How do you remember random facts?

[Nilf]

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I thought that years of medschool and graduate education would teach me that... but sometimes I just can't retain some random factoids... I mean... Did you know that Strep. intermedius is a member of anginosus group, and that it's Voger-Proskauer positive? Two sort of mnemonics seem to stick well, personal and sexual... but you can only come up with so many of those... What do you do? Recite things over and over? Write it down?

 

[KeratinPearls]

I thought that years of medschool and graduate education would teach me that... but sometimes I just can't retain some random factoids... I mean... Did you know that Strep. intermedius is a member of anginosus group, and that it's Voger-Proskauer positive? Two sort of mnemonics seem to stick well, personal and sexual... but you can only come up with so many of those... What do you do? Recite things over and over? Write it down?

yeah, i've been trying to remember all these factoids as well...it's just so hard unless you have a photographic memory. I guess it would help you you use it on a daily basis, but as residents we don't. Somethings you will never see. So how do you remember all the minutia? I guess repetition is key, but even then you forget it. I guess maybe doing questions?

 

[GeoLeoX]

I found that flash cards were extremely high-yield. I was able to jam a lot of this kind of useless information (and much of it stuck) with flash cards. As a PC user I am partial to Mnemosyne (http://www.mnemosyne-proj.org/) - its open source freeware. Though it takes a little tweaking to get it to work well, once it's up it's very powerful. It uses an algorithm based on the Leitner principle - you self-score your recall of a card from 0 (I don't know it at all) to 5 (I know it cold). The algorithm increases the frequency you see cards you rate low so that you don't waste time on the stuff that you know. I have also heard good things about iFlash if you are Mac-inclined.

To study for the CP boards I made over 1000 flash cards (they are easy to make), some with photos (D-test, fungus morphology) and some with just organism on one side, fact on the other (What are the members of the strep viridans group?, etc). The simpler the card, the better.

If you have any more questions about the cards or study techniques, drop me a PM or post away.

Geo

 

[KeratinPearls]

I found that flash cards were extremely high-yield. I was able to jam a lot of this kind of useless information (and much of it stuck) with flash cards. As a PC user I am partial to Mnemosyne (http://www.mnemosyne-proj.org/) - its open source freeware. Though it takes a little tweaking to get it to work well, once it's up it's very powerful. It uses an algorithm based on the Leitner principle - you self-score your recall of a card from 0 (I don't know it at all) to 5 (I know it cold). The algorithm increases the frequency you see cards you rate low so that you don't waste time on the stuff that you know. I have also heard good things about iFlash if you are Mac-inclined.

To study for the CP boards I made over 1000 flash cards (they are easy to make), some with photos (D-test, fungus morphology) and some with just organism on one side, fact on the other (What are the members of the strep viridans group?, etc). The simpler the card, the better.

If you have any more questions about the cards or study techniques, drop me a PM or post away.

Geo

That's great! Thanks for the info Geo! I think I'll end up with like thousands of cards by the time I finish residency.

I always take notes, with the goal of trying to go back and review and review but I'm just never disciplined enough to pick up that notebook again and again to review and re-review notes.

 

[mcfaddens]

I found that flash cards were extremely high-yield. I was able to jam a lot of this kind of useless information (and much of it stuck) with flash cards. As a PC user I am partial to Mnemosyne (http://www.mnemosyne-proj.org/) - its open source freeware. Though it takes a little tweaking to get it to work well, once it's up it's very powerful. It uses an algorithm based on the Leitner principle - you self-score your recall of a card from 0 (I don't know it at all) to 5 (I know it cold). The algorithm increases the frequency you see cards you rate low so that you don't waste time on the stuff that you know. I have also heard good things about iFlash if you are Mac-inclined.

To study for the CP boards I made over 1000 flash cards (they are easy to make), some with photos (D-test, fungus morphology) and some with just organism on one side, fact on the other (What are the members of the strep viridans group?, etc). The simpler the card, the better.

If you have any more questions about the cards or study techniques, drop me a PM or post away.

Geo

Thats exactly what im doing for CP, ive got about 800 so far, one side with a quick question flip side answer, I find it great for translocations, genes, quick micro stuff and equations. I suprised myself how much they help you memorize tremendously random facts and numbers, but it works. Oh another thing Ive been doing for micro is making flow charts (like the ascp ones) for sorting thru bugs and what tests are + or -, after drawing one out over a couple of times the pattern of the chart kind of sticks in your head and you can soon visualize it when you do questions. Hope thats helps

 

[bioguy]

If already own a PDA and willing to spend some money, try supermemo. same principle as Geo mentioned, but will stay with you on your PDA so you can more frequently go through flashcards in any spare time you get.

http://www.super-memo.com/supermemo84.html

 

[listeriaismfb]

I was never a flash-card kind of person, nor did I take exhaustive notes. I read books and did some questions, just like med school days.

My goal was not to remember all the random facts, it was to remember just enough to pass.

 

[Nilf]

I was never a flash-card kind of person, nor did I take exhaustive notes. I read books and did some questions, just like med school days.

My goal was not to remember all the random facts, it was to remember just enough to pass.

uhm, and how do you know what 'just enough to pass' is?

 

[mcfaddens]

uhm, and how do you know what 'just enough to pass' is?

The answer is 1,674,382 fandom facts must be known, If you want a gaurentee id go with 2,233,897.2

 

[listeriaismfb]

uhm, and how do you know what 'just enough to pass' is?

You won't know until you take the test. 😀 Good test taking skills & time management are huge for this one. Time management weighs heavily - from when you get your exam date assignment until you're done with the test.

Fact is, you can't (and won't) know everything on this test.

Study hard & do the best you can, but spend your time wisely. There were times when I looked at certain sub-topics and realized (after some effort) that it would just take too long for me to master it. I made a decision to pick B if I got a question on said sub-topic. I spent my time on material that I could refresh or master effectively, and quickly.

I just did the best I could to maximize my yield with the minimum time invested. That's just my take, and it worked for me.

 

[myofibroblast]

GEOLEO, thanks for the link on the flashcard site. I LOVE flashcards and usually make them by hand but that takes WAY too long so I have been looking for a good computer program. That one is by far the best I have found. Hopefully, it will help me get into a good pathology residency! 😉
Thanks!!!