Looking for Studying Advice

[stickgirl390]

I’m wondering if anyone has shared this experience with me, and what they did in the situation. I’m doing fine in my classes and have been since school started (M1), but my grades have been a sad, stagnant plateau of average for the duration thus far. I’ve tried every study technique under the sun, like group study, practice questions, going to lecture, not going to lecture, drawing flow charts, coloring books, etc.

I think my biggest roadblock is not being able to process and answer a test question in 90 seconds. There are so many points I lose from reading too fast or not having enough time to evaluate each answer choice. I’ve never had test taking anxiety/stress and I still do not. I think maybe I’m missing how to make the jump from where I am now, to knowing the material well enough that the 90second time constraint doesn’t limit me anymore.


Thoughts?

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[ciestar]

Best i can suggest is to do practice questions under timed conditions

 

[stickgirl390]

Best i can suggest is to do practice questions under timed conditions

Good advice. Unfortunately, I’ve been doing this for the past 3 years. Probably the one thing I will never stop doing.

 

[831929]

Sometimes you do have to realize that maybe you are already doing the best you can. It's hard in medical school since we are surrounded by such smart people. Realizing that it's okay to get 70s or 80s because some (if not most of us) are getting those scores. Just focus on doing your best and be happy with it. Understanding material is key.

You can try tutoring subjects that you already learned to know them better for step 1.

 

[Gurby]

my grades have been a sad, stagnant plateau of average for the duration thus far. I’ve tried every study technique under the sun, like group study, practice questions, going to lecture, not going to lecture, drawing flow charts, coloring books, etc.

I don't see spaced repetition on that list of study techniques. I assume you tried it and it "didn't work for you"? What was your experience like?

 

[popopopop]

Are you using the same resources as your peers?

 

[fldoctorgirl]

I’m wondering if anyone has shared this experience with me, and what they did in the situation. I’m doing fine in my classes and have been since school started (M1), but my grades have been a sad, stagnant plateau of average for the duration thus far. I’ve tried every study technique under the sun, like group study, practice questions, going to lecture, not going to lecture, drawing flow charts, coloring books, etc.

I think my biggest roadblock is not being able to process and answer a test question in 90 seconds. There are so many points I lose from reading too fast or not having enough time to evaluate each answer choice. I’ve never had test taking anxiety/stress and I still do not. I think maybe I’m missing how to make the jump from where I am now, to knowing the material well enough that the 90second time constraint doesn’t limit me anymore.


Thoughts?

Anki. On the last test I took, I answered questions and literally thought "bless Anki for letting me recall this fact so quickly so that I was able to separate these two answer choices that were almost identical except for this one fact". I can still remember which question I was answering when I had that thought. Anki to memorize all the important facts, practice questions to make sure you can integrate them. Should equal success.

 

[Raney Schauer]

You need to have contact with the material 5 times:

1 - Preview - 7-10 minutes per upcoming period of instruction. Night before or over your bowl of cheerios.
2 - lecture
3 - answer questions about that lecture's material
4 - flash cards
5 - write a one-pager summarizing each lecture
(Optional) 6 - some review video type stuff from a 3rd party

You should be spending about 1.5 hours per hour of lecture. 4 hours of lecture per day x 5 days = 20 hours of lecture. 30 hours after that doing 3,4 and 5. That's about 50 hours per week. That gives you planty of time for eating, sleeping, hygeine and exercise.

Devise a schedule and execute.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Anki.

 

[stickgirl390]

I don't see spaced repetition on that list of study techniques. I assume you tried it and it "didn't work for you"? What was your experience like?

This I haven’t actually tried yet. I can’t find a software that doesn’t confuse me. I hear anki is the way to go, so I downloaded a deck one of the M2s recommended but the software was confusing me. I tried firecracker for a day or two and it didn’t feel like i was getting much out of it. Yesterday I looked into Picmonic and they also recommended spaced repitition, so now I’m thinking I should attempt it again...

Have you tried it? Do you have any specific suggestions on how often to do it? Our tests are weekly so there isn’t a lot of time between hearing the lecture and taking the test for the repitition

 

[stickgirl390]

Are you using the same resources as your peers?

The same and probably more honestly. Why do you ask?

 

[stickgirl390]

You need to have contact with the material 5 times:

1 - Preview - 7-10 minutes per upcoming period of instruction. Night before or over your bowl of cheerios.
2 - lecture
3 - answer questions about that lecture's material
4 - flash cards
5 - write a one-pager summarizing each lecture
(Optional) 6 - some review video type stuff from a 3rd party

You should be spending about 1.5 hours per hour of lecture. 4 hours of lecture per day x 5 days = 20 hours of lecture. 30 hours after that doing 3,4 and 5. That's about 50 hours per week. That gives you planty of time for eating, sleeping, hygeine and exercise.

Devise a schedule and execute.

Great advice, except this is literally what I do. My preview is much longer, I’d say 30 min - 1 hr per lecture. I also substitute flash cards for other things like writing my own test questions, coloring (anatomy), and YouTube simply because I personally learn better that way.

 

[stickgirl390]

Anki. On the last test I took, I answered questions and literally thought "bless Anki for letting me recall this fact so quickly so that I was able to separate these two answer choices that were almost identical except for this one fact". I can still remember which question I was answering when I had that thought. Anki to memorize all the important facts, practice questions to make sure you can integrate them. Should equal success.

Doppelgänger! Help me understand how to use anki, it’s so confusing to me. What deck(s) do you use? How often do you incorporate it? Where does it fit into your schedule?

 

[Gurby]

This I haven’t actually tried yet. I can’t find a software that doesn’t confuse me. I hear anki is the way to go, so I downloaded a deck one of the M2s recommended but the software was confusing me. I tried firecracker for a day or two and it didn’t feel like i was getting much out of it. Yesterday I looked into Picmonic and they also recommended spaced repitition, so now I’m thinking I should attempt it again...

Have you tried it? Do you have any specific suggestions on how often to do it? Our tests are weekly so there isn’t a lot of time between hearing the lecture and taking the test for the repitition

I pretty much spend more time Ankii'ing than sleeping at this point. It's been my primary/only method of learning material since day 1 of M1.

How often to do it? At a bare minimum, do all your scheduled reviews every day. This does mean that I end up spending >2 hours/day studying material from previous courses that often has little relevance to what we're learning in class... but I think it's worth it. Also, the further along you get, the more everything starts to connect anyways. It's good to not forget everything you learned about biochemistry because surprise surprise it's all coming back again for endocrinology/renal/etc.

Your most valuable resource will be the M2's at your school - find someone who is willing to help you get the program set up and walk you through using it. Find out what Anki resources they use.
For most people I would recommend using a pre-made deck like Zanki/Bros/etc, but if you have weekly tests you might be forced into learning the class material if the minutiae your professors like to focus on doesn't line up perfectly with what shows up on boards. Figure out what M2's are coasting along comfortably, find out what they did and emulate.

 

[Goro]

I’m wondering if anyone has shared this experience with me, and what they did in the situation. I’m doing fine in my classes and have been since school started (M1), but my grades have been a sad, stagnant plateau of average for the duration thus far. I’ve tried every study technique under the sun, like group study, practice questions, going to lecture, not going to lecture, drawing flow charts, coloring books, etc.

I think my biggest roadblock is not being able to process and answer a test question in 90 seconds. There are so many points I lose from reading too fast or not having enough time to evaluate each answer choice. I’ve never had test taking anxiety/stress and I still do not. I think maybe I’m missing how to make the jump from where I am now, to knowing the material well enough that the 90second time constraint doesn’t limit me anymore.


Thoughts?

Go talk to your school's learning or education center

 

[Raney Schauer]

I think my biggest roadblock is not being able to process and answer a test question in 90 seconds. Thoughts?

Youre falling into the too much info trap. They throw a lot of stuff in front of a simple question to slow you down. "A 48 year old woman fell off the roof while stringing lights the day after Thanksgiving and sustains a commonuted compound tibia/fibua fracture 15 cm distal to the knee joint. Resp = 18, pulse = 90 and so on and so on. What is the innervation of the soleus?"

Its a time suck. You didnt need all that clinical preamble to answer a softball anatomy question. They just preying on your affinity fir the clinical correlate to drag you in. Look for the question then look at the answers, then root around in the back if the fridge if need be.

Another thing they love to do is pack in several correct answers in the choices, BUT

Theyre correct answers to things they didnt ask you but you thought they asked if you got bigged down somewhere in the story. Thats another trap.

 

[fldoctorgirl]

Doppelgänger! Help me understand how to use anki, it’s so confusing to me. What deck(s) do you use? How often do you incorporate it? Where does it fit into your schedule?

I use the Zanki deck but I'm not comfortable relying on it 100% for lecture, so I do Zanki for the corresponding system we're in and also add my own decks based on lecture. I do it daily-- it's useless if you don't at least do your reviews every day.

My schedule is basically to do all of my reviews first thing every AM. Then, watch lectures on 2x (I don't go to class unless it's required/not recorded). Make Anki based on lecture. Do new cards for the day. I'll usually do 50 new Zanki cards a day and 100 lecture specific cards a day. Repeat every day.

 

[themoonman2]

A common trap that people have is spending too much time on one single question. I'd suggest doing your best during the test to figure out when you should mark the question for later, take your best guess, move on, and then come back to that question at the end. I honestly had so many times in preclinical that I ended up finding the answer to the question I couldn't get in a later question just by being reminded of a different aspect of a disease.

 

[stickgirl390]

I use the Zanki deck but I'm not comfortable relying on it 100% for lecture, so I do Zanki for the corresponding system we're in and also add my own decks based on lecture. I do it daily-- it's useless if you don't at least do your reviews every day.

My schedule is basically to do all of my reviews first thing every AM. Then, watch lectures on 2x (I don't go to class unless it's required/not recorded). Make Anki based on lecture. Do new cards for the day. I'll usually do 50 new Zanki cards a day and 100 lecture specific cards a day. Repeat every day.

Thanks! I’m gonna try this and report back

 

[fldoctorgirl]

Thanks! I’m gonna try this and report back

Good luck! I will say that I'm still fine-tuning my method and suspect I will continue doing so next semester-- still not fully satisfied with the grades I'm getting, but this has definitely helped me increase my grades and feel more confident going into exams.

 

[Save a life]

Youre falling into the too much info trap. They throw a lot of stuff in front of a simple question to slow you down. "A 48 year old woman fell off the roof while stringing lights the day after Thanksgiving and sustains a commonuted compound tibia/fibua fracture 15 cm distal to the knee joint. Resp = 18, pulse = 90 and so on and so on. What is the innervation of the soleus?"

Its a time suck. You didnt need all that clinical preamble to answer a softball anatomy question. They just preying on your affinity fir the clinical correlate to drag you in. Look for the question then look at the answers, then root around in the back if the fridge if need be.

Another thing they love to do is pack in several correct answers in the choices, BUT

Theyre correct answers to things they didnt ask you but you thought they asked if you got bigged down somewhere in the story. Thats another trap.

I agree with this. Clinical vignettes can be long with lots of information. Get use to reading basic labs (CBC, CMP, etc), history, and vitals fast. Then on practice questions you can blow through then without getting hung up.

For our class exams, I would say that over 50% of the questions are obvious and you’d have to literally not watch the lectures or study to get them wrong. These easy questions you should be able to rapidly answer in 10-20 seconds. These are your first order questions. Then, the medium level questions may take 20-50 seconds. Lastly, the hard ones you may spend a minute plus reasoning through them. I usually spend most of the time at the end looking over those last hard ones.

As for getting scores at the top of your class, good luck! I haven’t exactly figured that one out. I’ve pulled off honors here and there but sometimes no matter what you do, you’ll wind up average or just above average. Realize that some people walk into med school with masters degrees in the course you might be taking. For example, you might be doing a molecular biology block and the people in the top 10% literally have taken masters level courses in the material or majored in molecular biology and did research.

 

[stickgirl390]

Good luck! I will say that I'm still fine-tuning my method and suspect I will continue doing so next semester-- still not fully satisfied with the grades I'm getting, but this has definitely helped me increase my grades and feel more confident going into exams.

Reporting back: Anki definitely helped, but I’ll need more time to work with it. I’m going to try it again for next week’s test. I wasn’t able to start using it until about half way into this week’s material, so while my test score did improve quite a bit, it could have improved more. There were two in particular that I know I could have gotten right if I had made anki decks for them, as they were recall questions.

 

[Deecee2DO]

Youre falling into the too much info trap. They throw a lot of stuff in front of a simple question to slow you down. "A 48 year old woman fell off the roof while stringing lights the day after Thanksgiving and sustains a commonuted compound tibia/fibua fracture 15 cm distal to the knee joint. Resp = 18, pulse = 90 and so on and so on. What is the innervation of the soleus?"

Its a time suck. You didnt need all that clinical preamble to answer a softball anatomy question. They just preying on your affinity fir the clinical correlate to drag you in. Look for the question then look at the answers, then root around in the back if the fridge if need be.

Another thing they love to do is pack in several correct answers in the choices, BUT

Theyre correct answers to things they didnt ask you but you thought they asked if you got bigged down somewhere in the story. Thats another trap.

So true

 

[fldoctorgirl]

Reporting back: Anki definitely helped, but I’ll need more time to work with it. I’m going to try it again for next week’s test. I wasn’t able to start using it until about half way into this week’s material, so while my test score did improve quite a bit, it could have improved more. There were two in particular that I know I could have gotten right if I had made anki decks for them, as they were recall questions.

I'm glad it helped! It definitely is a learning curve to make it work for you