What is your typical study plan?

[SwimmingSurg20]

Here's my ideal study plan:
1) Wake up and go through flashcards (anki and trying to incorporate firecracker as well)
2) Preview lectures for the day
3) Watch lectures and make flashcards on anki (cloze deletions: just like taking notes, but you can block out specific words or phrases to quiz yourself)
4) Go over flashcards made that day
5) If there is time, blank page test for yesterday's material (use a white board or blank page and see what I remember from the previous day's lectures)

I haven't completely been following this plan due to lack of concentration so I'm in the high C to mid B range (for the most part; sometimes higher, sometimes lower). As you can see, flashcards are my biggest tool but I'm not sure if the its the best way. Am I not seeing the results I want because I'm not following my ideal study plan or am I going about it wrong. I know everyone studies differently. I just want to get an idea of how you do it.

It would help me out a lot to see other people's current study plan's. Do you follow it completely? How are you doing on your tests?

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[postbacpremed87]

Don't make it too complicated. Know your core lecture notes (PPT slides) first and foremost. Occasionally supplement with outside textbook reading when needed.

 

[SwimmingSurg20]

Don't make it too complicated. Know your core lecture notes (PPT slides) first and foremost. Occasionally supplement with outside textbook reading when needed.

So do you just look over the lectures multiple times and try quizzing yourself as you go?

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

I look over the lectures multiple times and think about it*. Obviously certain things might need more than that, ex. MSK, but most physiology doesn't require you to do more than that.
That being said if I were aiming to be in the top 25% of my class I might have to change that to something more active.



I also apparently more often than not dream study*

 

[Brorthopedic]

1) I go though the note packet/PP slides and note-take while actively thinking about what I'm writing and how it relates to the subject (sometimes you get so wrapped up in the details you forget what you're even talking about).
2) Review notes as much as possible leading up to the exam.
3) A day before the test, I review the original note packet/PP slides and just casually read through them.

I've been consistently scoring above average, so I guess this works for me.

 

[Dr. Hopeful]

I don't go to class, start the day around noon around lab time. After lab, come home, watch the lectures on 2x speed and construct an outline of the notes, basically writing down every fact from the powerpoint and also anything the lecturer said. This never takes too long, so my weekdays tend to be pretty chill (never more than 4 hours of studying). Weekends, I just completely memorize that outline that I constructed during the week, typically takes a day or so. Then run through the notes one more time just to see any pictures/graphs that are important that you might not have in your outline and go in and kill that test on Monday!

 

[ninjaman22]

I am a 2nd year.
This is what I usually do. Go to class --> listen to lectures (most of the time) --> review those powerpoints couple of times after coming back home --> read pathoma/fa/do some practice questions (COMBANK + KAPLAN - usually 15-30 Qs/night) related to the topic covered that day in lecture or the systems we are covering that block. Repeat the whole week. Some days, I might not have time to do pathoma/fa/practice qs due to taking too long to go over lectures. We usually have quiz every friday (lectures from prior thursday to current week wednesday - usually 16 lectures); thursday night I go over all those lectures again couple more times. Integrated exam every three weeks/two weeks (total of 3 exams/block); the weekend of the exams - I will go over all the lectures again couple more times and review pathoma/fa. I have been following this schedule since first year minus the fa/pathoma/practice qs (which I started this year), I have had straight A's except one or two B's (in OMM!) here and there.

 

[Brorthopedic]

I am a 2nd year.
This is what I usually do. Go to class --> listen to lectures (most of the time) --> review those powerpoints couple of times after coming back home --> read pathoma/fa/do some practice questions (COMBANK + KAPLAN - usually 15-30 Qs/night) related to the topic covered that day in lecture or the systems we are covering that block. Repeat the whole week. Some days, I might not have time to do pathoma/fa/practice qs due to taking too long to go over lectures. We usually have quiz every friday (lectures from prior thursday to current week wednesday - usually 16 lectures); thursday night I go over all those lectures again couple more times. Integrated exam every three weeks/two weeks (total of 3 exams/block); the weekend of the exams - I will go over all the lectures again couple more times and review pathoma/fa. I have been following this schedule since first year minus the fa/pathoma/practice qs (which I started this year), I have had straight A's except one or two B's (in OMM!) here and there.

What's the the usual class average on tests?

 

[ninjaman22]

What's the the usual class average on tests?

It's usually mid to upper 70s. Maybe once or twice, we had low 80s.

 

[QueenJames]

Do folks ever end up using sources like youtube to watch a video on something confusing via Khan academy or other channels to supplement their studying? what are your guys' takes on that?

Also, how do you quiz yourselves? Just googling said subject name and finding quizzes online that you take and review?

Thanks!

 

[bobaoversoda]

Do folks ever end up using sources like youtube to watch a video on something confusing via Khan academy or other channels to supplement their studying? what are your guys' takes on that?

Also, how do you quiz yourselves? Just googling said subject name and finding quizzes online that you take and review?

Thanks!

YouTube saved my life during embryology/development

 

[Rekt]

Do folks ever end up using sources like youtube to watch a video on something confusing via Khan academy or other channels to supplement their studying? what are your guys' takes on that?

Also, how do you quiz yourselves? Just googling said subject name and finding quizzes online that you take and review?

Thanks!

Yep. All the time. Youtube and Wikipedia will become great friends.

"Here is this concept, I know it would take 3 lectures in undergrad to explain it, but here's this single slide!"

 

[JW2020]

Do folks ever end up using sources like youtube to watch a video on something confusing via Khan academy or other channels to supplement their studying? what are your guys' takes on that?

Also, how do you quiz yourselves? Just googling said subject name and finding quizzes online that you take and review?

Thanks!

Dr. Preddy videos on youtube were great for learning gross anatomy

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Yep. All the time. Youtube and Wikipedia will become great friends.

"Here is this concept, I know it would take 3 lectures in undergrad to explain it, but here's this single slide!"

It's also a I'm going to be teaching you new ways of looking at the material and concepts on the test too.

 

[QueenJames]

So essentially... when undergrad goes through one topic that takes 3 lectures and barrages you with details that span those three lectures... and you get one slide in medical school that essentially contains all of the MAJOR points compared to undergrad... shouldn't the medical school stuff just be self-explanatory or it requires a lot of reading into and stuff?

 

[DetectiveAlonzo]

Anybody actually have PDFs of a lecture they could post on here to give us a better idea of the material?

 

[PKA<0]

Anybody actually have PDFs of a lecture they could post on here to give us a better idea of the material?

I am not sure if that would be copyright infringement. We have objectives for each lecture and I fill them out on a word document, so I can show you one of my study guides for an exam. It is all of the high yield material covering roughly 12 lectures of biochemistry. It took me around 2 days to make and then 2-3 days of studying to memorize. It is full of grammatical errors, but you get the idea.

 

[DetectiveAlonzo]

I am not sure if that would be copyright infringement. We have objectives for each lecture and I fill them out on a word document, so I can show you one of my study guides for an exam. It is all of the high yield material covering roughly 12 lectures of biochemistry. It took me around 2 days to make and then 2-3 days of studying to memorize. It is full of grammatical errors, but you get the idea.

You are the real MVP!

 

[asdf123g]

I am not sure if that would be copyright infringement. We have objectives for each lecture and I fill them out on a word document, so I can show you one of my study guides for an exam. It is all of the high yield material covering roughly 12 lectures of biochemistry. It took me around 2 days to make and then 2-3 days of studying to memorize. It is full of grammatical errors, but you get the idea.

whats the point in typing all of that out when you can just use the PPTs and just mark whats high yeild and whats not? Unless thats just your style of learning ofc

I am a 2nd year.
This is what I usually do. Go to class --> listen to lectures (most of the time) --> review those powerpoints couple of times after coming back home --> read pathoma/fa/do some practice questions (COMBANK + KAPLAN - usually 15-30 Qs/night) related to the topic covered that day in lecture or the systems we are covering that block. Repeat the whole week. Some days, I might not have time to do pathoma/fa/practice qs due to taking too long to go over lectures. We usually have quiz every friday (lectures from prior thursday to current week wednesday - usually 16 lectures); thursday night I go over all those lectures again couple more times. Integrated exam every three weeks/two weeks (total of 3 exams/block); the weekend of the exams - I will go over all the lectures again couple more times and review pathoma/fa. I have been following this schedule since first year minus the fa/pathoma/practice qs (which I started this year), I have had straight A's except one or two B's (in OMM!) here and there.

Do you recommend doing this from day 1 year 1?

 

[PKA<0]

whats the point in typing all of that out when you can just use the PPTs and just mark whats high yeild and whats not? Unless thats just your style of learning ofc

For that particular teacher his ppts were minimal and you had to rely on the readings. All of that was summarized from the handouts/ text book. I basically turned 150 pages into like 45. A lot of people don't do that, it was just my style because they tested almost directly from our objectives.

Edit: I also think it was very time consuming, but I kept getting As on my exams, so I just kept doing it. I always try to condense the material as much as possible, so if a hand out is only 6-7 pages I'll leave it at that and will just memorize it. If it's 10-12 I make it smaller.

 

[IslandStyle808]

For that particular teacher his ppts were minimal and you had to rely on the readings. All of that was summarized from the handouts/ text book. I basically turned 150 pages into like 45. A lot of people don't do that, it was just my style because they tested almost directly from our objectives.

Edit: I also think it was very time consuming, but I kept getting As on my exams, so I just kept doing it. I always try to condense the material as much as possible, so if a hand out is only 6-7 pages I'll leave it at that and will just memorize it. If it's 10-12 I make it smaller.

My style of studying is actually very similar (depending on the course that is). People who are not used to condensing material into high yield chunks don't realize what you lose in making such a guide you gain because it is condensed. So the time lost writing such a guide is made up by the fact you don't have to flip through a ton of pages to get the same information in a textbook. Sure you can highlight, but you would still be flipping through pages to get to the info. To top it all off there is more active learning in this approach versus highlighting. I could definitely see why you are getting A's.

 

[PathoTurnUp1865]

I am not sure if that would be copyright infringement. We have objectives for each lecture and I fill them out on a word document, so I can show you one of my study guides for an exam. It is all of the high yield material covering roughly 12 lectures of biochemistry. It took me around 2 days to make and then 2-3 days of studying to memorize. It is full of grammatical errors, but you get the idea.

Is that for one test, or for the final?

 

[PKA<0]

Is that for one test, or for the final?

One test and our cumulative final consisted of 5 exams worth of material. Lol it got real

 

[ninjaman22]

Do you recommend doing this from day 1 year 1?

I actually did look at FA during my first year but only after I went through the lectures thoroughly and understood everything. It has very nice summaries. But please do not use it as your primary learning source. I also wish I had used Pathoma earlier. Our systems blocks started during the third block, which was Musculoskeletal and then 4th block was Neuro. So it would've helped during that time if I had Pathoma. So I would suggest using Pathoma when you are in systems block, but again only use it after going over the lectures. I wouldn't really do practice questions during first year. Start them from beginning of second year. Hope this helps!

 

[Low Flow]

We just got into systems (on musculoskeletal now), so we have a lot of "self-study". The professors give us the PPT/handout ahead of time outlining what we need to learn in that allotted hour.

I'll wake up in the morning and do my Anki cards for that day first and foremost. Then I really try and follow the preview, learn, review mantra when it comes to the lecture material.

I watched Pathoma first and used that mostly as my "preview" to the material. Then I went through each lecture to see what it was talking about and for the most part read the corresponding chapter out of Robbins as my time to "learn" the material (with usually at least a day/several hours in between preview and learn). I really didn't like the layout of a lot of the PPTs they were giving us, and it was quicker/easier to just read the text.

On that second pass ("learn"), I would make my Anki cards (mostly cloze deletions, some images as well) and really try and make an outline in my mind or in OneNote (whichever option I thought would be more beneficial given the complexity of the particular lecture). For the diseases, I found it particularly helpful to make a document of each disease with pathophysiology, diagnosis, treatment under each one. They really emphasize this on our tests--e.g. pt presents w/ swollen MCP, aspiration reveals negatively birefringent crystals. What are the most common side effects of the pt's most appropriate therapy? Have to know what is going on pathophysiologically to get the diagnosis, then think about therapy and integrate what you know about that particular medication.

Then I would "review" as needed and do a mix of looking at RR Path/FirstAid/the lecture PPTs/my outline. Repeat until I felt comfortable with the material. Been doing very well so far so I don't anticipate changing much (unless I find myself with considerably less time in the future).

 

[asdf123g]

@Hrdrock do you have mandatory class attendance?

 

[Low Flow]

@Hrdrock do you have mandatory class attendance?

We have several sessions per week where a physician/professor will present cases in an applicable manner to our current material with a quiz at the end. Other than that most of it is they just give us the PPTs/readings and we can do them whenever. So no, we don't have mandatory attendance for most lectures.

 

[Yadster101]

@PKA<0 "It took me around 2 days to make and then 2-3 days of studying to memorize. It is full of grammatical errors, but you get the idea."

So you did nothing but study this file you made for 2-3 days? Or were you also studying for other classes during that time?

How many hours of biochem did u put in during those 2-3days?

 

[PKA<0]

@PKA<0 "It took me around 2 days to make and then 2-3 days of studying to memorize. It is full of grammatical errors, but you get the idea."

So you did nothing but study this file you made for 2-3 days? Or were you also studying for other classes during that time?

How many hours of biochem did u put in during those 2-3days?

I only studied biochem for those 2-3 days but was watching my other classes to keep up. We have 1-3 exams every week so I study in chunks.

In every class I make 4 passes of material. The first one takes 30 minutes per lecture and that's me watching lecture 2x speed. The second one is variable and that is where I make something like the file you guys saw and that takes 1.5-2 hrs per lecture Third pass is memorizing ~1-1.5 hour per lecture and 4th usually follows a practice test where I focus on details I missed previously and that's about 20-30 minutes per lecture.

I plan my schedule knowing this, so if I had an anatomy exam followed by a biochem exam in the same week, I have overlap in studying, but I usually focus on the class coming up.

 

[DocWinter]

As a 2nd year, I found that going to lectures, making a 2-4 page, 10-font study guide during lecture, relistening to lecture and refining the study guide that evening was the best thing to do.

Would sometimes relisten again, but usually just study from the SG.

Agree to wait to do Qs till 2nd year. USMLE RX is a great source to work with FA and I try to do all Qs in that system as I go, and go over all Qs the last week of the block. I watch pathoma after a section had been covered and before the test. It's pretty much a guaranteed B if you're consistent and work moderately hard.

 

[PathoTurnUp1865]

As a 2nd year, I found that going to lectures, making a 2-4 page, 10-font study guide during lecture, relistening to lecture and refining the study guide that evening was the best thing to do.

Would sometimes relisten again, but usually just study from the SG.

Agree to wait to do Qs till 2nd year. USMLE RX is a great source to work with FA and I try to do all Qs in that system as I go, and go over all Qs the last week of the block. I watch pathoma after a section had been covered and before the test. It's pretty much a guaranteed B if you're consistent and work moderately hard.

Would that typically land you in the middle or above, in regards to class rank?

 

[DocWinter]

Would that typically land you in the middle or above, in regards to class rank?

Hovering in the middle. To be fair our class averages have been really high, like 85-87%, and I board studied for 2 hrs a day, so if I studied another 20 hrs for a test, I would expect to be higher

 

[sabsaf123]

Hovering in the middle. To be fair our class averages have been really high, like 85-87%, and I board studied for 2 hrs a day, so if I studied another 20 hrs for a test, I would expect to be higher

.

 

[xerei]

What's up with flashcards? I've never liked using them, is this something that's gonna change for me? I usually just re-write stuff over and over again to memorize them, if it's strict memorization. Or is it that there's so much to know, for such a long time?

 

[DocWinter]

What's up with flashcards? I've never liked using them, is this something that's gonna change for me? I usually just re-write stuff over and over again to memorize them, if it's strict memorization. Or is it that there's so much to know, for such a long time?

Likely not. I didn't use flashcards in undergrad and didn't in med school either. Thought the firecracker program was silly also.

You should first try the style of learning that got you to med school. Believe in your methods and don't buy all the latest and greatest books/apps/subscriptions until you find your groove. You can waste so much time and money if you look at what everyone else is doing.

Also, lots of things work. Firecracker doesn't work for me, but if I had put time into it, it would have probably been fine. Stick to what you do best and don't 2nd guess yourself

 

[PathoTurnUp1865]

Do those of you who use Anki, use bro's deck for each class and if so how do you use it for biochem or any class by itself? Also how do you use pathoma for first year?

 

[AlteredScale]

Likely not. I didn't use flashcards in undergrad and didn't in med school either. Thought the firecracker program was silly also.

You should first try the style of learning that got you to med school. Believe in your methods and don't buy all the latest and greatest books/apps/subscriptions until you find your groove. You can waste so much time and money if you look at what everyone else is doing.

Also, lots of things work. Firecracker doesn't work for me, but if I had put time into it, it would have probably been fine. Stick to what you do best and don't 2nd guess yourself

I HATE flash cards too. The idea of making anything (a study guide or flash cards) killed me. I did however start using Memorang (used ones already made by the class ahead of us hhehe) and I think it's good to just keep facts fresh in your head but that's about it. It doesn't tie much together and doesn't really help with answer more complex cases.

I've started Firecracker and I'm not sure I how I feel about it. It feels like it's just another tool like memorang but it's all set up meaning you don't have to find flashcards. Weird concept in terms of choosing how well you think you knew the answers. I'll try and keep up with it and see if it helps much.

 

[DocWinter]

/\ That's the fault I personally found with flashcards; I wasn't convinced I was really understanding things better. I knew I was memorizing them, but I wondered how well I was integrating.

 

[PathoTurnUp1865]

I HATE flash cards too. The idea of making anything (a study guide or flash cards) killed me. I did however start using Memorang (used ones already made by the class ahead of us hhehe) and I think it's good to just keep facts fresh in your head but that's about it. It doesn't tie much together and doesn't really help with answer more complex cases.

I've started Firecracker and I'm not sure I how I feel about it. It feels like it's just another tool like memorang but it's all set up meaning you don't have to find flashcards. Weird concept in terms of choosing how well you think you knew the answers. I'll try and keep up with it and see if it helps much.

Is it pretty easy to specifically focus on the subjects/concepts that you're currently covering in class?

 

[AlteredScale]

Is it pretty easy to specifically focus on the subjects/concepts that you're currently covering in class?

Some topics have been fine but others like biochem and cardiopulmonary have been really rough.


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[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Some topics have been fine but others like biochem and cardiopulmonary have been really rough.


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Idk if the way they taught Cardiopulm was really memorable. It was kinda rudimentary in retrospect.

 

[osteohack10]

I only studied biochem for those 2-3 days but was watching my other classes to keep up. We have 1-3 exams every week so I study in chunks.

In every class I make 4 passes of material. The first one takes 30 minutes per lecture and that's me watching lecture 2x speed. The second one is variable and that is where I make something like the file you guys saw and that takes 1.5-2 hrs per lecture Third pass is memorizing ~1-1.5 hour per lecture and 4th usually follows a practice test where I focus on details I missed previously and that's about 20-30 minutes per lecture.

I plan my schedule knowing this, so if I had an anatomy exam followed by a biochem exam in the same week, I have overlap in studying, but I usually focus on the class coming up.

Second this method, at least at my school. Objectives were super useful and if I took the time to do them I was scoring mid-high 90's on exams consistently so if your school has them I would highly recommend taking a look. Second semester that got more time consuming so I only did it for a few courses and ended up switching to going through material 2x (including listening/going to the lecture) at least 24 hours before the exam. In the last 24 hours I gave myself 1 page of notebook paper per lecture on the exam to run through and write down things I wasn't retaining/understanding and the next morning an hour or so before the exam I focused only on what I had written down in that 24 hours before the test. The second method yielded about the same results as doing the objectives, but I felt like I was getting through the material more quickly.

 

[JustPlainBill]

I am not sure if that would be copyright infringement. We have objectives for each lecture and I fill them out on a word document, so I can show you one of my study guides for an exam. It is all of the high yield material covering roughly 12 lectures of biochemistry. It took me around 2 days to make and then 2-3 days of studying to memorize. It is full of grammatical errors, but you get the idea.

You brought back the screaming nightmares --- this is going to take several nights of medicinal scotch to clear -- I hated biochem and still do --- that whole freakin' TCA/ETC memorization garbage -- absolutely despise it....but it is good for watching the Dr. Google's eyes cross when you start explaining at that level the impacts of their disease process --- it usually takes only 1 -2 steps in a particular pathway for me to get my point across that there's more to being a doctor than plugging in symptoms in WebMD and coming up with a diagnosis ----

 

[shadowlightfox]

I don't go to class, start the day around noon around lab time. After lab, come home, watch the lectures on 2x speed and construct an outline of the notes, basically writing down every fact from the powerpoint and also anything the lecturer said. This never takes too long, so my weekdays tend to be pretty chill (never more than 4 hours of studying). Weekends, I just completely memorize that outline that I constructed during the week, typically takes a day or so. Then run through the notes one more time just to see any pictures/graphs that are important that you might not have in your outline and go in and kill that test on Monday!

Unless I'm misunderstanding something, why write down every single fact from the powerpoint if it's already on the powerpoint for you to see?

 

[IslandStyle808]

Unless I'm misunderstanding something, why write down every single fact from the powerpoint if it's already on the powerpoint for you to see?

There is a ton of information to go through from what my medical student friends have stated. So I am guessing he is referring to condensing this information done to a high yield sheet to memorize. I done similar stuff in graduate school where I would make tables of the high yield stuff. This makes remembering the important details quick (since you don't have to go through a barrage of ppt pages) and you can compare and contrast more quickly as well. So both a reorganization and condensing of note. Then again I am probably jumping to conclusions about what he meant.

 

[shadowlightfox]

There is a ton of information to go through from what my medical student friends have stated. So I am guessing he is referring to condensing this information done to a high yield sheet to memorize. I done similar stuff in graduate school where I would make tables of the high yield stuff. This makes remembering the important details quick (since you don't have to go through a barrage of ppt pages) and you can compare and contrast more quickly as well. So both a reorganization and condensing of note. Then again I am probably jumping to conclusions about what he meant.

That does make sense when you put it that way. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to take notes myself, actually. If you're using a surface pro, what's the best way to take notes on it? Do you by any chance know?

 

[IslandStyle808]

This may seen half off-topic of a question, but I was actually wondering about how one take notes on their tablets. Up until now, I've always written everything via paper and pen, and occasionally typing, but never on a tablet. I recently bought a used Surface Pro 3, and this may seem like a weird question, but how do people take notes on it? Like what exactly is the best app for notetaking? I'm still getting used to the whole tablet thing.

Yeah I have the same concern, I myself cannot answer this though. I will probably have to make the switch when I start school. Multiple people have stated using notability for their power points so that everything stays on their computer (I haven't used it myself, I did experiment with pearnote and it was pretty cool how it syncs what I type with the lecture). I believe the application notability allows for one to write on the ppt (if someone on can confirm).

I also am a pen and paper type person, because I could take all my notes and spread it on the table versus having it clumped up on computer. It will be hard getting used to keeping all my notes on the computer. I do believe that it helps because you can use word search instead of flipping through all the powerpoint pages when you look up a certain topic. There are still those who use pen and pencil. One of the residents had stated in another thread that writing it is one of the best forms of recall/retention when compared to highlighting, rereading, and typing (I do believe this myself). So I think it will be a matter of feeling it out which method works best for us when we start.

 

[Medschoolornah]

Where do you type your notes? Under the PowerPoint note section or on word?

 

[shadowlightfox]

Where do you type your notes? Under the PowerPoint note section or on word?

I've never typed any of my notes in the powerpoint sections. Back when I was in college, I've always written my notes via paper and pen. Usually, when typing, though, I almost always do it on word.

Is OneNote the "go to" app to take notes on Surface Pro or are there better ones? I heard some people do the "2 ppt in one page" format and take notes that way, but I'm not sure how that works.

My other concern is that people have been saying that pen and paper is really outdated for taking notes in med school and that typing is the way to go, but people have also taken notes on their surface pro due to how natural it feels writing on it, so how is writing on a tablet not as outdated as writing on paper and pen anyway since it's basically the same thing?

 

[StormRising]

Hi guys. I made a flow chart on how I plan to study in med school. This is similar to how I studied in UG and for the MCAT. It worked really well for me.