How to study

[ForTheLoveofChocolate]

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Hi, I'm second year vet and struggling with how to study. I understand I need to make sure my work-life balance is good, and that not all techniques work for everyone. But is anyone willing to share how they study?

I have been trying a few methods but keep going back to a "safe" method that I dont think works too well. I spend a lot of time re-typing the lecture notes at night or during class. I then try to cram this once it is all condensed. I'm scared if I just start learning from the powerpoint slides provided and not do "notes" I will be overwhelmed by the amount of content by finals.

So my question is HOW do others study? I'm looking for ideas on methods that work for others - I want to actively learn, not passively. I guess I'm worried about how to cover all the content in time and remember it.

Please help

 

[Caia]

I've found what works for me is to make notes from the slides with screenshot pics, etc. as a study guide, print it off and scribble and underline and highlight them because I need to write to memorize as well and read them to myself since I'm auditory, then make flashcards on anki and keep up with that. If I have the time to do all this, it works great. Sometimes the flashcards don't happen.

I think the strong benefit of anki is that I look through it multiple times and really know it if I can get through it, it's just finding the time to do it.

 

[lei325]

The most efficient way of studying that helped me retain material was to review/rewrite lectures on the same day they were given and, if I had the time, make flashcards online. That way I could do flashcards whenever and wherever I had the time and I would have already had a once over with the material. Also, if you can, do a study group. Talking over material and/or teaching it to someone helps it stick a lot better.

 

[SocialStigma]

What works for me probably doesn't work for most people. I have a really good short term memory but get bored easily by repetition so I'm a crammer by nature. I start studying in the days leading up to the test/exam but mostly study the weekend before for 8-10 hours per day (all of our tests were Monday morning). I memorize lecture slides (and whatever notes I've taken on them) by reading them out loud. I don't move on from a slide until I can repeat everything on it verbatim. I'm a very visual learner and usually end up memorizing what the slide looks like as well which helps me when I'm trying to recall a fact on the test, since I can remember what slide it was on and what else was on that slide. I do this twice and that's sufficient for most tests/exams. If I have enough time I'll try for a third run through.

I have tried before to review all my notes daily after the lecture so I don't have to cram but it bored me and I didn't retain the material as well because I need the pressure of a deadline to help me focus. If I don't have an upcoming test, I don't feel motivated to study.

 

[Coquette22]

I had a weird method that I developed over the course of vet school. I wasn't a daily studier, didn't have the discipline and I find the volume of vet school material makes that impractical for most people. I am also decidedly not a last minute crammer. I like my sleep and don't function particularly well on less than 6 hours. And I can't focus on a particular subject for more than a couple hours. So what I'd do is this:

About a week before an exam, I'd start spending 1-2 hours a day retyping notes. I'd go through lecture by lecture and write out the important stuff/stuff I didn't remember into point form into one big word document (I type, because I have miserable handwriting, especially for extended periods). After I'd finished going through all the lectures, I'd go back through that document and highlight all the stuff I was still having a hard time remembering. Once the exam rolled around, I'd usually read through it a few times.

I was also good at recognizing when I was just phoning it in and wasn't actually productively studying anymore, and I'd go do something else. I'd usually quit studying around 9PM the night before and wouldn't even think about it until the paper was actually in front of me. I was not one of those people reviewing notes until the last second. That just stressed me out.

 

[Ashgirl]

Hi, I'm second year vet and struggling with how to study. I understand I need to make sure my work-life balance is good, and that not all techniques work for everyone. But is anyone willing to share how they study?

I have been trying a few methods but keep going back to a "safe" method that I dont think works too well. I spend a lot of time re-typing the lecture notes at night or during class. I then try to cram this once it is all condensed. I'm scared if I just start learning from the powerpoint slides provided and not do "notes" I will be overwhelmed by the amount of content by finals.

So my question is HOW do others study? I'm looking for ideas on methods that work for others - I want to actively learn, not passively. I guess I'm worried about how to cover all the content in time and remember it.

Please help

Do you know what kind of learner you are? (Visual, auditory, kinesthetic?). I'm personally am a huge visual learner, so having a whiteboard to draw on was essential for me (If I don't write it out, it doesn't exist). I have two methods (kinda), depending on the class. For most classes, after lecture for the day, I would normally go through the powerpoints, and with each slide I would write down the important information, and then close my laptop and try to write it from memory. I also used this to draw pathways, and I would quiz myself as I went, redoing the parts I was weak on. This really helped me for active learning, and I would normally do this again once or twice the night or so before the exam. For classes that have a crazy amount of information or relied heavily on concepts, I would condense the lectures as best as I could in a word doc, and then do the whiteboard a few nights before the exam, or do flashcards if there's a lot of definitions or things I just needed to get in without really knowing big concepts. I kinda mix it up depending on the class, and even sometimes on what professor is teaching.

That being said, I think it would help to know what kind of learner you are. There are several people in my class who either say the lecture out-loud, or try to teach it to someone (imaginary or not), and this helped them. Another one of my classmates likes looks up cases on VIN or other places to connect big concepts. There's several ways to get it down, it's just hard to say what's best without knowing what would be most efficient/worthwhile for you personally.

 

[Doktor Timo]

The most effective study time for me is reading over the material with two or three other people who I can discuss it with. The reading helps me get it into my head (I learn by reading much easier than listening), and then the subsequent discussion actually helps me understand it. This is also very useful for me because I've recently realized I'm probably ADD and when I study alone I find it almost impossible to really focus on the material. But having a conversation with somebody else about it really keeps my attention.

If you can find a couple other people who generally do well and who are willing to stay on topic, I think this is a very effective way to study. If you can intelligently discuss a topic or, even better, verbally teach it to somebody else, then you probably really know it.

 

[chickenlittle]

I typically studied by rewriting the notes from my classes. I wrote down any information that I hadn't already committed to memory, but I wrote the notes out by hand, because that seemed to help the info 'stick' better than typing. Then I'd review those notes over and over.... once I felt like I had a good grasp on at least some of the material, I'd go through and highlight (in yellow) the info I hadn't quite committed to memory. Then I'd continue going over just the highlighted notes for a while, eventually going back through and highlighting the info that I STILL didn't remember in a darker color. Finally, a day or two before the exam, I'd rewrite 1-2 pages containing just the info I was most worried about forgetting. I'd carry that sheet with me EVERYWHERE and look over it every time I had a free second (waiting for lecture to start, waiting in line at the grocery store, etc). Repetitive, but worked well for me.

 

[DVMDream]

This was me:

 

[jmo1012]

I outlined my notes to try and condense down the material, and then would just study that. Towards the end of vet school, condesed meant 40 pages instead of hundreds of slides (where earlier on it was more like 15-25. pages)

 

[twelvetigers]

The main thing is to process the information and somehow make it your own. Typing works, but it's easy to go into automatic mode and just copy information. You need to take some time formatting it or putting it in your own words. You might need to add pictures... you might need to draw out a life cycle or a specific process... you might need to make a stupid (potentially R-rated) mnemonic. Then study it enough that you could see a question about X on the exam and be like, "Oh yeah, X was on the top of the page about blah," and kind of picture it. That's what helps.

Buuuuut there's never enough time to keep up with everything unless you are very diligent. So do whatever you need to make your way through the information and try to get it to stick. If you don't do well, then you need to spend more time.

 

[Doktor Timo]

. . . you might need to make a stupid (potentially R-rated) mnemonic . . .

Oh Oh Oh, To Touch A Few Vestigial Girls' Vagina and Hymen!

😀

 

[LetItSnow]

Oh Oh Oh, To Touch A Few Vestigial Girls' Vagina and Hymen!

😀

Ahhhhahahahaha. I think you mean vestal virgins. Vestigial is ... Well ... Look it up. But it's a funny typo.

We used:

Oo oo oo, to touch and feel virgin girls vaginas and hooters.

Sexist and rated-R, but it worked as a mnemonic. The only downside to naughty mnemonics is y can't just blurt them out loudly without looking to see who is around first.

 

[chickenlittle]

Ooh ooh ooh, to touch and feel a gentle virgin. So hot.
Some say marry money but my brother says big boobs matter more.

Nine years out of vet school and really haven't needed that info in about as long.... but at least I still remember the mnemonics 🙂

 

[Doktor Timo]

Ahhhhahahahaha. I think you mean vestal virgins. Vestigial is ... Well ... Look it up. But it's a funny typo.

We used:

Oo oo oo, to touch and feel virgin girls vaginas and hooters.

Sexist and rated-R, but it worked as a mnemonic. The only downside to naughty mnemonics is y can't just blurt them out loudly without looking to see who is around first.

Oh I know what vestigial means, that's just the way my anatomy teacher taught it. It doesn't make sense entirely, but it helps you remember that the V in that case is for vestibulocochlear.

 

[ForTheLoveofChocolate]

Thanks guys, this really helps. If anyone has any other ideas would love to hear them too
🙂

 

[Minnerbelle]

I second and third the advice to make sure you're actively learning. If you catch yourself just sitting for hours just flipping through things, or just typing without having things solidify in your head, you're just wasting your time and making it just that much harder because you're giving yourself the illusion that you've "covered" the material.

 

[ForTheLoveofChocolate]

Thanks for your advice 🙂

I'm a big visual learner (repetition is key) but get overwhelmed easily, so I like to condense all the slides. It makes me feel better to see fewer pages to get through compared to hundreds of powerpoint slides when studying for finals. However, this takes a long time to re-type/format, and I'm not sure if it's worth it. It worked sooo well for me in undergrad, but I barely had many lectures so didnt take too long to do. In vet, there is such limited time and so much content to get through I feel like I need to look at a different approach. I find I'm frantically re-typing notes and because I'm time stressed I'm not learning anything in the process. I find I start learning once I've printed off the notes all formatted and condensed the way I like it. This means I'm only going over the material very few times which doesnt seem practical.

I tried to alter this method and save time by re-typing in class instead.I found I didnt always listen to the speaker if I did this, but could spend more time after uni reviewing my notes. However, I'm not sure this is a good idea either. For some lecturers they pretty much read straight off the slide so its not too bad, but for others I could be missing important/interesting things discussed.

I'm thinking of not re-typing notes, and just trying to learn straight off the slides. This will save time and allows me to review the material more often then I'd have the chance too if I wasted so much time re-typing. I guess I'm just worried I may get to the end of the semester and have soo many slides to go through that it could backfire on me and be overwhelming. Trying to find a method that works and is least stressful. Learning how to learn is more frustrating then I had imagined

Is there anyone who doesnt re-write their notes (ie just annotates on slides and learns from this) ? Do you find this method successful?
Would appreciate opinions/advice, I feel so lost. I'm going to make a list of all the suggested ideas so far and try out techniques and see what work for me. So thank you to all who have made suggestions, it helps more than you know 🙂

 

[DVMDream]

Is there anyone who doesnt re-write their notes (ie just annotates on slides and learns from this) ? Do you find this method successful?
Would appreciate opinions/advice, I feel so lost. I'm going to make a list of all the suggested ideas so far and try out techniques and see what work for me. So thank you to all who have made suggestions, it helps more than you know 🙂

I tried re-writing notes at one point but just found myself typing the notes basically verbatim.
So then I tried doing note cards and once again found myself essentially re-typing the powerpoint slides onto a note card.
So then I found a mind mapping program that was free. This worked for some things, like pharmacology and pathology, but not others.

I am a very auditory learner, so I just sit in lecture and listen (mostly, I started getting distracted this last semester). I then found that actually talking out the points at home out loud is what allowed me to learn. I would repeat it to myself. I would then explain it to myself. I would then try to apply it to a real case scenario. So if I was going through endocrinology notes, I would explain out loud to myself about Cushing's with the notes there, then I would explain it again as much as I could without notes, then review what I couldn't remember, then explain it again out loud without notes. Then I would think out loud about a Cushing's case, what would the dog look like on presentation? What would show up on a chemistry? CBC? What other tests do I need to confirm? What is the treatment once I get confirmation? I could have a lecture complete in about 30-40 minutes instead of spending an hour or more to re-type notes and not actually learn a damn thing. I basically have very few condensed, re-typed or re-written notes from vet school, but it is what worked for me.

 

[Minnerbelle]

I think it really is a matter of figuring out what learning style works most efficiently for you, since it doesn't matter what works for others if it doesn't work for you. Some people do best typing or handwriting notes. Others do best by deleting extraneous PowerPoint slides and before the exam just studying off of the shorter list of slides. Others are flash card people. And others do best verbally going over things with their study buddies.

For instance, i would answer yes to your question. I never rewrote my notes, or annotated on slides, or ever went to lecture at all. I did most of my learning by reading textbooks and syllabi. I'm a crappy listener so it's a waste of time for me to go to class. I'm also someone who needs the full context of everything and not just bullet points, so ppt slides didn't mean much to me. The only thing I did with lecture slides was flip through them to make sure I wasn't missing a topic that was covered in class.

I made sure I understood concepts 100% as I was reading them so that I didn't have to go back to them again. Anything that would take repetition to memorize (drug names, lists of things, etc...) I wrote in flash cards, and I went through them a few hours before the exam.

This is pretty much how I've learned from the time I was in high school and it's always worked for me. But partly it worked because I'd spent my entire academic career rarely going to class.

 

[DVMDream]

I think it really is a matter of figuring out what learning style works most efficiently for you, since it doesn't matter what works for others if it doesn't work for you.

This. You really just have to try various things until you find what works best for you. Everyone is different.

 

[nonick123]

I'm not a vet, but I will tell you how i study. First, I only read textbooks(don't use slides or notes) and undreline the things i will learn. When I'm ready I start reading chapter by chapter and saying it aloud to the wall. While saying it, when something important or hard to understand pops up, i write it on a sheet of paper( i call this random notes). When i finish studying the current topic, i wait around 10-15 min(sometimes it might become hours, if I'm busy) and read my notes ALOUD and record them to my digital recorder(this is kind of unusal, but it helps me very much) Thus, i can listen to material whenever and wherever I want. I also use wavepad to change the speed of the recordings and make them faster. On the next day, if I have time, I listen to my recordings and skim the text in order to make mind maps( i always make them, really helpful). The good things is I can alter the different "stages" of my learning. For example, when I go to library, I first read and underline, say them(of course not aloud), write random notes and when I get home just study the notes and record them(this happens when I'm really busy)
Of course,there are times when I cram(that is not going to happen in 2 year, I hope) and i try to study and retain as much info as I can.
The most important things for me is to tell the material aloud and then listen to it 1/2 times. This is my method, it might look complicated, but actually is quite fast and it workss for me. My learning style has changed a lot since high school and i spent 1 1/2 semesters to find my way. My advice is to find what kind of studier you are and try different technuqies( I personally tried alot). This is my experience, I hope it will be helpful.
P.S.: repetion is very very important

 

[Minnerbelle]

P.S.: repetion is very very important

Unfortunately, there is not enough time for repetition like that in vet school...

 

[twelvetigers]

Yeah... it's pretty much constant cramming. You can't (or would lose your wits if you tried to) study for a week for every test. At least not like you are describing. And if it's books that help, well, some exams are over 10 chapters at once (radiology, anyone?) so it's just too much to handle.

It sucks, and that's why people struggle - you have to find not a way to study, but a way to study efficiently.