Science text books

[I wannabe a doc]

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Is it me or does anyone else dread reading these huge scientific textbooks. I mean wow they go into alot of detail. Anyone got any tips for reading these babys and actually making it stick to memory.

 

[CoolWhipp]

read it really fast like a novel then pick out what you should concentrate on by going to lecture.

 

[tennisball80]

Read introduction paragraph carefully and try to find the main idea.

 

[argonaute]

i actually would advocate reading it relatively slowly over a longer period of time, in just little increments. I try to cram and read everything at once really quickly, and none of it ever sticks- but if you had more time to just think about it, you should find that some of them are really interesting.

in any case, you better get used to it, because you're going to be reading MANY texts, with ever increasing detail and complexity, especially once you get into med school. it's really shocking to read a text you read a few years back, thinking it had lots of material and such, and just realize that it really was really basic.

 

[jla314]

or... don't try to read the books! your professors likely won't have read them (at least, not recently or thoroughly enough to test minutia from them).

and even if your professor wrote your book, his/her lecture will likely still only cover the material they deem to be important and the book will be redundant.

at my interviews, the med students i meet generally say that first years run out to buy the books for their courses, but in reality there is just not enough time to read them (and they have lecture notes/slides/syllabi to study to learn the material).

 

[BlueElmo]

I don't read these books, just go to classes and read the notes.

 

[argonaute]

or... don't try to read the books! your professors likely won't have read them (at least, not recently or thoroughly enough to test minutia from them).

and even if your professor wrote your book, his/her lecture will likely still only cover the material they deem to be important and the book will be redundant.

at my interviews, the med students i meet generally say that first years run out to buy the books for their courses, but in reality there is just not enough time to read them (and they have lecture notes/slides/syllabi to study to learn the material).

this works for some people- so if you can get away without reading teh book, don't...

for others who aren't as fond of going to class, the textbook is all we have 😀

 

[TheMightySmiter]

I'm one of those obnoxious people who reads the textbook and takes notes, but I do that because I literally fall asleep reading science textbooks unless I am actively trying to condense them into something meaningful. It works for me, doesn't work for a lot of people. I'm also lucky that my textbooks have tended to be fairly helpful for my courses.

 

[just one]

Is it me or does anyone else dread reading these huge scientific textbooks. I mean wow they go into alot of detail. Anyone got any tips for reading these babys and actually making it stick to memory.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to the small, popup ones used in medical school

 

[Sammich117]

a) you don't need to read them cover to cover

b) I hope you realize that you will need to remember all that detail and more once you get to med school.

 

[Sammich117]

Yeah, I'm looking forward to the small, popup ones used in medical school

🤣

 

[just one]

a) you don't need to read them cover to cover

b) I hope you realize that you will need to remember all that detail and more once you get to med school.

Wait, hold the phone! You mean we need to remember this stuff? Holy cow!

 

[MilkmanAl]

Actually, you don't need most of it for med school. The difference is that what you do need to know will be covered in 3 weeks instead of a semester.