Failed a test two weeks into med school. Need help!

[Theralist]

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I just got done taking a test in our Foundations course (think of cell bio and biochem together). Each test you need 80% to pass and I got a 75%. Test was 28 questions and I missed 7. I spent all weekend studying for the test. I reviewed all my notes over the three days and wrote the key points from each lecture into a notebook. I also made note cards. Has this ever happened to anyone before. I really need some advice. Thank you in advance.

 

[DermViser]

Did you only study the weekend before the test?

 

[radkat101]

I just got done taking a test in our Foundations course (think of cell bio and biochem together). Each test you need 80% to pass and I got a 75%. Test was 28 questions and I missed 7. I spent all weekend studying for the test. I reviewed all my notes over the three days and wrote the key points from each lecture into a notebook. I also made note cards. Has this ever happened to anyone before. I really need some advice. Thank you in advance.

Everyone goes through an adjustment phase when they start. I came close to failing one of my exams in the first block (same class). I'm sure it happens to a lot of people who come in not realizing how difficult med school really is.

Sounds like you just need to study more/ more efficiently.

 

[cartoondoc]

Old exams are often the key. That was my revelation.

 

[PL198]

Old exams are often the key. That was my revelation.

I've never understood what medical school would give out their old exams. It's just like asking the students to memorize questions even more so than the 1 line lecture questions. My school doesn't, so the first exam of every class is a complete **** show w/ everyone freaking out trying to predict how it's going to be.

 

[DermViser]

I've never understood what medical school would give out their old exams. It's just like asking the students to memorize questions even more so than the 1 line lecture questions. My school doesn't, so the first exam of every class is a complete **** show w/ everyone freaking out trying to predict how it's going to be.

I agree. Our basic science professors never released "old" exams. This isn't undergrad.

 

[Theralist]

Didn't have any old exams for this one. I also studied more than just the weekend before. The weekend allowed me to revisit the earlier stuff and make sure I knew it. Any ideas on how to be more efficient?

 

[dadaddadaBATMAN]

I've never understood what medical school would give out their old exams. It's just like asking the students to memorize questions even more so than the 1 line lecture questions. My school doesn't, so the first exam of every class is a complete **** show w/ everyone freaking out trying to predict how it's going to be.

It's an excellent study tool. I don't know about your school, but in ours, exam questions would be lucky to cover 5-10% of the material we actually learn. If you have a large enough bank of unique questions, it shouldn't matter. We have old exams from some classes, purely because the professors create new questions every year. They rarely test the same material twice, at least not the same way.

A question lets you interact, think about the subject, attempt to answer it, then find out why you're wrong/right. Ideally, question banks contain explanations for why all answers are correct/incorrect. It's the reason why things like U-world and usmle-rx are so popular.

If they give you old questions, then ask those questions....then yeah, I agree, they shouldn't do that.

 

[radkat101]

Like Batman said, find practice questions from outside resources. I'm just now realizing how helpful this is. We didn't get any old exams, (we aren't even able to see what we missed on our exams), but there are resources out there (BRS comes to mind) that are filled with questions that will get you more actively involved in learning the material. Don't worry about knowing ALL the stuff from lecture beforehand. Jump right into the questions, and study as you go. Rewriting notes, making notecards, reading textbooks, and even going to lecture have been a pretty big time sink for me up to this point. Don't feel like you have to be doing everything that other people in your class are doing. Study smart!

Edit: Another thing I've been doing that I've found REALLY helpful, is to download a flashcard app to your phone/ipad, and when you find yourself always forgetting something, or overlooking something, make a flashcard for it and go through the list you've made every day. DON'T just make a bunch of flashcards/notecards for all the material. You want to keep your notes as minimalist as possible so you are only focussing on the topics you need to.

 

[SouthernSurgeon]

Didn't have any old exams for this one. I also studied more than just the weekend before. The weekend allowed me to revisit the earlier stuff and make sure I knew it. Any ideas on how to be more efficient?

It's really hard to give you any particularly useful/inspired advice with the little bit that we know here. There are about a million threads (and webpages/TED talks/lifehacks) on how to be more organized and efficient in general.

I'd highly recommend you start at your school. See what resources are out there. Barring a sampling error in a 28 question test, you were way off in terms of either the breadth or depth of information that you learned. Does your school have tutors? Learning specialists/counselors who can look at your study habits and learning style?

 

[dadaddadaBATMAN]

Didn't have any old exams for this one. I also studied more than just the weekend before. The weekend allowed me to revisit the earlier stuff and make sure I knew it. Any ideas on how to be more efficient?

How long was the course, and when did it start? Were you studying every day, or just on the weekend

 

[Psai]

You studied for three days lol
you had two weeks
what do you think this is, undergrad bio?

 

[DermViser]

You studied for three days lol
you had two weeks
what do you think this is, undergrad bio?

I know right? Studies for 3 days, and then shocked you failed a med school exam?

 

[PL198]

Yeah you pretty much have to be studying every night like the exam is tomorrow even if it's a week away. I have an exam in a week and I'm sitting here punching myself in the face wondering why I'm talking to you guys

 

[PL198]

I agree. Our basic science professors never released "old" exams. This isn't undergrad.

in my final semester of undergrad literally had a professor that made 98 percent of his questions on the final the same as one of the old exams we could buy from the bookstore.

 

[wjs010]

I think he or she studied more than that, right OP?

 

[circulus vitios]

You studied for three days lol
you had two weeks
what do you think this is, undergrad bio?

How many hours do you study for an exam?

I'm aiming for about 15 hours over the course of a week for my first exam, which covers a month of material.

 

[operaman]

99% sure this wasn't an issue of efficiency, just an issue of underestimating the difficulty and not putting in enough time.

Whatever method you find works for you, it will likely take a lot more time than you gave it. Yes, I know you didn't just study over the weekend. I'm talking about the whole 2 weeks.

 

[PL198]

How many hours do you study for an exam?

I'm aiming for about 15 hours over the course of a week for my first exam, which covers a month of material.

Like M-F week or 7 day week? Either way, I'd say it'll take more than that unless you're rainman

 

[dadaddadaBATMAN]

How many hours do you study for an exam?

I'm aiming for about 15 hours over the course of a week for my first exam, which covers a month of material.

15 hrs total?

In M1, I typically put in an 80 hr week before an exam week. More than 3 weeks range from next tests I typically did 50-65 hrs between studying and classes. I am not unusual, or especially hard-working.

If you have exams the next week, and you aren't putting in at least 6-10 hrs a day, I don't understand what you think is going to happen. Most people I know end up doing more like 10-14 hrs each day.

Having said that, some people "study" on facebook, phone, etc. and accomplish less than I usually do in 4-5 hrs.

This year has been slightly more demanding.

 

[dadaddadaBATMAN]

Like M-F week or 7 day week? Either way, I'd say it'll take more than that unless you're rainman

Not to gun too hard, but either he's being unrealistic or I'm an even slower learner than I realized. I put in 15 hrs in individual days before our last test

 

[Theralist]

Sounds good. Thanks for all the advice. I did study everyday because we had quizzes over the corresponding material. The quizzes went well, and so I doubled my efforts over the weekend. I think I may just have had an off day. Thanks to everyone for giving me an aim to shoot for for future exams (I have an anatomy one coming up which is actually more points).

 

[PL198]

Not to gun too hard, but either he's being unrealistic or I'm an even slower learner than I realized. I put in 15 hrs in individual days before our last test

that's not gunning!

 

[wjs010]

I don't see how you guys can study 10 hours a day. At my school, class ends at 4-5.. After a break and , if possible, the gym, it's about 7:30 or 8 when I'm home to study. If I study 10 hours, I'll be studying until the next mornings lecture starts. Lol

 

[dadaddadaBATMAN]

Sounds good. Thanks for all the advice. I did study everyday because we had quizzes over the corresponding material. The quizzes went well, and so I doubled my efforts over the weekend. I think I may just have had an off day. Thanks to everyone for giving me an aim to shoot for for future exams (I have an anatomy one coming up which is actually more points).

If you're studying everyday, then I'd go with SouthernIM's advice. A learning specialist will be able to help you more than we can, with our limited knowledge. Good luck, and if you have any specific questions I'm happy to try to help (as I'm sure many of us are).

Don't be too hard on yourself: you didn't miss by much!

 

[dadaddadaBATMAN]

that's not gunning!

I was mostly referring to talking about how I study blah hours each day...that's gunnerish to me. Actually studying that much isn't a problem

 

[dadaddadaBATMAN]

I don't see how you guys can study 10 hours a day. At my school, class ends at 4-5.. After a break and , if possible, the gym, it's about 7:30 or 8 when I'm home to study. If I study 10 hours, I'll be studying until the next mornings lecture starts. Lol

We would have exams in sets, with the weekend before and the week of having no classes.
On regular weeks, I'm including our 25+ hours of class in those estimates.

Outside of class, I was probably doing closer to 30-40hrs/week non-exam weeks. Each weekend I study my ass off one day, and take the other day off to hang out with the fiance.

 

[Psai]

How many hours do you study for an exam?

I'm aiming for about 15 hours over the course of a week for my first exam, which covers a month of material.

It's not about the number of hours. It's about putting in enough time so that you are comfortable with the material. I sit at a computer all day and pound it out but I spend a significant amount of time not studying. I could be more efficient but if I had to just read slides for 4 hours straight I would blow my brains out

Ratio of serious studying to not serious studying goes up very high as the exam date comes close

 

[circulus vitios]

15 hrs total?

In M1, I typically put in an 80 hr week before an exam week. More than 3 weeks range from next tests I typically did 50-65 hrs between studying and classes. I am not unusual, or especially hard-working.

If you have exams the next week, and you aren't putting in at least 6-10 hrs a day, I don't understand what you think is going to happen. Most people I know end up doing more like 10-14 hrs each day.

Having said that, some people "study" on facebook, phone, etc. and accomplish less than I usually do in 4-5 hrs.

This year has been slightly more demanding.

6-10 hours of studying a day for an entire week? That's like 15 passes through the material.

 

[dadaddadaBATMAN]

6-10 hours of studying a day for an entire week? That's like 15 passes through the material.

usually it's two to three good passes through everything..we typically get around 1500-2500 slides/exam. We generally had multiple exams/week (2-4) meaning anywhere between 3000 and 7000 slides to cover. Many of them are text, although some are diagrams/charts.

I also make a variety of outlines, spread sheets, or flashcards depending on the occasion.

I'm not trying to make you panic: this is just what I do. I know people who study around 1/2 - 2/3s as much as I do. They always pass, but they usually don't do crazy well.

I also know some crazies that put me to shame. There's this one dude who gets like 4-5 hours a sleep each night, and studies the rest of the time. He's ****ing crazy, but he also does really well. I'm

Note: I never, ever ask someone how they did on an exam. It's taboo. However, some people just say what they got the next time they see you. I am not one of those people.

Edit: I'm also shooting for the top end of the class. If that's not important to you, you definitely don't need to put in those sort of hours. My guess is around 1/2 to 1/4 of what I do could get you on the margin of passing....but I think that would be stressful

 

[dadaddadaBATMAN]

It's not about the number of hours. It's about putting in enough time so that you are comfortable with the material. I sit at a computer all day and pound it out but I spend a significant amount of time not studying. I could be more efficient but if I had to just read slides for 4 hours straight I would blow my brains out

Ratio of serious studying to not serious studying goes up very high as the exam date comes close

This is very accurate. I get extremely anxious when I don't put in the time: but I relax and bull**** a lot too. That's why I'm on here so much.

Aside from my exercise, reading, and a handful of websites (reddit, newspaper, here) I don't do a lot besides study (during the week). I always try to find something completely outside of medicine/school to do each weekend.

 

[SouthernSurgeon]

I never, ever, ever listen to other peoples' recommendations of "how much" studying to do.

For one, one person may take nearly twice as long to read a given amount of material as someone else just in terms of sheer reading speed.

For another, one person may have a wildly different approach to "passes" through the material (eg read through things 4 times to get retention vs reading once and annotating)

For another, the pacing and scope of material does vary significantly from school to school.

For yet another, people's' studying varies differently in terms of efficiency. One mans hour may actually include two coffee breaks, checking ESPN, and playing a quick game of Bejeweled blitz on their phons, whereas another may actually have a dedicated and focused hour.

Finally, I simply don't trust other peoples' quantification of their studying. It's a combination of recall bias and gunning. There's a reason this thread is already becoming the "do you even lift, brah?" of studying

 

[dadaddadaBATMAN]

I never, ever, ever listen to other peoples' recommendations of "how much" studying to do.

For one, one person may take nearly twice as long to read a given amount of material as someone else just in terms of sheer reading speed.

For another, one person may have a wildly different approach to "passes" through the material (eg read through things 4 times to get retention vs reading once and annotating)

For another, the pacing and scope of material does vary significantly from school to school.

For yet another, people's' studying varies differently in terms of efficiency. One mans hour may actually include two coffee breaks, checking ESPN, and playing a quick game of Bejeweled blitz on their phons, whereas another may actually have a dedicated and focused hour.

Finally, I simply don't trust other peoples' quantification of their studying. It's a combination of recall bias and gunning. There's a reason this thread is already becoming the "do you even lift, brah?" of studying

This is also very accurate. I think I'm giving the impression that what I do is some sort of crazy crap. It isn't. I probably think of "studying" in a different way than most do. I include breaks in my estimates, because I have no way of knowing how much time exactly went to break vs actual studying. I probably waste at least 30% of my time places like here.

 

[wjs010]

I find myself wishing I skipped class more , so I could actually study more efficiently. But I force myself to go to class because I've only been in school a few weeks. And at this point, I have zero clue how smart I am/ how much is enough studying for me... So it leads to me just wanting to study as much as my school getting out early and weekends let me... Anything to not fail. After I see that I actually won't fail, I'll get more confidence and nail the next test. This is my prediction atleast. I have no clue what will actually happen. Sort of like jumping into a deep, dark abyss and not knowing how deep it is.

 

[PL198]

I find myself wishing I skipped class more , so I could actually study more efficiently. But I force myself to go to class because I've only been in school a few weeks. And at this point, I have zero clue how smart I am/ how much is enough studying for me... So it leads to me just wanting to study as much as my school getting out early and weekends let me... Anything to not fail. After I see that I actually won't fail, I'll get more confidence and nail the next test. This is my prediction atleast. I have no clue what will actually happen. Sort of like jumping into a deep, dark abyss and not knowing how deep it is.

Honestly I see 0 reason to go to lecture at all. It's just a waste of time as you're going to at least watch the lecture in a speed higher than 1x or skip when your professor circle jerks about their research. I completely ignore my school's lectures because there's honestly been less than 5 times my whole first year when I think there was a question I wouldn't have either learned or assumed the answer to on my own. I still use the notes they give though. you should try everything though, maybe you have higher quality lectures than me. even if I had sattar as my path lecturer I wouldn't go to lecture, but I'd sure as **** listen to them

 

[wjs010]

Honestly I see 0 reason to go to lecture at all. It's just a waste of time as you're going to at least watch the lecture in a speed higher than 1x or skip when your professor circle jerks about their research. I completely ignore my school's lectures because there's honestly been less than 5 times my whole first year when I think there was a question I wouldn't have either learned or assumed the answer to on my own. I still use the notes they give though. you should try everything though, maybe you have higher quality lectures than me. even if I had sattar as my path lecturer I wouldn't go to lecture, but I'd sure as **** listen to them

The reason I go to 8am lecture is because the teacher has packets that he only gives to ppl who come to class. Also, like today, we had a pop quiz. Not every class gives a pop quiz. But of course the one at 8 am does. Lol

 

[touchpause13]

The reason I go to 8am lecture is because the teacher has packets that he only gives to ppl who come to class. Also, like today, we had a pop quiz. Not every class gives a pop quiz. But of course the one at 8 am does. Lol

Then go to the 8 am then skip the rest.
I feel like I have to go to my 8 am or else my dumb butt will sleep in accomplish nothing during that period of time.

Fwiw I try and treat med school like a job and put in at least 8 hours every day. I slack a bit on Fridays tho because I need to refuel.

 

[PL198]

i feel like systems based learning is so much better bc there are so many concepts from phys and biochem that I didn't understand nearly as well when I actually was being examined on them, that I now understand due to path.

 

[DermViser]

i feel like systems based learning is so much better bc there are so many concepts from phys and biochem that I didn't understand nearly as well when I actually was being examined on them, that I now understand due to path.

It's why an organ systems integrated curriculum is better bc you can see the connections right then, rather than having to wait till MS-2 path to finally see the connection - if you even remember MS-1 by then.

 

[PL198]

It's why an organ systems integrated curriculum is better bc you can see the connections right then, rather than having to wait till MS-2 path to finally see the connection - if you even remember MS-1 by then.

lol I'm learning more biochem and phys that is actually remember-able from pathoma than I did all first year.

 

[DermViser]

lol I'm learning more biochem and phys that is actually remember-able from pathoma than I did all first year.

Yeah, sources like Goljan (and I guess now Pathoma) that integrate things for you are clutch. They're key to remembering and doing well I believe.

 

[loltopsy]

You best get that weak **** out of here, son.

 

[DermViser]

Finally, I simply don't trust other peoples' quantification of their studying. It's a combination of recall bias and gunning. There's a reason this thread is already becoming the "do you even lift, brah?" of studying

The e-peen is huge in this thread.

 

[loltopsy]

The e-peen is huge in this thread.

If anyone takes SDN seriously, there's something wrong.

 

[PL198]

The e-peen is huge in this thread.

I study while SDing by a neural implant that supersedes my conscious, which is why most posts on here are so stupid. 24 HOURS A DAY SUCKERS

 

[dadaddadaBATMAN]

QUOTE="circulus vitios, post: 15648375, member: 214637"]6-10 hours of studying a day for an entire week? That's like 15 passes through the material.[/QUOTE]

In retrospect, I don't think any of my previous posts on this page are especially helpful. If they freaked you out, ignore them, because you're probably fine.
To me, 15 hours sounds ludicrously low, but that's probably because I think of the hours differently than you do.

If 15 hrs means that you are going to class from 8-5pm, then studying 3-4 hrs, passing out, and repeating: that's probably enough. If it means "I went to class from 1-4pm today, that's probably good," it probably isn't adequate. If you have all day, I'd say take all day to study. But that's just me.

Honestly, as long as you pass, you're doing fine. No one gives a damn how much it takes any individual to do that, which is something I should remember.
Anyways, I'm out. This site's been really useful for me, but I don't think I'm using it in a good way anymore.

[

 

[circulus vitios]

 

[EMDO2018]

I just got done taking a test in our Foundations course (think of cell bio and biochem together). Each test you need 80% to pass and I got a 75%. Test was 28 questions and I missed 7. I spent all weekend studying for the test. I reviewed all my notes over the three days and wrote the key points from each lecture into a notebook. I also made note cards. Has this ever happened to anyone before. I really need some advice. Thank you in advance.

Holy crap so at your school below 80% = fail? At some schools 65% and above equal Pass. I think most are at 70% and above= pass,

 

[DermViser]

Holy crap so at your school below 80% = fail? At some schools 65% and above equal Pass. I think most are at 70% and above= pass,

University of Wisconsin is like that.

 

[AspiringERMD]

University of Wisconsin is like that.

Iowa as well.