Hey guys, I've been searching around the forums for the best books on studying techniques and whatnot, and I was wondering if you guys had any other suggestions? So far I bought myself a copy of 'How to become a straight A-student' but it's more for UG, so any additional info would be greatly appreciated!
Best books/resources on studying techniques?
- Thread starter Daitong
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Spaced repetition.
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I agree with Bashwell, spaced repetition (I used Anki) is invaluable. Overall, I haven't seen any great resources for med school study strategies (I'm actually working on creating one now, for this exact reason) but I think that a combination of asking your school's student support staff, talking to M3/M4s who did well on Step 1, and being honest with yourself about what worked and didn't work for you in UG will get you pretty far. Beyond that, a lot of it is just on the job training - like when they start bombarding you with reading and quizzes the second week, you'll adjust quickly.
Remember to be flexible and try new things during your first few months, too. It's better to stumble a little at the beginning and find something that works for you rather than continue doing something that doesn't work for the whole year.
Remember to be flexible and try new things during your first few months, too. It's better to stumble a little at the beginning and find something that works for you rather than continue doing something that doesn't work for the whole year.
I wouldn't get too carried away with study programs/strategies. You've proven that you're doing SOMETHING right by getting in!
My M1 roommate (accepted with a 3.9+ gpa and a 37 mcat) failed first semester by wasting too much time getting everything onto an Anki card.
But then again, not everyone has the same prayer as me: "Dear God, just let me pass!".
My M1 roommate (accepted with a 3.9+ gpa and a 37 mcat) failed first semester by wasting too much time getting everything onto an Anki card.
But then again, not everyone has the same prayer as me: "Dear God, just let me pass!".
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I'm reading a book preparing for next year called "your memory" by Kenneth Higbee. It is geared toward students. It has a whole study plan with other insightful info. I have not used this yet but it seems like it will work well.
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I'm reading "Make It Stick" at the moment. It basically provides empirical research for what works and doesn't to commit knowledge to long-term memory. It's an easy read so far. Key points from the first third of the book or so: spaced repetition, active learning (quizzing yourself instead of rereading), interleaving (switching topics before you fully master them and then go back to them later). It's not exclusively for med students though, just a general book about learning.
I'm planning to use self-quizzing and spaced repetition as much as possible and see how my first med school exam goes.. Rereading and making thorough notes was great for cramming for premed classes but I pretty much forgot everything after the test.
I'm planning to use self-quizzing and spaced repetition as much as possible and see how my first med school exam goes.. Rereading and making thorough notes was great for cramming for premed classes but I pretty much forgot everything after the test.
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Yeah re-reading has proven to be ineffective and a waste of time. The act of quizzing yourself and trying to recall is training your brain to what you want to do in the future.... which is recall the information!
