Second year sinking fast...

[CBG23]

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Hi all,

I'm sure I am probably not the only one here who isn't faring so well second year. I started out the year pretty optimistic and eager to learn, knowing that I would have to put in longer hours to learn the material well. Two months into this year and two sets of exams later, things are not going well. I am barely passing my exams and know I am not learning the material well. I put a ton of time into learning the material the first time around, but by the next week, everything is almost gone from my head and I don't have time to go back, because we are getting new material thrown at us. Rinse and repeat for another two weeks, and by the time the exams roll around, I am left with a huge pile of material, with very little retention. Most of my classmates seem to be spending less time and still manage to retain the material well. We still have another 3-4 months left (shortened curriculum) and I still want to try and get the most out of the rest of the year, but with each passing week, I am becoming more and more discouraged. Any advice/ motivation/ anything else is greatly appreciated,

 

[womp]

My retention goes to the pits only when I cram last minute. You should try to do more recall exercises (flash cards, thinking about the material when you shower etc) during the week while you are learning the material. That way hopefully it won't go all out the next week.

 

[njbmd]

Organize that material and link the big topics. For example: Pathology is divided into systemic and general. The general topics are things like Immunological Disorders, Cellular Damage and effects thereof, Neoplasia, Tissue Repair, Infections and Environmental Disorders.

The systemic things are by system: Respiratory system, CV system, Neuro system etc. Lump things together under major headings and then fill in the minor details. Try to link things together such as Immunological disorders that affect respiratory system, immunological disorders that affect cardiovascular system.

In short, it's more efficient to memorize material that is organized first rather than trying to wade through a stack of things that may or may not be particularly related. Sometimes, First Aid or a review book can help you organize things but these can't be a substitute for your class notes.

You don't have to be able to rote recall every word from every note that you get in class. You have to be able to link and recognize things. This is why organization is helpful. If you material is organized, you can put the small details on flash cards (not useful for me be perhaps for you) and master them in groups.

It's also pretty useless to speculate on how much or how little your classmates are spending on their studies. Unless you are with one or more of them 24/7, you can't know for sure if they are spending less time than you. If you are spending time trying to figure out what you classmates are doing, then you are burning up valuable study time. What your classmate do or don't do, has little to do with what YOU need to do. Take care of your own stuff.

I also tend to take frequent but short breaks. I don't ever sit down and spend hours grinding through things. I study for 50 minutes then 10-minute break. I don't even look at any study materials on my break but when I get back, I am refreshed and ready to do the next 50 minutes.

I also check off things as I review them so that I don't end up going over the same material over and over. Review is OK but trying to rote recall takes too much time. I do a cursory review of the previous day's material and then move on to what I have to work on for today.

Also, if you are passing everything, then tweak a bit here and there but don't beat yourself if you are not getting honors. If you relax a bit, you may find that you are more efficient and those grades will start to go up. Good luck!