How much of the stuff you learn do you have to retain?

[randombetch]

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I tend to forget the things I've learned right after the semester ends. I'm worried that this might be a problem in med school.

How much of the stuff you learn in med school do you have to retain to be in good shape for your residency or career? Is med school just a place to get it through once so it'll be easier to do the real learning during your residency?

And how much of the material you learn is fair game for the USLME's?

Thanks!

 

[obiwan]

I tend to forget the things I've learned right after the semester ends. I'm worried that this might be a problem in med school.

How much of the stuff you learn in med school do you have to retain to be in good shape for your residency or career? Is med school just a place to get it through once so it'll be easier to do the real learning during your residency?

And how much of the material you learn is fair game for the USLME's?

Thanks!

The stuff they teach you during your first 2 years with more emphasis on the 2nd year stuff is designed to serve as the classroom foundation for your 3rd and 4th year clerkships and what you see during your clerkships is the beginning of the foundation of your clinical acumen which you will continue to develop and refine during residency so its all this gradual process that builds on each other... as far as step studying, everything you learn during the first 2 years are fair game for step 1 with more emphasis on things like pathology, physiology, pharmacology, micro and what not and the key to doing well on step is learning everything well the first time so when you are step studying you are only having to review the material instead of learning new things

 

[coldweatherblue]

try to file away the vast majority of what you learn as "long-term, important stuff to avoid forgetting."

I'm studying for Step 1 at the moment and for classes like physio, neuro, biochem, pharm, micro, and path at least I will more completely understand the material in greater detail by the time I take boards than at any single point in med school so far. For example, I'm pretty confident that by June if I had to go back and take a CV or renal physio exam from first-year I would do better on it after studying for boards than when I was studying only for that exam last year. Contrary to what some people say I really haven't felt that I've learned very much "fluff".. what really freaks you out is to realize that what you're learning IS relevant and therefore important to keep in long-term memory.

jmo, most of the physicians I've worked with that I admire retained a very impressive amount of basic science knowledge reinforced by years of clinical experience. Don't plan on forgetting stuff after exams like in undergrad because it sets a bad habit..

 

[apumic]

Keep in mind that all those basic sciences you're learning now and will learn in medical school are a large part of what separates [the future] you from the nurses and even the various types of medical techs. If you forget all that "useless pre-clinical stuff" (which really isn't so useless after all, incl. the stuff from pre-med) you won't really have much to contribute to a team of seasoned professionals your age who each have a good 10 years' more experience than you b/c they went directly into clinical practice. I have heard many a nurse say they admire a physician's (or even med student's) knowledge of the theory and learn theory from med students and residents all the time when working with them but you'll rarely hear of a nurse admiring a new physicians' clinical manner (i.e., bedside manner). This isn't to say that all a physician has to offer is knowledge (that's obviously not true, especially in the case of a seasoned physician), but I'd say from my experience working alongside physicians and other healthcare professionals that that appears to be a significant piece of what they contribute (especially early in their career).

 

[slowbutsteady]

try to file away the vast majority of what you learn as "long-term, important stuff to avoid forgetting."

I'm studying for Step 1 at the moment and for classes like physio, neuro, biochem, pharm, micro, and path at least I will more completely understand the material in greater detail by the time I take boards than at any single point in med school so far. For example, I'm pretty confident that by June if I had to go back and take a CV or renal physio exam from first-year I would do better on it after studying for boards than when I was studying only for that exam last year. Contrary to what some people say I really haven't felt that I've learned very much "fluff".. what really freaks you out is to realize that what you're learning IS relevant and therefore important to keep in long-term memory.

jmo, most of the physicians I've worked with that I admire retained a very impressive amount of basic science knowledge reinforced by years of clinical experience. Don't plan on forgetting stuff after exams like in undergrad because it sets a bad habit..

Correct.

 

[armybound]

You have to change the way you study in med school. You don't study a week before the exam to get through the exam and then dump your memory. You study early and often, and try to synthesize information as much as possible to retain it.

 

[mcgyver]

you're ok. i thought i didn't remember anything after my undergrad physio, neuro, molecular bio, or biochem classes. but when i learn the material again now in med school, i actually recall a lot of the general concepts and they helped me study.

like my anatomy prof in MS1 said, everybody will forget everything they've learned about anatomy after the final exam, it's the repetition through your medical career that'll help you retain the material.