im just wondering how many times you should go through material for an exam if you want to get an A
How many times do you go over material for an exam?
- Thread starter yaadboy
- Start date
- Joined
- May 11, 2013
- Messages
- 1,699
- Reaction score
- 944
I consistently get in the top 5% of my class on exams but the answer is totally dependent on several variables. 1. the subject/particular topic within a subject. 2. your study style - how well you are synced with your own techniques. Some people live by Name/Expression mneumonics - I don't know any at all. I use Method of Loci and Chunking by nature. 3. How quickly you naturally pick up info - often based on your interest level too.
I found anatomy excruciating and boring - I'd go through the material the second time and sometimes feel I hadn't even seen it before. Physiology - sometimes you go through it once and it's all just fascinating that the next time you look at it is just a breezy review with a chance to capture more details.
I found anatomy excruciating and boring - I'd go through the material the second time and sometimes feel I hadn't even seen it before. Physiology - sometimes you go through it once and it's all just fascinating that the next time you look at it is just a breezy review with a chance to capture more details.
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2010
- Messages
- 263
- Reaction score
- 12
Every single person I know has a different study technique. What works for me is to read it once or twice quickly to understand the concept, then I make a summary sheet with details which I memorize (depending on how tired I am I might play different games to do this). Then the day before the test I either re-watch all of the lectures or re-read through the original notes to help tie everything together. This usually gets me above 90. I have friends who do a similar thing but don't go back to the original notes ever and I think this is what makes the difference for me between 80's and 90's.
- Joined
- May 12, 2011
- Messages
- 158
- Reaction score
- 22
the magic number (for me) is 3.
1. go to class/watch the lecture. first pass effect--focus on the main points rather than trying to write down everyting. if the lecturer says "This is important *WINK* put a star next to it because its important lolz. or if they say, "dont memorize this" draw a big X through it.
2. a few days later-- study the lecture-- most of the studying is done during the 2nd pass.
3. day or two before the test -- go through the lecture again so that its fresh on your mind before the exam.
1. go to class/watch the lecture. first pass effect--focus on the main points rather than trying to write down everyting. if the lecturer says "This is important *WINK* put a star next to it because its important lolz. or if they say, "dont memorize this" draw a big X through it.
2. a few days later-- study the lecture-- most of the studying is done during the 2nd pass.
3. day or two before the test -- go through the lecture again so that its fresh on your mind before the exam.
Last edited:
- Joined
- May 11, 2013
- Messages
- 1,699
- Reaction score
- 944
the moment someone says "Don't memorize this" or I tell myself not to memorize something - it gets memorized. lol
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2013
- Messages
- 77
- Reaction score
- 2
In my experience, whenever they say that, I memorize it because it always shows up anyway.
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2013
- Messages
- 102
- Reaction score
- 2
I use to reread my scribes until I got bored and was able to know exactly was coming next. Took me about three times then I went to the golf course for the rest of the afternoon. I played a lot of golf in med school.
3x. 3x gets me the As. If I do 2x, I usually drop to a B+ or A- if I can pull it off.
Listen to lecture on 1.5x-2x speed. Reread lecture slides and make a little study sheet of stuff I know I will forget. Review study sheet of stuff I forgot.
My study sheet is copying and pasting lines from lecture slides into a Word document, or noting down which slides I need to print out and review later.
Listen to lecture on 1.5x-2x speed. Reread lecture slides and make a little study sheet of stuff I know I will forget. Review study sheet of stuff I forgot.
My study sheet is copying and pasting lines from lecture slides into a Word document, or noting down which slides I need to print out and review later.
so is all the test information on the powerpoint slides?
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2011
- Messages
- 823
- Reaction score
- 29
First year here (we have a system based curriculum), so 1st and 2nd years are structured exactly the same way
For my school, yes. If you want only the pearls, you can EASILY get a B with studying powerpoint slides only, but to make a distinction between a B and an A, going through the lectures and looking up stuff are absolutely necessary. As such you can understand the context better, and not to mention some stuff is just not on those stupid slides.
To answer OP's question: 3 times. 2 times= B+, 4 times= too much
- Joined
- Nov 3, 2008
- Messages
- 149
- Reaction score
- 1
You guys are all machines. My final exams (which are oral) include everything that was taught for the subject throughout the year, and I find that I need to read and go over the material a lot more than 3 times to really get it memorized. I sometimes do notes, but I'm trying to just force myself to read instead, since it's less time consuming...
Yes, mostly. By mostly, I mean that sometimes professors will sneak in a question that they *barely* mentioned in a passing whisper and expect you to pick up on it thats not written down on the slides. I hate that.
- Joined
- May 27, 2011
- Messages
- 171
- Reaction score
- 20
Comprehensive oral exams for med school? That's nuts.
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2012
- Messages
- 1,521
- Reaction score
- 108
oral...exams...?
if it's not multiple choice, i refuse to do it
well actually i guess i'll do those patient interaction exams but nothing else
- Joined
- May 14, 2010
- Messages
- 1,189
- Reaction score
- 359
3x is sufficient to kill it on a test in the next 2 days. 5x, spaced out, is necessary for longer term retention (>2-3 months) of >90%.
- Joined
- May 11, 2013
- Messages
- 1,699
- Reaction score
- 944
I think the only place they have oral exams is foreign schools. And a yearly comprehensive oral exam is going to be some place like India or Pakistan.
- Joined
- Nov 3, 2008
- Messages
- 149
- Reaction score
- 1
Nah dude, I'm european, and study in europe. It's a pain and it sucks bad. The way the system works is you pick 3 topics from a bag (at random) (example: gamma system, chronic hypoxia, AP in the heart), and from there you go to all the other stuff. It'd be much better (for me) if it was all MCQ... Oh well.
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2004
- Messages
- 30,872
- Reaction score
- 10,061
The traditional method is 4. You preread the night before, attend the lecture, review the lecture material following the lecture, and once again before the exam.
5
534455
That is very impresssive, Anastomoses! Top 5%. You're a specialist in the making.
I am unfamiliar with the Loci and Chunking method. I did a search on it and found the following: http://zitogiuseppe.com/loci.html
Thanks for sharing your success tips, all of you . It helps.
This is an area where I excel. Makeup exams in my school are oral and I do well on them.
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2011
- Messages
- 3,477
- Reaction score
- 1,676
3-4, but I had to go over the material close to 10 times for neuroscience for it to stick...
- Joined
- May 11, 2013
- Messages
- 1,699
- Reaction score
- 944
Thank you, Roadlesstraveled 🙂 I think it's natural for us to find the shortest path from point A to point B. Method of Loci is something I think we kind of do even when we don't realize it but most people don't adapt it to their benefit. If you've ever been studying somewhere or say...recalled how someone said something when you recalled the answer, those are all forms of method of loci but it's just less systematic. As I mentioned I don't use expression acronyms though while they really help others. It takes me longer to learn On Old Olympus Towering Tops, A Finn and German Viewed Some Hops than to just memorize the cranial nerves by number. Other acronyms people create for muscle groups or items of 4 mystify me as I find such to be too small and it seems more onerous to learn the mneumonic than to just visually snap a photo of the placement of the nerves or arteries relative to one another. Explore the tricks and find what works for you. 😉
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2004
- Messages
- 30,872
- Reaction score
- 10,061
it's "mnemonic" not acronym or mneumonic. And they are always much easier to remember if they are dirty.
- Joined
- May 11, 2013
- Messages
- 1,699
- Reaction score
- 944
it's "mnemonic" not acronym or mneumonic. And they are always much easier to remember if they are dirty.
there are acronym mnemonics and expression mnemonics. Like SOCRATES for pain assessment. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socrates_(pain_assessment)
mind giving an example of how you would memorize something via this method?
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2004
- Messages
- 30,872
- Reaction score
- 10,061
Yes but you didn't say "mnemonic acronym" (which I'm also not convinced is a real term even though you demonstrated it's on wiki, but letting that go) you said "expression acronym" and later "mneumonic", both of which aren't really right.
- Joined
- May 11, 2013
- Messages
- 1,699
- Reaction score
- 944
Yes but you didn't say "mnemonic acronym" (which I'm also not convinced is a real term even though you demonstrated it's on wiki, but letting that go) you said "expression acronym" and later "mneumonic", both of which aren't really right.
In haste...I meant expression or acronym mnemonic. These aren't "terms"; these are descriptors for the type of mnemonic...you can call them whatever you like to communicate the type of mnemonic you're talking about. You can call them "mnemonics where you use big block letters to make a mellifluous sound each designating an item to remember" if you like. What's your problem?
5
534455
Hey Law2Doc, I am curious as to what your learning methods were for medical school given that you were also a non-trad student and I am guessing also older when you went for your MD.
As for me, all of the methods mentioned in this thread (and others) are for the most part new to me and intriguing. I find all of these threads of great interest.
I don't get bogged down on the details of posts. Many of us are in medical school, we are pressed for time, and getting on SDN is something I do during study breaks. I for one do well just to get on SDN once very 3 days or so, quickly skim and just get the gist of what is being posted. Sooooo, I appreciate what you are posting, Anastomoses. You seem like a very bright person and gifted and I doubt I have your "brilliance". Whether you wrote "mnemonic" or "nemonic" or whatever, slides off my back. I don't have time to split hairs. I do well to know Netter's inside and outside.
I think most of us have a lot to learn from each other and none of us are superior to the next be it older vs younger, MD vs DO, Ivy League vs non-LCME USA accredited medical school, etc. I
In the end, after we finish medical school, we are going to have to work with all kinds of people (physicians and non-physicians) and that will be when we shine....or prove to the world we are incompetent. I have known many physicians who were troubled, lacked interpersonal skills and failed at patient care and/or getting along with their medical colleagues. We can see quite a few users on SDN who fit the latter, though there is time to learn new interpersonal skills to avoid such pitfalls.
So let's get back to constructive posts and forget the flames.
Just my 2 denari.
Last edited by a moderator:
- Joined
- May 11, 2013
- Messages
- 1,699
- Reaction score
- 944
Sure...you mean Method of Loci or chunking? I'm sure you do chunking already? Method of Loci...say I go for a walk down my street and I take a very specific path. I take that path back and forth each as I'm studying or revising for an exam. Say you need to remember a biochem pathway...you place each component of the pathway along your route and the enzymes...hang them across your path...on a tree or on a railing or - I don't know what you have there...a lighting post? Each one put it somewhere and vividly recall that ALA synthase or whatever is on that railing and as you move a few feet you can see ALA dehydratase in the bushes...clearly down the path a bit...and at the end of your path you'll see ferrochelatase playing dangerously with a block of lead or introducing iron to protoporphyrin IX...you can get as creative as you like and the weirder, the better. the more vivid, the better. And play it again in your head at least once. The path you walked and what you placed on it.
I laugh a lot when I study...I make jokes about the items I'm studying, I humanize molecules and relationships between molecules. When I think of the relationship of Hb and oxygen...I feel they're married but Hb would still rather have a hot dirty detrimental fling with CO based on the dissociation curves. That sort of nonsense. It takes the weight out of studying.
5
534455
Yup, pretty brilliant. I would have never thought of such a thing. Thanks for clarifying.
My way of learning is maladaptive for medical school which is why i jumped on this thread.
I guess I should make a monetary donation to SDN now.
thanks again
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2011
- Messages
- 3,625
- Reaction score
- 3,769
Great advice.
And they are always much easier to remember if they are dirty.
This too. Never forgot "Oh oh oh to touch and feel" or "Scared lovers."
