How to study and revise properly?

[luysion]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hey guys this has been annoying me every year at university, now I'm near the end of my M2 year and I don't want to go into M3 worrying about this. I feel I have an inherent problem with learning or i've adapted an odd style that i've stuck with, it wasnt much of a problem before now because i didnt have many responsibilities but obviously that's changed now.

When it comes to reading notes the first time around is alright, I'll read slowly and understand or create understanding for each sentence. The problem really arises on revision. It feels like whenever I try quizzing myself my mind tries really hard to remember/visualise the page where I read the information rather than thinking. This makes sense if I think back to how I used to memorise everything word for word in premed for marks (it worked so I kept doing it..) I used to literally read a sentence and not understand anything and I was able to visualise words and rewrite paragraphs. This is obviously ******ed in medical school. So I have no idea how to learn properly anymore. Do you guys read a sentence look away and test yourself when you study or do you read and just make sure you understand while reading and move on? And do you test yourself or just keep reading again and again? Because if I keep doing the understanding think I end up blanking in exams whereas if I memorise I know the answer straight away..

I have an issue with testing myself with ALL the material for time constraint related reasons does anyone here just keep reading or is this not feasible? I find it impossible to write myself questions when studying for the USMLE etc so isnt reading the best option?

 

[DermViser]

Are you an IMG? I ask that bc you use words like "write myself questions".

 

[luysion]

Yeah english is my second language I do really well in essays etc but I've already had trouble reading a sentence and actually remembering what I've read. Like i'll read the words and be given a false sense of having understood the entire sentence.. if i'm given all the time in the world though it's all good..

 

[mirabelle]

Draw schemes and mind maps to see the logic and the connections. This helped me a lot in learning endocrinology (Pre-med/MCAT level) And don't copy other schemes from txt books, draw your own. So you read the information, translate it into a scheme or sort of mind map and then read it well and from that you can find new ideas to draw other ones in a way that you can picture the links and understand better what is going on in the complex human body. When you see what is common between the many elements that you have to remember, you can have a better understanding and you only have to memorize one or two things from which you can develop the rest, because you understand the links.

 

[mirabelle]

Yeah english is my second language I do really well in essays etc but I've already had trouble reading a sentence and actually remembering what I've read. Like i'll read the words and be given a false sense of having understood the entire sentence.. if i'm given all the time in the world though it's all good..

I watched a video on youtube (I can't find it now) of a teacher saying that in the USMLE reading carefully the questions is very important, meaning, sometimes students don't understand what is being asked and miss it.

 

[luysion]

Yeah, those are good but the only issue is time.. I don't find what you've said feasible for when revising USMLE content, say, a week before the exam. Maybe if you were studying it for the first time and had months in advance, but what about your revision approach? would you simply redraw the diagrams or just read (or test) yourself?

 

[mirabelle]

Yeah, those are good but the only issue is time.. I don't find what you've said feasible for when revising USMLE content, say, a week before the exam. Maybe if you were studying it for the first time and had months in advance, but what about your revision approach? would you simply redraw the diagrams or just read (or test) yourself?

If I had 1 week, I think the best is would be to test myself. Redrawing some diagrams with blanks to fill is not a bad idea. That week before the exam, you should actively test yourself... test yourself all the time that you can. If you really don't remember a thing of let's say subject A, go back and read it. Better read the content after trying to guess it or after doing some questions about it just before. Your brain can focus more. I found this on the web, if it can help: http://www.mommd.com/usmledistractors.shtml, http://www.stepstoresidency.com/the-biggest-mistake-you-can-make-in-your-usmle-step-1-preparation/ And by the way I think I've found the video that I mentioned earlier about the Steps exam questions ( I said USMLE instead of Steps, I don't know what happened in my brain) :