Am I studying right? First year med student.

[hsk013]

My school gives out a booklet for biochem and it goes way into detail. Currently, I am watching the video (not going to lectures), and read the appropriate section on the booklet and make my own outlined notes and anki flash cards. I decided not to go to all my classes in order to save time, but every lecture takes like 3-4 hrs and I'm always behind.

Most other students go to only science classes (like biochem and anatomy) and many told me that they just memorized the booklet for the exam. Should I just go to the lecture, make flash card out of the booklet and skip making my own outline? Or maybe I can just find anki cards for my school online and go to lecture and save time that way?

It is really frustrating to find the right study method. I already saw learning specialists but with no real success. If other people can chime on it, I would really appreciate it. The current study method takes me like 15 +hours a day and I feel very behind compared to everyone..

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[68PGunner]

My school gives out a booklet for biochem and it goes way into detail. Currently, I am watching the video (not going to lectures), and read the appropriate section on the booklet and make my own outlined notes and anki flash cards. I decided not to go to all my classes in order to save time, but every lecture takes like 3-4 hrs and I'm always behind.

Most other students go to only science classes (like biochem and anatomy) and many told me that they just memorized the booklet for the exam. Should I just go to the lecture, make flash card out of the booklet and skip making my own outline? Or maybe I can just find anki cards for my school online and go to lecture and save time that way?

It is really frustrating to find the right study method. I already saw learning specialists but with no real success. If other people can chime on it, I would really appreciate it. The current study method takes me like 15 +hours a day and I feel very behind compared to everyone..

You do what you feel works for you in order to retain information in the most efficient manner. I just realize that I learn literally 70-90 pages of assigned readings by having someone there to teach me verbally while I'm asking questions. This is like a total of 1-2 hrs in 15-20 mins increments instead of me mindlessly reading some foreign book for hours.

 

[NotYou20]

I started out doing something similar. i stopped after a week because it took too long and tried a few different things. What seems to work best for me starts with converting the lecture notes to a word document. Then for anything that seems testable I put a double space in and give some idea of what kind of information follows. So i turn the notes into 50-100 questions per lecture with minimal effort. Delete images and move things around so that I can't see or guess the answer. Then I go through it and change the text color indicating if I got it right or wrong. It takes 1.5-2 hours per lecture so I have time to watch videos the next day and review everything from the week over the weekend.

I think the most important thing you can do is try something different. Worst case scenario you can come back to what you're doing. But it seems pretty inefficient and the volume only goes up from here

 

[Goro]

Check out my post of tips for med student success.

I suspect that you're trying to memorize everything, and are not starting out with the Big Picture.

I'm curious, when you state "Most other students go to only science classes", are you saying that Clinical Medicine, Biostats, Epidemiology, or The Doctor's Art" aren't attended???

My school gives out a booklet for biochem and it goes way into detail. Currently, I am watching the video (not going to lectures), and read the appropriate section on the booklet and make my own outlined notes and anki flash cards. I decided not to go to all my classes in order to save time, but every lecture takes like 3-4 hrs and I'm always behind.

Most other students go to only science classes (like biochem and anatomy) and many told me that they just memorized the booklet for the exam. Should I just go to the lecture, make flash card out of the booklet and skip making my own outline? Or maybe I can just find anki cards for my school online and go to lecture and save time that way?

It is really frustrating to find the right study method. I already saw learning specialists but with no real success. If other people can chime on it, I would really appreciate it. The current study method takes me like 15 +hours a day and I feel very behind compared to everyone..

 

[hsk013]

Check out my post of tips for med student success.

I suspect that you're trying to memorize everything, and are not starting out with the Big Picture.

Thanks, Goro. I will definitely check it out. As for me memorizing, I tried to memorize the big picture but my school asks pretty specific questions from the big picture. But I will definitely check out your post.

I'm curious, when you state "Most other students go to only science classes", are you saying that Clinical Medicine, Biostats, Epidemiology, or The Doctor's Art" aren't attended???

Yeah attendance is not mandatory for most of those (except for OMM and labs). Some classes will have mandatory attendance for certain lectures, but for the most part, attendance isn't too bad. It's just the lab attendance that takes more time than lecture attendance for my school.

 

[hsk013]

I started out doing something similar. i stopped after a week because it took too long and tried a few different things. What seems to work best for me starts with converting the lecture notes to a word document. Then for anything that seems testable I put a double space in and give some idea of what kind of information follows. So i turn the notes into 50-100 questions per lecture with minimal effort. Delete images and move things around so that I can't see or guess the answer. Then I go through it and change the text color indicating if I got it right or wrong. It takes 1.5-2 hours per lecture so I have time to watch videos the next day and review everything from the week over the weekend.

I think the most important thing you can do is try something different. Worst case scenario you can come back to what you're doing. But it seems pretty inefficient and the volume only goes up from here

Yeah, I will probably try something new. But you are right that the volume only goes up from here. Hopefully, I find something efficient soon enough...

 

[NotYou20]

Yeah, I will probably try something new. But you are right that the volume only goes up from here. Hopefully, I find something efficient soon enough...

I think what @Goro says about the big picture is on point too. I've found it easier to handle both the big picture and details by emphasizing the big picture stuff in my first pass.

 

[musicalfeet]

Check out my post of tips for med student success.

I suspect that you're trying to memorize everything, and are not starting out with the Big Picture.

I'm curious, when you state "Most other students go to only science classes", are you saying that Clinical Medicine, Biostats, Epidemiology, or The Doctor's Art" aren't attended???

I'm the total opposite. Skip the basic science because you can learn it on your own, and go to all the other "soft" classes

 

[musicalfeet]

Thanks, Goro. I will definitely check it out. As for me memorizing, I tried to memorize the big picture but my school asks pretty specific questions from the big picture. But I will definitely check out your post.


Yeah attendance is not mandatory for most of those (except for OMM and labs). Some classes will have mandatory attendance for certain lectures, but for the most part, attendance isn't too bad. It's just the lab attendance that takes more time than lecture attendance for my school.

You need the big picture to see WHERE the details fit into everything. That's why people recommended multiple passes through material. First to get the general gist, second to focus in on the more specific stuff, and third to go through the nitty gritty.