Books and studying

[orion1978]

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I have always been one to read the textbook in addition to listening to lecture and taking notes. I hear alot of people saying that it is a waste of effort to do this in medical school. Right now I read the text before hand and in conjunction with the powerpoints the night before. During lecture the day after (when we have our notes), I compile everything together. No I do not listen in lecture. I just use our NTS to get notes. Later in the week, I annotate my High-yield copy.

I think that is a pretty efficient study method... but I also hear others on SDN saying otherwise. Bottom line is, I think it works for me (no, we haven't had a test yet), and I think it will do good to prepare for boards.

What do you think?

 

[rxfudd]

Originally posted by orion1978
Bottom line is, I think it works for me (no, we haven't had a test yet)

I think this says it all, in regards to two points at least.

If it works for you, do it. I know someone who did absolutely NOTHING the entire quarter and would read the textbook very methodically and carefully, cover to cover, once the week before the test. He did really well that way (whereas I would have completely bombed the exam). If it works, it works.

That said, you really should pay close attention to how you do on your first set of exams. If your method does not in fact work for you (i.e. you score low on this coming set of tests), switch to something different. This is really important - it seems like it should be common sense, but med students aren't always quick to change study habits even when something isn't working out.

Most people say that they don't like reading the textbook not because they don't like the idea of it, but because it did not work for them. I know LOTS of people who read the histo text before the first exam and realized that they could be getting 10x the amount of useful (i.e. tested) information by reading the syllabus and maybe a review book (which are about 10x less dense than the text).

Another common difference between students that I've noticed is quantity vs. quality of studying. Most people in my class seem to really like going over everything 1-2 times (3 times max) very very carefully. I can't imagine doing it like that. I go over things very quickly and as many times as possible (sometimes up to 8 or 9 times) but not as carefully, and that seems to work really well for me. I seem to be one just a few people who does things this way, because when people ask how many times I've been through material and I tell them six or seven, I always get a "damned gunner..." look. 😀

Main point - if it works for you, by all means continue doing it.