Are outlines a waste of time?

[HybridEarth]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hi,

I'm in physio and have been making outlines for every lecture. It is really tedious but I guess it helps me review faster. I'm spending 6-7 hours getting through two lectures and two outlines per day, not counting the two hours I'm in lecture. Am I wasting time with outlines? Should I just be flipping through PowerPoints instead? I'm trying to get myself in a good groove for M2, and I don't think I'll be able
to handle 3 lectures and 3 outlines a day when I get there. What do you think?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[AthleteDoc7]

Waste of time IMO. i was like you making outlines at the start of M1. quickly ditched that, started making multiple passes through powerpoints (with my notes on OneNote), and started honoring. highly recommend not wasting that much time on first pass. why rewrite what ur profs already wrote on slides? it's too inefficient

 

[sliceofbread136]

Yes. Know power points very well, I printed slides and took notes on them.

 

[CharmanderMD]

I think lectures are a waste of time. I always used a textbook as a primary source of info and then used slides as review/to make sure I was learning what would be tested. Making an outline of ****ty class lectures will just add up to you missing out on important info.

 

[Crayola227]

it depends on your style

the only way I could retain was to *handwrite* whatever I was trying to retain, and reviewing that

 

[AlteredScale]

Hi,

I'm in physio and have been making outlines for every lecture. It is really tedious but I guess it helps me review faster. I'm spending 6-7 hours getting through two lectures and two outlines per day, not counting the two hours I'm in lecture. Am I wasting time with outlines? Should I just be flipping through PowerPoints instead? I'm trying to get myself in a good groove for M2, and I don't think I'll be able
to handle 3 lectures and 3 outlines a day when I get there. What do you think?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

If you aren't keeping up and feel behind and are losing time to actually studying I would def nix it.

I know of a few people who do outlines and they are amazing but they also are speed demons in typing and also reading.

Personally, I first do the relevant reading if reasonable and do a pass or two of pathoma. Then I annotate on lecture slides while listening to lectures at light speed, then review the slides multiple times while mentally creating a "working knowledge" of the material starting from clinical presentation to ddx to important immune/micro/biochem/cellbio. Similar to @Crayola227 , smaller pathology details like morphology, subtypes, genetics I hand write to help reinforce that material (which I have to do because we are tested directly from Big Robbins).

 

[Azete]

Since I started making outlines I haven't gotten less than an A in 4 blocks worth of material. Some people say outlines are a waste of time, but I don't really see how it's any different than making Anki cards. Something tells me you're being a bit inefficient about the process though because it absolutely should not take you 3 hours each lecture unless it's an incredibly dense topic.

I watch the lecture at 2x and pause to create my outline as I go along -- the whole process takes me about 90 minutes per lecture. I then review my outlines pretty regularly, and by exam time I've probably studied ~3 hours total per lecture.

 

[Azete]

Waste of time IMO. i was like you making outlines at the start of M1. quickly ditched that, started making multiple passes through powerpoints (with my notes on OneNote), and started honoring. highly recommend not wasting that much time on first pass. why rewrite what ur profs already wrote on slides? it's too inefficient

The idea is to summarize the slides in a few words so that you can do more repetitions when it comes time to study for the exam. It's a lot easier flipping through 20 pages in outline form than studying 500 slides. Also if it's in your own words it tends to be easier to retain.

Some people make enormous outlines that are basically just the slides rewritten in a word document -- now that's a massive waste of time.

 

[sovereign0]

I guess you can argue that it's never a waste of time if it works for you, but if you're spending 3.5 hours per contact hour just making your study material (not reviewing), then I'd say it's a waste of time.

I outlined in undergrad and tried it for the first 3 lectures in medical school before I quit. I'm a subscriber to the Anki method of studying and review now. Making Anki cards takes anywhere from 15 minutes to 90 minutes per hour of lecture, for me anyway. That includes the time I take to look things up / draw them out / make tables as I make the cards.

 

[CharmanderMD]

@CharmanderMD When are you going to reach level 16 and evolve into CharmeleonMD? Or are you going to pull an Ash's Pikachu and never evolve?

Haha I'm glad you caught that! I was originally going to evolve once I got to med school but then I was too lazy, looks like I'll be charmander forever

 

[Psai]

Haha I'm glad you caught that! I was originally going to evolve once I got to med school but then I was too lazy, looks like I'll be charmander forever

Just donate some money and change your name in residency

 

[WheezyBaby]

I'd make detailed outlines as I reviewed lectures (thorough review and ensuring I'm understanding / processing the information). Review it once in detail about a week before exams (2nd pass). Finish making it over the subsequent week as lectures wrapped up. Send it out to the class so they have a resource also at this point. Review it again, this time crossing through things I was solid on (3rd pass). Rinse and repeat as time permitted only going over the stuff that wasn't crossed out each time. Would generally get 4-6 passes through the information this way in an informal SRS way, and it backloads review of the nitpicky details that are tough to remember until right before the test. Honored more or less all my classes that way, so it worked for me, but it is definitely a very time intensive way to go, so kind of depends on your priorities / goals

 

[AthleteDoc7]

The idea is to summarize the slides in a few words so that you can do more repetitions when it comes time to study for the exam. It's a lot easier flipping through 20 pages in outline form than studying 500 slides. Also if it's in your own words it tends to be easier to retain.

Some people make enormous outlines that are basically just the slides rewritten in a word document -- now that's a massive waste of time.

I think that can work out if it's done quickly, only issue is I can see some important details being left out of your outline from time to time that might end up being important. powerpoints already have all the info and even reviewing a couple old ones per night while keeping up with new ones works, then running through all again right before the exam. to each their own though, glad you found what works for you.

 

[whatisthisstuff]

Whatever works. Lots of ways to skin a cat. Seems too time consuming for me personally as I prefer to attack things from multiple angles.

That said I would judge if you need to make a change based on how you feel. Are you making good grades? How do you feel time wise? Are you maintaining a balanced life outside of school. I'm guessing your asking the question for a reason. It felt like our lecture amount doubled 2nd year so if you already feel stressed for time then I would consider modifying your strategy.

 

[Dandine]

If you find it a waste of time (especially with the recall part), find another way. More importantly, do whatever you need to do to use the information in the way you'll be evaluated. Learned that the hard way.

 

[Azete]

I think that can work out if it's done quickly, only issue is I can see some important details being left out of your outline from time to time that might end up being important. powerpoints already have all the info and even reviewing a couple old ones per night while keeping up with new ones works, then running through all again right before the exam. to each their own though, glad you found what works for you.

Every now and then I leave some nitpicky details out of my outline that show up on a question, but this is usually only 1-2 questions per test maximum. I used to just flip through powerpoints, and it sort of worked but it felt like I just wasn't seeing the high-yield stuff enough before each exam. Re-reading a powerpoint takes me about 20 minutes assuming I already know the stuff, whereas I can flip through an outline in ~5 minutes.

But my goal has never been to get 100s, I walk into every exam trying to get a 95. I don't let those 1-2 questions add 10 hours to my study regimen.

 

[HybridEarth]

If outlines worked for you in undergrad, there's no reason they shouldn't know in conjunction with other study techniques. But why is it taking you 3-4 hours to outline an hour long lecture? If I've paid attention in lecture and understand the material, it should take about the same amount of time as I spent in lecture or less. Sounds like you just need to get more efficient with it, and if you can't consider other methods.

While I can perfectly follow along with a lecturer and catch all the main ideas (approx. 30 slides in 45 minutes or so), it definitely takes me at least 1.5 hours to go through that lecture again and actually learn the tiny details on the slides, many of which aren't even mentioned by the lecturer but definitely are on the slides or graphs. It's just that doing the outline at the same time as I'm doing this makes it twice as long to get through (e.g., roughly 3 hours).

 

[Azete]

While I can perfectly follow along with a lecturer and catch all the main ideas (approx. 30 slides in 45 minutes or so), it definitely takes me at least 1.5 hours to go through that lecture again and actually learn the tiny details on the slides, many of which aren't even mentioned by the lecturer but definitely are on the slides or graphs. It's just that doing the outline at the same time as I'm doing this makes it twice as long to get through (e.g., roughly 3 hours).

I think I understand the problem you're having, I dealt with something similar at the beginning. Try going through the slides and making a rough draft of your outline before watching the lecture -- try to pick out only the points you think are high yield. As you watch the lecture, fill in the details based on what they emphasize.

Also remember that the entire exercise of making an outline is pointless unless the finished product is significantly shorter than the slides themselves.

 

[HybridEarth]

I think I understand the problem you're having, I dealt with something similar at the beginning. Try going through the slides and making a rough draft of your outline before watching the lecture -- try to pick out only the points you think are high yield. As you watch the lecture, fill in the details based on what they emphasize.

Also remember that the entire exercise of making an outline is pointless unless the finished product is significantly shorter than the slides themselves.

I think that's exactly my problem. My outlines have basically become the PowerPoints but in tinier font and in a Word document! I can make outlines of the main concepts much faster, I'm sure. How would you recommend reviewing in the other details then? I haven't scored under a 95 on an exam, so I'm tempted to not do the outlines simply because I will miss the tiny stuff that puts me in that score range. I'm all ears though. Trying to refine my process as much as possible in prep for the hellish year ahead.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[Azete]

I think that's exactly my problem. My outlines have basically become the PowerPoints but in tinier font and in a Word document! I can make outlines of the main concepts much faster, I'm sure. How would you recommend reviewing in the other details then? I haven't scored under a 95 on an exam, so I'm tempted to not do the outlines simply because I will miss the tiny stuff that puts me in that score range. I'm all ears though. Trying to refine my process as much as possible in prep for the hellish year ahead.

Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

I think you can still have all the details (or most) while still condensing the material

Example (I pulled this from a random wikipedia page)

Original text: LAD1 is caused by mutations in the ITGB2 gene which are inherited autorecessively. This gene encodes CD18, a protein present in several cell surface receptor complexes found on white blood cells,[1] including lymphocyte function-associated antigen 1 (LFA-1), complement receptor 3 (CR-3), and complement receptor 4 (CR-4). The deficiency of LFA-1 causes neutrophils to be unable to adhere to and migrate out of blood vessels, so their counts can be high. It also impairs immune cell interaction, immune recognition, and cell-killing lymphocyte functions.

Outline:
LAD1 = ITGB2 (encodes CD18) mutation (AR inheritance)

-CD18 = WBC surface receptor protein

-Found in: LFA-1, CR-3, CR-4
-LFA-1 deficency --> neutrophils can't adhere/migrate (high serum) --> impaired immune function

​

Just a silly example, but you get the idea. In my outline I wouldn't even include the CR-3/CR-4 bits because that's probably not high-yield, but you can certainly include all the details if you choose.

​

 

[Psai]

I think you can still have all the details (or most) while still condensing the material

Example (I pulled this from a random wikipedia page)

Original text: LAD1 is caused by mutations in the ITGB2 gene which are inherited autorecessively. This gene encodes CD18, a protein present in several cell surface receptor complexes found on white blood cells,[1] including lymphocyte function-associated antigen 1 (LFA-1), complement receptor 3 (CR-3), and complement receptor 4 (CR-4). The deficiency of LFA-1 causes neutrophils to be unable to adhere to and migrate out of blood vessels, so their counts can be high. It also impairs immune cell interaction, immune recognition, and cell-killing lymphocyte functions.

Outline:
LAD1 = ITGB2 (encodes CD18) mutation (AR inheritance)

-CD18 = WBC surface receptor protein

-Found in: LFA-1, CR-3, CR-4
-LFA-1 deficency --> neutrophils can't adhere/migrate (high serum) --> impaired immune function

​

Just a silly example, but you get the idea. In my outline I wouldn't even include the CR-3/CR-4 bits because that's probably not high-yield, but you can certainly include all the details if you choose.

​

I understood some of those words