i remember being in your position a year ago. i read tons of posts just to try to get a feel of the way to do things. i don't think there is anything wrong with that at all. biggest piece of advice: BE FLEXIBLE. go ahead and try one method, but if that isn't working, don't be afraid to change it up. i spent most of first year just trying to find a method that worked well for me.
just to preface my method, i thought i would share how my first year was built. the fall involved anatomy and molecular&cellular bio as well as some fluff classes (ethics, interviewing) all going on at the same time. the spring before spring break was 4 or 5 subjects. after spring break was only neuro for the most part. we have quizzes just about every week, so it really keeps you up on your material. most days consist of lecture (anywhere from 1 to 6). once a week we had small group/PBL type thing. we had a few labs (outside of anatomy that is). also, we have student run "note service" so that one person in the class takes notes for each lecture (rotating) meaning that i still got the idea of class w/o always going.
what i did:
-went to about 75% of lectures in the real classes (ie, not ethics), tried to pay attention and stay awake (success rate of about 60%). i highlighted what i viewed as important
-tried to re-read lecture quickly between lectures (phone, bathroom, or snack run usually got in the way)
-once home, i would go through each lecture and pull out my important facts and put them in Word. if there was a slide i really had to see to understand the concept, i would not that
-i rarely relistened to lectures
-i rarely used books
-i would read note service if i skipped or if i really didn't understand a concept
-before each quiz i would print off my Word sheets and study from those by reading through them 2-3 times.
-if something required note cards (drugs etc), i made them
that was pretty much my routine. my weekends involved very little (if quiz was just on friday) or total review (if quiz or exam on monday). a lot of med school is just going over things again and again. find what works for you. you don't have to study the way your neighbor does. they don't have to study like you. to each his own. hope this was at least somewhat helpful.
