EMedBuddy"What should I actually study?" is a harder question than it sounds, because the AMC 1 CAT MCQ covers the full breadth of medicine rather than any one syllabus. Instead of guessing, here is the topic breakdown of EMedBuddy's own 2,410-question bank, and a practical way to use it to prioritise your remaining study time.
Key takeaways
- EMedBuddy's QBank spans 14 major clinical topics, from Paediatrics (199 questions) down to Haematology (137) - no single topic dominates, so broad coverage beats deep specialisation in one area.
- This reflects our question bank's composition, not a published official AMC exam blueprint - use it as a practical proxy for breadth, not a guaranteed weighting.
- The gap between the largest and smallest topic is under 3 percentage points of the total - a strong argument for touching every topic at least once rather than skipping any entirely.
- Prioritise by (breadth × your confidence gap), not by which topic feels most interesting to review.
EMedBuddy's QBank, by topic
- Paediatrics - 199 questions
- Emergency - 197 questions
- Obstetrics & Gynaecology - 196 questions
- Cardiology - 187 questions
- Endocrine - 183 questions
- Neurology - 182 questions
- Gastroenterology - 175 questions
- Infectious disease - 174 questions
- Respiratory - 173 questions
- Surgery - 165 questions
- Psychiatry - 159 questions
- Renal - 145 questions
- Ethics & Law - 138 questions
- Haematology - 137 questions
Why breadth matters more than depth here
Because the difference between the largest and smallest topic here is small, roughly 62 questions out of 2,410, there is no topic worth skipping on the assumption it barely matters. A candidate who is excellent in five topics and weak in the other nine is structurally worse off than one who is solidly competent across all fourteen, since the exam does not let you choose your questions. Breadth-first is the safer default strategy for almost every candidate.
A practical way to prioritise your remaining time
- List all fourteen topics and honestly rate your confidence in each from 1 to 5.
- Multiply confidence gap by topic size. A large topic where you are weak (say, Paediatrics at 199 questions, confidence 2) is a much higher priority than a small topic where you are already strong (Haematology, confidence 4).
- Timebox each topic rather than studying until you feel ready - readiness is a poor stopping signal and tends to expand to fill available time.
- Revisit your weakest topics again closer to exam day, since spaced repetition beats a single deep pass done early and then never revisited.
Practise MCQs by topic in EMedBuddy's QBank →
Topic-by-topic notes: what tends to come up
Paediatrics
Growth and developmental milestones, immunisation schedules, common childhood infections and their red flags, and weight-based dosing calculations are recurring themes.
Emergency
Time-critical recognition and immediate management sequencing, resuscitation basics, and triage-style prioritisation questions where the answer depends on what to do first, not just what is wrong.
Obstetrics & Gynaecology
Gestation-stage-specific red flags, contraception counselling scenarios, menstrual disorder differentials, and antenatal screening timing.
Cardiology
ECG pattern recognition, chest pain risk stratification, and the basics of heart failure and arrhythmia management.
Endocrine
Diabetes management and its complications, thyroid disorders, and adrenal or pituitary basics.
Neurology
Stroke recognition and time-critical management, headache red flags, and seizure or neuropathy basics.
Gastroenterology
Abdominal pain differentials, GI bleeding, and red flags in liver disease or a change in bowel habit.
Infectious disease
Notifiable disease recognition, principles of antibiotic choice, and returned-traveller presentations.
Respiratory
Asthma and COPD management, pneumonia severity assessment, and PE risk stratification.
Surgery
Acute abdomen recognition, pre- and post-operative assessment, and referral urgency.
Psychiatry
Risk assessment, mental state exam interpretation, and recognising common presentations such as depression, psychosis and substance use disorders.
Renal
Distinguishing AKI from CKD, electrolyte disturbance management, and dialysis-related basics.
Ethics & Law
Consent, confidentiality, capacity, and mandatory reporting, almost always presented as a realistic scenario rather than an abstract question.
Haematology
Anaemia work-up, basics of clotting disorders, and transfusion principles.
Is this the official AMC exam topic weighting?
No. This reflects the composition of EMedBuddy's own 2,410-question QBank, not a published official AMC blueprint. It is a practical, broad proxy for study planning, not a guarantee of the real exam's exact distribution.
Should I skip small topics like Haematology or Ethics & Law?
No. The gap between the largest and smallest topic here is small, so no topic is safe to skip entirely. Broad, even coverage is the more reliable strategy than concentrating only on the biggest topics.
How should I decide what to study next?
Prioritise topics that are both large and where your own confidence is low, then timebox your review rather than studying until you feel arbitrarily ready.
Pair this with our 12-week AMC study plan for how to schedule this across your available time, and our guide to AMC CAT MCQ scoring for how the adaptive format itself works.