Studying From the Syllabus vs From Texts

[Pirlo]

We just finished our neuro course. I was frustrated by the quality of the course and the poor notes, so I picked up USMLE Roadmap Neuroscience and went through the whole thing. I studied for lecture a lot as well, but not as much as usual because of using Roadmap Neuroscience.

I took the exam: got a 100% on the neuroanatomy practical part and a 70% on the written part. Needless to say, I am not honoring this course, but I will pass. The funny thing is - I feel very comfortable with my neuro knowledge. It's not perfect, but I honestly feel that if I had studied the lecture notes more and USMLE Roadmap Neuro less, I would know LESS neuroscience.

I sometimes feel that studying for the course is an impediment to my understanding because I learn best from texts, not Powerpoints (and the quality of the syllabus is erratic).

Any thoughts?

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[njbmd]

A Powerpoint is at outline as best. I never studied a Powerpoint lecture but used the objectives and syllabus for study and mastery of material. I have the grades and board scores to back up my system. It worked for me but it might not work for everyone. Do what gets the best grades for you.

 

[Green Grass]

I think it really depends on you and your school. I learn best from outside sources, while my wife learns best from the notes (both of us are towards the top of our respective medical school classes). I supplement the lecture material with review books and wiki; don't waste your time with huge textbooks - they are over-polluted with unnecessary details and, for the most part, are a low yield resource (that is, if you are going to flat out read the chapters).

However, if your school tests heavily out of the notes and you are finding that there are certain small (useless) details that they want you to remember but aren't mentioned in review books, you might just have to short term memory those little facts to do well on the exams.

 

[da8s0859q]

A Powerpoint is at outline as best. I never studied a Powerpoint lecture but used the objectives and syllabus for study and mastery of material. I have the grades and board scores to back up my system. It worked for me but it might not work for everyone. Do what gets the best grades for you.

I think it really depends on you and your school.

What they said. I've done perfectly fine on the last few exams -- though probably not as well as njbmd did when she was still a student -- by studying from the notes/PPTs provided by the lecturers, and resorting to BRS and First Aid from there as necessary, or as time permits, for a third-party review of relevant high-yield information (and a cursory overview of that information in FA, which will no doubt become my/our bible come Step time). I guess it's just my attempt at double-dipping -- prepare from our own notes which will be reflected in the test, but still spend at least a little bit of time with a board review book of some sort. As far as actually learning the material, I'm generally okay with the lectures in conjunction with notes from lectures.

I've got a couple of classmates who love the textbook approach. Myself, I'd rather just be clubbed over the head with most of said textbooks.

 

[vicinihil]

I stick 99% to syllabus and only go to outside sources for questions like Qbanks, BRS, PreTest otherwise to do well in the classes...knowing what's in the syllabus is key.

 

[deleted116380]

I only use the PowerPoints and wiki. I bought one textbook this year (biochem) and I completely regret it. Hopefully I can get by with PowerPoints during second year...if I pay $30k a year, they better teach me what I need to know in class. Gunners probably think otherwise...I had a different career for a few years and don't worry about this stuff anymore. If getting Honors is your thing, you probably should use every resource possible, lol.

 

[illixir]

Our school doesn't give us a syllabus and we only have 6 hours of lecture a week so I pretty much just give into the curriculum which is using a lot of outisde resources and researching for small group cases. Mainly internet like uptodate for clinical stuff and for the basic sciences then textbooks usually subject-specific books from our library(they're often on reserve so you can get it for a few hours, those i thought were really helpful for nailing cardio and renal pathophys). I think textbooks are best, you just have to know how to read textbooks. I like review materials in the 3 months before the step after I've read at least some primary material in the past even if only a chapter or two relating to a case. I've liked Robbins for most all of preclinical, that's probably only big textbook I've read more than 100 pages of.