Index Card Junkie

[smugtroll]

Anyone else use index cards 95% of the time? I don;t think I can live without them! The only way I know to study is by extreme repetition. Is this bad?

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[DrMidlife]

I buy index cards 10 packs at a time, drill a hole through one corner, and use a metal ring to hold the currently relevant ones together for easy flipping. I go NOWHERE without them; even had them with me at xmas parties. Depending on how much time I have, they're colored and numbered and sorted into appropriately-sized piles. I can hand them to my friends and the children of strangers to pick random cards to test me.

Just got Netter's anatomy flashcards and there's nowhere to punch holes. So sad. Kaplan's MCAT cards were fairly punchable.

My glycolysis and TCA cards are a thing of wonder. There was a 1200 dpi flatbed scanner involved...

I agree that I'm nuts, but there's about a 20 point exam differential that says I'm doing what works for me. Memorization slapped me silly starting in gen chem, being all ancient and stuff.

 

[Jacq]

I buy index cards 10 packs at a time, drill a hole through one corner, and use a metal ring to hold the currently relevant ones together for easy flipping. QUOTE]

I LOVE index cards too! What kind of drill do you use? Silly question, but how do you hold the cards together as you drill so they don't slide? (special method or just rubber band?) I ask because I'd like to start doing this as well Thanks in advance!

 

[DrMidlife]

What kind of drill do you use? Silly question, but how do you hold the cards together as you drill so they don't slide? (special method or just rubber band?)

Rubber bands fail a lot. Using a regular power drill is possible, and I do this pretty often, by sacrificing two precious index cards (used ones, of course) on the top and bottom of a stack, sized appropriately to the drillbit length...

(pause to reflect on the serious obsession I didn't even know I had here, this is really disturbing)

...then tape around the stack to hold it together against the torque, particularly on the corner to be drilled. Then on a stair step so you can put your knee to work, stick the corner off the step, kneel, and try to drill straight.

You can also use a vise grip but the cards are too small for this to be terribly efficient.

Sigh. Or go to Kinkos. They have hollow drillbits for a lovely finish, and they'll charge about $.25 per inch. When I've brought plastic-wrapped new cards in they've made me take the plastic off just to mock me.

 

[IceMan0824]

You're funny

I use index cards, but not to the extent as what you guys have mentioned. Geez, and I thought I had some wierd habits.

 

[LifetimeDoc]

I use "index cards" as well, but not the paper kind. Windows for Tablet PCs (those computers that can also be used with a pen) has an add-on where you have virtual 3x5 flash cards where you can write on the front and back. You can drill yourself anytime, mark which ones you are getting wrong or right, randomize the cards, and have them flip automatically if you want. Really nice when you don't have them spread all over the inside of your bookbag.

 

[Skialta]

I used to do the index card thing, but it changed in medical school. During my first year I could make cards for some classes but it was difficult and the time for repetition is more limited in med school. During second year it was pretty much impossible to use index cards, I had so much material to read that I was lucky to read my material once and key points twice before exams. Don't worry you all will adapt, and there is generally a lot of repetition throughout medical school.

Skialta MSIV

 

[Haemulon]

I have tried to use flash cards, but for me writing the information out uses a different mental process and is more effective for me. For things that required a lot of memorizing, like the TCA cycle or glycolysis, I would just sequester myself in an empty classroom at night with a pack of chaulk and an empty chaulkboard. I would just write and re-write the formulas and steps over and over and over again until I got it right. Then I would take a break to let myself forget a little and then come back and do it again. One intense night followed by one review session would usually ingrain it in me.

 

[supersash]

i use index cards too, with those little metal rings, but i just use a hole puncher! i have a heavy duty one that goes through a good number of cards at a time. easier for me than a drill

 

[ShyRem]

I tried flash cards once I got into med school, but I'm finding it just too time consuming to write the stuff down on cards. There's just too stinkin' much crap to learn... I think I'd need an entire file cabinet for nothing BUT index cards.

I know plenty of folks absolutely addicted to them and it works for them. Personally I just review notes on my PDA for portable learning.

 

[blee]

A friend of mine produced 1000 cards for our genetics exam. 1000. For genetics. A 13-hour class.

Yeah, I don't use them at all.

 

[babycapybara]

I'm fairly obsessed with school supplies, and can spend hours deciding on which notebooks to get for a certain class. As for flashcards, I think they sometimes take too much time to write up. I'll use them after I've already studied a bit for stuff I need extra help with. They were useful in micro, to help learn the details of each microbe. And in a nutrition class where the teacher was really into having us memorize every detail.

Have never attempted to drill holes in any cards though