Error Review Method

How to review wrong questions: turn your mistakes into strengths before the SMLE

Many students work through hundreds of questions and still make the same mistakes. The cause is usually not a lack of studying — it is a weak review method. This guide sets out a practical way to turn every mistake into a clinical decision rule that stops it recurring.

1) Classify the mistake before you memorise the answer

Do not simply read the correct answer. Ask why you got it wrong, and classify the mistake into one of four types: a knowledge gap, a misread stem, a bad elimination of options, or poor time management. The classification matters, because each type has a different fix.

2) Record the “decision signal”, not a long explanation

Instead of writing a long note, write one short sentence naming the clinical signal that leads to the answer. For example: “progressive dyspnoea + oedema + orthopnoea → think heart failure pattern first”. Signals like that come back to you inside the exam far faster than paragraphs.

3) Review mistakes on a spaced-repetition schedule

Review today’s mistake after 24 hours, then after 3 days, then after a week. If the same mistake recurs twice, make it a “red priority” and give it its own mini-session. The aim is to watch your repeated errors shrink week by week.

4) Build a “Top 20 Mistakes” list

Keep a short list of your 20 most frequent mistakes, and read it before every timed block. That way you go into the exam primed to avoid your own error patterns, rather than just holding general facts in your head.

5) Tie every mistake to an action for the next session

Each mistake should produce a clear action: more questions in a specific topic, a short reference review, or practice at reading the stem. Without that action, reviewing errors becomes a theoretical exercise with no effect on real performance.