help me study more effectively

[sandy24]

HI guys, you can tell from my "I hate pharmacy school" thread that I was very frustrated the other day.

I think that before I go onto second semester of second year I need to revise how I do things. Here is an example: if I have a test on Friday I will start studying on Wed for maybe 4 hours and then go to bed at a decent time. The day before the test I will get VERY stressed and basically pull an all nighter cramming for the test. I mostly end up with 80% or around that area. So, how can a person improve? for those of you with pristine GPAs, what are your tactics? pretend you have a test on Friday and it is now Monday. The test is in pharmacotherapy and there is a TON of material to go over.

any other tips are very much welcome!!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[dgroulx]

HI guys, you can tell from my "I hate pharmacy school" thread that I was very frustrated the other day.

I think that before I go onto second semester of second year I need to revise how I do things. Here is an example: if I have a test on Friday I will start studying on Wed for maybe 4 hours and then go to bed at a decent time. The day before the test I will get VERY stressed and basically pull an all nighter cramming for the test. I mostly end up with 80% or around that area. So, how can a person improve? for those of you with pristine GPAs, what are your tactics? pretend you have a test on Friday and it is now Monday. The test is in pharmacotherapy and there is a TON of material to go over.

any other tips are very much welcome!!

For pharmacotherapy, there is a lot of material. We only have 3 exams a year, with about 10 chapters on each exam. I need two full days of study before an exam. I stop watching lectures for two days and just read my notes and go over case studies. I go to bed at a normal time every night and never cram. I want a good night's sleep the night before and I eat healthy on exam day. I catch up on missed lecture material over the weekend or in the evenings. I don't make A's because the extra studying is not worth it to me. Maybe if I was single and lived alone I would study more.

 

[Bob_Barker27]

When I have tests that require me to memorize a lot of material, I like to break the information down into smaller groups that have something in common. If you are learning a sequence of some sort like a physiological process in the body, it helps to make a flow chart so it's easier to memorize. The key is to write down the important stuff and stuff you have trouble remembering three times at least if possible. If you try to write down everything, it's probably not going to help that much.

 

[indoflip]

Within my program, we had exams twice a week. On Tuesdays and Fridays. I would study Sat, Sun and Mon for my Tuesday exam, and I would study Tues, Wed, Thurs for my Friday exam. And this went on and on and on for my first 2 years (thank god I'm in rotations now!).

This is how I study, and everyone is different.. I'm one of those people who needs to read something repeatedly for it to stick. So basically, I would take half my material and read it over and over for one day, read the next half the next day, and on the third day I would review everything. By then it was just a matter of familiarizing myself with everything.

My exams were always before classes, so they would start at 7:30 AM. So I would wake up at 5 AM to review again before the test. And one important thing.. I NEVER pulled an all-nighter in pharm school (this is especially important in med chem). There is NO way my brain would function the next day. I usually went to sleep by 11 PM the night before a test.

Another thing I found works well but is time consuming is rewriting your notes. I seem to remember better that way but never did it in pharm school due to time issues. Good luck!

 

[sandy24]

ooh excellent replies

for once I get honesty. THe way people act in pharmacy school they NEVER study and just go in and ace every test. Yeah right!

So to the last poster. you had tests on tues and studied all weekend. How many hours are we talking? all day? did you make notecards? any tactics work better than others? I try to say my notes aloud and write things down so I commit it to memory

 

[off2skl]

I am the queen of flashcards. i should buy stock.

I find that if I simply READ the notes I say to myself, "Yeah, I know this, etc." By using flashcards I am quizzing myselg repeatedly.

At night I try to make the flashcards for all the lecture material from that day. I start studying from them "seriously" a few days before the test and refer back to the notes when I need to.

 

[tupac_don]

ooh excellent replies

for once I get honesty. THe way people act in pharmacy school they NEVER study and just go in and ace every test. Yeah right!

So to the last poster. you had tests on tues and studied all weekend. How many hours are we talking? all day? did you make notecards? any tactics work better than others? I try to say my notes aloud and write things down so I commit it to memory

My strategy was intense, but also very successful. For one I went to all classes, and intensely paid attn and took a lot of notes. That way I already had a base. Two I looked over old tests to familiarize myself with concepts and what specific teachers liked to test. I also studied daily, I approached it like a job. Or like war, whatever analogy works better for you. Furthermore, I studied teachers and learned how each one asked their questions. Some liked asking straight memorizations, others asked stupid details, that noone really thought important. Others would give little nuggets of info in class, that weren't in the notes. I completely immersed myself and studied intensly. I basically studied a lot plus I pulled all nighters at times to give me extra umpfff. Did I overdo it at times??? I sure did, but I also got phenomenal results. I was often gettin the top grade in the class. Then again I really enjoyed learning the material, so I did not see it as a burden. As well I noticed a very interesting phenomenon. I found that if I studied, right up to the test, and I mean right up to the last 5 min before starting. ANd doing a real quick 2hr review just prior to the test, I performed very strong. I found that I hit about 2-3 qs that I learned answers right before the test. But if you don't want to be that intense, as long as you know what you know and what you don't know, and feel comfortable, you can do reasonably well. Another strategy I suggest is to put check marks next to qs you are 100% sure about, so that way u have a pretty good idea how you did on a test. It always buffled me how people could come out of a test and have no idea how they did. I always knew how I did within 5% either way. Another thing to do is to fight for every point on the test. Don't give up, if you have time on the test, dont' give up, keep fighting for every q for every point. That gets you in the right mentality for top performance.

 

[EarlyEditionDude]

tupac,

Now that is intense. I like your approach to studying more effectively! I might give it a try this upcoming semester.

 

[indoflip]

So to the last poster. you had tests on tues and studied all weekend. How many hours are we talking? all day? did you make notecards? any tactics work better than others? I try to say my notes aloud and write things down so I commit it to memory

I probably studied during the week from 5 or 6 PM to 10 PM. Fridays were my day off On weekends, I would study 4-10. And like the last poster mentioned, old exams were KEY for me. I would read over all the material and go through past exams and see if I could answer the question. If not, I would look for the answer and take notes on the old test. That way I would cover anything I may have missed.

I didn't use notecards but I know alot of people who did. I basically read, reread, and read again.

I think studying right before the test is key as well, if you have an opportunity. It freshes your mind and you will pick up on things you may have missed.

 

[baggywrinkle]

any other tips are very much welcome!!

Repost.

The best way to learn effectively is to spend some time learning how to learn

http://www.tacgworldwide.com/learning.htm

 

[ultracet]

go to.... www.vark-learn.com

it is a test that will tell you your preference of learning styles

it will then give tips on what you might like the best and therefore may work the best for you!

 

[Roxicet]

And like the last poster mentioned, old exams were KEY for me. I would read over all the material and go through past exams and see if I could answer the question. If not, I would look for the answer and take notes on the old test. That way I would cover anything I may have missed.

We generally don't have any old tests available at my school. I'm not sure if it's because the profs are too lazy to make up new questions every year, or if they consider it a form of cheating or unfair advantage.

 

[indoflip]

We generally don't have any old tests available at my school. I'm not sure if it's because the profs are too lazy to make up new questions every year, or if they consider it a form of cheating or unfair advantage.

Thats interesting, I'm over at MWU-CCP and you would think they'd have the same policy. They even have an event our first year where you get a "big bro/sis" 2nd yr student and you meet up at this massive event where they give you their old tests! I actually havent found too many repeat questions but they are definitely a nice study aid to have.

 

[dgroulx]

Our med chem prof includes old exams in his notes packet that we get at the beginning of the semester. There are not any repeat questions, but it give you an idea of the format. Our pharmacology prof posts old exams on Blackboard for us to look at and Dose Ops are posted on the course web site. The professors encourage us to look at old exams as a study aid.

Pharmacotherapy is the only class where the old exams are not posted but old exams are always found and then circulated. We got to keep our 1st two exams but not the final. In fact, I didn't even get to see my grade on the final let alone get my test back. Oh, and Pharmacology doesn't give out the old final exam either. I did get to see my grade, though.

 

[ultracet]

old tests used to be a HUGE no-no (values violation... kicked out etc) but then we had a huge scandal and then the dean required profs to give back old tests... more drama.... and now they are everywhere and usually of no value


anyone else's pharm school have TONS of drama?

 

[aphistis]

old tests used to be a HUGE no-no (values violation... kicked out etc) but then we had a huge scandal and then the dean required profs to give back old tests... more drama.... and now they are everywhere and usually of no value


anyone else's pharm school have TONS of drama?

Really? Wow. We have old tests circulating all over the place. Heck, I'm the class webmaster and I scan in an old copy of every exam for people to download & study from. Nobody complains about them, & they're hugely helpful for exams.

 

[ultracet]

Really? Wow. We have old tests circulating all over the place. Heck, I'm the class webmaster and I scan in an old copy of every exam for people to download & study from. Nobody complains about them, & they're hugely helpful for exams.

yeah we have someone who does that too but again... my first 2 years it was "illegal"

we just had a group of professors who would give the EXACT same test year after year after year.....

one of them is no longer at the school and thus... the new rule...

 

[MNnaloxone]

Get yourself a study group.

For the majority of my tests, I and a group of 3 other guys would meet at a Barnes and Noble and study. At least 4 hours a night, for as many nights before the exam that we thought we needed. Towards the end of the semesters, this was every week. This not only spread the reviews out to where we got more out of them by not cramming, but gave the reviews a bit of a social aspect to them. Plus, there was always the perceived peer pressure if you missed a night.

Put in the time you need. You have the rest of your life to slack off and only work 10 hour days.