This is a complete day-by-day AMC Part 1 study schedule — exactly what to study on each of 72 study days across 12 weeks, with daily question targets and mock exam timing. It is built around a real, structured question bank of 2,700+ questions and weighted to the AMC’s published exam blueprint rather than to whatever feels productive on the day.

How this schedule is built

Three design decisions, because they explain why the schedule looks the way it does:

Six study days a week, twelve weeks, 72 study days. One rest day is not a luxury; candidates who schedule seven days a week miss days anyway and then feel behind. Build the day off in and you will actually keep the schedule.
Days are allocated by exam blueprint weight, not by question count. Any question bank has more content in some areas than others. The exam does not care. Paediatrics and Mental Health each carry 12.5% of the real exam, so they get days proportional to that, not to how many questions happen to exist.
Content first, revision second, simulation last. Weeks 1–8 cover the core clinical modules. Weeks 9–10 are guideline and screening revision that cuts across every subject. Weeks 11–12 are timed mocks and targeted weak-area work.

The exam you are scheduling for


Format	150 single-best-answer questions, five options each
Duration	3.5 hours — about 84 seconds per question
Delivery	Computer Adaptive Test at Pearson VUE centres
Scoring	Scaled 0–500, pass standard 250
Navigation	No going back — you must answer to progress
Negative marking	None. Never leave a question blank.

Blueprint weighting: the reason this schedule exists

Patient group	Share of exam	Days in this plan
Adult Health — Medicine	30%	20 days
Adult Health — Surgery	20%	9 days
Women’s Health (Obstetrics & Gynaecology)	12.5%	8 days
Child Health (Paediatrics)	12.5%	4 days
Mental Health	12.5%	4 days
Population Health & Ethics	12.5%	4 days
Cross-cutting guideline & screening revision	—	11 days
Mocks, review and targeted weak-area work	—	12 days

Day 0: before you start

Read the AMC’s official MCQ Examination Specifications end to end. Free, short, and it contains the blueprint.
Book your exam date. Without a date this is not a schedule, it is an intention.
Sit one full-length timed mock cold. Yes, before studying anything. It will be uncomfortable and it is the most valuable two hours in the whole plan — it tells you which modules need more than the days allocated here.
Set up an error log. One line per mistake: the question, why you got it wrong, the correct principle.

Weeks 1–3: Adult Medicine, part one

Medicine is 30% of the exam and gets the largest single block. Target ~45–50 questions a day.

Week 1

Day	Module	Topics	Qs
1	Cardiology	Heart failure, acute coronary syndrome, acute chest pain and cardiac markers, tachyarrhythmia, bradyarrhythmia, AV block	50
2	Cardiology	Atrial fibrillation, hypertension and antihypertensives, hyperlipidaemia, statins, familial hypercholesterolaemia, VTE prophylaxis and anticoagulation, pericarditis, HOCM, peripheral arterial disease	50
3	Respiratory	Pulmonary embolism, COPD, asthma, pneumothorax, cystic fibrosis, bronchiectasis, interstitial lung disease, chest trauma, pulmonary function testing	52
4	Gastroenterology	GORD, peptic ulcer disease, H. pylori, bleeding peptic ulcer, drug-induced ulcer, Barrett oesophagus screening	40
5	Gastroenterology	Coeliac disease, inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis, diverticular disease, pancreatitis, mesenteric ischaemia	40
6	Gastroenterology	Colorectal carcinoma, haemorrhoids, perianal disorders, pilonidal sinus, achalasia, dysphagia, oesophageal spasm, iron deficiency anaemia	40

Week 2

Day	Module	Topics	Qs
7	Nephrology	Acute kidney injury, chronic kidney disease, glomerulonephritis, nephrotic syndrome, renal artery stenosis, polycystic kidney disease	42
8	Nephrology / Urology	Renal stones, haematuria, BPH, prostatitis, prostate carcinoma, renal cell carcinoma, testicular carcinoma, scrotal swelling	41
9	Haematology	Anaemia, iron deficiency, thalassaemia, sickle cell, haemolytic anaemia, G6PD deficiency, hereditary spherocytosis	40
10	Haematology	TTP, HUS and DIC, immune thrombocytopenia, heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, bleeding disorders, PNH	40
11	Haematology	Warfarin and INR, warfarin and surgery, venous thromboembolism, leukaemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma	41
12	Endocrinology	Diabetes mellitus, thyroid disorder, parathyroid disorder, adrenal gland disorder, pituitary disorder, osteoporosis, disorders of the thirst axis, gynaecomastia	45

Week 3

Day	Module	Topics	Qs
13	Neurology	Cerebrovascular accident, TIA, haemorrhages, carotid artery stenosis, intracranial locations, epilepsy and seizure disorder	50
14	Neurology	Headache types, migraine, multiple sclerosis, Guillain–Barré, myasthenia gravis, motor neuron disease, Parkinson disease, Bell’s palsy, vertigo, BPPV, Ménière disease, tinnitus, heat stroke	50
15	Rheumatology	Rheumatoid arthritis (seropositive and seronegative), DMARD therapy, gout, SLE, osteoarthritis, polymyalgia rheumatica, giant cell arteritis, back pain	56
16	Dermatology	Skin cancer, dermatitis, psoriasis, tinea, scabies, HPV warts, herpes simplex	36
17	Dermatology	Acne vulgaris, cutaneous drug reactions, angioedema and urticaria, lichen planus, granuloma annulare, pityriasis rosea and versicolor, infantile haemangioma, nappy dermatitis	35
18	Infectious Diseases	Vaccination, hepatitis, HIV, sexually transmitted infection screening, TORCH infections	47

Weeks 4–5: finishing Medicine, starting Surgery

Week 4

Day	Module	Topics	Qs
19	Infectious Diseases	Cellulitis, urinary tract infection, C. difficile, measles/mumps/rubella, chickenpox, Epstein–Barr, cytomegalovirus	47
20	Infectious Diseases	Travel medicine, traveller’s diarrhoea, rabies, toxoplasmosis, hydatid disease, cat scratch disease, COVID-19, lichen sclerosus	46
21	General Surgery	Large and small bowel obstruction, cecal volvulus, Ogilvie syndrome, acute pancreatitis, pancreatic pseudocyst, gallbladder pathologies, postcholecystectomy syndrome	55
22	General Surgery	Kidney and ureteric stones, bladder carcinoma, oesophageal carcinoma, hepatic abscess, cervical mass, bariatric surgery complications, red flags for urgent surgery, conservative versus operative management	54
23	Orthopaedic Surgery	Upper and lower limb fracture, open fracture, stress fracture, compartment syndrome, bone infection	35
24	Orthopaedic Surgery	Shoulder and ankle dislocation, knee joint injury, Achilles and biceps tendon rupture, frozen shoulder, overuse injury, pigmented villonodular synovitis	35

Week 5

Day	Module	Topics	Qs
25	Urology & Vascular	Hernia, urinary tract infection (urological), bowel and bladder dysfunction, vesicoureteral reflux, abdominal aortic aneurysm, mesenteric artery aneurysm	46
26	ENT & Breast	Rinne and Weber test, otitis media, ear pain, sinusitis, ENT lumps, breast cancer, mastitis, breast abscess, fibroadenoma	50
27	Ophthalmology	Acute red eye, acute angle-closure glaucoma, glaucoma, corneal ulcer, keratitis, herpetic keratitis, ocular trauma, orbital floor fracture	53
28	Ophthalmology	Sudden loss of vision, central retinal artery and vein occlusion, amaurosis fugax, retinal detachment, optic neuritis, macular degeneration, hypertensive retinopathy, chalazion and stye	52
29	Trauma & Emergency	Splenic rupture, traumatic pneumothorax, paracetamol poisoning, opioid poisoning, alcohol withdrawal syndrome, snake bite, spider bite, button battery ingestion	35
30	Obstetrics	Antenatal care, preconception care, genetic screening, chorionic villus sampling and amniocentesis, iodine and folic acid supplementation	47

Weeks 6–7: Women’s Health and Paediatrics

Week 6

Day	Module	Topics	Qs
31	Obstetrics	Gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia and eclampsia, anaemia in pregnancy, thyroid disorders in pregnancy, intrahepatic cholestasis	47
32	Obstetrics	Infections in pregnancy, Rh isoimmunisation, antiepileptic drug use, contraindications to tocolytic therapy, indications for anti-D	47
33	Obstetrics	Miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, fetal demise, hydatidiform mole, antepartum haemorrhage, placental complications	47
34	Obstetrics	Preterm labour and fetal fibronectin, premature rupture of membranes, cervical insufficiency and cerclage, multiple pregnancy, polyhydramnios, fetal growth restriction, fetal macrosomia	47
35	Obstetrics	Stages of labour, labour and delivery management, cardiotocography interpretation, shoulder dystocia, umbilical cord prolapse, uterine rupture, uterine atony and inversion, postpartum haemorrhage, meconium-stained liquor, fetal lie	46
36	Gynaecology	Abnormal uterine bleeding, dysmenorrhoea, amenorrhoea, endometriosis, adenomyosis, uterine fibroids, polycystic ovary syndrome	49

Week 7

Day	Module	Topics	Qs
37	Gynaecology & Gynae-Oncology	Contraception, menopause, hormone replacement therapy, infertility, pelvic inflammatory disease, abnormal vaginal discharge, atrophic vaginitis, Bartholin cyst, vulvar masses, cervical and vulvar cancer	48
38	Paediatric Gastrointestinal	Pyloric stenosis, intussusception, Hirschsprung disease, Meckel diverticulum, intestinal atresia, necrotising enterocolitis	38
39	Paediatric GI & Neonatology	Cow’s milk protein allergy, lactose intolerance, gastroenteritis, dehydration in children, umbilical hernia, meconium plug syndrome	37
40	Neonatology & Development	Neonatal jaundice, neonatal sepsis, neonatal resuscitation, respiratory distress, neonatal hypoglycaemia, congenital anomalies, developmental milestones	42
41	Paediatrics — remaining	Bronchiolitis, croup, asthma in children, foreign body aspiration, paediatric rash, allergic diseases, acute scrotum, testicular torsion, hydrocele, varicocele, epididymo-orchitis, conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder	63
42	Mental Health	Major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, mania, grief, anxiety disorder, panic attack, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, postpartum psychosis	44

Weeks 8–9: Mental Health, Population Health, and guideline revision begins

Week 8

Day	Module	Topics	Qs
43	Mental Health	Alcohol intoxication, substance withdrawal, carbamazepine intoxication, personality disorder, behavioural disturbance, acute behavioural disturbance and anticholinergic effects	49
44	Mental Health	Dementia and Alzheimer disease, delirium, ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, tic and Tourette disorder	41
45	Mental Health	Eating disorders, antipsychotic side effects and agitated patient management, antidepressant side effects, hyperprolactinaemia	22
46	Medical Ethics	Consent and capacity, informed consent, confidentiality, right to refuse treatment, do not resuscitate orders, end-of-life decision making	41
47	Medical Ethics	Child abuse and mandatory reporting, notifiable disease reporting, domestic violence, duty of care and negligence, aggressive patient management, organ donation, elderly care, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, clinical referral and continuity of care	41
48	Public Health & Preventive Care	Cardiovascular disease screening, dyslipidaemia screening, prostate, skin and breast cancer screening, stroke prevention, obesity, nutrition	38

Week 9

Day	Module	Topics	Qs
49	Population Health — remaining	Smoking cessation, problem alcohol use, adolescent health, foodborne illness, needlestick and sharps injuries, infection prevention and control, fitness to drive, epidemiology and biostatistics, predictive values, risk measures, communication skills, breaking bad news, cultural safety, Indigenous health	48
50	High-Yield Guidelines	Cardiology and Respiratory guideline sets	60
51	High-Yield Guidelines	Gastrointestinal and Nephrology guideline sets	60
52	High-Yield Guidelines	Endocrine and Neurology guideline sets	60
53	High-Yield Guidelines	Infectious Diseases and Dermatology guideline sets	60
54	High-Yield Guidelines	Musculoskeletal and Emergency Medicine guideline sets	59

Weeks 10–11: cross-cutting revision, then simulation begins

Week 10

Day	Module	Topics	Qs
55	High-Yield Guidelines	Obstetrics and Women’s Health guideline sets	60
56	High-Yield Guidelines	Paediatrics and Psychiatry guideline sets	60
57	High-Yield Guidelines	Aboriginal Health guideline set	29
58	High-Yield Screenings	Cervical, breast, colorectal, prostate and lung cancer screening	50
59	High-Yield Screenings	Diabetes, lipid disorders, hypertension, abdominal aortic aneurysm, osteoporosis	50
60	High-Yield Screenings	HIV, hepatitis B and C, STI, depression, domestic and partner violence screening	60

Week 11

Day	Focus	What to do	Qs
61	Targeted weak areas	Work the platform’s flagged weak topics. Do not choose these yourself — candidates are consistently wrong about their own weakest areas.	50
62	Targeted weak areas	Second weak-area block. Read every explanation, including for correct answers.	50
63	MOCK EXAM 1	Full 150 questions, 3.5 hours, timed, no interruptions. Sit it at the same time of day as your real exam.	150
64	Mock 1 review	Review every question — wrong and right. Log each error. Identify your three weakest blueprint categories.	—
65	Targeted weak areas	Attack the three categories the mock exposed.	60
66	MOCK EXAM 2	Full timed mock. Compare category breakdown against Mock 1.	150

Week 12: consolidation and taper

Day	Focus	What to do	Qs
67	Mock 2 review	Full review. Update the error log. Note which weak areas improved and which did not.	—
68	Targeted weak areas	Whatever did not improve between mocks. This is where the remaining marks are.	60
69	Error log review	Read the entire error log from Day 1. Re-attempt the questions you logged.	50
70	MOCK EXAM 3	Final full timed mock. Treat it as a dress rehearsal — same time, same conditions, no phone.	150
71	Review + rapid revision	Mock 3 review, then rapid revision only: screening intervals, immunisation schedule, notifiable conditions, common first-line prescribing, consent and ethics principles.	—
72	Taper	Light review of the error log. No new material. Confirm test centre, ID and start time. Sleep.	—

Your daily routine

The schedule tells you what to study. This is how to study it, and the difference between candidates who improve and candidates who just accumulate hours.

Questions first, not reading. Open the day’s topics and start answering. Retrieval practice is what the exam tests; passive reading is not.
Read every explanation. Including for questions you answered correctly. A question you guessed right and did not understand is a gap you do not know you have — the most dangerous kind.
Resolve confusion immediately. When an explanation does not land, ask Astra there and then rather than noting it for a "later" that never comes. Four months of deferred confusions is how people arrive at exam day with unexplained gaps.
Log every error in one line. Question, why you got it wrong, correct principle. Ten seconds each. Review weekly.
Stop on time. A three-hour session done properly beats five hours of drifting. Protect the schedule’s sustainability — twelve weeks is a long time.

If you are working full-time: the 6-month version

The 12-week schedule assumes 20–25 hours a week. If your roster does not allow that, do not compress — stretch. Run the same sequence over 24 weeks instead of 12:

Halve the daily question target: 20–25 a day instead of 40–50.
Each numbered day above becomes two days. The order stays identical.
Keep the mocks in the final four weeks regardless — they are the part of the plan you cannot dilute.
Use your one long day off each week for the biggest block. Most candidates working full-time find one 5-hour weekend session plus short weekday sessions works better than trying to do equal amounts daily.

If you have less than 12 weeks

An 8-week compression is possible but the trade-offs are real, and it is better to know them in advance than to discover them in week six:

Keep all three mocks. Cut question volume elsewhere before you cut simulation.
Keep the full Population Health and Ethics block. It is around nineteen marks, it is highly learnable, and it is where compressed candidates lose most.
Compress within Medicine, not across the other modules. Medicine has more content than any single block strictly needs — prioritise cardiology, respiratory, gastroenterology, endocrinology and infectious diseases.
Accept that you will do one pass, not two. Make the single pass count by reading every explanation properly.

What to do in the three weeks after your exam

Do not start your English language exam preparation during this schedule. Twelve weeks at 20–25 hours is already a full load, and splitting your attention costs you more on the AMC exam than it gains you on IELTS or OET.

Use the results wait instead. There is roughly a three-week gap between sitting AMC Part 1 and receiving your result, and it is the most wasted stretch of time in the entire pathway. Most candidates spend it refreshing their inbox. It is close to ideal for the English exam: you have no clinical revision competing for your attention, your study habit is still intact from twelve weeks of daily work, and you are already in exam condition rather than having to rebuild that from cold weeks later.

Book your IELTS or OET date before you sit AMC Part 1, timed to fall inside or just after the results window — so the moment your AMC exam finishes, the next one is already scheduled and you do not lose a fortnight deciding.
Start preparation the day after your AMC exam, not once your result arrives. Waiting for the result to begin wastes exactly the window this is designed to use.
Take one or two days off first. Three weeks is enough to absorb a short break, and you will work better for it.
If you pass, you have already cleared or nearly cleared the English requirement and can move straight to limited registration and the job search. If you need to resit, you have lost nothing — the English requirement had to be done regardless, and it is now behind you rather than ahead.

Start now

The single most common reason a study plan fails is not that it was the wrong plan — it is that Day 1 kept moving. Book the exam, sit the baseline mock, and start Day 1 this week.

AMC Academic gives you 20 questions free, no card and no signup, if you want to see the standard of explanation this schedule is built around before committing to anything.

FAQs

How many hours a day should I study for AMC Part 1?

On a 12-week schedule, around 3 to 4 hours a day across six days a week, totalling 20–25 hours. On a 24-week schedule, 1.5 to 2 hours a day. Consistency matters more than intensity — a sustainable daily block beats occasional long sessions.

How many questions per day for AMC Part 1?

Roughly 40–50 questions a day on a 12-week plan, or 20–25 a day over 24 weeks. In the final two weeks this shifts from daily volume to full-length 150-question timed mocks.

How long does it take to complete an AMC question bank?

A bank of around 2,700 questions takes approximately 60 study days at 45 questions a day — about ten weeks at six days a week. Budget an additional two weeks for mock exams and targeted weak-area revision.

What should I study first for AMC Part 1?

Adult Health Medicine, because it is 30% of the exam — more than any other category. Within it, start with cardiology and respiratory. Do not start with whichever subject you find most interesting; start with the one carrying the most marks.

How many days should I spend on each AMC subject?

Allocate days by blueprint weighting, not by how many questions exist. On a 72-day plan: about 20 days for Adult Medicine (30%), 9 for Adult Surgery (20%), and 4 to 8 each for Women’s Health, Child Health, Mental Health and Population Health and Ethics (12.5% each), plus roughly 11 days of cross-cutting guideline and screening revision and 12 days of mocks and targeted revision.

When should I start doing mock exams for AMC Part 1?

Sit one full-length mock before you start studying, as a cold baseline. Then sit three more in the final two weeks, spaced several days apart. The baseline mock is the one candidates most often skip and most often regret skipping — without it you spend twelve weeks guessing at your own weaknesses.

Should I study by subject or do random mixed questions?

By subject during the content phase, so you build coherent knowledge in one area at a time. Switch to mixed and randomised questions in the final three weeks, because that is what the real exam is — and switching between unrelated topics under time pressure is its own skill.

Can I follow this schedule while working full-time?

Yes, by stretching it to 24 weeks rather than compressing it into your evenings. Halve the daily question target to 20–25, treat each numbered day as two, and keep one long study block on your day off each week. The sequence stays identical; only the pace changes.

What if I fall behind the schedule?

Do not try to catch up by doubling volume — that reliably produces a second missed week. Instead, drop the lowest-value content within your largest module (Medicine has the most redundancy) and protect three things absolutely: the mock exams, the Population Health and Ethics block, and the explanation review.

Should I do the whole question bank twice?

One thorough pass with every explanation read, plus targeted repeat work on your flagged weak areas, beats two rushed passes. A second full pass is only worth it if you finish early and your mock scores have plateaued — and even then, targeted revision usually moves the score further.

How much time should I spend on Population Health and Ethics?

About four dedicated days plus the screening revision block — around 12.5% of your total study time, matching its exam weighting. It carries roughly nineteen marks, it is highly learnable, and it is the section candidates most consistently neglect because it does not feel like clinical medicine.

When should I stop studying before the AMC exam?

Stop introducing new material three days before the exam. The final days are for reviewing your error log, rapid revision of high-yield specifics like screening intervals and the immunisation schedule, and sleep. Nothing learned in the last 72 hours will reliably be available under exam pressure.

Is 8 weeks enough to prepare for AMC Part 1?

It is possible if you are in active clinical practice and can commit heavily, but the trade-offs are real. Keep all three mock exams, keep the full Population Health and Ethics block, and compress within Adult Medicine rather than cutting the smaller modules — those smaller categories still carry 12.5% each on the exam.

Should I do IELTS or OET at the same time as AMC Part 1 preparation?

No — we recommend against it. Twelve weeks at 20–25 hours a week is already a full load, and splitting your attention costs you more on the AMC exam than it gains you on the English test. The better window is the roughly three-week wait between sitting AMC Part 1 and receiving your result: your study habit is intact, no clinical revision is competing for your attention, and you are still in exam condition. Book the English test date before you sit Part 1 so it falls in or just after that window.

What should I do while waiting for my AMC Part 1 results?

Sit your English language exam, if it is not already done. The wait is roughly three weeks and it is the most commonly wasted period in the whole pathway. Take a day or two off first, then start — you are already in exam condition, and clearing the English requirement here means that whatever your AMC result, one more registration requirement is behind you rather than ahead of you.