How many hours a day do you study?

[circulus vitios]

I'm more freaked out about failing from an inability to memorize so much information than I am about spending 4, 6, 12, or whatever hours a day studying. In undergrad I read a couple dozen slides a dozen times over before I felt comfortable with taking a quiz or an exam. I don't think that's going to work with 50-100 slides multiplied by multiple classes.

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[DrEnderW]

I don't think that's going to work with 50-100 slides multiplied by multiple classes.

I think you forgot an extra 0 on the end of both of those numbers...

 

[sinombre]

I'm more freaked out about failing from an inability to memorize so much information than I am about spending 4, 6, 12, or whatever hours a day studying. In undergrad I read a couple dozen slides a dozen times over before I felt comfortable with taking a quiz or an exam. I don't think that's going to work with 50-100 slides multiplied by multiple classes.

I was the same way, as are many other people in your shoes. What has worked well for me is using flash cards (more specifically spaced repetition, which is hugely beneficial in the long run, but not directly relevant to this point). The reason using flash cards is so effective is that I can't trick myself into thinking I know something, because if I'm not able to answer correctly, I have to repeat it until I can. It's very easy to trick yourself into thinking you know something if you're just reading/writing notes, because you're not actually testing yourself to see if you can recall it without it sitting right in front of you.

Memorization is a skill, and its one that you will get better at with practice. I can almost guarantee that you will amaze yourself at how much you will be able to cram into your head within the first couple of months.

Re: the number of slides... this is going to vary quite a bit, but you can probably expect to have several hundred per day that you will be expected to memorize.

 

[circulus vitios]

I think you forgot an extra 0 on the end of both of those numbers...

50-100 slides per lecture.

 

[PL198]

50-100 slides per lecture.

Ew that would be a trash lecturer. If they can't keep it under 50, then you need to cut a lot of their crap out. Honestly the only time I even see close to 50 is where they go off on tangents, or anatomy where you have osteology, musculature and vascular stuff for a region.

 

[sinombre]

Ew that would be a trash lecturer. If they can't keep it under 50, then you need to cut a lot of their crap out. Honestly the only time I even see close to 50 is where they go off on tangents, or anatomy where you have osteology, musculature and vascular stuff for a region.

What about path? Most of my path lectures were well over the 50-100 range. Conversely I had plenty of neuro lectures that were 30-40 slides and probably took close to 4 hours per lecture to memorize. Slide number is kind of meaningless without content. You could have a 200 slide lecture with one point per slide that would be far more simplistic than a 30 slide lecture with paragraphs of information per slide.

 

[speeddemon]

Assuming you just want to pass medical school, can't you just memorize the major concepts from review books + the most emphasized lecture points instead of going through all the details on every slide?

 

[DocVapor]

Assuming you just want to pass medical school, can't you just memorize the major concepts from review books + the most emphasized lecture points instead of going through all of the slides?

The short answer is: No. The long answer is: Depends on your professors. If your instructors are primarily PhD's, then you'll have to put in more work than that. You might have a better chance of getting away with that from clinical faculty, but you'd still be cutting it close.

 

[speeddemon]

The short answer is: No. The long answer is: Depends on your professors. If your instructors are primarily PhD's, then you'll have to put in more work than that. You might have a better chance of getting away with that from clinical faculty, but you'd still be cutting it close.

Ok, so what do people mean when they say they make outlines for the lecture material. If they convert a 50 slide PPT into a 2 page outline, there is no way anybody is including all the details in their outline.

 

[DocVapor]

Ok, so what do people mean when they say the make outlines for the lecture material. They aren't including every single detail in their outline are they?

I imagine it's entirely dependent on the both the person doing the outline as well as the professor's expectations. Outlining beasts are able to get more detail into outlines than others, while some people (like me) would be wasting their time by trying to outline, and so we look to other methods. Likewise, some professors want you to know all the little details, whereas others aren't so nit-picky. One of the tricks to making it through med school is accepting the fact that you are going to be time crunched, and then learning how to adapt your study method to each block/course/professor.

 

[Psai]

Currently doing about 0 per day, feels good man.

 

[Arkangeloid]

Ok, so here's what I do.

I like to watch lectures in the afternoon. When I watch them, I usually don't take notes the first time because I want to focus on what the lecturer is saying. I'll watch them again and take notes later.

Then I'll usually review my outlines and do practice questions on Firecracker.

I usually end up studying about 6 hrs/day.

 

[Postictal Raiden]

I'm more freaked out about failing from an inability to memorize so much information than I am about spending 4, 6, 12, or whatever hours a day studying. In undergrad I read a couple dozen slides a dozen times over before I felt comfortable with taking a quiz or an exam. I don't think that's going to work with 50-100 slides multiplied by multiple classes.

I started school 2 weeks ago. This past Friday we had our first exam. The number of ppt slides we had gone through was over 700. That's only 2 weeks.

 

[Psai]

I started school 2 weeks ago. This past Friday we had our first exam. The number of ppt slides we had gone through was over 700. That's only 2 weeks.

I had a teacher with over 100 slides for each one hour lecture. Not just pictures either, they were dense with words

 

[Brain Bucket]

Assuming you just want to pass medical school, can't you just memorize the major concepts from review books + the most emphasized lecture points instead of going through all the details on every slide?

In most cases you can pass with just that, since you'll be able to make educated guesses for the filler.

 

[DermViser]

Ok, so here's what I do.

I like to watch lectures in the afternoon. When I watch them, I usually don't take notes the first time because I want to focus on what the lecturer is saying. I'll watch them again and take notes later.

Then I'll usually review my outlines and do practice questions on Firecracker.

I usually end up studying about 6 hrs/day.

Why would you not write notes while listening the first time? You can then listen again after that if you're really that interested. Not a big time drain at 1.5-2x speed.

 

[circulus vitios]

I started school 2 weeks ago. This past Friday we had our first exam. The number of ppt slides we had gone through was over 700. That's only 2 weeks.

How many of the 700 slides did you actually study?

 

[sinombre]

How many of the 700 slides did you actually study?

This probably varies by school, but generally speaking: if it's lectured on, you should probably know it.

 

[PL198]

700 for 2 weeks isn't bad. I mean if you have 3 lecture days a week and 4 lectures a day, that's 24 lectures= not even 30 slides a lecture.

 

[circulus vitios]

700 for 2 weeks isn't bad. I mean if you have 3 lecture days a week and 4 lectures a day, that's 24 lectures= not even 30 slides a lecture.

That sounds hard but not impossible. I thought he meant 700 slides for each class.

 

[PL198]

That sounds hard but not impossible. I thought he meant 700 slides for each class.

Generally you're only going to have 1 or 2 basic sciences classes at a time, unless they like super divide it up. Then like 4-5 BS classes about the humanities and etc that aren't going to take up nearly as much of your time.

 

[NickNaylor]

700 for 2 weeks isn't bad. I mean if you have 3 lecture days a week and 4 lectures a day, that's 24 lectures= not even 30 slides a lecture.

It's not terrible, but it's difficult when you're a new MS1 who has no idea what the **** to study and isn't used to the speed that material is coming at you.

I think even the most accomplished SDN gold star achiever had moments of panic when they started med school. Sure, you get over it, but initially it's pretty damn overwhelming.

 

[jakeislove]

About 7-9 between rotations. During a rotation, maybe 4.

 

[Kahreek]

i am pretty lousy in any detail retrieval type of questions. that's why i'll never be a top notch student.

 

[speeddemon]

i am pretty lousy in any detail retrieval type of questions. that's why i'll never be a top notch student.

How much did you study?

Any tips for incoming med students?

 

[Psai]

How much did you study?

Any tips for incoming med students?

Don't just read, test yourself to see if you are retaining it. That's why doing questions helps so much after you study a topic. For me, I read something and then try to remember it word for word if it's important. It sticks better that way. This is similar to how flashcards work except I do it mentally

For your other question I probably sit in front of a computer for maybe ten to twelve hours a day including class. It's not hardcore and I take a lot of breaks to look at sdn or chat with friends. I'm not one of those people that pick things up quickly

 

[Kahreek]

How much did you study?

Any tips for incoming med students?

probably like 30 minutes once every two days.

 

[DermViser]

It's not terrible, but it's difficult when you're a new MS1 who has no idea what the **** to study and isn't used to the speed that material is coming at you.

I think even the most accomplished SDN gold star achiever had moments of panic when they started med school. Sure, you get over it, but initially it's pretty damn overwhelming.