D1 Study Tips

[SunflowerRae]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

For students who are doing well or did well (A's or B's in Science classes)...

I do not find the material hard to understand but the amount of material to
assimilate is what I find difficult. My study method from undergrad is good
but not for this amount of material.

So, for instance, for our quizzes and exams, the professor provided
"key concepts" do you just study those questions and breifly look over the
other material?

I know we don't all study alike, so I'd like to get ideas from you on how to
maximize my study time, increase efficiency, and get better grades.

THANKS

 

[Streetwolf]

Take this for what it's worth since I'm only a D1 as well. But I have been getting mostly As and a B or two so far on the exams.

For the exams I got As on, I did the readings after the lectures so I already had a good idea of what I was learning. The books just reinforced what I learned in class. It might be a good idea to read it beforehand also but I don't think it helps, at least not me.

I look at the powerpoints and review my notes. The things that help a lot for me are all the practice tests. My prof will post old anatomy exams online and I'll go through them all (once I've done the readings and have a good idea of what I'm doing). I'll look at what I got wrong and figure out why it's wrong. If it's a multiple choice question I'll go through all choices and see why they are wrong or right. If it's true/false I'll see what it's either true or false. If it's false, what would make it true?

I'll supplement this with lab experiences. My lab group will go back into the lab and look at all the structures on the cadavers. It's such a great help for learning.

If you aren't doing anatomy then of course that last thing won't help. For biochem I look at all the notes first. We have a note taking service so I use those. If you don't have that, use your own notes. Make sure they are good! Then I looked at the ppts to go over the material. Just focus on anything complex and go back over it again and again. Make sure you know it. Connect the dots for everything. If you have practice exams available, take them. Like I said, the best way to remember something is if you get it wrong on a test. Then you'll never forget it again.

 

[pine88]

I definitely pay attention to the teachers "key concepts" pages. Why would they point them out if it wasn't important? I dont read the material, but we have notes that are pretty much verbatim from two years ago (and the lectures dont change much) so I read through those before the lecture and make flashcards. If I dont have notes ahead of time I wait and do it after. Then all I have to do is go through the flashcards a few times. Much easier than reading 10,000,000 pages.
Seems to me the biggest influence on how you do in dental school is how much work you put into it. Last quarter I did nothing but study, and I mean NOTHING, and I got good grades, but I dont wan't to live like that, so this quarter I'm going out maybe once a week and my grades are dropping because of it. How much are you studying now?

 

[toothfairy85]

For gross lab, my class has started putting small peices of string around the best structures each group found on their cadaver. We put together a key, and then take our own practical prior to the exam. Just make sure your professor will allow you to do so... but I think it is a great way to review the structures, especially since sometimes you don't always find everything on your cadaver.

 

[dWiz]

study 24/7, and try not to kill yourself

 

[armorshell]

Learn the key concepts, then learn the exceptions to those key concepts, then rote memorize what you have to (Innervations, 75% of dental anatomy).

Works well enough for me.

 

[shamrock2006]

Yea i'm gonna have to agree. Some of the stuff is learning concepts. But from what I've seen so far its...it's all a test to see how much crap you can commit to memory. Kinda like studying for the DAT all over again.

 

[shane.]

What is a note taking service? Is a single person elected to take notes for everyone?

 

[maksidaa]

I would say don't waste time on anything that isn't going to be on the test. I know that sounds obvious, but there are several students that I know that are very smart and very studious, but they spend about 1/3 of their time studying things that won't be on the test and their grades suffer from it. If a professor has pointed out "important" points, then spend 95% on those points and maybe 5% or your time on the other stuff.
Also, don't waste time writing things down. This might sound odd, but writing extra notes, flashcards, etc takes up way too much time and really is a waste of time if you do it all yourself. Work with your classmates, see who has old notes, split up sections for notes you don't have, and spend as much time as you can studying and as little time as you can writing stuff.
Old exams and quizzes are the absolute bes study tool you can find. I know some students don't like to use them b/c then they feel they're just learning what the professor wants them too, and there's always a chance that the exam could be different than the old ones. Those are all legit concerns, but remember that the most important detail of getting good grades is to answer the questions your professor is going to ask. If you don't focus on what your professor is likely to ask (which is best predicted by seeing what they have already asked in the past), then you're just guessing about what you should study. If you feel like you aren't learning everything you should be learning then you'll either have to sacrifice your grade or just worry about it once you graduate.
Lastly, test taking skills will be the difference between a letter grade on most tests. I think most schools test using multiple choice and good guessers will make 5-10% higher on any exam than bad guessers, regardless of the subject.

 

[Mila]

What is a note taking service? Is a single person elected to take notes for everyone?

A note-taking service is generally set up by the students, so it might vary from school to school. But generally each student is responsible for transcribing a certain number of lectures and these transcripts get passed out to the rest of the class. At our school, the medical students are the ones who write the transcripts, and the dental studens get them for a small fee.

 

[clickytop]

For students who are doing well or did well (A's or B's in Science classes)...

I do not find the material hard to understand but the amount of material to
assimilate is what I find difficult. My study method from undergrad is good
but not for this amount of material.

So, for instance, for our quizzes and exams, the professor provided
"key concepts" do you just study those questions and breifly look over the
other material?

I know we don't all study alike, so I'd like to get ideas from you on how to
maximize my study time, increase efficiency, and get better grades.

THANKS

The key for me is not getting behind. If you go home and review for a little while every day, things are so much easier when test time rolls around.

 

[armorshell]

Also, don't waste time writing things down. This might sound odd, but writing extra notes, flashcards, etc takes up way too much time and really is a waste of time if you do it all yourself. Work with your classmates, see who has old notes, split up sections for notes you don't have, and spend as much time as you can studying and as little time as you can writing stuff.

Can't really agree with you here. How much you transcribe really depends on how much of a kinesthetic learner you are. Writing is an active learning process for a lot of people, and can really aid in helping you remember things.

For me specifically, concepts and rote memorization come easily from a book or lecture, but more complicated schema need to be drawn (For example, I just drew the cervical plexus) before it can get into my brain.

Similarly, taking notes during lecture generally helps me remember whatever I wrote down, simply because I wrote it.

 

[Soflex]

I'm with Armorshell, here...there is something to be said for writing stuff down, either with a pen/paper or on the computer. Just the act of spending time with the material by organizing it into notes really contributes to getting it into your head. Not to mention it is so nice to have notes to return to a few semesters later when the class has been completely wiped from your memory by several months of dental school crazy. And then...you have those nice notes when it's time to study for boards part one.

My tried and true formula (which I don't always have time to do) is to go through all the lecture material first, and then try to take the old tests and quizzes while I cover up the answers. Then...I go back and look up everything on the old tests, even the distractor answers. This gives you good "coverage."