M1 feel like I'm not learning, understanding anything

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lady1

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So I have my second exam coming up and feel like I'm going to fail hard.
The first exam was not very bad but still not good.

So for my first exam I attended every lecture, which weren't very helpful.. And textbooks just made my brain more confused. I studied the few slides and tried YouTube, for understanding things. But then on the exam I didn't recognize terms that were just rote memorization.

I have my 2nd exam next week.
I just feel stupid but never had this feeling in law school..I'm a non traditionalist student.
In law school I just read the books and summaries and that was enough for a good grade.

But reading now.. And I don't understand what it's about.. Summaries from other students help but I can't grasp the big picture plus I don't feel I'm memorizing all the facts.

I tried anki today.. I'm filling everything in question form or cloze.. But I did 3 hours for 6 pages off material... And I have >30 pages worth of material.
This way I'll never get to practicing on anki..

I just feel hopeless..

Please help, what am I doing wrong? How can I retain more information?

Should I switch to YouTube again for understanding the more general concepts or continue anki?

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So I have my second exam coming up and feel like I'm going to fail hard.
The first exam was not very bad but still not good.

So for my first exam I attended every lecture, which weren't very helpful.. And textbooks just made my brain more confused. I studied the few slides and tried YouTube, for understanding things. But then on the exam I didn't recognize terms that were just rote memorization.

I have my 2nd exam next week.
I just feel stupid but never had this feeling in law school..I'm a non traditionalist student.
In law school I just read the books and summaries and that was enough for a good grade.

But reading now.. And I don't understand what it's about.. Summaries from other students help but I can't grasp the big picture plus I don't feel I'm memorizing all the facts.

I tried anki today.. I'm filling everything in question form or cloze.. But I did 3 hours for 6 pages off material... And I have >30 pages worth of material.
This way I'll never get to practicing on anki..

I just feel hopeless..

Please help, what am I doing wrong? How can I retain more information?

Should I switch to YouTube again for understanding the more general concepts or continue anki?

What subject are you studying?
 
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What subject are you studying?

Multiple subjects
Endocrinology, carb cycle, citric acid, ethics, histology (epithial), embryology, genetics etc etc
 
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So I have my second exam coming up and feel like I'm going to fail hard.
The first exam was not very bad but still not good.

So for my first exam I attended every lecture, which weren't very helpful.. And textbooks just made my brain more confused. I studied the few slides and tried YouTube, for understanding things. But then on the exam I didn't recognize terms that were just rote memorization.

I have my 2nd exam next week.
I just feel stupid but never had this feeling in law school..I'm a non traditionalist student.
In law school I just read the books and summaries and that was enough for a good grade.

But reading now.. And I don't understand what it's about.. Summaries from other students help but I can't grasp the big picture plus I don't feel I'm memorizing all the facts.

I tried anki today.. I'm filling everything in question form or cloze.. But I did 3 hours for 6 pages off material... And I have >30 pages worth of material.
This way I'll never get to practicing on anki..

I just feel hopeless..

Please help, what am I doing wrong? How can I retain more information?

Should I switch to YouTube again for understanding the more general concepts or continue anki?
I had a similar experience begining of m1.
My personal take on this is you need to memorize all the small details and the big picture locks into place.
Sometimes you can understand the big picture and still get a question wrong because you didnt have the exceptions memorized .
The other problem is that all of this is a scaffolding upon which pathology is built. So you need to remember what a normal tissue , anatomy, biochem looks like before you actually can understand what and why the abnormal is the way it is. One thing that helped motivate myself in M1 was acknowledging that there are details that seem unnecessary right now, but their importance will become apparent once you hit path because you realize that those details help explain why the pathology presents in the manner it does. The most frustrating part is when you constantly hit walls of current knowledge so you are left with a tidbit that you just have to memorize because science doesnt even know the why.

Different things help different people.
1. Use outside resources BnB, Pathoma, Sketchy
2. I personally anki everything until and after memorizing hundreds of independent factoid I get an aha moment and everything clicks into place.
3. Look up anything you dont understand on wiki
4. Try doing some questions from qbanks
5. For large concepts use the feynman method.
6.Keep your head down and trust the process and your instructors, even if they are wrong regarding the level of detail no one ever did poorly because they knew more than was necessary.
7. Dont be afraid to change it up.

Lastly, people like to act like medical school is an endeavor that requires critical thinking. It is not, it is an exercise in endurance and cramming factoids in your head necessary to do the critical thinking part later on. It is like learning a new language for the first two years by memorization and later you get to practice that language on the wards.
 
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I had a similar experience begining of m1.
My personal take on this is you need to memorize all the small details and the big picture locks into place.
Sometimes you can understand the big picture and still get a question wrong because you didnt have the exceptions memorized .
The other problem is that all of this is a scaffolding upon which pathology is built. So you need to remember what a normal tissue , anatomy, biochem looks like before you actually can understand what and why the abnormal is the way it is. One thing that helped motivate myself in M1 was acknowledging that there are details that seem unnecessary right now, but their importance will become apparent once you hit path because you realize that those details help explain why the pathology presents in the manner it does. The most frustrating part is when you constantly hit walls of current knowledge so you are left with a tidbit that you just have to memorize because science doesnt even know the why.

Different things help different people.
1. Use outside resources BnB, Pathoma, Sketchy
2. I personally anki everything until and after memorizing hundreds of independent factoid I get an aha moment and everything clicks into place.
3. Look up anything you dont understand on wiki
4. Try doing some questions from qbanks
5. For large concepts use the feynman method.
6.Keep your head down and trust the process and your instructors, even if they are wrong regarding the level of detail no one ever did poorly because they knew more than was necessary.
7. Dont be afraid to change it up.

Lastly, people like to act like medical school is an endeavor that requires critical thinking. It is not, it is an exercise in endurance and cramming factoids in your head necessary to do the critical thinking part later on. It is like learning a new language for the first two years by memorization and later you get to practice that language on the wards.

Thank you so much.. :)
 
I had a similar experience throughout all of M1 - I did really well M2 and did excellent on my step 1. I am now doing excellent on my clinical rotations.

Just keep pushing forward :)
 
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Is it normal to feel like youre forgetting stuff after the material has gone by? For example, we finished our cell bio/molecular class and are on a different topic. I got in the 90s on the exam for molecular, but if I were to go back and take it again I would definetely not do as well.




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That feeling continues. I felt that way for large parts of my first and second years of residency.

Not sure if that is encouraging or depressing.
 
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it is an exercise in endurance and cramming factoids in your head necessary to do the critical thinking part later on. It is like learning a new language for the first two years by memorization and later you get to practice that language on the wards.
^^^So true.

I think a lot of people in medicine have the personality of being a hands-on learner and needing to see something in action before really understanding it. Most of what I learned in pre-clinical years was very fuzzy, but seeing the ppts come to life on rotations has really helped me understand those concepts and details that were completely lost on me. It's pretty great except that I'm just a little bitter that I didn't have this realization before I took any of the exams. I think this is why most people do much better on Step 2.

Listen to the good advice that's been given here. Chances are med school will only get better and better for you as time goes on. Most of us feel lost and stupid throughout med school. Those who don't are in the top 1% of intelligence and/or are deluding themselves and/or are on very wonderful medications. But even the very academically gifted will run into problems, particularly during clinical years. At the very least, take comfort in the fact that you're not alone in how frustrated you feel. SDN is a great place to find some shoulders to cry on. Hopefully you have some IRL as well.
 
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A good YouTube channel (since you seen to like that) is LY Med. He breaks things down for almost every subject. Might not be in the detail you need for your exam, but it would serve as a good place to start. He explains things clearly.

Also look up "Imposter Syndrome". It sounds like you might have a mild case and need a cure. (EDIT: this is not me being a smarta$$, it's a very, very real phenomenon among med students.)
 
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Normal to feel that way. It'll take a long time and a lot of context and experience for things to start coming together.

If you're passing your exams fine, then just go with it.

Trust the process.
 
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I feel very similarly. I think a lot of us probably do. You memorize so many little nuances and facts and you often feel like you're missing the forest for the trees. I just got done with immuno, and while I know a ton of interluekins for a thousand different responses, I feel like I have a poor understanding of how the immune system works as a whole. I'm just going to trust in the process and hope things start to come together as we continue to learn. I think/hope we will all start to find the puzzle coming together at some point, but it might just not be right now.

I found with anki that it's very easy to fall into the trap of memorizing details without understanding the overall process. What has worked pretty well for me is first watching a video from B&B (or whatever resource you use) to get the big picture understanding down, and then I make anki cards to memorize the little details I could see myself being tested on. So far I have been able to score average or a little above average on every test doing this without killing myself studying. I am not blowing away the class average by a mile, but I'm happy with where I'm at. Perhaps doing something similar with an outside resource + anki for details might work for you as well.

As for studying overload, I would say try and aim for ~<100 cards or less per hour lecture. Some lectures should be closer to 50, others you will be hard pressed to keep it below 100. If you find yourself doing more than that on average, you're probably making too many cards for frivolous details. I have seen some of the decks my classmates make and share, and they will literally make a card that says (this is an actual card from a classmate's deck) "The purpose of the {{immune system}} is to {{defend the body against foreign pathogens}}." He/she had over 200 cards in a 1 hour lecture for that topic, and half of them were like that. I know it sounds obvious, but avoid making cards on very apparent "facts" or powerpoint bullet points, or else your decks will start to become unbearable.

Good luck
 
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I had a similar experience throughout all of M1 - I did really well M2 and did excellent on my step 1. I am now doing excellent on my clinical rotations.

Just keep pushing forward :)
Same here. Keep at it and keep adjusting your study methods as needed. You'll be fine OP
 
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So I have my second exam coming up and feel like I'm going to fail hard.
The first exam was not very bad but still not good.

So for my first exam I attended every lecture, which weren't very helpful.. And textbooks just made my brain more confused. I studied the few slides and tried YouTube, for understanding things. But then on the exam I didn't recognize terms that were just rote memorization.

I have my 2nd exam next week.
I just feel stupid but never had this feeling in law school..I'm a non traditionalist student.
In law school I just read the books and summaries and that was enough for a good grade.

But reading now.. And I don't understand what it's about.. Summaries from other students help but I can't grasp the big picture plus I don't feel I'm memorizing all the facts.

I tried anki today.. I'm filling everything in question form or cloze.. But I did 3 hours for 6 pages off material... And I have >30 pages worth of material.
This way I'll never get to practicing on anki..

I just feel hopeless..

Please help, what am I doing wrong? How can I retain more information?

Should I switch to YouTube again for understanding the more general concepts or continue anki?
Read this:
And get thee to your school's learning or education center ASAP.
 
I tried anki today.. I'm filling everything in question form or cloze.. But I did 3 hours for 6 pages off material... And I have >30 pages worth of material.
This way I'll never get to practicing on anki..

Did you understand that 6 pages of material at the end of your Anki session though?

FWIW spending this much time doesn't sound unreasonable to me. I think people underestimate how much time Anki takes if you are honest with yourself about what you know/don't know and aren't just flipping past cards you don't truly understand. My personal opinion is that the people who claim to be getting through 400 cards/hour are probably doing it wrong (intervals too short so they know everything by rote and not understanding, lying to themselves about knowing answers, too many context clues in their cards, etc). I'm usually closer to 100-150 cards/hour...
 
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Is it normal to feel like youre forgetting stuff after the material has gone by? For example, we finished our cell bio/molecular class and are on a different topic. I got in the 90s on the exam for molecular, but if I were to go back and take it again I would definetely not do as well.




Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
This is why it's important to use anki, or some other spaced repetition method. If you don't occasionally review past material, you will have forgotten far too much of it by the time step 1 comes. Even with anki you won't remember everything, and it's okay to forget some of the low-yield minutia taught in lecture. But you should use a reliable pre-made anki deck (either zanki or LY) to remember the high yield material you covered in lecture months ago.
 
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Thanks everyone :)

Is it worth to get picmonic? I had a free trial about diabetes and it stuck with me. But I don't know if it gets into detail.
Is there something similar like picmonic?

With anki I feel like I am making a lot of cards but can't get to practicing them yet.
If I read a full page of the textbook how much cards are reasonable?

I'm making some in question form and other with just deleting sections of words and filling the blanks.
Also ordered a whiteboard..
 
Thanks everyone :)

Is it worth to get picmonic? I had a free trial about diabetes and it stuck with me. But I don't know if it gets into detail.
Is there something similar like picmonic?

With anki I feel like I am making a lot of cards but can't get to practicing them yet.
If I read a full page of the textbook how much cards are reasonable?

I'm making some in question form and other with just deleting sections of words and filling the blanks.
Also ordered a whiteboard..

As with any of those types of resources (Picmonic, Osmosis, Lecturio, etc.) they only work as well as you use them. I think muddying the waters with too many things is a common mistake during M1 year. And it seems that at most schools, exams question material given by the faculty in the lectures.

You're encouraged to use things like Picmonic, LY Med, etc., but you also have to know the lecture materials given by your school first and foremost. Use other, outside resources to supplement or explain something your school fails to
 
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Thanks everyone :)

Is it worth to get picmonic? I had a free trial about diabetes and it stuck with me. But I don't know if it gets into detail.
Is there something similar like picmonic?

With anki I feel like I am making a lot of cards but can't get to practicing them yet.
If I read a full page of the textbook how much cards are reasonable?

I'm making some in question form and other with just deleting sections of words and filling the blanks.
Also ordered a whiteboard..

Picmonic really works for some people! One of my friends swears by it and aces all his tests. Just don't use it as your only resource.
 
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Stop reading textbooks, your class Lectures should be #1

Stop making anki cards, download decks and commit to an hour a day

Picmonic, meh. That type of resource is better suited for micro and pharm, Sketchy >>>>>> picmonic

SketchyMedical

You will find your own study style, that's what M1 is for.

1 million times this. Learning what your school wants you to know to pass exams (and ace them if you aren't pass/fail) is the only important thing, at least in M1. Sketchy micro is probably the only Sketchy service I would bother getting. SketchyPath and Pharm got to be way too much to remember
 
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Sketchy doesn't seem to cover the more basis subjects of chromosomal disorders, action potential, embryology, muscle contraction, diabetes, hyper/hypothyroidism, histology..

Unfortunately our lectures aren't that great and provide just a few basic slides. So that leaves me with my textbooks and.. Maby other material that explains it a bit better of easier

An outside source would be great.. Sketchy seems a bit odd, picmonic looks a bit better. Any other tips?.

Thanks everyone.. :)
 
Sketchy doesn't seem to cover the more basis subjects of chromosomal disorders, action potential, embryology, muscle contraction, diabetes, hyper/hypothyroidism, histology..

Unfortunately our lectures aren't that great and provide just a few basic slides. So that leaves me with my textbooks and.. Maby other material that explains it a bit better of easier

An outside source would be great.. Sketchy seems a bit odd, picmonic looks a bit better. Any other tips?.

Thanks everyone.. :)

First Aid for the Basic Sciences, two book set containing Basic Principles and Organ Systems
Basic Sciences: General Principles

If you are feeling like your lecture slides aren't that great, this book set comes in handy and covers a fair amount on nearly everything in M1 and M2 years. I don't think there is any harm in studying all the topics in M1 despite it being a book designed for both M1/M2. This might be a good idea especially if you are a textbook person. It has a mix of paragraphs and bullet points, high yield topics, and follows the First Aid Step 1 prep book very well. Highly recommend if you feel lectures are too basic
 
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First Aid for the Basic Sciences, two book set containing Basic Principles and Organ Systems
Basic Sciences: General Principles

If you are feeling like your lecture slides aren't that great, this book set comes in handy and covers a fair amount on nearly everything in M1 and M2 years. I don't think there is any harm in studying all the topics in M1 despite it being a book designed for both M1/M2. This might be a good idea especially if you are a textbook person. It has a mix of paragraphs and bullet points, high yield topics, and follows the First Aid Step 1 prep book very well. Highly recommend if you feel lectures are too basic

Thanks.. I have a lot of books..
I just feel if there are other resources like picmonic it would help better. I read a lot on diabetes but it didn't compare to the 4 min at picmonic. It made me explain it to my parents immediately.

I finished law school last year.. And I feel like my study methods there are just failing me now. Next week is my 2nd exam. Even though I feel like I'm going to fail that.. I just want to improve my methods for the next time..because I really want to succeed

Up until now I only read the textbooks, got tired of notes so never made them good enough and made some text exams.. But this way the material doesnt stick and I'm feeling really insecure..

So I'll try picmonic, notes of textbooks, anki and whiteboard..

If you have further tips outside resources like picmonic or something on YouTube... I'll be real happy. :)
 
Dr Ryan is great

Welcome to Boards and Beyond

When I said class lectures what I really meant was watching listening to them 2x 3x, I always have a podcast on when I'm going to sleep, used to be class lectures.

And no hahaha Sketchy is >>>> picmonic, one day you will cringe at this blasphemy!!!

Maby sketchy is more for next year.. I need to get biochem down. Boards and Beyond looks good.. Thanks :)
 
Watch this. this guy does a fairly good summary of study methods
 
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Maybe I didn't respond to each message.. But thanks everyone for your comment, it does help with the struggle.:hello:
 
Thanks.. I have a lot of books..
I just feel if there are other resources like picmonic it would help better. I read a lot on diabetes but it didn't compare to the 4 min at picmonic. It made me explain it to my parents immediately.

I finished law school last year.. And I feel like my study methods there are just failing me now. Next week is my 2nd exam. Even though I feel like I'm going to fail that.. I just want to improve my methods for the next time..because I really want to succeed

Up until now I only read the textbooks, got tired of notes so never made them good enough and made some text exams.. But this way the material doesnt stick and I'm feeling really insecure..

So I'll try picmonic, notes of textbooks, anki and whiteboard..

If you have further tips outside resources like picmonic or something on YouTube... I'll be real happy. :)

It sounds like you should just get picmonic. Never used it, can't tell you anything about it. Best of luck
 
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It sounds like you should just get picmonic. Never used it, can't tell you anything about it. Best of luck

Haha sorry, do appreciate the recommendation
But when I opened sketchy I didn't see much about the topics I need right now. I'll try it later. And BB looks good, thanks :)
 
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B&B helped me a lot in biochem. I agree you should not make flashcards from the book, every page could result in a 100 cards. Use the PowerPoints as your skeleton because your professor will have already parsed the details they want. Even if they aren't good lectures, watch B&B or whatever and then use Anki to memorize what they want you to know.

Just my 2 cents as someone still trying to figure it out as well.
 
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If it’s any consolation, I’m in second year and have never felt prepared for anything yet. This whole process is like grinding as hard as you can up a hill and then come test day you just jump off and try to control your fall in a way that minimizes your damage. When you lay at the bottom of the hill, bruised and broken, you hesitate to close your eyes. You can’t succumb to your injuries because you’ve got a whole new hill to climb.

Also, literally today some biochem I learned last year actually made sense. Today. So it all sorta works I guess.
 
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It shouldn't take you that long to make Anki-- you're either overdoing it, or you're not used to the software yet.

As for studying overload, I would say try and aim for ~<100 cards or less per hour lecture. Some lectures should be closer to 50, others you will be hard pressed to keep it below 100. If you find yourself doing more than that on average, you're probably making too many cards for frivolous details. I have seen some of the decks my classmates make and share, and they will literally make a card that says (this is an actual card from a classmate's deck) "The purpose of the {{immune system}} is to {{defend the body against foreign pathogens}}." He/she had over 200 cards in a 1 hour lecture for that topic, and half of them were like that. I know it sounds obvious, but avoid making cards on very apparent "facts" or powerpoint bullet points, or else your decks will start to become unbearable.
This is super important. You need to set a limit for yourself on how many cards/lecture, otherwise it's really easy to start going "well, let me just make one more card on this fact even though it's not super high yield"....and then you're at 400 cards/lecture. My goal for our last block, where most of the lectures were 2 hours, was actually 100 cards per lecture. Sometimes, I would go a little over 100, but for other lectures I had 30 or 50 cards, so in the end I was actually under an average of 100/lecture. I know it's really tempting to want to make a card for everything-- that's basically what I did in undergrad-- but it's just not realistic in med school.

FWIW spending this much time doesn't sound unreasonable to me. I think people underestimate how much time Anki takes if you are honest with yourself about what you know/don't know and aren't just flipping past cards you don't truly understand. My personal opinion is that the people who claim to be getting through 400 cards/hour are probably doing it wrong (intervals too short so they know everything by rote and not understanding, lying to themselves about knowing answers, too many context clues in their cards, etc). I'm usually closer to 100-150 cards/hour...
I can do my review cards, which are ~100/day, in like 20 minutes, so I can see how someone can do 400 reviews/day. New cards typically take me about 100/40 minutes, though.
 
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I can do my review cards, which are ~100/day, in like 20 minutes, so I can see how someone can do 400 reviews/day. New cards typically take me about 100/40 minutes, though.

I think this is likely a question of interval length. If you're an M1, all of your cards are still pretty new and freshly learned, and you can likely flip through them pretty fast. You likely know many of the answers through context clues, recognizing the question stem, etc. For the 21,000 cards I have learned so far, the average interval is 5 months. Sometimes I get the answer right away, but I also spend a lot of time digging around in my brain for answers. IMO having to dig around and think about the card is probably a good thing in the long run, but that's just my intuition.
 
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