MD & DO How do people study?

[futuredoctor1995]

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I am really struggling in med school. I am barely passing anything and I feel like a failure. I tried so many different ways to study and I don't know what to do. We also are starting Immunology soon and I don't know how to study. We finished Anatomy and I am just so clueless. I annotate my notes and what is a good way to study? I tried Anki but it is so hard to memorize things and making flashcards take so long.

 

[funtertaining15]

I am really struggling in med school. I am barely passing anything and I feel like a failure. I tried so many different ways to study and I don't know what to do. We also are starting Immunology soon and I don't know how to study. We finished Anatomy and I am just so clueless. I annotate my notes and what is a good way to study? I tried Anki but it is so hard to memorize things and making flashcards take so long.

Have you tried practice questions? I think it's BRS or something like that, or if you have access to old textbooks that have practice questions at the end, try those...you can look online and I'm sure they have them on Amazon. Or for me, I like to write my notes at home and watch videos on YouTube relating to it. Also, talk it out, whether it's by yourself of with others, depending on what helps. I would talk to myself all the time, reading thru my notes. If they record lectures, watch them again by yourself.
You got this! I'm definitely not a fan of studying but I like to use color and make "cheat sheets" or reviews for my notes. I'm definitely not in the top quartile, but hey, I'm in my last year and almost done, so it's definitely possible. Seek out your teachers and see if they have study tips or review sessions, go to them! ~~

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using SDN mobile

 

[Raney Schauer]

Osmosis has decent videos (broad strokes, not crazy detailed), decent flash cards that are already made (I don't want to waste time making cards either), quizzes and spaced repetition tool tools. Osmosis is a mile wide and an inch deep.

Draw It To Know It (you need an iPad Pro and an Apple Pencil or equivalent)

There's always Khan Academy....

For anatomy, this channel on YouTube in particular. I like it because I don't want to schlep back to the lab for after-hours which ends up being non-productive anyway:
anatomy dissections

Complete Anatomy '19 is a good 3D anatomy app if you're looking for apps.

The point is looking at the same material several different ways repeatedly to escalating levels of complexity. You get the foundational concepts down first. Once you have those you can work on building up the detailed knowledge and recall. You don't start building a house on the second floor.

 

[futuredoctor1995]

Have you tried practice questions? I think it's BRS or something like that, or if you have access to old textbooks that have practice questions at the end, try those...you can look online and I'm sure they have them on Amazon. Or for me, I like to write my notes at home and watch videos on YouTube relating to it. Also, talk it out, whether it's by yourself of with others, depending on what helps. I would talk to myself all the time, reading thru my notes. If they record lectures, watch them again by yourself.
You got this! I'm definitely not a fan of studying but I like to use color and make "cheat sheets" or reviews for my notes. I'm definitely not in the top quartile, but hey, I'm in my last year and almost done, so it's definitely possible. Seek out your teachers and see if they have study tips or review sessions, go to them! ~~

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using SDN mobile

I did the BRS problems and I also did the Grey's Anatomy Questions. I try to do as many as practice problems I can and I also went over the key notes and highlighted points the professor told us to do but now I feel like there is nothing left to do. I did all the practice problems, all the notes, objectives. I also don't want to study the same way because then I am going to fail again. The learning specialists aren't very helpful. I am also so stressed because if I can't pass my classes, it makes me anxious to think that I might not pass my boards. This is a dark tunnel...

 

[Goro]

I am really struggling in med school. I am barely passing anything and I feel like a failure. I tried so many different ways to study and I don't know what to do. We also are starting Immunology soon and I don't know how to study. We finished Anatomy and I am just so clueless. I annotate my notes and what is a good way to study? I tried Anki but it is so hard to memorize things and making flashcards take so long.

Read this:

• Goro's Guide to Success in Medical School (2018 edition)

 

[Levrone]

Watching the associated boards and beyond video prior to lecture helps me understand the material being covered easier.

Also practice questions, rx/kaplan/uworld, as well as qbooks.

After learning that material, going thru Zanki also helps me retain it all. I also am in the minority that makes my own flashcards for in house exams, you get better at it with time

 

[futuredoctor1995]

Osmosis has decent videos (broad strokes, not crazy detailed), decent flash cards that are already made (I don't want to waste time making cards either), quizzes and spaced repetition tool tools. Osmosis is a mile wide and an inch deep.

Draw It To Know It (you need an iPad Pro and an Apple Pencil or equivalent)

There's always Khan Academy....

For anatomy, this channel on YouTube in particular. I like it because I don't want to schlep back to the lab for after-hours which ends up being non-productive anyway:
anatomy dissections

Complete Anatomy '19 is a good 3D anatomy app if you're looking for apps.

The point is looking at the same material several different ways repeatedly to escalating levels of complexity. You get the foundational concepts down first. Once you have those you can work on building up the detailed knowledge and recall. You don't start building a house on the second floor.

We are done with Anatomy for now but I don't know what to do for Immunology... Should I just ask the professor before each class on how to study?

 

[funtertaining15]

I did the BRS problems and I also did the Grey's Anatomy Questions. I try to do as many as practice problems I can and I also went over the key notes and highlighted points the professor told us to do but now I feel like there is nothing left to do. I did all the practice problems, all the notes, objectives. I also don't want to study the same way because then I am going to fail again. The learning specialists aren't very helpful. I am also so stressed because if I can't pass my classes, it makes me anxious to think that I might not pass my boards. This is a dark tunnel...

I understand. I found videos to be helpful and just constant repetition. Also "dumbing down" the info/lectures and breaking up the info may help, too.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using SDN mobile

 

[futuredoctor1995]

Watching the associated boards and beyond video prior to lecture helps me understand the material being covered easier.

Also practice questions, rx/kaplan/uworld, as well as qbooks.

After learning that material, going thru Zanki also helps me retain it all. I also am in the minority that makes my own flashcards for in house exams, you get better at it with time

I think I will try to get the Boards and Beyond book and try that for it.

 

[Raney Schauer]

I myself can't stand the lecture hall (the overhead lighting is painful to me) and the lecturers talk too slowly toe keep the attention of my New York brain which leaves me to chasing butterflies in my mind. I watch the recordings at 1.25x and that gives me the speed I need to keep my attention and I get through an hour's worth in 48 minutes.

 

[futuredoctor1995]

I myself can't stand the lecture hall (the overhead lighting is painful to me) and the lecturers talk too slowly toe keep the attention of my New York brain which leaves me to chasing butterflies in my mind. I watch the recordings at 1.25x and that gives me the speed I need to keep my attention and I get through an hour's worth in 48 minutes.

I usually like to pay attention in class and I get all the info out from there so I never have to watch it again..

 

[Goro]

We are done with Anatomy for now but I don't know what to do for Immunology... Should I just ask the professor before each class on how to study?

That's always a good idea.

 

[ciestar]

Immuno is all process driven and understanding how one thing relates to another. Know your cytokines and the complement pathways. Immuno is all relationships which is needed to actually get it.

 

[goldenphoenix]

Finding a way to make the material interesting to you is key! I like cars, so anatomy is like learning parts, mechanical stuff makes sense to me so biochem is just little machines...

Basically what myself and my friends do is something like this;
-Briefly go through the material the night before the lecture, just to see things so it's not brand new in class and you can focus notes on what the prof is SAYING not the slides
-Within 48 hours read through it again and read it aloud!
-With difficult clinical scenarios I make up stories about the people coming to see me and try to picture them and their symptoms/ lab values in my mind. Giving it meaning automatically helps you remember. Imagine a friend is diagnosed and comes to you for advice, whatever works
-DRAW THINGS OUT! I have a sketchbook and organize material in a way that makes more sense to me. I draw out pathways and make tables etc. Use colors, make it personal
- Study with people(who get good grades)! SO many people say they just need to go through stuff before they're ready to group study. Group studying can help you learn in many ways solo can't. Talking through the WHY and HOW of everything and drawing it on a whiteboard while explaining it with a few people is probably the best way to get things down. Even if you haven't done a second pass or don't get the material someone is generally happy to explain it for a win win. You will learn something and they will reinforce their knowledge.
-Pretend your home and your family is asking about what you're learning, explaining things to someone who doesn't understand the medical language is a good way to master key concepts. Knowing the details is much easier if you know the foundation/ big picture first. There's a reason doctors do rounds and discuss cases with others...
- Practice problems, DO practice problems! Write out why each wrong answer is wrong

I know people who do anki daily but I don't like it. Understanding > memorizing

 

[lemony]

Slightly different take than most... I've tried the read lecture slides before and watch some boards and beyond videos to prep... but I found it wasn't efficient personally. I get lost in powerpoints if it's the first time learning something and have a hard time figuring out how all the pieces fit together. Then I don't understand everything because it's in phrases and I have to be the one who connects the ideas together (this is hard for me to do when I don't understand the material)... Watching BnB for prep... I forget what I watched and have to rewatch it, which gets to be a little time consuming with the rewinding. Sometimes it doesn't match up to lecture.

Here's what I do now and it's made a big difference
1) Read the corresponding First AID section to have an idea (it's super short and takes minutes at most.. and I have an idea of what I'm going into).
2) Read and love the corresponding textbook sections (this is posted for me online) until I understand the material and understand how the big ideas connect/what the big ideas are (the book is great for this.. It tells you things like we are going to talk about XYZ. Topic A is split into subtopics EDF. There are graphs, charts... It also repeats the important stuff and there's a summary at the end in most books.) If I don't understand something, I just reread that part a few times until I understand. When I read, I read by paragraphs and summarize in my head after I finish a paragraph and a section. If I don't get it, I read again.
3) I go to lecture slides with the textbook next to me. I see what's written on the slide and since I've read the book, I know where the material is in the book. I reread stuff in the book corresponding to the slides and if the stuff is really good, I screenshot it and stick it next to the slides.
4) I watch lecture... I know exactly what the professor is talking about and it makes sense (before doing all this I'd sit in class and think I'm hearing a new language..)
5) Study lecture
6) Anki to check where my knowledge gaps are (anki is good for little details.. big picture? Not so much)
7) Go back and restudy slides as needed
8) Do Pathoma, BB (For some classes I've found what I'm doing here don't correlate or miss big chunks.. so I save it for last)
9) Practice Qs

I used to handwrite stuff... but it took forever (I also have tendencies to write down everything) and it's much easier having notes digitally so I can take them everywhere

 

[bananafish94]

I annotate my notes and what is a good way to study?

This makes me suspect that you may be doing too much "passive" studying. Passive studying is anything where you are not actively forcing yourself to engage with the material. Reading, annotating, etc. is passive. It's obviously necessary to some extent, but you should minimize it. Active is flash cards that make you recall the answer, practice questions, etc. This should take up the majority of your time.

 

[Jesus1]

There are many ideal ways to learn, but in my experience, any learning strategy should incorporate 2 phases.
Phase 1-Learn the concepts super well. Take the time to build a good foundation. Use a good, comprehensive resource for this purpose.
Phase 2-Repeat the material multiple times/do practice questions.