Feeling lost...

[tiggercat]

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I'm in the second half of my first year and the past term I did ok on my courses, got an A, two Bs and I was 1% away from a B on another course, but I feel lost because I want to be an A student but I just don't know how to get there. 😕

I've looked at posts on how to study. I tried Cornell notes, outlines, mindmaps, flashcards, tables, mnemonics but I still can't seem to get all As. 🙁

It seems like I always spend a lot of time making notes. So I'm curious, what do you A students do? Do you really come home and make notes? Or do you just study right off the lecture notes and use a textbook to supplement if they're bad? For those of you who make notes, what do you make notes on? How do you decide with all that information?! ie. do you make notes just really key confusing topics or everything?

I feel so confused because so many people and those how to survive in medical school books say make your own notes, but then there are a lot of A students who don't make notes. I just don't know what I'm doing wrong.

What I do is I come home after lectures, make notes on what's important based on the objectives, and if I have enough time, preview for tomorrow. I also try and review on weekend if I'm not behind on notemaking. I usually try make my notes visual as possible with tables, mindmaps, and throw in mnemonics. Figuring out how I want to organize my lecture notes ie. into tables etc. always seems to take a bit of time.

Any help would be appreciated. It just feels frustrating because I really study hard and try hard but I don't get A's.

 

[meister]

Sounds like you're doing fine to me. Sucks being average doesn't it?

I have heard rewriting down notes isn't that helpful but everyone's different. I just read the lectures a billion times. But I'm right around the median so don't look at me.

 

[ChiDO]

I go over lecture notes over and over and then try to find practice questions from review books on the subjects.

I've only made flash cards for memorizing drugs, since that was easier then flipping through the lecture notes.

 

[njbmd]

I didn't spend loads of time making notes. I would pre-read any text/syllabus reading. I would essentially look at the big headings, the organization of the material and read for getting the gist of what that text/syllabus contained. I looked at the objectives and used them as the concept headings.

I would then listen to the lecture only taking notes on those things that were not in the book/syllabus. I would then, make a list of any details of the concepts in the margin of my notes and fill in any gaps. I would then study the concepts linking them to the previous notes. On the weekend, I would study the previous week's notes.

I wasn't much of a flashcard person but had lists of concepts and how the related to other concepts. Essentially, I had an outline that wasn't very detailed. I filled in the details verbally as I studied. I would also cut the spines on my books (like Big Robins) and punch 3 holes in the pages. Then I put those pages in a three-ringed binder. When I needed a particular section, I could take only the pages that I needed and I didn't have to lug around those huge books.

When it came time for the exam, I just needed a big review so that I could put everything together but essentially, I have gone over each lecture more than three times and I knew the material thoroughly. When I stopped obsessing about getting every little note, I actually saw my grades go up because I had a strong knowledge base that I kept adding to.

 

[turkeyjerky]

Stop wasting so much time making notes. If you have to catch up on the weekends on your "note-making", you're definitely spending far too much time making notes.

Look, I wouldn't put too much stock in advice that books and your school's director of "Learner Development" (at least that's what ours is called) give you. I remember during orientation she came in and told us all that we should form study groups and organize our own notes and come talk to her if we had any problems blah blah blah.

It's terrible advice. The people who study in groups aren't studying--they're socializing. I'd rather socialize over a pint of Newcastle, not my Netter's Atlas.

The amount of material we have to learn is so voluminious that rewriting notes is a monumental waste of time. Maybe it worked for you in undergrad, but, unless you want to spend 80 hours a week studying (I sure as hell don't), it's a waste of time.

Just try to maximize the times you go over the material. I go over notes the night before, go to lecture, read the book (some classes), go over notes after lecture, go over them over the weekend, and once more before exams. That's six passes through the material, and it's worked for me so far.

 

[indo]

Yeah...Newcastle...

Think long term...how will a residency director compare your A and 2 Bs to a student with 3 passes? Right. They can't really. So, learn to learn and drink to forget!

Also, be the end of second year you will be much more efficient at studying. My advice is to try a study method that is completely opposite of what you're doing now just to see how it works.

 

[tiggercat]

Thank you everyone for the great advice! 🙂 I think I will try just studying the actual lecture notes and not spending all my time making my own notes. That for me would be a study method opposite to what I'm doing now. Hopefully focusing more on understanding and less making those notes will help. And as indo said, I guess in the long term it doesn't matter so that does make me feel a bit better. Thanks again!

 

[Polish Farmer]

Don't worry about it . . . at all. I was an A student in College, then became an A/B student first year, then a B student second year. Then third year became an all A student while I watched some these hot shot study nerds I know suffer during their clerkships. I've just got back from a grip of Residency interviews, at exactly the places I wanted. If you become too obsessed with grades now, when you hit "the wall" as I call it during your second year then you are really in trouble. By the time you make it to your clerkships - there won't be much left of you.

If I had to do it over again I probably would have studied less during first and second year. I probably would have worked out, drank, and dated more - - that's the best advice you will ever hear.

 

[medschool08]

So, I am doing well this and past semester( with some B's and mostly A's).

But, I actually go home and rewrite my notes( just cause the professors give us packets that are like 40-50 pages long and I hate flipping back and forth between lecture notes. Sometimes I would hand-write my notes and in the process, I remember half of the material right then and there. When I don't have time, I type them out. Then, I highlight the most important stuff and read over it at least once that night. I obviously don't have time to rewrite notes for all my classes, but I pick and choose the ones I think I need to work on more.
The key to doing well is repetition, repetition and repetition!! I got a 100% on pathology exam because
1. I handwrote all my notes and color-coded them
2. I would review my notes every day two times so that by the exam time, I have looked at my notes about 8 times in total
3.I also studied with another student and we would quiz each other on the important stuff

This has proved to work extremely well for me but it might not work for everyone.

 

[zephyrhills123]

You are either not studying as much as you think you are or you're inefficient. As an experiment, keep a schedule of one avg wk (not a test week) & for each hour write what you are doing. Only count an hour of study if you do 50 min of real study (no checking email or whatever, just you and the notes) -- use a timer & set it to 50 min, when you've gotten that far give yourself a 10 min break. You should be doing about 60 hr/wk, including time in lecture. If you're doing < 60 hrs, ramp it up.

If you're spending > 60 hrs, you're being inefficient when you study. Create a time limit for a studying goal; for example if it takes you 5 minutes to read a page in a book, then give yourself the goal of reading 10 or 11 pages in a 50 min session.

BTW, you don't have to be exactly at 60 hrs, you can be slightly under or over, just avoid extremes.

I liked this book for more tips: http://www.amazon.com/Study-Without...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1232660032&sr=8-1

 

[cpants]

One thing I find extremely high yield is getting a good textbook (not necessarily the one they recommend) and reading the relevant material thoroughly. I am a very verbal person, and reading a coherent explanation of the material sinks in a lot better than looking through my crap notes or the disorganized lecture notes they give us.

Don't get too bogged down in the grades. The people outperforming you aren't necessarily working harder, they may just be smarter than you. Just put in your own maximal effort, and be satisfied with whatever the results turn out to be (as long as you are passing).

 

[confuse]

And as indo said, I guess in the long term it doesn't matter so that does make me feel a bit better.

That is a bit deceiving. Although the first 2 years grades do not matter much compared to 3rd year and Step I, but it still matters somewhat because it determines your class rank. If you're ranked in the upper half of your class, I wouldn't worry too much about it. One of my best friend was in the lower half of his class after second year; he did well on Step I and 3rd year and is now offered a position in one of the top residency program in his field. Everyone in med school is smart and studies hard but not everyone can be an A student. If you're not doing your best, then kick it up a notch; if you've already reached your max potential (you will know when you are), don't sweat it. 🙂

 

[KUmed214]

I am in my second year of medical school, and I have witnessed peers go thru depression, weight gain, and suicide. No matter how bad you want the A's, don't push yourself too hard. Make sure you study enough to keep yourself in the top half of your class if you want to get into a competitive residency, but don't spread yourself too thin.

I throttled down enough so that I watch sports (football and KU basketball) and make sure I make enough time throughout the week to work out, and hang out with my wife and friends, and getting my solid 8hrs of sleep.

I have tried studying directly from my lectures as well as re-writing my notes (amongst others), and my grades didn't change between the different methods. I think it really just comes down to the amount of quality time you are willing to put in. I felt that for myself re-writing my notes (at least the "highlights"/ parts I thought were important) made me feel more comfortable, since I have a concrete copy of the work i have put in.

just for a frame of reference... I am now mostly a B student, but still get the occasional A when the test permits. (also, my school considers B's from 85-92% and A-s up from there...)

 

[VoiceofReason]

One thing I find extremely high yield is getting a good textbook (not necessarily the one they recommend) and reading the relevant material thoroughly. I am a very verbal person, and reading a coherent explanation of the material sinks in a lot better than looking through my crap notes or the disorganized lecture notes they give us.

Don't get too bogged down in the grades. The people outperforming you aren't necessarily working harder, they may just be smarter than you. Just put in your own maximal effort, and be satisfied with whatever the results turn out to be (as long as you are passing).

I agree with this. Once I stopped trying to understand subjects using godawful class notes and started going to primary textbooks for my explanations i started doing a lot better.

Textbooks are written for the singular purpose of providing the best explanation (if its a good book, anyway) and when people cut things out of them, paraphrase, and mix and match items in order to make a set of notes, the power of the explanation is lost.

 

[indo]

word...the material isn't that difficult to get but if you have to distilll off 3 inches of poo from each concept it becomes taxing.