Motivation

[Immolatis]

Does anyone have issues sitting down and studying? Apparently genious + laziness is enough to get you through high school while sleeping and college while not REALLY paying attention, but medical school apparently requires work.

I enjoy the material, I love the people, my professors are wonderful. I just suck.

I know I'm not the only schmuck who's just learning how much work this requires...what do you do? Add to that I have a personality type that borders on ADD (not the real disease, just easily distracted and manic) and I'm in trouble.

What makes you sit and study??? Am I burning out already? I want to be a physician more than anything, and I fear failure more than that, but I don't know what to do...advice?

It's not the teachers, it's not the material, I just suck. Anyone have this issue and overcome it? I'm thinking I'll be ok in the wards when I can actually deal with people rather than reams of info, but gotta get there first!

HELP!?!?!

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[njbmd]

Does anyone have issues sitting down and studying? Apparently genious + laziness is enough to get you through high school while sleeping and college while not REALLY paying attention, but medical school apparently requires work.

I enjoy the material, I love the people, my professors are wonderful. I just suck.

I know I'm not the only schmuck who's just learning how much work this requires...what do you do? Add to that I have a personality type that borders on ADD (not the real disease, just easily distracted and manic) and I'm in trouble.

What makes you sit and study??? Am I burning out already? I want to be a physician more than anything, and I fear failure more than that, but I don't know what to do...advice?

It's not the teachers, it's not the material, I just suck. Anyone have this issue and overcome it? I'm thinking I'll be ok in the wards when I can actually deal with people rather than reams of info, but gotta get there first!

HELP!?!?!

Hi there,
You may want to see a learning specialist (yes, they exist at medical schools) who can recommend some strategies for helping you focus or point you in a direction where you might get some meds for adult ADD. Look into this before you get into a hole that you cannot dig out of.

You won't get to the wards without getting past the pre-clinical stuff.

njbmd

 

[t33sg1rl]

I usually study for 20 minutes, then do something else for 10 minutes. To help this, I break up the material into 20 minute size chunks, so that I am not taking a break in the middle of a topic. I also break up my notes into chunks that I can study during commercial breaks while I watch TV (before med school, I usually watched two TV shows at once, flipping back and forth. The new strategy is much less annoying to those around me!)

Another good strategy is finding someone to police you, whether they know it or not. For example, stay out of the private cubicles in the library, and study on an open table with people walking by looking at you. (This works for me because I don't like people knowing I'm a goof-off). Also, group study forces you to stay on topic.

To be honest, the biggest problem with my highly distractable personality is that I hate going over the material more than once. It's BORING the second time through... but one going-over isn't enough to memorize details. Haven't found a way around this one yet.

 

[FACS]

I enjoy the material, I love the people, my professors are wonderful.

Yes, I agree. You do suck.

 

[yellowcat322]

I have the same problem. I see people studying for hours on end in the library, but I just can't sit down and focus for longer than half an hour at a time (unless it;s a week before exams and adrenaline keeps me going). I agree with the previous poster about taking breaks, even if it's every 20 minutes. The problem is that I need to be in the mood to study .Sometimes I try to push myself even when I'm not in the mood and find that it takes me three times as long to get through material -- I end up reading the same sentence 20 times and giving myself a headache. when that happens, either switch subjects or take a break, go for a walk, call a friend, anything. This may not be the most efficient way to study, but at least it keeps you going. Also, I totally second the idea of group study. Sometimes, it's the only thing that makes me learn material on time. You don't want to be the person sitting there with a blank stare while everyone else is discussing, so you are forced to hit the books. Plus going over material in a group is much less boring than reading it on your own. And just remember, you are definitely not the only one going through this. A fair amount of ppl got into med school by last minute cramming and are now having a tough time adjusting (yours truly included)

 

[dinesh]

Studying for hours at a time isn't going to work , well unless you learn every freaking word in the notes/book.
I study less than half the time of my peers and still manage to better most of them...
Over the past 2 weeks I too have been having some problems with studying, but usually it resolves itself near end of semester exams.

My sole motivation through highschool was not to be thought of as a *******(yea a stupid thing, but it worked) , and I am trying to keep up with that mentality...whatever gets me through I guess.

 

[DrWuStar]

i second the studying in a public place thing. when i "study" where no one can see me, i just look at the internet the whole time. so i try to study where other people in my class can see me, so i will be properly embarrassed if i just sit there looking at this or that time-zapping web site.

i also find that there are some times of day when i can focus better than others. if i get up early and study, i can usually focus well for a few hours. if i wait until later in the day, i am much more distractable. so try to find your best time and take advantage of it.

prizes also work. i'll make a deal with myself that if i study for x amount of time without giving in to distraction, then i can go get a latte instead of plain coffee. or stop studying an hour earlier than i will if i slack off. or have wine with dinner. just little prizes that i know make life more pleasant, and i want them, so i follow the rules.

 

[Iwy Em Hotep]

Does anyone have issues sitting down and studying? Apparently genious + laziness is enough to get you through high school while sleeping and college while not REALLY paying attention, but medical school apparently requires work.

I enjoy the material, I love the people, my professors are wonderful. I just suck.

I know I'm not the only schmuck who's just learning how much work this requires...what do you do? Add to that I have a personality type that borders on ADD (not the real disease, just easily distracted and manic) and I'm in trouble.

What makes you sit and study??? Am I burning out already? I want to be a physician more than anything, and I fear failure more than that, but I don't know what to do...advice?

It's not the teachers, it's not the material, I just suck. Anyone have this issue and overcome it? I'm thinking I'll be ok in the wards when I can actually deal with people rather than reams of info, but gotta get there first!

HELP!?!?!

This sounds like a good chance to get a study group. Nothing makes you more motivated than being responsible for someone else's knowledge and knowing that they'll be pissed at you if you bail on them.

 

[IheartCaffeine]

I usually study for 20 minutes, then do something else for 10 minutes. To help this, I break up the material into 20 minute size chunks, so that I am not taking a break in the middle of a topic.

This sounds like a cool idea. That way you are not intimidated by the volume of work you have to accomplish. Just focus on getting through your 20min and and eventually you'll reach the end.

 

[cytoborg]

Does anyone have issues sitting down and studying? Apparently genious + laziness is enough to get you through high school while sleeping and college while not REALLY paying attention, but medical school apparently requires work.

I enjoy the material, I love the people, my professors are wonderful. I just suck.

I know I'm not the only schmuck who's just learning how much work this requires...what do you do? Add to that I have a personality type that borders on ADD (not the real disease, just easily distracted and manic) and I'm in trouble.

What makes you sit and study??? Am I burning out already? I want to be a physician more than anything, and I fear failure more than that, but I don't know what to do...advice?

It's not the teachers, it's not the material, I just suck. Anyone have this issue and overcome it? I'm thinking I'll be ok in the wards when I can actually deal with people rather than reams of info, but gotta get there first!

HELP!?!?!

I had the exact same problem - ADD-ish, had a hard time sitting and studying, felt a bit burned out. I did work hard in college to do well, but I was more able to stay focused/disciplined - come med school it all fell apart. I have my theories why (more hours in the classroom which I hate, more rote memorization which I hate, more multiple choice-style tests that I'm no good at), but regardless, I never did find a good solution. I tried frequent breaks, bribing myself with little treats if I accomplished my goals, and brute force balls-to-the-wall studying but there was no magic bullet. It was a frustrating and demoralizing experience coming up against my own limitations like that. I ended up doing about average in my basic sciences, but on the wards I did much better. I felt much more comfortable with learning-by-doing and the different types of thinking required (worlds away from multiple choice tests!), and I enjoyed the variety of tasks and scenery. You may find you're the same way. In the meantime, hang in there!

 

[boilerbeast]

I study with one good friend who is in a totally different program. We put ourselves in "time out" and set a timer/cell phone for an hour and study 'til the timer goes off. Then we get up and frolick around for a while. It works for me.