BDS First Year - A walkthrough (Part III)

by Bukhtawar Azhar and Zoha Malik

Physiology

What is physiology?

Physiology is the science of life. It aims at understanding the mechanisms of living - how living things work. Human physiology studies how our cells, muscles and organs work together, how they interact. The subject looks at living mechanisms, from the molecular basis of cell function to the whole integrated behaviour of the entire body.

Importance:
Physiology is a major subject in the course of BDS 1st Year and carries 200 marks in the final prof; 100 for the written and 100 for the practical\viva.  Its course is extensive and plays a major role in building of core concepts of a medical student for their further studies in the years to come.

Physiology as a subject:

Physiology was one of my personal favourite subjects. To be honest it’s all about how you treat it. It’s pretty simple; you get to know it, understand it and then you’ll start liking it. Physiology by no means is a subject that could ever be studied enough. In various books you’ll find a specific topic for which the writer saying “We don’t know much about it yet….” And still would end up giving a good three page detail about it. The point is, it’s never enough when it comes to physiology. This subject is not about learning facts and statistics and rote learning them time and again. It’s about understanding, conceptualizing every detail and finally, learning it all. I know this sounds difficult but honestly it’s not, not at all. 

I will show you the two basic yet very different ways of treating this subject.

WAY ONE: Learning everything with a little concept, using short books that give you only the most important facts about every topic. The books which, if you know them by heart, can make you top your exam. Spending hours, learning all those difficult names, numbers and facts so that you know them by heart and can recall them easily in your exam. You could Ace your prof that way.

WAY TWO: Learning everything with detailed concept. Using more detailed and extensive books, that not only state important facts but answer all your HOWs and WHYs. These books scare you, more than a Werewolf at a Full Moon, merely by their thickness; however are equally loyal.  Spending hours, not learning facts but, reading about the whole process that justifies those facts. This way can not only help you score well in your prof but will also help you build a solid foundation for many of the subjects you’d study in your proceeding years.

The choice is yours. .

Books:
The recommended and the most reliable text book for physiology is Guyton. It is an extensive book that gives details about every single topic. This is the book that clarifies all kinds of ambiguities one might have regarding the subject.  If you want to follow the path of making strong concepts then this is your book. Ganong is a tough book and you only need it for a certain topics; however you can do without it too. 

 Jaypee is comparatively an easier book; it is a local text book by some Indian Publisher. It is used as a replacement for Guyton by some students however I would personally not recommend it. These were the books that you’d need if you follow the “WAY TWO” mentioned above. Then come some other local Pakistani books. The books you need on the night before exam if you haven’t done anything. These books are the “WAY ONE” of going about the subject. If you want to adopt the WAY ONE then these local books are good enough for you. Firdous is a book that gives you, in bullets form, all the basic information about a particular topic. It includes all the facts and statistics you need to memorise. Concise is another revision book but more detailed than Firdous. Both Firdous and Concise are basically revision books that you can use for a quick review once done with books like Guyton and Jaypee. But at the same time I have seen people using merely Firdous and Concise all year long and passing the prof. I haven’t done that myself and don’t think it’s an easy job with all that rote learning and stuff so personally I would not recommend this “WAY ONE”. Follow the WAY TWO and use these local books merely for revision. It will need a lot of your time and patience, give it. It will be worth it. 

There is another book called FAMURIQ. It’s a local book and is just for CNS i.e. Central Nervous System. CNS is too extensive in Guyton and going only through FEMURIQ should help. Besides there are two other topics i.e. GIT and Endocrinology that are minor and you shouldn’t be wasting your time doing them from Guyton. Use the revision books to study these topics, as the weightage of these topics in the prof is only very minor.

KE department of Physiology and Teachers:
The K.E department of physiology is headed by Dr.Samia. She may or may not take your classes. You will have many physiology professors each giving lectures for a different topic. Dr.Mubashir is the professor in charge for BDS. He is a really corporative and helpful person. Any issue you might have regarding anything HE is the person to go to. Dr. Mehrun Nissa aka Dr.Mehru is one of the best K.E has. Last year she took lectures for CVS (Cardio Vascular System), make sure you note down her lectures and don’t miss any.

How to get started:

In the very beginning everything is going to sound new, different and difficult. It will take time for you to come around the terminologies, the pace and most of all the twisted accents of every different teacher. What you need to do is to listen closely. Note down what’s being told and if you can’t connect the dots at all, just jot them all down. That way when you read the book you’ll know what was being told. You can do this on the daily basis but tbh that never happens. So if you haven’t been very regular with the classes or haven’t even started studying as of yet, no worries you have a lot of time and you have Guyton. This book will help you get started with a particular topic you have no previous knowledge about. Take time out and READ the book. Don’t stress on learning it. Understand it. And once that’s done learning becomes easy.

If you have been up to date with your course before the summer break then party hard in the break. But if you have been caught up with all those college activities and freshmen drama then summer break is the time that you should utilize. Get started in the summer break and I assure you, you can still do great. In the summer break try learning what you’re reading. Filter the important facts from the explanatory details. Learn the art of writing down your concepts in a concise manner. If you aren’t good with then that take help from the short revision books and learn precise definitions and statements.

Another thing you should do is buy the Past Papers. Go through the Past Papers and you’ll have an idea of what kind of questions can be asked from a certain topic you are preparing. This all might sound a little too much of work but it isn’t, really. Manage your time well and you’ll have all the time to enjoy your vacations along with preparing yourself for the prof. 

Examination:

The methodology of examination in this particular department is not really that effective. Tests are taken once a month or once every two months, either for a single unit or two units together. The problem however is that passing these tests is easy and failing them is not much of a big deal either. Knowing this, makes a certain lot of students (which is the majority) very reluctant towards preparing for the tests.

A total of three to four tests will be taken and you need to pass three to have an excellent record. Passing two would be fine too. It is advised to prepare for these tests, however don’t panic if you fail, it’s just very normal thing to happen at this stage. Always remember you are not studying to pass these test, you are studying to pass the Prof. Whatever you do, do it well. Don’t use short books or last minute panic attack studies to clear these little tests.

Finally a month before your prof you will have your Sendup examination. Study for it like it’s your prof. Give it your best shot so that you know where you stand. If you haven’t done much and there is still a lot that you have to do, now is the time you should be worried. At this moment you don’t have time to do stuff from Guyton. Whatever is untouched as of yet, do it from concise kind of books. The minor topics like GIT and Endocrinology are something you shouldn’t be worried about. If you don’t have enough time maybe leave them for the send up and try revising the major topics. Go through the pass papers on the day before the exam. Do take a good sleep before the exam and be totally relaxed and fresh right before the paper.

Last, but by no means the least, comes the Final Professional. By this time you will have a very good idea as to how your mind works and what suits you for revision. Some of you might manage to revise from Guyton or Jaypee kind of books in the prof while others would prefer considering concise or Firdous for revision. Most people feel comfortable revising from books they have already gone through, so don’t take the risk of switching books in the final exam. Stick to what you know and keep revising. Keep asking yourself questions and keep answering them. Make sure you have the last day for revision and past papers. Take a good sleep and wake up to ace the thing.

Ending Note:

Personally I think BDS 1^st Year is easier than A-levels or FSc. If you don’t over stress yourself and divide your work properly you can get through it without any kind of stress. Make sure that in the whole processes of doing well in the prof you don’t forget to have fun. Breaks are necessary for everyone, so do plan things to do for the weekends and vacations. (Tip: Make crazy friends, it helps.)  Manage your study hours in a good way and don’t aim at scoring high or passing the prof, study with the aim of gaining knowledge. I assure you, you’ll do great. So have fun, study good and BAM! You’ll pass your prof.