How quick does "use it or lose it" set in?

[stickgirl390]

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I took Step 1 early June of this year (2020), and today my attending pimped me on Prader Willi/Fragile X syndrome and I was like ".....whaaaat? What is genetic dizordurzz". I literally remembered nothing.

Is it normal to lose the Step 1 details this quickly? I did fine on Step, but it appears to be a cram-and-dump type exam.

 

[TwoHighways]

Isn’t that like, uncontrollable appetite? Heard about it on a podcast once.

Found it! Shameless plug, The Drive with Peter Attia is the greatest medical podcast out there. I don’t imagine I’ll retain much of gross anatomy at all once I’m through the block, other than maybe cranial nerve functions. That’s been beaten into me like a red headed stepchild and it’s actually the most enjoyable thing about anatomy so far. Does it count as being beaten into me though if I did the beating so to speak? I literally stopped watching lecture it’s been amazing!

#33 - Rudy Leibel, M.D.: Finding the obesity gene and discovering leptin - Peter Attia

"I've always felt that it was really somehow an enormous opportunity and a gift to be able to pursue this down to the level that I've been able to do in the past 30 years." —Rudy Leibel

peterattiamd.com

 

[jurassicpark]

I took Step 1 early June of this year (2020), and today my attending pimped me on Prader Willi/Fragile X syndrome and I was like ".....whaaaat? What is genetic dizordurzz". I literally remembered nothing.

Is it normal to lose the Step 1 details this quickly? I did fine on Step, but it appears to be a cram-and-dump type exam.

Just like all the stuff you learned for the MCAT, etc. A lot of stuff you'll rarely use again. But it gives you exposure to them that you may be able to recognize it in real life to look it up if you need to.

But be careful, a lot of Step 1 appears on Step 2.

 

[stickgirl390]

But be careful, a lot of Step 1 appears on Step 2.

gross.

 

[Ho0v-man]

I took Step 1 early June of this year (2020), and today my attending pimped me on Prader Willi/Fragile X syndrome and I was like ".....whaaaat? What is genetic dizordurzz". I literally remembered nothing.

Is it normal to lose the Step 1 details this quickly? I did fine on Step, but it appears to be a cram-and-dump type exam.

That stuff is fair game for step 2 and the peds shelf.

I feel for you. My first patient of third year had Job syndrome.

 

[stickgirl390]

That stuff is fair game for step 2 and the peds shelf.

I feel for you. My first patient of third year had Job syndrome.

Haven’t had peds rotation yet, so maybe that’s why all the peds stuff is hiding in some dusty fold of my brain.

 

[7331poas]

Depends I think. Used to tutor organic back in college, even today I could get an A on any organic I or II test. I think anki helps for the med school stuff.

But things that are learned passively are definitely lost within a month or so.

 

[Ho0v-man]

Haven’t had peds rotation yet, so maybe that’s why all the peds stuff is hiding in some dusty fold of my brain.

It was an adult. Not even on my radar of possibilities.

 

[libertyyne]

That stuff is fair game for step 2 and the peds shelf.

I feel for you. My first patient of third year had Job syndrome.

To Answer OPs question, Information decay is a real thing, expect to lose large chunks of it within three months and slower atrophy afterwards. Some people might have perfect memories, but I am talking about normal humans here.

Medical education / medical school seems be a large exercise in committing to memory , forgetting and then committing to memory again. You will have to continue with spaced repetition if you want to maintain mastery of the subject to the same level. The dirty secret is that you really dont need complete mastery over the material going forward, and you will just remember the stuff you need and use during your work.

 

[QuizzicalApe]

The point of memorizing most of this stuff is so that it leaves an imprint on your brain you can fill back in later if you need to. It isn't realistic to expect you'd remember esoteric junk without exposure or warning.

 

[Ho0v-man]

View attachment 318368

To Answer OPs question, Information decay is a real thing, expect to lose large chunks of it within three months and slower atrophy afterwards. Some people might have perfect memories, but I am talking about normal humans here.

Medical education / medical school seems be a large exercise in committing to memory , forgetting and then committing to memory again. You will have to continue with spaced repetition if you want to maintain mastery of the subject to the same level. The dirty secret is that you really dont need complete mastery over the material going forward, and you will just remember the stuff you need and use during your work.

Hyper Ig bEEs?

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Medical education / medical school seems be a large exercise in committing to memory , forgetting and then committing to memory again.

I’ve had multiple profs tell me this lol.

 

[libertyyne]

I’ve had multiple profs tell me this lol.

I used to look down on rote memorization. I will say, my perception of what it means to "know / knowledge" of something has changed drastically since i came to medicine. I used to think that knowing something meant to understand it, now its more do you have it memorized and is it easily accessible. Moonwalking with einstein really reaffirmed this for me.

 

[Kgizzle]

As an MS4, it happens the week after you take Step 2 ...