EDAIC Part 1 written exam – how long did you study and what resources worked?

Did the viva format change recently? I heard they adjusted how structured scenarios work. Preparing for the oral component is honestly what's worrying me most right now.

Physics was probably 15–18% of what I saw, so don't ignore it. The gas laws and measurement principles questions can feel oddly specific. I'd say the real exam was comparable to the ESAIC bank in difficulty, maybe slightly more clinical in framing.

Thanks for this writeup. I'm sitting Part 1 in November and currently hovering around 61% on practice questions, which is making me nervous. Did you find the actual exam harder or about the same difficulty as the ESAIC question bank?

Also curious whether physics and equipment was heavily weighted or if you could get away with lighter coverage there.

The viva structure has shifted toward structured clinical problem-solving rather than pure knowledge recall. Best advice I got was to think out loud and demonstrate your reasoning process – examiners care more about how you approach a problem than whether you hit the exact answer immediately.

Honestly I almost bailed around week 8. The physiology section felt endless and I wasn't retaining anything, so I took a few days off and nearly didn't go back. What turned it around for me was switching from passive reading to doing questions first and then reading the explanation -- suddenly the material actually stuck. I didn't use anything fancy, just the core texts and a lot of past-style questions I found through my anaesthetics department.

If you're in that mid-study slump right now, don't quit. It's genuinely not a sign you're going to fail, it's just the point where the volume hits you all at once. I passed with a score I was actually proud of and looking back the dark patch was probably three weeks before everything clicked. Keep grinding the MCQs even when they feel pointless.

Something that changed my prep completely was stopping myself from just ticking the right answer and moving on. When I got something wrong, I'd spend time figuring out exactly why each wrong option was wrong, not just why the correct one was right. It's slower, but you start seeing the examiners' logic and that's what the EDAIC really tests. I used the free edaic basic sciences questions for this because there were enough of them to practice the habit without burning through paid material too fast.

Physics was the one that caught me off guard. I didn't think it would be weighted as heavily as it was, so if you're earlier in your prep than I was, don't leave it until the last few weeks. Physiology I found easier to reason through once I had the mechanisms down, but pharmacology was just brutal without spaced repetition. Anki saved me there. Honestly the whole exam rewards people who understand the "why" over people who grind answers, so build your studying around that from day one.

I'm in a similar boat — full-time anaesthetics registrar, two kids, so I had to be really ruthless about when I actually studied. I found early mornings worked better than evenings for me because by 9pm my brain was just done. Honestly the first few weeks I wasted a lot of time trying to re-read textbooks cover to cover and it wasn't clicking. What actually moved the needle was switching to active recall — doing questions first, then going back to fill in gaps. Physiology was my weakest area so I spent more time there than anywhere else.

For resources, I leaned heavily on BJA Education articles and a few structured question banks that gave me detailed explanations. The physics section caught me off guard — don't underestimate it. I'd say give yourself at least 12 weeks if you're working full-time, and don't try to cram pharmacology at the end, you'll need the repetition over time for it to stick. Good luck to everyone sitting it this cycle, it's a tough exam but the prep process is actually worth it even just for making you a better clinician.

I sat Part 1 last year while working three clinical days a week, so I completely get the time crunch. Honestly the biggest thing that helped me wasn't total hours, it was consistency. I'd do 45 minutes before the morning handover and another session after the kids went to bed. Some days that was all I had. I leaned hard on past papers because I found I'd read a physiology chapter and feel confident, then completely blank on the actual question format. Doing questions early exposed the gaps way faster.

Pharmacology was my weak spot and I didn't crack it until I started drawing out receptor mechanisms by hand instead of just reading them. It's tedious but it stuck. Physics I honestly underestimated at first. If you're working part-time like I was, don't try to do everything in one sitting on weekends. Two focused 40-minute blocks beats a three-hour session where you're half-asleep by the end. You'll get there, just don't skip the days when you only have a little time.

I actually failed Part 1 on my first attempt, which was humbling. I'd been relying too much on textbooks and not enough on actual question practice, so I didn't realize how much the exam tests application over recall. Second time around I shifted maybe 60% of my study time to doing practice questions and reviewing why I got things wrong, which made a huge difference. Finding free edaic basic sciences questions online helped a lot because I could drill the physiology and pharmacology gaps without burning through paid resources.

The other thing I changed was being more systematic about physics and equipment, which I'd basically ignored first time because it felt niche. It's not. If you're in the early stages, don't make the same mistake I did and treat it as an afterthought. Also talking through concepts out loud with a study partner caught gaps in my understanding that reading alone never would have.