, that enrolling in a review course is a sure fire way of passing. But I have proven in my experience that it pays to be guided by people who are in the know about just what an exam would be. Furthermore, they are also people who have extensive and in depth knowledge of core concepts that really matter and need focus during your review and even beyond the exams, in your future practice. These people may also be your mentors and teachers , they could also be previous examinees who can guide you in picking the right books and resource materials. You don't want to be wasting your time with a thick book that would not present to you the knowledge base that you need in your exams and even later on in your actual practice.

Be Prepared with Your Materials. Sort, organize and organize. I can only emphasize too much on having your books, notes and review materials neatly compiled and sorted according to subject matter. In this way you will not find yourself swimming in a sea of papers, notes and what-have -yous that are already confusing to even know which subject area they tackle, to ever begin with. Such is a really terrible way to maintain one's sanity in a situation that requires a huge deal of emotional stability. Being systematic would pay off really well. Then, think of the review as you would in storing and organizing your things at home. It is easier to locate items if they are systematically stored. If you have been systematic and organized too in studying and storing information in your memory bank, you would have excellent retrieval of properly organized and most likely, accurate information. I believe this lessens the occurence of what most sudents call, a mental block.

I would also suggest for you to organize materials unto the level of difficulty they present, In that way you would tend to devote much time and energy to those areas that need much attention. It is in this fashion that you wouldn't end up worrying your head off regarding an enemy subject that you have constantly avoided throughout school. It is never too late to face the fear and conquer it. This time on your own, where no teacher or classroom setup hinders your own pace and your own unique style of learning.

Prepare or choose a special place that is conducive for studying. For someone who did not really have good study habits growing up as a child, this has proven to be a hard task for me. But it was never too late for me to have found the value and impact it offers to someone who seriously needs to study hard and comprehensively. You may find yourself cleaning up for a few days, not to mention decluttering and clearing up your chosen space of unwanted trash and distractions. Setting up proper lighting is equally important. When you start to associate a certain space with studying and learning. Your mind and body would slowly pick up that vibe whenever you spend time in that certain area. If you are one of the few lucky people who have access to libraries and you actually do have the time and resources to go to one, It would also be very ideal ( but consider preparation and travel time that you may be using up, snacks and food that you might need to have for being away from home).

Develop a schedule and a routine that gives emphasis on study time but which also involves a healthy balance of much needed activities. It is impossible to just spend all waking hours reading and studying. In fact, after two to three hours of uninterrupted studying, it slowly becomes harder for the average human brain to still absorb what it is being fed with. It's absolutely fine to take a break and do something that would be relaxing. It all depends on what a person would find relaxing. It is all about diverting your attention and simply taking a breather. For after a while, information isn't the only thing that pile up, but tension and stress too! Maybe a game in the computer or a short sitcom or one's favorite t.v. show would do.

Exercise is very important. It is valuable for a reviewee to strive to squeeze it into the schedule. It allows for a healthy circulation of blood and nutrients throughout the body especially through the organ that needs it the most at this time-- the brain. Exercise also provides optimum oxygenation. It would bring the body into thinking that every organ is pumped and ready to face any challenge-- intellectual ones prove to be far more difficult than physical ones. Exercise is a great way to improve endurance and stamina, and well, just to at least keep you going and stay away from being sleepy. My husband would even laugh at me for doing exercise routines i devised myself, I do them whenever I feel my comprehension level would start to slow down. For him it was just plain funny and ridiculous, but it was my body's way of adapting to the demands of my study hours. Otherwise I would be sleeping even more than I really should ( I am really a big time sleepy head).

Ultimately, the schedule you would adapt is the one that would work for you. If you can only spend three uninterrupted and devoted hours for reading? That would be good enough. It all just boils down to the quality of the reading which would later translate to the level of comprehension and analysis you would accomplish.

Right nutrition can be a life saver. High fat diet makes one sleepy and sluggish. Junk food makes one constantly hungry because they are of no nutritive value. A steady source of just the right amount of glucose will be your friend. The brain feeds on glucose to really function well. Moreover, a hypoglycemic state brings one to become crabby and irritable. Loading up on too much carbohydrates though, especially if not from complex carbohydrates sources, could make one drowsy. I always go for complex carbohydrate food sources.

Vitamins, minerals and nutrients are still ideally obtained through a healthy balance of veggies, meat and dairy products, fruits are great too ( it is said that berries are brain foods!). Fish products that contain essential omega fatty acids are also a friend to the brain. In the end, it is all about considering the benefits of being guided by the food pyramid and making sure that all levels are represented at the right amount, shouldn't they be? studying or not?

Sleep. My absolute weapon i figured out every single time, is sleep. You can never underestimate the wonders of a good night's sleep. You have to give the brain a break. A time to process and store all the information you feed it with. Sleep (particularly, dream state) is a time when the human brain is regenerating. Sleep is brain fuel I believe! The human brain is like a muscle if it stretches out far more than it could take, it also becomes stiff and it comes to a halt. There is nothing wrong with making the most out of the human brain's power and potential, but that doesn't involve skipping sleep and rest. A Study says that the best time to sleep in order to get its full benefits is from 10pm to 4am. But I have a confession to make, most days, I end up sleeping in between reading. I never forced myself to read while trying to fight drowsiness off. I do some few moments of shut eye before reading again.

Don't just memorize. Analyze. This is the scenario. Someone i knew in review class has read 4,000 items of sample questions. Each item was discussed and each option rationalized as to why each was not the right answer, and then the correct option validated. That is like 4,000 concepts times 4 or 5! The brain gets jammed with information overload. The day of the test comes and several similar question came up, because the items were only memorized and not understood and analyzed, a slight modification in the format made the big difference. The examinee got confused and got almost all of them wrong.

A thorough comprehension and analysis of all the basic concepts would be the absolute key, it is in this way that more complex ones could be possibly dealt with and understood. There are absolutely no shortcuts! If you would strive to achieve this kind of command of all subject areas you would study on, no matter which way examination questions would try to trick you ( which they almost always do!), you can still figure out what the question tries to make sense of. A single item then doesn't succeed in draining you of mental energy that you would still be needing for the remaining questions.

Pray. There is immense power in it. I may turn off some people who just would not entertain the thought of having faith in a Greater Power that exists. But undeniably, my faith was my ultimate driving force. It propelled me to strive and persevere knowing that my faith in God will make all things possible. There were even a lot of days after 8 hours of lecture, when I will be coming home exhausted from attending class and the terrible traffic in the commute i have to hurdle, that it would be impossible for me to even scan what I got from the lectures. But I never lost time to pray and meditate. To thank God for the gift of opportunity and to ask guidance so I can make the most out of it. I even am specific in my prayers. I pray for guidance through my moments of studying and what I've always asked for were the blessings of critical thinking skills and the spirit of good analysis. A prayer said by one of the lecturers I've had, absolutely wonderful! Finally I pray to be guided on each and every item I will encounter on the big day.

These were the things that prepared me well for all those three board exams. I went on taking the tests, knowing in my mind and in my heart that I gave the preparation stage my best shot. So they say.. being prepared is the battle half-won! I felt I was prepared enough, so I came with a realistic view of my own capacity to pass thus gaining for myself just the right amount of healthy confidence that is much needed.

Final tip; Don't be a nervous wreck, easier said than done, but try. Your brain will be shut if your panicky. Remember it is just a test, just another day that happens to be the date of your exams. It will soon end and all you have to do is give it what you got.