Study tips for nontrads with children

[BoraMD]

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Hi, I was wondering if any nontrad students with children could share their experience balancing family and study times. Also any tips/advices on how to study and be more efficient would be greatly appreciated. What is a typical day for you and how do you make it work? Do you make flashcards, review slides, read textbooks, go to study groups, etc...?

 

[spiderpete]

Hi, I was wondering if any nontrad students with children could share their experience balancing family and study times. Also any tips/advices on how to study and be more efficient would be greatly appreciated. What is a typical day for you and how do you make it work? Do you make flashcards, review slides, read textbooks, go to study groups, etc...?

Get up at 4 am. Exercise, then get a few hours of studying in early before distractions.
Use audio to your advantage while exercising or driving.
I used flashcrds a lot, but am switching to anki.
Prior tests can be very very helpful.
Only study in groups if you are confident you are getting better info or are studying better that way. It can be a time sink.
Let your enthusiasm for your studies be visibile to your family. If you love it, they will be more accepting.

 

[tobeatrev]

Get up at 4 am. Exercise, then get a few hours of studying in early before distractions.
Use audio to your advantage while exercising or driving.
I used flashcrds a lot, but am switching to anki.
Prior tests can be very very helpful.
Only study in groups if you are confident you are getting better info or are studying better that way. It can be a time sink.
Let your enthusiasm for your studies be visibile to your family. If you love it, they will be more accepting.

+1 for ^^^^

although I don't think the 4am routine is necessary for everyone...but you will need to figure out spare time and early morning or late nights seem to compensate for this.

I tried to make sure I had the concepts down first before I went to memorizing, thus reading and doing practice questions to gauge my level of understanding. review sessions (if offered) are helpful once you think you have it down just to see where you are with the info, but only if have time.

I never did flashcards because of the amount of time it takes to make them (but maybe things have gotten better with software...I'm old), but I do review guides for myself pulling out the necessary concepts and then the facts at the end of the guide, that I need to memorize before a test and then brain dump after.

I would avoid groups but maybe have a couple of friends in class that are your "go to" study partners, that way if the kids come down with the flu (happens at the best times usually) then you not only have someone to help with missed material.

 

[Doc Quixote]

At the minimum I try to read the textbook and the power points depending of course on the class and what the instructor is teaching and testing from. Usually this and any assignments is all I am able to make time for. With the kids and the house there is always something that needs to be done. I would also like to hear what others are doing, how they are arranging it with the spouse, etc... Great topic

 

[ShyRem]

I have posted extensively on this topic in previous years. It's been a while at this point, but I'll summarize:

Not a moment was wasted. My children in undergrad were elementary and preschool aged. My son was in Montessori for the hours I was in school (21 credits a semester, with at least 2 labs every semester).
1. I did homework while eating lunch.
2. I would keep ONE 8.5x11 sheet of paper with micrography of only pertinent details so I could review in the 10 minutes between classes. It certainly helped that most of my classes were in adjacent buildings.
3. I read while stirring pots for dinner.
4. I put ppts on my pda and reviewed while in lines, waiting at restaurants, etc.
5. if any lectures had audio recordings, I would listen to them in the car while traveling.
6. I had bathtub crayons and would work out advanced calculus proofs while giving my children a bath. I am NOT making that up. I got some significant key points done that way.
7. I kept a pad of paper beside the bed. Brilliance would strike a few times a month and my relaxed brain would figure out some pertinent detail of a proof in the middle of the night. If I didn't write it down I would forget it.
8. Kept my laptop with me ALWAYS at school. I type WAY more than I write and for lecture heavy courses would almost transcribe word for word during the lectures. It helped.
9. Dedicated study time after everyone was in bed. Yes, this meant I got a little less sleep than other folks, but I had a good solid 2 hours if needed at night by myself.
10. DO NOT PROCRASTINATE. Get your lab reports done within a day or two at the most. Homework the night it is assigned. Papers within 3 days of assignment.
11. Time not at the college when children are awake and not in bed yet is FAMILY TIME. EVERY DAY.
12. Make a homemade dinner and eat it around the table whenever possible. Yes, I did this every day too. It was important and kept our family strong, communicated, and fed well.
13. Take your kids for a walk every day and do things appropriate to their age. When my kids were preschool age, we would walk and count things... like telephone poles. And while doing so, would discuss telephone and how it works. Electricity and how it works. Teaching stuff to your kids can and should be fun and a part of daily life. And it's good solid parent/kid time.
14. When my honey was home from work and awake and I was home, it was NOT time to study.
15. My kids and husband were into martial arts. I took them to class... while they were in classes, it was homework time. Kids had homework too, so if one child was waiting for class they did homework at that time too.
16. study groups. I did this only if I had time in between classes. I remember there was an hour between physics and calculus 2 and about 5 of us were in both classes. So we got together that hour and really pounded out some serious work. But we really understood it was WORK time, not gossip, not TV, not munchies. WORK.

The key is organization and discipline. Organization. Organization. It is very easy to waste time watching TV, playing video games, doing stupid things. It is easy to procrastinate your life away and then suddenly you're in a time crunch, grumpy, snapping at your kids and spouse... don't do it. Yes, this means you will give up some of your "me" time, but you have a goal that needs significant work. If you want that balance, something has to give. The best "me" time that ever existed was that spent with my family.

Now once you get into med school, I would also add listening to audio taped lectures at double or triple speed. Yes, it totally worked and was quite efficient for study and review.

 

[StudyShy]

I have posted extensively on this topic in previous years. It's been a while at this point, but I'll summarize:

Not a moment was wasted. My children in undergrad were elementary and preschool aged. My son was in Montessori for the hours I was in school (21 credits a semester, with at least 2 labs every semester).
1. I did homework while eating lunch.
2. I would keep ONE 8.5x11 sheet of paper with micrography of only pertinent details so I could review in the 10 minutes between classes. It certainly helped that most of my classes were in adjacent buildings.
3. I read while stirring pots for dinner.
4. I put ppts on my pda and reviewed while in lines, waiting at restaurants, etc.
5. if any lectures had audio recordings, I would listen to them in the car while traveling.
6. I had bathtub crayons and would work out advanced calculus proofs while giving my children a bath. I am NOT making that up. I got some significant key points done that way.
7. I kept a pad of paper beside the bed. Brilliance would strike a few times a month and my relaxed brain would figure out some pertinent detail of a proof in the middle of the night. If I didn't write it down I would forget it.
8. Kept my laptop with me ALWAYS at school. I type WAY more than I write and for lecture heavy courses would almost transcribe word for word during the lectures. It helped.
9. Dedicated study time after everyone was in bed. Yes, this meant I got a little less sleep than other folks, but I had a good solid 2 hours if needed at night by myself.
10. DO NOT PROCRASTINATE. Get your lab reports done within a day or two at the most. Homework the night it is assigned. Papers within 3 days of assignment.
11. Time not at the college when children are awake and not in bed yet is FAMILY TIME. EVERY DAY.
12. Make a homemade dinner and eat it around the table whenever possible. Yes, I did this every day too. It was important and kept our family strong, communicated, and fed well.
13. Take your kids for a walk every day and do things appropriate to their age. When my kids were preschool age, we would walk and count things... like telephone poles. And while doing so, would discuss telephone and how it works. Electricity and how it works. Teaching stuff to your kids can and should be fun and a part of daily life. And it's good solid parent/kid time.
14. When my honey was home from work and awake and I was home, it was NOT time to study.
15. My kids and husband were into martial arts. I took them to class... while they were in classes, it was homework time. Kids had homework too, so if one child was waiting for class they did homework at that time too.
16. study groups. I did this only if I had time in between classes. I remember there was an hour between physics and calculus 2 and about 5 of us were in both classes. So we got together that hour and really pounded out some serious work. But we really understood it was WORK time, not gossip, not TV, not munchies. WORK.

The key is organization and discipline. Organization. Organization. It is very easy to waste time watching TV, playing video games, doing stupid things. It is easy to procrastinate your life away and then suddenly you're in a time crunch, grumpy, snapping at your kids and spouse... don't do it. Yes, this means you will give up some of your "me" time, but you have a goal that needs significant work. If you want that balance, something has to give. The best "me" time that ever existed was that spent with my family.

Now once you get into med school, I would also add listening to audio taped lectures at double or triple speed. Yes, it totally worked and was quite efficient for study and review.

Shyrem, these are wonderful tips.

One further thing that we did is get the kids involved in the things that we are learning as much as possible. My oldest (4) has intense interest in anatomy and physiology because he thinks that it is cool. His biggest insult that he could think of for my husband one day was that my husband, "had forks in his eyes" that he saw in one of my drawings where an eyeball was held open. I also let my children explore my TI-89 (don't worry they are nearly impossible to break) to take some of the curiosity out of playing with my learning tools.

I also have special toys that I have for those days when I really need to focus or get caught up on something. These can be things that I purchased on clearance and then put away. I also rotate the toys that when I do need a special day, I can bring out the old toys that are suddenly new and exciting again in their eyes.

I let them help out in projects. My then three-year-old assisted in designing a poster board for a presentation that I had to give for my bachelor's degree. It wasn't perfect, but he was delighted that he got to help me.

If your kids aren't in daycare or school, like mine aren't, make sure to take frequent breaks that your totally attention is your kids. Making this special times my children lets them know that they are loved and important. Children crave attention and value the time that you give to them.

Since I have three children (4, 2, and almost 1), I try to have a special day with each of them. This day usually involves grocery shopping and lately I've been alternating between my two oldest and doing something special alone with one one of them. I really enjoy this time, and although I don't get a lot of time to focus on person interests outside of school and work, I feel like my free time spent with them is enough to maintain my sanity through theses years of intense studying.

 

[teddy bear doc]

You guys make me feel like a total slacker. I had much less of an apparent regimen than anyone else who has posted.

Naturally, I would agree with everyon, however, that you MUST use every usable minute and multitask. I studied between classes, finished all homework promptly, and adapted my test-study techniques to get the most bang for the buck depending on the class style (ie. sometimes made flashcards, sometimes studied ppts, sometimes made outlines, etc).

My son loves to read, so he would heap up a pile of books and sit on the couch with me and read while I did homework. Elmo's on? Time to watch with him AND write up that lab report at the same time. Nap time? Study. Bedtime? Study. Usually, I worked really hard during the week so that I could have the weekend free or mostly free for family time.

Everyone else is right that you don't get a lot of dedicated "me" time, but try to view your studying as "me" time (I did). Remember why you are in school and that there are enjoyable things about it. No one would take this path if it made them completely miserable,so you probably DO enjoy schoolwork, even if it is challenging. Use your intuition to tell when you need to shift more toward schoolwork or more toward family time. Good luck!

 

[BoraMD]

Thanks everyone for your replies! All of them are very helpful and so encouraging! Although I am a bit anxious, I cannot wait to start this new adventure. I've been wanting this pretty much all my life so now I hope med school will be a success!

For all of you early risers, how much sleep do you get daily? Do you stay up late to study, or go to bed early to wake up at 4am?

Thanks again for your help and please do not hesitate to add if you think of anything else!

 

[spiderpete]

Thanks everyone for your replies! All of them are very helpful and so encouraging! Although I am a bit anxious, I cannot wait to start this new adventure. I've been wanting this pretty much all my life so now I hope med school will be a success!

For all of you early risers, how much sleep do you get daily? Do you stay up late to study, or go to bed early to wake up at 4am?

Thanks again for your help and please do not hesitate to add if you think of anything else!

If I'm rising early, I'm in bed by 9 or 9:30. My wife is a night owl and does not like this, but I try to make it up on weekends, or if the next day is low stress, stay up a bit longer.

per ShyRem, family meal time is important in our house too. We're pretty consistent w/ holding to that. Same w/ family/SO time is just that... no studying. But then, yeah, find the hours elsewhen to study and that is your 'me' time.

 

[ShyRem]

I'm not a morning person. So I stayed up at night.

If you ARE a morning person, then by all means get up early.

I just found it too easy to stay in a nice, warm, cozy bed.

 

[2010houston]

I agree with all the previous... I make it a point not to study between around 4:30-8p; that's our family time. I do some late nights and some 4a (more often 5a) mornings, but not one right after the other! It can definitely be done. I think doing everything you can NOT to get behind is key, because the kids will infallibly choose your exam weeks to get sick. I try to review all the lectures ASAP after classes and get take home points condensed into some sort of review to make the end of blocks easier....but everyone has different ways of studying, and I think you just have to be flexible and find what works for you.
Good luck!

 

[StudyShy]

I'm not a morning person. So I stayed up at night.

If you ARE a morning person, then by all means get up early.

I just found it too easy to stay in a nice, warm, cozy bed.

Same here. I like to study at night better than in the morning. I love the house when it is nice and quiet!!!!! 🙂

 

[medgirl13]

Hi! Please read my post...Good luck!

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=10907328#post10907328

 

[mafunk]

Some folks posted some great tips on another thread I started - you might want to look at their tips there as well
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=815650

 

[cabinbuilder]

I am not a morning person nor do I study well by myself. I found it too hard to be the mom and trying to do it alone.

I had a great study partner in undergrad and left my kids in daycare until all my assisgnments were done and I could go home without that hanging over my head. My study partner and I were very diligent (she had kids too) so didn't waste a lot of time talking or doing other things.


In medical school I had a study group (3 of us) who were also very focused. We met Sun noon- ? usually 8-9pm since our exams were Monday each week.

Then during the week we had group 6-10pm Mon-Thurs to go over the days lectures. We made up our own test questions during the lectures (they tell you which slide is important) and then went over our questions in the evening.

Friday even I had off for family time, Saturday my husband worked so I had the kids until he got off then took care of odds and ends that evening.

 

[PostHaste]

Usually, I worked really hard during the week so that I could have the weekend free or mostly free for family time.

Everyone else is right that you don't get a lot of dedicated "me" time, but try to view your studying as "me" time (I did). Remember why you are in school and that there are enjoyable things about it.

👍

I do a lot of my reading on the 20-minute bus ride to and from school twice a week. I don't use flashcards because they're too time consuming. I do like the review sheet method - I usually use the jumbo flash cards and fill them up with review info. I'll keep these in my purse and pull them out to study in odd snippets as a quiz/exam is approaching.

My husband and I are both introverts (he's in computers, I'm in engineering 😉) so we do well with this schedule. We like to be in the same space but don't need to be interacting, so I'll read or go through slides while he shoots zombies or rebuilds a server. We share child care duties pretty evenly and I work hard to offset the impact of my school/shadowing/volunteering/etc. For example, on my way from work to lab on Tuesday afternoons I'll stop at home and let the dogs out and set out a snack for the kids so that when he gets home with them from daycare it's one less thing he has to do.

My first semester back in school I was trying to volunteer, study for the MCAT, take 12 classes, and maintain the household things I had been used to (birthday parties with homemade cakes and invitations, Christmas lights, a clean house , perfect food). I learned pretty quickly that I couldn't have it all. We have a lot of meals that come from boxes and freezer bags now. We hired a cleaning service to de-muck the house once a month. My lawn looks like a middle-aged balding man. My car smells like spoiled milk. When friends come over we have spaghetti, not roast tenderloin. I hung two red bows and a wreath on the porch and called it Christmas. These compromises, while inspiring their own new neuroses (OMG, is my kid hyper because of the preservatives in chicken nuggets or because he's 4?), have gone a long way to making this seem more do-able.

 

[pinkzebra]

i haven't read the other responses so i apologize if any of this is repetitive 🙂

i was a single parent during my undergrad years, and this is what i did...

-always had flashcards in my pocket and notes for an upcoming test with me. if i had free time i would use them, whether that was for an hour or two before my next class or ten minutes during a coffee break.

-survived off of minimal sleep i would pick up my daughter from daycare around 5PM and make sure that from then until her bedtime i was JUST dedicated to her. we would play, have dinner together, snuggle on the couch and watch a movie...you name it! she went to sleep at 730/8 and then i hit the books. sometimes i'd have to make several pots of coffee to stay awake during particularly exhausting days, like if i had two tests the next day or during my final exam weeks. designating that time for her, though, and forcing myself to step away from academics really helped me stay focused.

-if there are days where you just have TOO MUCH to do, take advantage of modern technology and pop in a movie! i would sometimes study while "watching" a movie with my daughter (this was mostly during final exam weeks). sometimes my workload was so crazy that that's just what i had to do.

-utilize the weekends! i tried to set aside a few hours each saturday and sunday day just for studying. as a single parent, this meant hiring a sitter or having one of my friends play with my daughter for a little while. she always had a blast and i got a lot done!

-make sure you have a productive place to study. sometimes i just couldn't concentrate at home, so i went to the library. that always helped me stay focused.

-what is your most "awake" time? morning? night? use it to your advantage. mine is lunch time and night time - i would often get a lot of work done during lunch hours so i could have a little free time during my "groggy" periods (ie, 3PM). then when night rolled around, i was ready again.

-audio lectures for commutes! i have Vango Notes for Anatomy and Physiology and Vango Notes for Biology...they are awesome! they are actually audio text books; i listen to those at work all the time when im doing an experiment. you could also listen when youre making dinner, cleaning, etc.

-do you have an iphone? ipad? ipod? Apple has some cool MCAT apps!

ill try to think of some more 🙂

 

[BuSyDaZe]

I would have to say ditto on night time or early morning studying.

Since we are non-trads our daily schedules consist of so many other priorities beyond what we would want or desire to do. I would say to make a schedule of your daily tasks, and try to keep as consistent with it as possible. In my log, I mark through what I accomplished for the day and note what needs immediate attention for later. There will be days in which you will complete everything on your list, and then there will be days where you may have to re-plan and re-schedule. It's life. My family is my priority and I try to make sure to spend as much time with them as possible. I still play tooth fairy, the easter bunny and everything in between. Although, I know that they know it's us putting the money under the pillow and the presents under the tree. I coincide with their schedules and make sure my husband has his time as well.😍 All in all, you will learn to maneuver and make it work. Just keep at it and stay encouraged. Much luck and success.

Oh, and try not to overdo it and keep as far away from anxiety as possible. It can be a bummer to defeat.

 

[MommyMedStudent]

I have no advice as I am trying to figure all of this out myself. Thanks for posting though, it has given me a lot of good advice!

 

[NontradICUdoc]

since first year of medical school, this has been a tough one but one that I figured out early. I too cannot get up early as my time was eaten away by getting my self and 2 kids ready for school while my wife got the baby ready (at that time I only had 3).

My schedule was to treat school like my job. Mon-Fri 9-5 was classes. I would come home, and we would have a family dinner at 5:30. By 6:30 I was in the public library studying until it closed at 9pm. Came home, rested for 20 minutes and then studied until about 1am. Unless there was an exam, I rested from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon. This was family time.

Sunday afternoon at 1pm, I was on campus in the library studying until late.

you need to be very anal about your schedule. But do not neglect your family as well. What I found helpful was not flash cards but rather white noise. I would listen to a thunder storm on my ipod to block out distractions but it was enough noise to prevent my mind from wandering.

I would transcribe my notes that I took in class to an outline form. This would force me to review all of my notes multiple times. Before I would start a new set of notes, I would review all of the previous notes until that point. This would force me to review everything multiple times. And it is repetition that brings you pattern recognition and thus success in remembering things.

But this may not work for you. You have to find what does.

 

[helpmegod]

I have posted extensively on this topic in previous years. It's been a while at this point, but I'll summarize:

Not a moment was wasted. My children in undergrad were elementary and preschool aged. My son was in Montessori for the hours I was in school (21 credits a semester, with at least 2 labs every semester).
1. I did homework while eating lunch.
2. I would keep ONE 8.5x11 sheet of paper with micrography of only pertinent details so I could review in the 10 minutes between classes. It certainly helped that most of my classes were in adjacent buildings.
3. I read while stirring pots for dinner.
4. I put ppts on my pda and reviewed while in lines, waiting at restaurants, etc.
5. if any lectures had audio recordings, I would listen to them in the car while traveling.
6. I had bathtub crayons and would work out advanced calculus proofs while giving my children a bath. I am NOT making that up. I got some significant key points done that way.
7. I kept a pad of paper beside the bed. Brilliance would strike a few times a month and my relaxed brain would figure out some pertinent detail of a proof in the middle of the night. If I didn't write it down I would forget it.
8. Kept my laptop with me ALWAYS at school. I type WAY more than I write and for lecture heavy courses would almost transcribe word for word during the lectures. It helped.
9. Dedicated study time after everyone was in bed. Yes, this meant I got a little less sleep than other folks, but I had a good solid 2 hours if needed at night by myself.
10. DO NOT PROCRASTINATE. Get your lab reports done within a day or two at the most. Homework the night it is assigned. Papers within 3 days of assignment.
11. Time not at the college when children are awake and not in bed yet is FAMILY TIME. EVERY DAY.
12. Make a homemade dinner and eat it around the table whenever possible. Yes, I did this every day too. It was important and kept our family strong, communicated, and fed well.
13. Take your kids for a walk every day and do things appropriate to their age. When my kids were preschool age, we would walk and count things... like telephone poles. And while doing so, would discuss telephone and how it works. Electricity and how it works. Teaching stuff to your kids can and should be fun and a part of daily life. And it's good solid parent/kid time.
14. When my honey was home from work and awake and I was home, it was NOT time to study.
15. My kids and husband were into martial arts. I took them to class... while they were in classes, it was homework time. Kids had homework too, so if one child was waiting for class they did homework at that time too.
16. study groups. I did this only if I had time in between classes. I remember there was an hour between physics and calculus 2 and about 5 of us were in both classes. So we got together that hour and really pounded out some serious work. But we really understood it was WORK time, not gossip, not TV, not munchies. WORK.

The key is organization and discipline. Organization. Organization. It is very easy to waste time watching TV, playing video games, doing stupid things. It is easy to procrastinate your life away and then suddenly you're in a time crunch, grumpy, snapping at your kids and spouse... don't do it. Yes, this means you will give up some of your "me" time, but you have a goal that needs significant work. If you want that balance, something has to give. The best "me" time that ever existed was that spent with my family.

Now once you get into med school, I would also add listening to audio taped lectures at double or triple speed. Yes, it totally worked and was quite efficient for study and review.

Thanks