Failed Immunology/Dermatology. Any Advice?

[Dhoot7]

I have a learning disability and slow processing speed. I have been attending tutoring sessions, meeting with learning specialists, and in contact with the faculty. The hardest part is mostly not making the associations and always feeling so behind compared to others. I'm going to start using study groups more as I typically did not use them before. Being out of school for 3 years has been tough. I do best with practice but my school has in-house exams. I typically spend like 1 hour per lecture on the material. I think I need to start spending more time with the material and have less passes. How many times do you review a certain lecture? I'm debating whether I should spend more time and have less passes or more passes and less time. I feel so uncertain on exams and the 2nd and 3rd order questions always are tricking. I never make the associations and need some help. I was told immuno is one of the toughest courses. My study techniques are not working. I need to change. Any advice?

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[samac]

Are your grades in your other courses ok?
It's hard for us to tell you how to study as everyone is different and a lot of us didn't tackle medical school with a learning disability - kudos to you.
Our immunology course required a lot of understanding so working with other people helped me to make sure we could explain the material to each other - if you can teach it you have a good grasp on it.

Good luck!

 

[Dhoot7]

I got a C in my first course I was getting B's then F and F on quiz. On downward spiral which is not good. We started with immuno and did a lot of Anki which really hurt me.

 

[Dhoot7]

My Clinical Sciences courses are easy. We have systems-based curriculum and need a better assessment or way to understand the material.

 

[Goro]

I have a learning disability and slow processing speed. I have been attending tutoring sessions, meeting with learning specialists, and in contact with the faculty. The hardest part is mostly not making the associations and always feeling so behind compared to others. I'm going to start using study groups more as I typically did not use them before. Being out of school for 3 years has been tough. I do best with practice but my school has in-house exams. I typically spend like 1 hour per lecture on the material. I think I need to start spending more time with the material and have less passes. How many times do you review a certain lecture? I'm debating whether I should spend more time and have less passes or more passes and less time. I feel so uncertain on exams and the 2nd and 3rd order questions always are tricking. I never make the associations and need some help. I was told immuno is one of the toughest courses. My study techniques are not working. I need to change. Any advice?

I vaguely remember my Immunologist colleague telling me that the Osmosis videos were good for this subject.

 

[Dhoot7]

I should have used BnB and Osmosis more.

 

[hungrydoc710]

OMS1 year I ran thru ppts on each exam 3x over.
Wish I did one less pass, and did BnB/FA annotating instead. Playing catch up for Boards studying already in Block 5.

Immuno at my school was super easy, not sure about any great sources. Sry.

 

[Dhoot7]

We had a new professor and went into more detail than last year and 2nd years didn't know what to expect.

 

[Osteosaur]

Immuno is really hard. Probably my next worse block. Don't feel bad about it. You're still learning how to learn.

Revisiting it in M2 I found Boards and Beyond videos very helpful. As for Anki, SDN sometimes makes it sound like you just download the decks and start flipping and it comes together... but Anki is really for maintenance. You need to get the content down first.

The fact that you're going on about passes... and reviewing each lecture for 1 hour out of class... makes me think you're really trying to do what learning centers say. And that's good. But its less about time put in and what you're getting out of that time. Don't just make it about studying that power-point for an hour. You need to identify it on a recognition multiple choice exam.

Even if it is an in-house exam you NEED to be doing practice questions. That is the only way to know you knowa concept. Ask your professors where to do practice questions because chances are they are looking to those sources for inspiration. Even if the exams are in-house the material does not change so much.

 

[Dhoot7]

I asked the professors where I can find practice questions. Most have given me no additional resources. Besides other students from other schools. I know Kaplan COMLEX my professor used and subscription database. My problem is the library resources often don't align with lecture so feel like I'm wasting my time using additional resources but learn best from practice.

 

[Medic741]

If you aren't already using FA as a study guide I found that it had a really good immuno/derm section that made it easier to get a grasp of the big picture stuff before dying into the weeds that your professors want you to

 

[Dantes]

Pre-Test has decent practice test questions for an M1 curriculum. Have you talked to your school about any possible learning accommodations?

 

[ExplodingUlcers]

Try the Feynman technique to help you make connections/associations with your lectures. This also tests whether or not you actually understand the material. For example, in immunology you can start off with a global question like "what is innate immunity?" Then hone in on the specifics like the role of T cells, B cells etc.

Anki is for retention of the nitty gritty details. It sounds like you're using it as a primary learning tool.

 

[BorntobeDO?]

My school was horrible at teaching immunology. I had to use B/B, FA, and practice questions to get myself upto speed. Boards and Beyond especially helped fill in the deficits.