My school is entirely PBL so, you're pretty much on your own, studying as much as you can. How do you know when it is enough and when you cover the materials adequately?
For those ppl who thrive in curriculum, what did you do that work for you?
My plan:
Read relevant section/chapter from the textbook, take note, do some review questions (any advice on resources for this? PreTest?)
When I asked 2nd year, most of them study by reading and reread and reread. Some read 3x, some 5x before the exam, because they don't have time to take notes while reading. How do you guys study and do well on the exams?
Also, will I have enough time to do all this?
Thanks.
I went with the read x 3 method. First time through was very fast, just getting a broad overview and ensuring I didn't fall behind. Once we were done with cases and had time to study exclusively for the exam I would do the other two readings. Second reading was highlighting/annotating things that I felt I needed to emphasize on my third read and third read was focused on things that still needed work.
Excessively cheezy example: Pulm phys. First read was the equivalent of "Ok, I get it, blood goes to the lungs, gets O2 and goes back to the heart...." Second read "ohh...so pulm vessels constrict when they don't receive enough O2?" I'll highlight that to make sure I remember. Third read "this is really boring, I already know this. Oh yeah, those vessels constrict, gotta remember that."
2nd, 3rd reads are always faster than the first. Try to leave three days or so to do questions before the exam. If you're a first year, then guyton (phys) review is good. If you're a second year, get the robbins (path) question book. You should be able to get these resources "electronically" from someone at school. Don't touch pretest; it's completely different material. Seriously, don't touch it.
I didn't think notes were helpful at all...that's what a highlighter is for. If anything, write notes in the margin of your book. I used to write down a simplified version of the paragraph in the margin as a learning exercise, but not really to add anything. The exception might be drawing out biochem pathways. That was kinda time consuming for me but some people swore by it.
Pharm is kinda the outlier. I don't think it's very amenable to PBL but nonetheless you have to learn it. I used quizlet for online flashcards and did well.
Most importantly, be willing to change how you study and don't be afraid to study differently than everyone else. Everyone learns differently so everyone should study differently. My method above might be awful for you. But it worked for me.
Yes you'll have enough time to do all this, eat, watch some tv, go to the gym and have 75% of your weekend to yourself. You'll be surprised at how fast you learn to read.
