Study methods in DS

[CanaDMD]

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'ello,

So I just started dental school this year. 3rd week in! Yay moi.

Any how, I'm having a lot of trouble organizing my time and studying everything as it rolls in, as I used to. How do you guys manage it? Any tips/tricks for a newbie?

I would also like to know how you guys take your notes. I used to be a pencil/paper type of guy, but with the amount of info we're taking and the speed of the profs, I had no choice but to switch to ppt/notes box. Just wondering the best way to study that. It can't be to just reread the ppts over and over. Any experience with OneNote by any chance?


Thanks in advance e'rybody!

 

[dds2b219]

Following this. Third week D1- same exact problems.

 

[CanaDMD]

Following this. Third week D1- same exact problems.

We need some traction on this thread! We're dieing here lmao

 

[dds2b219]

Haha I know we need some help here!

 

[CanaDMD]

Haha I know we need some help here!

So, any DS students up for a good deed this lovely Saturday?

 

[dentzee]

record the lectures on your phone - that way you are there trying to understand what the teacher is teaching instead of being busy writing notes. EOD: transfer the important points to your ppt printout/notes provided by teacher (this will provide as a quick review)

 

[CanaDMD]

record the lectures on your phone - that way you are there trying to understand what the teacher is teaching instead of being busy writing notes. EOD: transfer the important points to your ppt printout/notes provided by teacher (this will provide as a quick review)

I'll try it.

EOD = end of day?
Do you relisten to the entire lecture at the end of the day to get these important points?

Thank you!

 

[toothsleuth11]

Memorize everything on every slide...especially things that seem unimportant, such as percentages. Our profession (and the majority of healthcare) relies on memorization. Concepts help but at the end of the day they will only get you the B because everybody who got into dental school is smart enough to learn concepts. If you want the A, the 4 or 5 questions that are really specific are the ones you need to nail.

 

[PointEstimate]

I feel like people freak out about the increase in workload from UG to DS. You managed to get yourself in DS, you'll figure out a way to get out. Point that I am trying to make is that people try to change drastically when they already have the foundation of a workable skill set to get you through dental school. Go with what works for you. For me, I rely heavily on reading the slides over and over; I feel like most of the exam material comes from there anyways that if I can just train myself to link one word with another, good things happen. But that's what I did in UG so I just carried that mentality over to DS. If you really love watching lectures over, more power to you; if you can read something once and have it stick, then great. By the time you get to this level, what you are and what you are good at (as far as studying is concerned) is pretty set.

 

[CanaDMD]

I feel like people freak out about the increase in workload from UG to DS. You managed to get yourself in DS, you'll figure out a way to get out. Point that I am trying to make is that people try to change drastically when they already have the foundation of a workable skill set to get you through dental school. Go with what works for you. For me, I rely heavily on reading the slides over and over; I feel like most of the exam material comes from there anyways that if I can just train myself to link one word with another, good things happen. But that's what I did in UG so I just carried that mentality over to DS. If you really love watching lectures over, more power to you; if you can read something once and have it stick, then great. By the time you get to this level, what you are and what you are good at (as far as studying is concerned) is pretty set.

For me, what worked was paper studying. At this point, printing out every one of our slides isnt feasible anymore. So I'm forced to adjust from paper to PC. That's sort of the only thing stressing me. Tips?

 

[dentzee]

I'll try it.

EOD = end of day?
Do you relisten to the entire lecture at the end of the day to get these important points?

Thank you!

yes..it'll take time, but it helps a bunch during review. Try it for a day and see how it goes...Also, do this just for the really important classes!

 

[CanaDMD]

yes..it'll take time, but it helps a bunch during review. Try it for a day and see how it goes...Also, do this just for the really important classes!

Allright sounds good! I'll see if I can record properly. I feel like the mic might not capt everything great, but who knows!

 

[LaughingGas]

For me, what worked was paper studying. At this point, printing out every one of our slides isnt feasible anymore. So I'm forced to adjust from paper to PC. That's sort of the only thing stressing me. Tips?

The tests with heavy emphasis on images (i.e. Histo) a lot of my classmates printed them. What a lot of my classmates did, they would write notes from lecture capture in Word, print them and review along with powerpoint slides for images (if test had images).

 

[Mauricio45]

I had no choice but to switch to ppt/notes box. It can't be to just reread the ppts over and over. Any experience with OneNote by any chance?

LOL. That's pretty much what I did in the first two years of DS. I would just print out the powerpoints, read them like 5x-10x times four or five days before an exam (or 7-8 days if it's a really big exam), and make notes on the powerpoints. Make sure to write (or type) notes and not just passively reading the material because writing or typing the notes out helps you retain the information better.

Sometimes I would make a separate microsoft document and make a bullet list of important points.

 

[CanaDMD]

LOL. That's pretty much what I did in the first two years of DS. I would just print out the powerpoints, read them like 5x-10x times four or five days before an exam (or 7-8 days if it's a really big exam), and make notes on the powerpoints. Make sure to write (or type) notes and not just passively reading the material because writing or typing the notes out helps you retain the information better.

Sometimes I would make a separate microsoft document and make a bullet list of important points.

Hey! Yeah, I do write notes under the powerpoints, especially about things not mentioned in the ppt but that the prof mentions sort of deal.

 

[CanaDMD]

The tests with heavy emphasis on images (i.e. Histo) a lot of my classmates printed them. What a lot of my classmates did, they would write notes from lecture capture in Word, print them and review along with powerpoint slides for images (if test had images).

Is that as good as writing notes under the ppt?

 

[LaughingGas]

@CanaDMD It is same. It is just your choice of having it on powerpoint and looking at the computer all day or print them out in Word format and read in paper.

 

[CanaDMD]

@CanaDMD It is same. It is just your choice of having it on powerpoint and looking at the computer all day or print them out in Word format and read in paper.

Fair enough. Printing is such a hassle for me so I just decided to go that route

 

[rev_rend]

Any how, I'm having a lot of trouble organizing my time and studying everything as it rolls in, as I used to. How do you guys manage it? Any tips/tricks for a newbie?

I am a DS1 in week 6. I have three kids and am trying to keep my (very) part time business running. Here's what I'm doing.

• Task lists with dates and priority. I'm not great at keeping these up, but I do try to get them into something electronic that syncs across devices and nags me.
• Keep my sights on the closest targets. Have a rougher plan for how to engage the ones out toward the horizon.
• Know my limits (and needs/priorities). I'm not going to get an A in gross anatomy, even if I live and breathe it. I don't want to specialize. So, I'll put in the effort required to pass and spend a bit of free time sleeping, working, and playing with my kids. Meanwhile, I think I can do well in dental anatomy and it's clearly more relevant. Time spent there pays off more.

For note taking, I have always found hand writing to result in more information being retained on my first pass through it. I use a Surface Pro 3 and OneNote to take notes on slides from the professors. I also use it to clip things from our texts and slides to put together review packets for tests.

When I review dental anatomy slides, I also make decks of flash cards in Anki using the image occlusion plugin where I can. That makes me get in a post-lecture review and gives me something that allows me to reengage the material when I have time (since I can use the cards on my phone). I also use Anki to make gross anatomy flash cards.

 

[CanaDMD]

I am a DS1 in week 6. I have three kids and am trying to keep my (very) part time business running. Here's what I'm doing.

• Task lists with dates and priority. I'm not great at keeping these up, but I do try to get them into something electronic that syncs across devices and nags me.
• Keep my sights on the closest targets. Have a rougher plan for how to engage the ones out toward the horizon.
• Know my limits (and needs/priorities). I'm not going to get an A in gross anatomy, even if I live and breathe it. I don't want to specialize. So, I'll put in the effort required to pass and spend a bit of free time sleeping, working, and playing with my kids. Meanwhile, I think I can do well in dental anatomy and it's clearly more relevant. Time spent there pays off more.

For note taking, I have always found hand writing to result in more information being retained on my first pass through it. I use a Surface Pro 3 and OneNote to take notes on slides from the professors. I also use it to clip things from our texts and slides to put together review packets for tests.

When I review dental anatomy slides, I also make decks of flash cards in Anki using the image occlusion plugin where I can. That makes me get in a post-lecture review and gives me something that allows me to reengage the material when I have time (since I can use the cards on my phone). I also use Anki to make gross anatomy flash cards.

Do you take all your notes down on OneNote? How's your experience with it so far? Is it better than using the notes section in powerpoint?

 

[rev_rend]

Do you take all your notes down on OneNote? How's your experience with it so far? Is it better than using the notes section in powerpoint?

Yes, and it's way better for me. I assume most people would like it as well. It allows for a lot of flexibility in how you take notes on the slides. And one thing I've found useful in the past is that I can search my notes (even if handwritten) across all the slides in a deck, notebook, or across all notebooks.

 

[CanaDMD]

Yes, and it's way better for me. I assume most people would like it as well. It allows for a lot of flexibility in how you take notes on the slides. And one thing I've found useful in the past is that I can search my notes (even if handwritten) across all the slides in a deck, notebook, or across all notebooks.

How does that work? I have no idea how to fully use OneNote haha.

 

[Dgino]

I'm a D1 in my 6th week, and this is what has been working for me. Classes are typically from 8-5 (Tuesdays/Thursdays we finish with our actual class at 3:00 and from 3:00-5:00 are responsible for completing histo lab on our own). I typically get to school by about 7am and begin studying/reviewing/looking over lecture material for that day or the previous day (I find I am more fresh, and am able to focus and knock out a good 45min - 1hr of studying). In class we typically use either pdf or ppt documents. If ppt, great. if pdf I convert them to ppt. at the bottom of every slide (in the notes section) I type any addition information the instructor may have given. I do this for all classes. I find there are often little details spoken about which are not always on the slides, yet they are always tested. I find typing my notes helps me pay more attention than if I hand write them down (this is personal preference. some people prefer printing the notes and writing directly on them. I don't care for that). I then read over the lecture slides again and I will condense my notes/main points from the lectures into a word document outline. this typically comes out to 15-25 pages of typed notes before each exam. Additionally, classmates often create quizzes/flashcards on "Quizlet". About a week before each exam (longer for classes like histo) I begin reviewing slides, looking through the outline, looking through quizlets. about 3-4 days before the exam, our group begins meeting and going over the outlines and talking/writing/drawing through everything we learned. We meet a few times more and take the exam. Everyone seems to be doing well (the class averages on the first histo exam was an 81, waxing practical an 87, and dental anatomy exam average was an 89). All in all, I probably study 3-4 hours a day outside of class (done by 8 or 9pm daily) and on the weekends spend 6-8 hours daily (10-12 if I have an exam after the weekend). I always make time to spend with my wife on weeknights and evenings on the weekend. I don't feel like I'm going to burn out at this pace. I generally don't feel overwhelmed, and truthfully, I'm really enjoying my time in school. My classmates make it a fun time, and I look forward to classes like waxing and restorative during the week.

 

[CanaDMD]

I'm a D1 in my 6th week, and this is what has been working for me. Classes are typically from 8-5 (Tuesdays/Thursdays we finish with our actual class at 3:00 and from 3:00-5:00 are responsible for completing histo lab on our own). I typically get to school by about 7am and begin studying/reviewing/looking over lecture material for that day or the previous day (I find I am more fresh, and am able to focus and knock out a good 45min - 1hr of studying). In class we typically use either pdf or ppt documents. If ppt, great. if pdf I convert them to ppt. at the bottom of every slide (in the notes section) I type any addition information the instructor may have given. I do this for all classes. I find there are often little details spoken about which are not always on the slides, yet they are always tested. I find typing my notes helps me pay more attention than if I hand write them down (this is personal preference. some people prefer printing the notes and writing directly on them. I don't care for that). I then read over the lecture slides again and I will condense my notes/main points from the lectures into a word document outline. this typically comes out to 15-25 pages of typed notes before each exam. Additionally, classmates often create quizzes/flashcards on "Quizlet". About a week before each exam (longer for classes like histo) I begin reviewing slides, looking through the outline, looking through quizlets. about 3-4 days before the exam, our group begins meeting and going over the outlines and talking/writing/drawing through everything we learned. We meet a few times more and take the exam. Everyone seems to be doing well (the class averages on the first histo exam was an 81, waxing practical an 87, and dental anatomy exam average was an 89). All in all, I probably study 3-4 hours a day outside of class (done by 8 or 9pm daily) and on the weekends spend 6-8 hours daily (10-12 if I have an exam after the weekend). I always make time to spend with my wife on weeknights and evenings on the weekend. I don't feel like I'm going to burn out at this pace. I generally don't feel overwhelmed, and truthfully, I'm really enjoying my time in school. My classmates make it a fun time, and I look forward to classes like waxing and restorative during the week.

How do you find time to condense your notes on Word + review them?

I've been doing exactly what you have been, but just haven't found time to condense powerpoints to word. Just been rereading and rereading. And u find time to condense in 3-4 hrs a day? 😳

 

[Dgino]

if you do it daily it doesn't actually take a ton of time and it helps solidify the material. Histology we only have twice a week so its not terrible condensing. Biochem is 3 times a week, so a bit more condensing. The other classes like dental anatomy, restorative, cariology etc take less time/notes to master as they are only 1 or 2 days a week. I'm definitely still busy. its not like undergrad or anything, but if you stay on top of stuff, and really are effective at time management (no procrastinating) you can absolutely have a life outside of school... at least this semester 🙂

 

[CanaDMD]

if you do it daily it doesn't actually take a ton of time and it helps solidify the material. Histology we only have twice a week so its not terrible condensing. Biochem is 3 times a week, so a bit more condensing. The other classes like dental anatomy, restorative, cariology etc take less time/notes to master as they are only 1 or 2 days a week. I'm definitely still busy. its not like undergrad or anything, but if you stay on top of stuff, and really are effective at time management (no procrastinating) you can absolutely have a life outside of school... at least this semester 🙂

Fair enough! I shouldve gotten to condensing earlier.

Thank you! 🙂

 

[Bernie Sanders]

Be good at being able to replay in your mind a technique someone shows you in lab.

You need to turn your brain into a video-recorder to do well in lab.

 

[CanaDMD]

Be good at being able to replay in your mind a technique someone shows you in lab.

You need to turn your brain into a video-recorder to do well in lab.

Allright! I'll do my best.

 

[rev_rend]

How does that work? I have no idea how to fully use OneNote haha.

Magic mostly.

I've hardly scratched the surface of what it can do. And it can do one particular thing a lot of different ways. You can add slides as a file attachment, insert them as a continuous series of images in one part of a notebook, or paginated. I have read that it's even possible to audio record a lecture while you're taking notes so that notes you add are synced to whatever the professor was saying. There are lots of websites and Youtube videos that can help you figure it out, but it's worth playing with.

 

[CleverThought]

Any of you using OneNote using it on a Mac? I used it back in my undergrad days when I had a PC and absolutely LOVED IT. However, I got a Mac and tried it briefly during my D1 year when OneNote on Mac became available, and it wasn't anywhere near what it was on my PC.

Has it improved in the past year or so?

 

[Blake1e]

'ello,

So I just started dental school this year. 3rd week in! Yay moi.

Any how, I'm having a lot of trouble organizing my time and studying everything as it rolls in, as I used to. How do you guys manage it? Any tips/tricks for a newbie?

I would also like to know how you guys take your notes. I used to be a pencil/paper type of guy, but with the amount of info we're taking and the speed of the profs, I had no choice but to switch to ppt/notes box. Just wondering the best way to study that. It can't be to just reread the ppts over and over. Any experience with OneNote by any chance?


Thanks in advance e'rybody!

Yeah in class I mostly take notes using ppt/notes box, though I prefer paper/pen and still do that sometimes.

Best way to study? Ive tried pretty much every method and what works best for me is to just make up my own practice questions (mc, fill-in-blank, true/false, short response). Nothing else compares to it in terms of efficiency and effectiveness.

 

[SES0112]

Any of you using OneNote using it on a Mac? I used it back in my undergrad days when I had a PC and absolutely LOVED IT. However, I got a Mac and tried it briefly during my D1 year when OneNote on Mac became available, and it wasn't anywhere near what it was on my PC.

Has it improved in the past year or so?

I tried OneNote on my Mac at first and found it to be different too. Some of my classmates use growley notes (an app downloaded on the app store) and it works great with the Mac and has even better features than OneNote