Minimizing memorization

[Pembleton]

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I hate memorizing stuff, but I know it's essential to medical school.

Does anyone have good study techniques that minimizes on memorization and makes it less of a chore?

Thanks

 

[deleted109597]

Make songs out of it.

Sorry, you're just going to have to memorize it. The "made ridiculously simple" series works pretty well though.

 

[Miami_med]

I hate to say it, but I have to agree. I also hate to memorize, but there is no way around it. The best thing that you can do it prioritize. Put things together into a system, and do your best to memorize the system in a way that allows you to put all the pieces back together in your head at test time. Then focus on the major points, because you will be able to figure out the minutia again at the time. Hope that helps.

 

[PuGanDoo]

Yep, no way of getting around memorizing lists of muscles, nerves, drugs, bugs, etc. During MS1 you'll have a lot of memorization to get down the basics. If you put in the time initially and really get these basics down (use your mneumonics; drawing pictures really helped me) you'll have a much easier time of it come second year. Understand concepts underlying facts especially in regard to physiology and diagnostic tests (how the test works and what it is indicated for). This will allow you to intelligently reason your way through most cases. Good luck and stay sane.

-P.

 

[Megalofyia]

The more you memorize the better you'll get at it... I could barely remember stuff for 5 seconds before I started med school. Now if I do a WHOLE lot of repetition and drawing of pictures over and over and doing practice exams.. etc.. I can remember stuff for at least 2 minutes.

 

[WhatUpDoc!]

Yeah, memorization is one of those necessary evils that helps me to at least get the initial terminology down. After that, I go in for the kill on concepts when needed. I was seriously surprised at how direct most test questions were (i.e. what's the innervation of XYZ... cell type in kidney glormeruli), so I'm steadily easing off the concepts so much and going more towards 5 hour repetition a.k.a. memorization sessions.

In undergrad, I was a word association master so I could seriously cut down on memorization just as long as I knew maybe one or two words that went with a given answer (of course only applied to tests that were MC). Unfortunately I haven't been able to fully port that skill over to med school 🙁

 

[xlithiumx]

I hate memorizing stuff, but I know it's essential to medical school.

Does anyone have good study techniques that minimizes on memorization and makes it less of a chore?

Thanks

As an MS2 who also hates memorizing, I have a few tips.

1) Spread it out. I can't emphasize this enough. Memorize small chunks over time, or you'll never get it done. I've had over 100 drugs to learn in the last 2 weeks for my next exam for CV block. I have been taking between 10-20 each day to memorize and then reviewing the previous day's drugs, and it's working phenomenally.

2) As others have mentioned, try to group things and build concept maps. I use a piece of software called Freemind that is available for free online that has saved my medical school life several times. The trick is that by organizing the things that you are required to memorize into catagories that make sense to you, and by building the map yourself, you do a ton of learning that doesn't feel like rote memorization.

3) Don't quit, and don't put it off. Set a daily goal, and stick to it.

Good luck. If you follow these steps, at the end of the exam block you won't feel like you had to stuff 100 drugs in all at once, you'll feel like you permanently learned 100 drugs.

Dave

 

[gostudy]

For anatomy, learn it like learning a new language. Many accessory words repeat themselves such as: foramen, fossa, extensor, etc. Learn these words that way when you see things like jugular foramen you already know what half of the word means.

 

[Rockhouse]

I am new to the whole medschool thing, but looking at things functionally has been working out pretty well for me as opposed to memorizing, then you can just put a few names to a mental picture, as opposed to making an idea out of a bunch of words. I doubt this is fool proof, or that it will always work, but it beats the hell out of route memorization for now.

 

[psipsina]

As an MS2 who also hates memorizing, I have a few tips.

1) Spread it out. I can't emphasize this enough. Memorize small chunks over time, or you'll never get it done. I've had over 100 drugs to learn in the last 2 weeks for my next exam for CV block. I have been taking between 10-20 each day to memorize and then reviewing the previous day's drugs, and it's working phenomenally.

2) As others have mentioned, try to group things and build concept maps. I use a piece of software called Freemind that is available for free online that has saved my medical school life several times. The trick is that by organizing the things that you are required to memorize into catagories that make sense to you, and by building the map yourself, you do a ton of learning that doesn't feel like rote memorization.

3) Don't quit, and don't put it off. Set a daily goal, and stick to it.

Good luck. If you follow these steps, at the end of the exam block you won't feel like you had to stuff 100 drugs in all at once, you'll feel like you permanently learned 100 drugs.

Dave

I was thinking about trying the mindmapping thing for medschool but having never done it before I don't really know how to implement it. Could you describe some of the tasks you have used it for?? Thanks!

 

[xlithiumx]

I was thinking about trying the mindmapping thing for medschool but having never done it before I don't really know how to implement it. Could you describe some of the tasks you have used it for?? Thanks!

Yes I can. For example. I'm on CV block right now and learning anti-arrythmic drugs. So, they can be broken down into sodium, potassium, and calcium channel blockers, beta blockers, adenosine, and digoxin. From there, the sodium channel blockers are divided into classes A, B, and C. Each drug fits into its class, and then for each drug, there is the pertinent information, e.g. the pharmacology, the recommended use, the administration, and excretion, etc...

The idea is that you organize the information in a heirarchical structure rather than just a list and that you have a graphical map showing that heirarchy. It is very valuable for organizing large messes of information, and it is also useful for quizzing oneself by folding layers of the mind map, and then unfolding them to see the correct answer.

I have learned approx. 75 drugs in the last 3 days using this strategy. It is definitely an easier way to learn a whole lot of information very quickly.

Dave

 

[psipsina]

Yes I can. For example. I'm on CV block right now and learning anti-arrythmic drugs. So, they can be broken down into sodium, potassium, and calcium channel blockers, beta blockers, adenosine, and digoxin. From there, the sodium channel blockers are divided into classes A, B, and C. Each drug fits into its class, and then for each drug, there is the pertinent information, e.g. the pharmacology, the recommended use, the administration, and excretion, etc...

The idea is that you organize the information in a heirarchical structure rather than just a list and that you have a graphical map showing that heirarchy. It is very valuable for organizing large messes of information, and it is also useful for quizzing oneself by folding layers of the mind map, and then unfolding them to see the correct answer.

I have learned approx. 75 drugs in the last 3 days using this strategy. It is definitely an easier way to learn a whole lot of information very quickly.

Dave

I hadn't thought of using the unfolding tool that way . . . sounds like a good idea. I'll give it a try on the block that just started and see how it works for me. Thanks Alot!

 

[WhatUpDoc!]

Is there a quick tutorial for using that freemind program? Do you just download it and start typing away?

 

[YouDontKnowJack]

memorizing sucks. it's just a big ol memorizing contest.

everything should be open book!! those who know their stuff will know where to look, and how to apply the information.

 

[Law2Doc]

I am new to the whole medschool thing, but looking at things functionally has been working out pretty well for me as opposed to memorizing, then you can just put a few names to a mental picture, as opposed to making an idea out of a bunch of words. I doubt this is fool proof, or that it will always work, but it beats the hell out of route memorization for now.

This works fine until you hit a certain critical mass of terms and then it falls apart. Brute force memorization through repetition is the proven method for a lot of med school, that has survived the test of time. Make flashcards. Use mnemonics. Draw and redraw and redraw structures. Read and annotate and annotate the annotations until you know them. Make games out of it to test your memory. Think of it as a giant multi-year game of trivial pursuit/cranium etc.

 

[Pembleton]

Law2Doc speaks the truth. I got by M1 doing what Rockhouse was suggesting; it wasn't stellar but it got me through the other side. Now I'm in second year, Path and Pharm demand a lot of memorization. And now I'm forcing myself to make charts and read different texts and other tricks. I hate it, but it's necessary to pass these classes. I wish there was a way to do it without memorization because I feel like any well motivated high school student could memorize what we're forced to do. Memorization isn't exactly intellectual but it's the only thing that works.

Anyhow to the other posters, thanks for the tips. I will definitely give the mind-map routine a go.

 

[anon-y-mouse]

In undergrad, I was a word association master so I could seriously cut down on memorization just as long as I knew maybe one or two words that went with a given answer (of course only applied to tests that were MC). Unfortunately I haven't been able to fully port that skill over to med school 🙁

are you serious? I aced my first med school test simply DUE to word association 🙂 well probably more, but a good 10 questions were word association... "you notice that his scapula is protruding"... LTN C567 SA!!

 

[Blade28]

LTN C567 SA!!

Kinda sad since I'm a few years removed from Step 1, but it's precisely the word association between "winged scapula" and "long thoracic nerve" that lets me figure out what your acronym means! 👍

(For some reason, they LOVE to test this...in all three Steps. Same goes for nursemaid's elbow.)

 

[Iwy Em Hotep]

There's a difference between memorizing random lists and memorizing around a framework that's logical to you. You might say the first is "cramming," while the second is "learning." For some things, such as drug side effects, you might only be able to accomplishing knowing anything by cramming. But for a lot of topics in medical school, you can learn some things, and use that knowledge to help you add detail to your framework.

 

[Gosha]

I hate memorizing stuff, but I know it's essential to medical school.

Does anyone have good study techniques that minimizes on memorization and makes it less of a chore?

Thanks

I agree – memorizing sucks when it comes to large volumes of information and when you do not know how to memorize in the first place. I read the replies to your post and the vast majority of them pretty much conceded to the doomed boring nature of memorizing. And the reason is because the majority doesn’t really know how to memorize. There are tools and methods that will teach you how to organize information in your brain in the way that it will be accessible at all times and how to make the process of memorization fun instead of boring. You can find one of the revolutionary systems HERE which actually teaches you about how our memory works in the first place and then offers you a set of lessons with exercises where you can actually learn how to USE your memory effectively and without any pain. Try it