Multiple pass study method

[Foreverworthless]

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hello everyone,
In my masters program, I switched my study habits to a multiple pass method:
First pass: Lecture and taking notes
Second pass: listening to lecture again on 1.5x speed
Third-fifth passes: rewriting the information down over and over each time referrencing less and less to my notes until it stuck.

Problem is, I’m worried that with the sheer volume of material, I won’t be able to keep up, but this has allowed me to achieve great scores. For anyone who does a multiple pass study method, do you mind going over how you do it? Thanks!

 

[deleted938090]

I don't think you'll have time for 5 passes through that much material. Just my 2c.

 

[libertyyne]

Part of medical school is learning to adapt to the large amount of information. There is no use is worrying right now. Get into medical school, figure it out. Every person is different.

 

[sunshinefl]

Yeah that’s gonna be impossible. Ideally that’s how I learn as well, but now I’m **very happy** if I even complete a first thorough pass on all the material before the exams. I’m routinely catching up on missed material the weekend *after* exams.

 

[Terry Toma]

Anki is a really good way to do multiple passes a bit more quickly and efficiently than your method. I basically "take notes" by making Anki cards with cloze deletions and image occlusion on my first pass over the material. Then I see all the material multiple times just by reviewing my cards.

 

[mrbreakfast]

You can try, but with up to 40 hours of lecture a week, you're probably not going to succeed.

Also, I am not so certain this technique will work for content which prioritizes memorization of facts over concepts.

 

[Foreverworthless]

Yeah that’s gonna be impossible. Ideally that’s how I learn as well, but now I’m **very happy** if I even complete a first thorough pass on all the material before the exams. I’m routinely catching up on missed material the weekend *after* exams.

Have you found a good medium?

 

[Foreverworthless]

You can try, but with up to 40 hours of lecture a week, you're probably not going to succeed.

Also, I am not so certain this technique will work for content which prioritizes memorization of facts over concepts.

So are flash cards the only way to study in med school?

 

[Jesus1]

You can make multiple passes, but you need to be efficient with how you make each pass. In med school, I spent most of my time with a slow, solid first pass AND then re-read the material multiple times (4-5 x). By doing this, I was able to know pretty much everything on every exam (and got close to 100% on each). I did not re-write anything.
And to respond to some stuff mentioned earlier;
-A lot of the material in med school is actually conceptual, not memorization. Getting the concepts down will make memorization a lot easier or obviate the need to memorize.
-And anki is not the only way to study in med school. I never used anki and basically did what I am highlighting above (along with rigorous question analysis) and did fine from M1-4.

 

[Foreverworthless]

You can make multiple passes, but you need to be efficient with how you make each pass. In med school, I spent most of my time with a slow, solid first pass AND then re-read the material multiple times (4-5 x). By doing this, I was able to know pretty much everything on every exam (and got close to 100% on each). I did not re-write anything.
And to respond to some stuff mentioned earlier;
-A lot of the material in med school is actually conceptual, not memorization. Getting the concepts down will make memorization a lot easier or obviate the need to memorize.
-And anki is not the only way to study in med school. I never used anki and basically did what I am highlighting above (along with rigorous question analysis) and did fine from M1-4.

That’s super helpful. So in your case did you find that just re-reading was sufficient, or did you occasionally have to write things down for it to stick?

 

[Melchizedek]

My school gives us lecture notes and does lectures via video, so take this with a grain of salt. My general approach has been
First Pass: Read ALL of the lecture notes.
Second Pass: Watch the videos, highlight the key concepts touched on.
Third Pass: re-read lecture notes after 1/2 days has passed.
Any subsequent studying done on that topic should be practice questions and looking up/drilling the concepts you get wrong via questions.
FA/Zanki are good for the last part (but not compulsory) if you come across a concept or card you don't know well, learn it.

 

[Deecee2DO]

hello everyone,
In my masters program, I switched my study habits to a multiple pass method:
First pass: Lecture and taking notes
Second pass: listening to lecture again on 1.5x speed
Third-fifth passes: rewriting the information down over and over each time referrencing less and less to my notes until it stuck.

Problem is, I’m worried that with the sheer volume of material, I won’t be able to keep up, but this has allowed me to achieve great scores. For anyone who does a multiple pass study method, do you mind going over how you do it? Thanks!

Med school has a lot of material but honestly 3-4 passes is doable. I typically do what youre doing essentially and do very well. 1st pass I watch lecture on 1.75 speed and then stop and summarize each slide in my own words taking notes on the side of the slide (this typically takes me double of the time lecture is so it really counts as 2 passes since I really try and understand it). I do that for each class of the day then next day I put lecture on double speed and stop it anytime i see something I forgot or am weak in and I physically handwrite it down which is my 3rd pass. 4th pass Ill rewatch lectures without stopping on double speed a week leading up to exam and then Ill do practice questions to apply material 3-4 days before exam.

 

[THEBACKANDFORTH]

I use this method. Tests every 2x weeks.

One solid first pass day material is presented. Immediately on finishing, I RIP through the powerpoint a second time over about ten minutes to solidify those connections. It helps a lot.

Depending on craziness of my week and motivation, I try to review powerpoints here and there. It does help. I usually end up getting through 1/3 to 1/2 of the material this way.

Weekend before test, I make a checklist and go through all powerpoints again, thoroughness dependent on the time I have. Usually I get through 80-90 percent of the material well, then click through easier lectures quickly just to refresh on what was actually presents.

Take tests and trust intuition. It's not like life before med school. You aren't going to know everything, and you aren't going to get 97%. Instead, you will get about 80%, and be very happy about that.

Also, dont waste your time rewatching lectures. watch it once on 2x speed and take some notes. If a topic needs more explaining, use an outside source, and make annotations into your first aid book over the year. The tricks you used to remember something, etc

 

[Jesus1]

That’s super helpful. So in your case did you find that just re-reading was sufficient, or did you occasionally have to write things down for it to stick?

Re-reading was sufficient. Only wrote things down after having trouble remembering after the 3rd pass. Really limits what I have to write down.