Finding it very difficult to memorize First Aid

[phd89]

I'm finding it very difficult to memorize First Aid and I've tried everything. ( not referring to the conceptual part of FA but the bare bones part that just has to be memroized cold ie much of the immunology and bacteriology and even parts of Biochem sections along with others)

Ive read it 3-4 times and tried to even write it out, aside from that I've even done the DIT videos and am currently thinking of doing the First Aid express videos but feel that will also be a waste of time.

I've done Uworld and Kaplan questions and hovering around 65%. Honestly I don't know how memorize it. I mean sure I know the big things but I just keep on mixing up some concepts like Intracranial Hematomas and other closely related pathology, its difficult to know all the s/s for a disease without confusing them ie Rheumatic fever vs. Bacterial Endocarditis. Or all the points of Schizophrenia vs. points of Depression. i just find it too dense. I cover one section know it well but then 2-3 days after im done with covering 2 more sections i forget much of the first section I covered and feel like im back to square one

As for questions; I always get it to 2 or 3 choices but can't answer any question with 90-100% surety and feel like that will happen to me on test day, When I do know that section of FA cold I feel like i can get the answer with a high degree of surety 90-100%.

How should I memorize First Aid, Im not going to use any more video sources since they take too long which includes Pathoma my Pathology is 70% though so i'm not that worried about it

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[jbish828]

Probably b/c FA sucks and represents everything that's wrong with medical education.

(stepping off soapbox)

If you know Pathoma, I wouldn't worry about FA path. It's incomplete in comparison. As far as the other subjects, know the biochem & micro that DIT highlights and know all the pharm in FA. I would go back through the biochem cycles and graphs from DIT. That was more than enough for my test. As far as micro, I don't know a better way than just powering through it repeatedly. It'll come to you on test day. Once you've studied enough, the concepts of FA should be intuitive (e/x micro. that's just straight up memorizing) and you don't have to worry about knowing every word. IMO, memorizing is overrated, but to each his own.

 

[newdoc2013]

Memorizing a textbook is impossible. Try to understand as much as you can from FA and the score will come.

 

[linkin06]

FA is useless for memorizing like that because there is just TOO MUCH to memorize (unless you're just one of those weird freaks who can just know it.) for me, i needed to break down the pathophys for every list of facts. knowing the pathophys then helped the facts stick. the pathophys explanations i got from goljan rapid path. so essentially i took notes from goljan rapid path with the explanation for every fact. the transferring was a good learning process. then, memorizing it also became easier because it had context and logic (instead of a column of random facts). that's just how my stupid head thinks -- your results may vary.

 

[NK Cell]

Memorizing an entire textbook is impossible.
Try understanding the concepts and consolidating them. That is more guaranteed.

 

[ipizzy]

*Insert usual disclaimer about understanding rather than memorizing*

Try a flashcard program like Gunner Training/Firecracker (which I used and *loved*) or Anki. I think there are FA flashcards from Rx called FlashFacts too. Even if you understand everything really well, you gotta find a way to make the details stick within your conceptual framework

 

[ThunderGod]

What made you think memorizing FA was a good idea in the first place?

 

[eastcoastdr]

Memorizing an entire textbook is impossible.
Try understanding the concepts and consolidating them. That is more guaranteed.

What made you think memorizing FA was a good idea in the first place?

You shouldn't be using FA to memorize from, you should be using FA as a guide to tell you what is high yield. IMO FA doesn't really teach you anything. If I were you I would start off by reading more comprehensive texts/watching comprehensive videos to strengthen your foundation of the basic sciences, THEN go back and use FA to point out the most important concepts.

 

[weightlifter911]

Buy USMLE RX, go through the Q bank along with first aid when a question pops up on a certain subject. And by the end I knew first aid cold.