I'm stupid...need micro advice

[cromagnon]

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anyone have any suggestions on doing well in micro? my performance in that class has been marginal so far. i've been through MMRS, the levinson book, and my class notes but i don't feel like anything is sticking.

it seems that i spend more time studying and am yet less productive with micro than my other classes.....any advice?

thanks

 

[thatuvicguy]

anyone have any suggestions on doing well in micro? my performance in that class has been marginal so far. i've been through MMRS, the levinson book, and my class notes but i don't feel like anything is sticking.

it seems that i spend more time studying and am yet less productive with micro than my other classes.....any advice?

thanks

Clinical Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple.

 

[cromagnon]

thanks but MMRS = Clinical Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple.

 

[lilmo]

sounds like my experience in micro! i finally went in to my prof for help at the end of the semester and brought my grade up for the final. i found making my own tables/charts (so that i could quickly see key points and high yield facts) to be helpful. just persevere. micro will be over soon 🙂

 

[njbmd]

anyone have any suggestions on doing well in micro? my performance in that class has been marginal so far. i've been through MMRS, the levinson book, and my class notes but i don't feel like anything is sticking.

it seems that i spend more time studying and am yet less productive with micro than my other classes.....any advice?

thanks

Hi there,
The best source of information on handling a class is the professor who teaches the class and makes up the exams. Have you been going to office hours? Do you know specifically where your weaknesses are? Do you post-mortem your exams?

Before you spend extra time in outside books, are your class notes and materials organized and complete? If not, check out peer tutors at your school or noteservice. If your study materials are complete, try making some audio tapes and listening to them as you work out or just before you go to sleep. Sometimes listening to drill tapes can make things stick as opposed to flash cards or reading and re-reading notes.

Review your micro notes and syllabi every day. Pre-view the upcoming lecture and make sure that you cover the material in your assigned text. You do not have to read it for memory but look at the main headings and know what is the most important facts to be mastered.

As soon as the lecture is done, fill in any gaps in your notes. Borrow a classmate's notes if you feel that you are missing too much. Try to study micro first while your brain is fresh. Save another subject that you are doing well in for later.

At some point, look at exams from previous years if they are available. Compare these with the syllabus to get an idea of where to put your emphasis. Try not to memorize everything but rather understand and put things in your own words that are meaningful for you.

Finally, do not give up! Do not talk yourself out of doing well in this course. You have mastered your other courses and you can get through this one too. The Made Ridiculously Simple Book is great but read it only after you are totally done with your notes and syllabi. Also, check out the Infectious Diseases sections in Harrison's too.

Good luck!
njbmd 🙂

 

[bobmarley77]

I hated Micro as well. It's easy to get lost in the sea of details. What I would do is to go through a few sources (First Aid, Micro Cards, online videos, etc) the day before the lecture and then go to lecture. Then, I would go thru the notesets and would use review sources to drill it into my head again and again.

I used the South Carlolina site that has video lectures: http://pathmicro.med.sc.edu/book/video.htm

 

[twintiger32]

micro is hard...

try to figure out 3-5 pts for each organism that distinguishes it from the rest. this may be obvious, but on the test they'll hit you on the key clinical, lab, history, and Physical differences of each organism/infection.

I liked Lange's micro, and check out high yield infectious dz.

keep hitting it up repetitively and you'll start to catch on.

 

[Medo Holmes]

my nightmare :'(


especially bacteriology .. I hate it
making your tables is SO useful like lilmo said

here is an example for what I did for bacterilogy
it WILL might miss some points, so writh them in the "notes" part


hopfuly it will help you


best of luck!

 

[cromagnon]

thanks for all the great advice everybody 🙂

 

[kayakgirl]

Everyone is unique- but here's what works for me.

I write everything down in my own handwriting as many times as possible. I copy over the class notes, and make flashcards out of the books I read. Even though it feels like nothing's sinking into my head- when I get to the test I find I have some recall just because I've written the words down so many times in a few different ways.

I also advocate tons and tons of practice questions (from pre-test, lange review, or online) for any class. For some reason the question-answer format with the clinical correlation seems to help things stick for me and it's less boring than reading the same stuff over and over.

And stick with it. Everyone has that one subject that just won't seem to go into their head but most of us seem to make it through in the end

(my brain seems to completely reject anything related to pharmacology- but I can squeeze out passes if I just drill it over and over)