how the hell do you get in med school with poor memory?!

[pmemory1]

sup?

Have you guys experienced that you memorize something for a test only to forget it two weeks later and have to re memorize for the final or midterm? I mean seriously though, sometimes I think whats the point in learning this material if I'm only going to forget it shortly afterwards...why go through all these various classes (besides the fact that they have to be taken to graduate )? Anyone found anything that can improve memory to such a degree that we memorize and then we easily retain without much effort? frankly, poor memory sucks....I hear that med school in the first 2 years requires a tremendous amount of memorization!!

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[mfrizzo3]

sup?

Have you guys experienced that you memorize something for a test only to forget it two weeks later and have to re memorize for the final or midterm? I mean seriously though, sometimes I think whats the point in learning this material if I'm only going to forget it shortly afterwards...why go through all these various classes (besides the fact that they have to be taken to graduate )? Anyone found anything that can improve memory to such a degree that we memorize and then we easily retain without much effort? frankly, poor memory sucks....I hear that med school in the first 2 years requires a tremendous amount of memorization!!

What was the question again?

 

[pmemory1]

any ideas on improving memory ?!

 

[g2daizh]

any ideas on improving memory ?!

I believe he was making a joke.

 

[Frazier]

I believe he was making a joke.

He knew that... but forgot by the time he made the reply.

 

[bigmike7104]

Play games that require you to use your memory, try this site http://www.lumosity.com/

 

[Planet Ocean]

The best thing I have found is to read. I am constantly reading. It could be a good book, newspaper, magazine, or even just surfing the web. Now it wont mean a thing unless after you have read something you recall it. I like to quiz myself mentally after reading something. You can start off small. When you finish a book or a few chapters ask yourself who the main characters were. What were the main ideas? What you are doing here is training your mind to absorb more of what you read that way as you progress you pick up more and more.

 

[Ischemic]

sup?

Have you guys experienced that you memorize something for a test only to forget it two weeks later and have to re memorize for the final or midterm? I mean seriously though, sometimes I think whats the point in learning this material if I'm only going to forget it shortly afterwards...why go through all these various classes (besides the fact that they have to be taken to graduate )? Anyone found anything that can improve memory to such a degree that we memorize and then we easily retain without much effort? frankly, poor memory sucks....I hear that med school in the first 2 years requires a tremendous amount of memorization!!

If you're asking how you can remember everything you learn in the first 2 years of med school the answer is you can't unless you have photographic memory. You just can't with all the different information blasted at you.

Now if you're asking how to remember most things after the test and possibly it carrying over into your clinical years ... then it's called REPETITION. You read something and then you reread it. Explaining/teaching it to other people also helps you retain the information longer. You start from day one and just go over the material again and again. Much better than cramming, which won't work in med school but does in college.

 

[apumic]

If you're asking how you can remember everything you learn in the first 2 years of med school the answer is you can't unless you have photographic memory. You just can't with all the different information blasted at you.

Now if you're asking how to remember most things after the test and possibly it carrying over into your clinical years ... then it's called REPETITION. You read something and then you reread it. Explaining/teaching it to other people also helps you retain the information longer. You start from day one and just go over the material again and again. Much better than cramming, which won't work in med school but does in college.

Cognitive psychology (the study of cognition or memory, perceptual, and executive processing) would disagree... Repetition is a terribly inefficient learning process that plateaus very quickly. Depth is what matters. Know the background to what you're learning. Build a frame on which to "hang" things. Poor memory often means you're not associating things to one another well enough. Memory is associative. To simplify, to remember something requires that you are able to recall the information through its association with other memories.

(Clinical years help you to remember certain things not because you are repeatedly seeing them but because you are repeatedly using them, thereby associating them with various experiences, and your need for them causes them to have a higher priority in memory as a form of self-reflection, which social psychologists have found people tend remember those things which relate to themselves most effectively.)

 

[FrazzleSnazzle]

Cognitive psychology (the study of cognition or memory, perceptual, and executive processing) would disagree... Repetition is a terribly inefficient learning process that plateaus very quickly. Depth is what matters. Know the background to what you're learning. Build a frame on which to "hang" things. Poor memory often means you're not associating things to one another well enough. Memory is associative. To simplify, to remember something requires that you are able to recall the information through its association with other memories.

(Clinical years help you to remember certain things not because you are repeatedly seeing them but because you are repeatedly using them, thereby associating them with various experiences, and your need for them causes them to have a higher priority in memory as a form of self-reflection, which social psychologists have found people tend remember those things which relate to themselves most effectively.)

Heh. I took a cognitive psychology course in college. Ironically, it was so boring that I no longer remember anything I learned.

 

[SusGob711]

sup?

Have you guys experienced that you memorize something for a test only to forget it two weeks later and have to re memorize for the final or midterm? I mean seriously though, sometimes I think whats the point in learning this material if I'm only going to forget it shortly afterwards...why go through all these various classes (besides the fact that they have to be taken to graduate )? Anyone found anything that can improve memory to such a degree that we memorize and then we easily retain without much effort? frankly, poor memory sucks....I hear that med school in the first 2 years requires a tremendous amount of memorization!!

Unfortunately I've heard that studying in medical school will unavoidably result in exactly what you're saying. The shear volume of material is impossible to remember in the long term so most students cram as much of the information (mostly irrelevent) and forget it as soon as the exam passes. Obviously things like patient care and application of medicine will need to be remembered but if you can get yourself in, odds are you'll be just fine

 

[rxlea]

Cognitive psychology (the study of cognition or memory, perceptual, and executive processing) would disagree... Repetition is a terribly inefficient learning process that plateaus very quickly. Depth is what matters. Know the background to what you're learning. Build a frame on which to "hang" things. Poor memory often means you're not associating things to one another well enough. Memory is associative. To simplify, to remember something requires that you are able to recall the information through its association with other memories.

(Clinical years help you to remember certain things not because you are repeatedly seeing them but because you are repeatedly using them, thereby associating them with various experiences, and your need for them causes them to have a higher priority in memory as a form of self-reflection, which social psychologists have found people tend remember those things which relate to themselves most effectively.)

+1. 100% agree with this

 

[Morsetlis]

Heh. I took a cognitive psychology course in college. Ironically, it was so boring that I no longer remember anything I learned.

People tend to forget what they don't practice or aren't passionate about. For example, I haven't taken a math class in 4 years yet I still remember calculus because I love it.

 

[mediterranean]

1. Teach it to other people! If they can understand what you are explaining without saying "Huh?" then you have succeeded.

2. Make flashcards! Index cards are durable for a reason: They can be used over and over again (Not necessarily by writing over what you written but it endures the sweat from your hands that results in the fear of losing the information from test to test).

3. Understand what it means or what it does or why the body can't live without it. If you understand, it will make much more sense when you want to recall it later on without having to spend many hours at the books.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

 

[searun]

Go to law school. You really don't have to remember anything, just be articulate and look good. Keep cheat notes at the podium about relevant cases and if you become President of the US, just read the teleprompter.

 

[airplanes]

You forget half of what you learn in med school as well. Except the next time you have to see it, it gets easier to relearn and a little bit sticks more. Rinse and repeat over the course of 1st/2nd year, on the wards, intern, residency and over the course of your career. Eventually, you get there.

I barely remember anything I learned this fall.