The Australian Dental Council exam is not easy. I am not going to tell you here that it is because I would be lying. The truth is that you will have to dedicate many hours and effort if you want to be successful.
One of the problems that many people have is losing the motivation to stay on the right path; find the strength to follow a rigid plan over and over again, day after day. I must admit that it becomes really difficult when you have been studying for several weeks, and every time you look at your schedule it seems that it is going to be impossible to reach your goal.
To make this worse, the ADC makes it really hard for candidates to get information from them; they specialize in being completely secretive and useless, which contributes to your losing motivation.
Underline that word and highlight it. Motivation is the key word here. This is what will keep you focused on your goal. My opinion, based on my experience, is that if you stay motivated, studying for the exam will be more bearable (I’m not going to say pleasant because, at least for me, it was not pleasant at all).
I want to give you some motivational tips that helped me when I was going through all this:
1. Break your ultimate goal down into smaller goals. For example, in a particular week, study only orthodontics and nothing else. Focus on the little bits.
2. I have said this many times. My goal is to make it your mantra. Get a study partner. It will help you keep track of the progress of it.
3. Keep this in mind: At some point, sometimes often, you’ll want to quit. I want you to imagine this image in your head and whenever you feel like you are losing your enthusiasm, put it somewhere (your iPhone or a piece of paper). The key is to identify when these impulses appear and think of a tactic to eradicate them. My strategy was to go for a 10-minute walk to clear my head.
4. Do NOT skip two days in a row. If you don’t feel like studying one day, that’s fine, give yourself a break, but never two days in a row. This exam requires dedication.
5. Think positive. Be aware of what you think and say to yourself. We talk to ourselves a lot. If you hear negative things, stop them and replace them with positive thoughts. Make use of all these tips and try to stay positive while studying. That’s all that really matters.
Good luck with your studies.
