Need advice. Tell me how you do it!

[shcksdid]

To start off, I was never academically strong. After 8 years being out of school, with God's grace, I was accepted at one of top osteopathic medical school with below average stats (it's amazing what He can do). However, I am struggling so much academically, I'm having self doubts. Here is where I stand right now.

-Failed biochem and micro, but passed the remediation exams
-Very bottom of the class
-Passing Spring semester classes so far.
-Overall class average : 78%

I study almost 12-14 hours a day, including lectures. I've tried many different methods studying techniques. After each exam, it's so demoralizing to see my grade being 10-20 points below class average. Especially when I have sacrificed my time to be with my wife and kids.

My general strategy is to do as many passes on each lectures, which ends up about 5-6 times (lectures at 1.6x speed two times, and read course material 3~4 times). But I feel like I know NOTHING when the exam time comes. I forget almost everything I learned previous week ( we have exams every 2 weeks).

At this trend, I'll most likely fail out of school, or fail the boards because I feel like I have NO knowledge base.

Obviously, I have no fundamentals on how to study, or I'm just not smart enough. I think I really need some advice on how to actually learn the materials in short amount of time. I really like to know how YOU guys do it!

One last thing. I know I'm not even in a situation to be even thinking about residency. Is my chance of getting into general surgery essentially gone? Can a good board score save me?

Thank you for reading my long post.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Wjldenver]

LUCOM? My recommendation would be to save some $, and a lot of stress, and pursue an alternate career like PA. Maybe your current school offers that program and you can make a quick transition.




Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[shcksdid]

LUCOM? My recommendation would be to save some $, and a lot of stress, and pursue an alternate career like PA. Maybe your current school offers that program and you can make a quick transition.




Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

I don't think this matters at all, but it's one of "top tier" schools, if such thing even exists. I would appreciate an advice on how to be get better on the path that I am already taking. Thanks.

 

[Mabus3]

IMO, it's not that you're not smart enough, it's just that you're not studying "smart". I think you're wasting your time (and lots of it) by re-watching the lectures so many times. I think there is this misconception that the more hours you put into studying the more you are likely to retain or some **** along those lines. What I did was use a program called anki which is essentially a flashcard program that is designed to use space repetition to help you focus on material that you are struggling with and spend less time on material that you are more comfortable with. The caveat to this is that you have to make your own questions based off of the lectures so if you are making them too easy you are just doing yourself a disservice. What I did was when I was watching the lecture, I would pause every so often at key points or topics during the lecture and make a question out of that topic. I tried to make two questions for every topic (Ie. what cells produce gastrin / parietal cells produce what hormone). Also, being someone that has a hard time cramming, I tried to tailor my questions to concepts. Obviously you are going to have to throw in a lot of just facts like I did in the example but when you are starting to master a concept, you can pretty much work your way through any question stem (ie. instead of memorizing that a MR murmur is best heard at the apex and is holosystolic radiating to the axilla. know the basics that that is the listening post for the mitral valve but take it further by understanding the flow though the heart and a flow murmur going through the mitral valve during systole must mean that the blood is going backwards through a valve that inst closing properly so it must be regurg.) Also, I tihink by maing the questions yourself it forces you to approach material with the mindset of "how can this be turned into a question" which will help you apply that during exam time.

tldr; get anki and stop re-watching lectures so much

 

[ElJanitor]

Do you do practice questions? If not, you should do them. One of the hardest things about biochem is that you can understand/memorize a pathway, but come exam time, you've only memorized info but haven't applied it. Application is the most important aspect for doing well in class and on the boards.

With micro, did you ever use Sketchy?

 

[shcksdid]

IMO, it's not that you're not smart enough, it's just that you're not studying "smart". I think you're wasting your time (and lots of it) by re-watching the lectures so many times. I think there is this misconception that the more hours you put into studying the more you are likely to retain or some **** along those lines. What I did was use a program called anki which is essentially a flashcard program that is designed to use space repetition to help you focus on material that you are struggling with and spend less time on material that you are more comfortable with. The caveat to this is that you have to make your own questions based off of the lectures so if you are making them too easy you are just doing yourself a disservice. What I did was when I was watching the lecture, I would pause every so often at key points or topics during the lecture and make a question out of that topic. I tried to make two questions for every topic (Ie. what cells produce gastrin / parietal cells produce what hormone). Also, being someone that has a hard time cramming, I tried to tailor my questions to concepts. Obviously you are going to have to throw in a lot of just facts like I did in the example but when you are starting to master a concept, you can pretty much work your way through any question stem (ie. instead of memorizing that a MR murmur is best heard at the apex and is holosystolic radiating to the axilla. know the basics that that is the listening post for the mitral valve but take it further by understanding the flow though the heart and a flow murmur going through the mitral valve during systole must mean that the blood is going backwards through a valve that inst closing properly so it must be regurg.) Also, I tihink by maing the questions yourself it forces you to approach material with the mindset of "how can this be turned into a question" which will help you apply that during exam time.

tldr; get anki and stop re-watching lectures so much

Thank you for your suggestion. I will definitely follow your plan. How long does it take you to go thru one lecture (watching + making flash cards)? Overall, how much time do you spend studying per day including watching lectures? I want to get a feel of your daily schedule. Thanks!

 

[Mabus3]

Thank you for your suggestion. I will definitely follow your plan. How long does it take you to go thru one lecture (watching + making flash cards)? Overall, how much time do you spend studying per day including watching lectures? I want to get a feel of your daily schedule. Thanks!

Depends how far out you are from the exam. I made a deck of cards for every test and then combined them for the final. Leading up to the first test, I would only have 20 new cards that day and then whatever was left over from the previous days. Some days I would only study for 1-2 hours but the closer I got to the test/final then the more time I spent. Say the course had 2 exams and 1 cum final, after the first exam I would start in on making cards and studying for the second test but I would also review the deck from the first test every day as well. So at that point I would say that it would take me most of the afternoon to make the cards and only an hour or two in the morning to study the previous days and tests material. And that was me just kinda of putting along. If I got up early like 8am (rarely did) and really put my head down then I could get through that days lectures plus my cards to study by 5ish. LEading up to the final though I was just doing cards from all the decks and I would get started about 10-11am and it would take me up until 9 or 10pm. Again, that was taking multiple breaks to go to the gym, make food, nap, play computer games, ect.

The nice thing about anki is that when you are done with your cards for the day you are done. There is a very definitive end point. Also, you are answering questions the whole time so it's not like you are reading and maybe you read an entire paragraph or two and then realized that you had no idea what you just read.


I also used picmonic and incorporated that into my anki cards. 1-2 years out I still remember some of the cards.

 

[shcksdid]

Do you do practice questions? If not, you should do them. One of the hardest things about biochem is that you can understand/memorize a pathway, but come exam time, you've only memorized info but haven't applied it. Application is the most important aspect for doing well in class and on the boards.

With micro, did you ever use Sketchy?

Yes, I did use Sketchy, but way too late. It definitely helped me passed the remediation exam. I wish I found out sooner!

I agree with your assessment. I do have hard time with application and I only have spent minimal time on questions, the day before the exam. Thanks for your comment.

 

[shcksdid]

Depends how far out you are from the exam. I made a deck of cards for every test and then combined them for the final. Leading up to the first test, I would only have 20 new cards that day and then whatever was left over from the previous days. Some days I would only study for 1-2 hours but the closer I got to the test/final then the more time I spent. Say the course had 2 exams and 1 cum final, after the first exam I would start in on making cards and studying for the second test but I would also review the deck from the first test every day as well. So at that point I would say that it would take me most of the afternoon to make the cards and only an hour or two in the morning to study the previous days and tests material. And that was me just kinda of putting along. If I got up early like 8am (rarely did) and really put my head down then I could get through that days lectures plus my cards to study by 5ish. LEading up to the final though I was just doing cards from all the decks and I would get started about 10-11am and it would take me up until 9 or 10pm. Again, that was taking multiple breaks to go to the gym, make food, nap, play computer games, ect.

The nice thing about anki is that when you are done with your cards for the day you are done. There is a very definitive end point. Also, you are answering questions the whole time so it's not like you are reading and maybe you read an entire paragraph or two and then realized that you had no idea what you just read.


I also used picmonic and incorporated that into my anki cards. 1-2 years out I still remember some of the cards.

Wow. Seems like a really light schedule compared to mine. Thanks for your input! Hopefully this can turn me around! I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks!

 

[Lunatik]

Just a side note. Sketchy is paying silly money for someone else's imagination. You can easily apply your own in a better, more efficient way that is custom tailored for you, by you, using things, people and concepts that are of special value and meaning to you. All it takes is a little imagination.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

You're probably studying too much material. One example of that is wasting time watching lecture twice. The key to doing well in med school and have time is to study only high yield material. Lectures usually cover too much stuff that's not important. You need to cut out anything that's simply not important.

 

[IslandStyle808]

Just a side note. Sketchy is paying silly money for someone else's imagination. You can easily apply your own in a better, more efficient way that is custom tailored for you, by you, using things, people and concepts that are of special value and meaning to you. All it takes is a little imagination.

I high recommend those of you look up the concept of the memory palace, that is what sketchy utilizes. It uses visual spacial memory to help you remember new concepts. Its helped me with stuff like micro and pharm (with random info that is all over the place), but I admit I do have sketchy also. However, it help me take it beyond sketchy.

 

[shcksdid]

You're probably studying too much material. One example of that is wasting time watching lecture twice. The key to doing well in med school and have time is to study only high yield material. Lectures usually cover too much stuff that's not important. You need to cut out anything that's simply not important.

You are absolutely right. The difficult part for me is, how do you know what's high yield? Do you pre read FA? One of the reason I listen to the lecture more than once is to trying to get a sense of what is important or not. If there is a better way, please let me know! Thanks!

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

You are absolutely right. The difficult part for me is, how do you know what's high yield? Do you pre read FA? One of the reason I listen to the lecture more than once is to trying to get a sense of what is important or not. If there is a better way, please let me know! Thanks!

What I would do is keep FA open with lectures. As a topic was discussed, if it was in FA, it had to be learned. Other than that, it has a lot to do with experience (e.g. unique symptom or drug in class that doesn't fit the pattern) and buzzwords like "classic presentation," "I see many patients with this," "it's important to remember" and such.

 

[Lunatik]

Exactly how many courses are you taking at once? What are you taking? Maybe you're simply, quite literally, overloaded.

Especially given the commitments with your family and children and the daily grind of life, you're probably being pulled in so many directions mentally and emotionally. Maybe the solution here isn't finding ways to intensify your studies, but rather spreading things out a bit and giving yourself more time.

A relatively older age, having a wife, kids, the heavy and time-consuming responsibilities of fatherhood and being a provider. Clearly these are major handicaps to any student, let alone a student of Medicine. I'd definitely stop trying to keep pace with much younger classmates who also happen to have no such responsibilities and obligations.

I guess what I'm trying to tell you is, take it easy. Don't be so hard on yourself and your family. Given your situation there's absolutely no shame in moving forward with the minimum metrics. What you're trying to do commands respect regardless.

 

[Goro]

Check out my post on guide to med student success.

You're in grave danger of failing Boards, so something needs to change. Have you gone to see your school's learning or education center?

To start off, I was never academically strong. After 8 years being out of school, with God's grace, I was accepted at one of top osteopathic medical school with below average stats (it's amazing what He can do). However, I am struggling so much academically, I'm having self doubts. Here is where I stand right now.

-Failed biochem and micro, but passed the remediation exams
-Very bottom of the class
-Passing Spring semester classes so far.
-Overall class average : 78%

I study almost 12-14 hours a day, including lectures. I've tried many different methods studying techniques. After each exam, it's so demoralizing to see my grade being 10-20 points below class average. Especially when I have sacrificed my time to be with my wife and kids.

My general strategy is to do as many passes on each lectures, which ends up about 5-6 times (lectures at 1.6x speed two times, and read course material 3~4 times). But I feel like I know NOTHING when the exam time comes. I forget almost everything I learned previous week ( we have exams every 2 weeks).

At this trend, I'll most likely fail out of school, or fail the boards because I feel like I have NO knowledge base.

Obviously, I have no fundamentals on how to study, or I'm just not smart enough. I think I really need some advice on how to actually learn the materials in short amount of time. I really like to know how YOU guys do it!

One last thing. I know I'm not even in a situation to be even thinking about residency. Is my chance of getting into general surgery essentially gone? Can a good board score save me?

Thank you for reading my long post.

 

[shcksdid]

IMO, it's not that you're not smart enough, it's just that you're not studying "smart". I think you're wasting your time (and lots of it) by re-watching the lectures so many times. I think there is this misconception that the more hours you put into studying the more you are likely to retain or some **** along those lines. What I did was use a program called anki which is essentially a flashcard program that is designed to use space repetition to help you focus on material that you are struggling with and spend less time on material that you are more comfortable with. The caveat to this is that you have to make your own questions based off of the lectures so if you are making them too easy you are just doing yourself a disservice. What I did was when I was watching the lecture, I would pause every so often at key points or topics during the lecture and make a question out of that topic. I tried to make two questions for every topic (Ie. what cells produce gastrin / parietal cells produce what hormone). Also, being someone that has a hard time cramming, I tried to tailor my questions to concepts. Obviously you are going to have to throw in a lot of just facts like I did in the example but when you are starting to master a concept, you can pretty much work your way through any question stem (ie. instead of memorizing that a MR murmur is best heard at the apex and is holosystolic radiating to the axilla. know the basics that that is the listening post for the mitral valve but take it further by understanding the flow though the heart and a flow murmur going through the mitral valve during systole must mean that the blood is going backwards through a valve that inst closing properly so it must be regurg.) Also, I tihink by maing the questions yourself it forces you to approach material with the mindset of "how can this be turned into a question" which will help you apply that during exam time.

tldr; get anki and stop re-watching lectures so much

Mabus3, your anki suggestion worked out well! I've been getting above average since using anki and stopped watching lectures multiple times! Thanks so much!

 

[Captain DO]

After 8 years being out of school, with God's grace, I was accepted at one of top osteopathic medical school with below average stats (it's amazing what He can do). However, I am struggling so much academically, .

Clearly, youre not praying enough. God's almighty will got you into the top medical school. By his heavenly grace, you will Pass all your classes and rock your boards. All you must do is pray. Put the books down, stop wasting so many hours studying, and pray. If its his will for you to do well, Then by golly the good lord will make it happen.


......

Make studying more interactive. Dont just passive,y watch lectures. Watch lectures once, take notes, then review the notes. Thats what i did. Worked for me. Change things up til something works for you

 

[KaapstadMK]

LUCOM?

Just because OP mentioned God doesn't mean he/she's at LUCOM

And, Captain DO, don't mock the faith of another. Seriously. It's unprofessional at the very least. I will say, though, you give good advice on active studying.

 

[KaapstadMK]

Shcksdid, what everyone's told you so far is definitely very, very good.

I've been in a very similar situation to yours academically and I had to do a very serious overhaul of my study habits. I went from being a faithful lecture attendee to reading/reviewing lecture slides outside of lecture only.

A couple things that helped me:
- Taking my time going through the lecture material at my pace (but still trying to finish the day's lectures that day)
- Making thorough notes
- Using some kind of flashcard review software (I use Firecracker, but a good friend of mine prefers Anki. Either works)
- Using Qbanks - If anything, it helps you get used to question styles and trains you to think clincally
- Getting rest. I study at school until I've finished the day's lectures and boards studying. After that, I go home and don't touch my school materials until the next day. I need that intentional margin to protect myself physically, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually.
- That means taking time to pursue your family, your faith, and your physical health. If any one of them is out of whack, school is going to suffer.

 

[Bobcat18]

HAHA love this. Hey, I mean the Lord got them into 'one of the top' osteopathic medical schools- why can't praying get them 250+ on Step 1? You should try it out. Let me know how it works out for you.

Clearly, youre not praying enough. God's almighty will got you into the top medical school. By his heavenly grace, you will Pass all your classes and rock your boards. All you must do is pray. Put the books down, stop wasting so many hours studying, and pray. If its his will for you to do well, Then by golly the good lord will make it happen.


......

Make studying more interactive. Dont just passive,y watch lectures. Watch lectures once, take notes, then review the notes. Thats what i did. Worked for me. Change things up til something works for you

 

[AlteredScale]

Reminder to keep the discussion professional and on topic please.

 

[Dr. Rafiki]

Before the trolls arrived, this thread had a lot of really good advice. Thanks to those who contributed and OP I hope it's working out better for you.

 

[shadowlightfox]

tldr; get anki and stop re-watching lectures so much

I can vouch for this. Anki is so helpful, I discovered it before med school and literally taught myself another language with it, so using it for med school was a no brainer for me.

 

[theunderdoc]

Before the trolls arrived, this thread had a lot of really good advice. Thanks to those who contributed and OP I hope it's working out better for you.

You read my mind. I was going to recommend OP to read the book 'Medical School 2.0: An Unconventional Guide to Learn Faster, Ace the USMLE, and Get Into Your Top Choice Residency' by David Larson, MD...but that second comment left a sour taste in my mouth. People are so bitter.

 

[shcksdid]

Thank you everyone for sharing great tips. I have followed several advices from this thread and happy to report that I'm back on track and been getting good grades since. @AlteredScale, I think this thread has served its purpose, and respectfully ask to have this thread closed, if possible. Again, thank you everyone to those who have contributed to this thread.