how much can you remember after reading a review book?

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Summer.Thunder

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So i am here reading this hy neuroanatomy, i personally think that sometimes it still has a little too much information. for example, "the ciliospinal center of budge projects preganglionic sympathetic fibers thru the sympathetic trunk to the superior cervical ganglion." and on that particular chapter, it has a lot of similiar paragraphs.

so i am just wondering, can anyone actually remember everything in those high yield books or other similar review books that you read?
 
Summer.Thunder said:
How much can you remember after reading a review book?

Alot...if you use them correctly👍

Don't read review books w/ the intention of memorizing every word. Board exams and USMLE I will not test this way. Use them to master the concepts. Save your hippocampus for short-terming those B$ powerpoints your professors are forcing you to memorize.

It is important that you learn early on which topics are high yield to memorize and which you should merely be familiar with. THIS IS CRUCIAL and very time saving.

The quote you typed up is an example of something you should already have a general understanding of from anatomy, thus you could have just skimmed over this material. Understand the relationship w/ Pancoast tumors and move on.
 
oh. yes. when I read those review books, I feel that I must remember everything they put in there. after all, they are called review books. and i am afraid that if i skip any part, they might show up in the real exam.

but i suppose that not everyone can remember everything. practicing questions is the only good way to consolidate the knowledge.
 
It seems a little brutal at times because some of the review books are not exactly concise. I have a 2002 Kaplan anatomy book and can't be bothered to read it because it is over 400 pages!

After reading a few of the big review books and feeling like I am only retaining about 30%, I think heading back to First Aid might be a good idea to hit upon the high yield material.
 
So i am here reading this hy neuroanatomy, i personally think that sometimes it still has a little too much information. for example, "the ciliospinal center of budge projects preganglionic sympathetic fibers thru the sympathetic trunk to the superior cervical ganglion." and on that particular chapter, it has a lot of similiar paragraphs.

so i am just wondering, can anyone actually remember everything in those high yield books or other similar review books that you read?

the odds of you getting a question about what the ciliospinal center of the budge projects on your boards are about 1 in a million. (having taken Step 1 and done very well, even by the standards of the crazy people on this board, if that makes my opinion more believable). and for the record, I didn't even learn about the ciliospinal center of the budge during my neuroanatomy course.

I didn't even have first aid "memorized", although I learned a lot of the details in it. I used other review books to supplement first aid when it wasn't complete enough to trigger my memory (plus Hi-Yield Cell and Molecular). I know it's easy for people who've taken it to tell you to relax and hard advice to follow, but don't waste your time and brainspace on irrelevant details. First Aid is the most widely used book for a reason... it works.
 
I have to say that I feel relieved a little bit. I was getting a little too anxious, because I planned to read several review books which seem to be so time consuming. And I feel that I need to remember everything in high yield books etc. They are already very condensed comparing with the regular textbooks.
 
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