Strategies for long-term knowledge upkeep?

[Seldon]

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I've been treating the MCAT like General Sherman might have treated a trip to the beach, so needless to say, there's not a whole lot left for me to go over once I'm done. Naturally, this is pretty time consuming, so I don't know if I'll be ready to take the test by September (the last test date of this year). Does anyone have any recommendations for long term knowledge maintenance?

I'll be tutoring/participating in an MCAT study group sponsored by my school's premed society next year, so that will cover me for active use of the info, but what about other strategies?

Thank you for your help!

 

[Coltuna]

Anki

 

[altblue]

I"ve been around my target score recently so I'm looking for maintenence as well until September. look for the kaplan quick sheets to maintain the most critical information... like others have said Anki works well too for little facts

 

[DBC03]

If this is primarily about the MCAT, I highly recommend taking a ton of practice exams as those will force you to really go through your mental rolodex.

Otherwise, I was kind of hoping for something to help me with school. If I find that, I'll post it!

 

[raiderette]

This is definitely a time for Anki
I spent the last few weeks taking tests, but if you feel ready now, Anki will help you sustain.

 

[fouracle]

I agree that Anki can be helpful, but it really depends on if you're at liberty to still really engage with the knowledge. I used Anki religiously, but still noticed that the info I tried to brute-force memorize during times like commuting were only kept in my short-term memory, not even my working memory. Obviously, it was hard to write things down or even talk out loud when I was just sitting on a train or bus, but I think doing stuff like that + Anki will be more useful for consolidating stuff into your memory.

 

[psychgirl95]

I've been using Firecracker's pre-med program (it's free). You might want to try that? It's mostly flash cards with some multiple choice questions as well. They also provide topic summaries! I definitely recommend it.

 

[Seldon]

Thanks everyone! I'll definitely take a look at Anki and Firecracker. Anki sounds like exactly what I need. That way, I can go through 100 cards a night and keep it all fresh.

 

[DameJulie]

Being able to use it a lot definitely helps to retain longer.

For example, if you're shadowing a internal GI doctor, you might find yourselves remembering quite well of your GI physiology.

 

[Seldon]

Being able to use it a lot definitely helps to retain longer.

For example, if you're shadowing a internal GI doctor, you might find yourselves remembering quite well of your GI physiology.

You're absolutely right. I do neurosurgery and neuro-oncology research, so my neurophysiology, biochemistry, and molecular biology are on point.

 

[DBC03]

Being able to use it a lot definitely helps to retain longer.

For example, if you're shadowing a internal GI doctor, you might find yourselves remembering quite well of your GI physiology.

On the other hand, I'm a water management engineer and I still cringe when I see questions about buoyancy and Bernoulli's equation. But I just remind myself how much worse it would be if I wasn't an engineer, right?