Studying, note-taking and textbooks

[FutureRomanianDoc]

Hi everyone,
I'm wondering what the most effective ways of studying in Med school are. Do you read your textbooks? If so, do you take extensive notes, or does time not allow for this? Do you just focus on lectures instead?
Time-intensive note taking and reading worked very well in undergrad, but I'm not sure if Med school allows for that.


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[bashwell]

Hi everyone,
I'm wondering what the most effective ways of studying in Med school are. Do you read your textbooks? If so, do you take extensive notes, or does time not allow for this? Do you just focus on lectures instead?
Time-intensive note taking and reading worked very well in undergrad, but I'm not sure if Med school allows for that.


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I'd recommend active learning -- reading textbooks, etc., but also answering questions. For example, listening or watching lectures, reading Robbins, and/or watching Pathoma videos, then answering questions on pathology (e.g., from the Robbins Review question book).

Also, assuming you go to lectures (which I did as a M1, then did less and less until I didn't go at all by the end of M2) it's helpful to pre-read or pre-study your lecture PPTs before your lectures. Or at least you can just try to do it quickly to get a rough idea of the material beforehand.

 

[MDforME!]

I take extensive notes in classes that test on material/concepts poorly explained or that are just not on slides.

Other classes like path I use pathoma as my core and then supplement with lecture, but I rarely annotate my pathoma book unless pathoma doesn't cover it.

Some classes like pharm I basically ignore note-taking and just focus on memorization of concepts/details.

If you're a first year, I would advise taking detailed notes in anatomy if you aren't going to supplement with other books.
Physiology you should definitely read first aid and course textbooks. My biggest mistake!
Histology should probably be heavily drawn on. I don't know why professors show us a picture of a slide without pointing out exactly what we are supposed to see.
Biochem is a mix of all three. Honestly, I don't remember much about studying biochemistry anymore.
Micro is all about the sketchy life.
If you want more advise, let me know.

 

[futuremdforme]

No textbooks for me. Other people only use Step 1 study material -- this is probably not a bad idea either. I read a few books on how to study in med school and they were helpful. Try Med School 2.0.

 

[Goro]

This will vary from student to student. The key is finding what works for you, because people learn in different ways. Go dig up my post on "guide to med student success"

Hi everyone,
I'm wondering what the most effective ways of studying in Med school are. Do you read your textbooks? If so, do you take extensive notes, or does time not allow for this? Do you just focus on lectures instead?
Time-intensive note taking and reading worked very well in undergrad, but I'm not sure if Med school allows for that.


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[Kayta]

So I study the lectures and create outlines based on the material in the lecture. Then I read textbooks/watch Pathoma for the subjects that I'm not as comfortable with and add notes to my outlines as needed. But my goal is not to spend all of my time simply transferring information from my textbook into my notes.

 

[WedgeDawg]

Everyone is different. Some people use only the lecture slides and maybe their own notes. Others use a bunch of different resources such as textbooks, online resources, lecture slides, etc etc. None is inherently better than any other. Figure out what works best for you.

 

[Dr. Death]

School dependent but at my school textbooks are insanely low yield. I know of a student or two who started out reading the texts and after a test or two they cut that out. I study what they say in lecture and nothing more. Go into school with a plan on how to study but be quick to change it if it isn't getting the job done.

This is what works for me.
1. Never attend lecture
2. Watch on 2x speed within 24 hours of lecture, taking notes on things I don't know well.
3. Week leading up to the test repeat step 2
4. 48 hours before the test review notes several times.
5. Supplement with firecracker and BRS questions

 

[FutureRomanianDoc]

Great advice. It's nice to get a sense of what different students focus upon, since I found it very difficult to read 3-4 textbooks for concurrent classes, figure out what's most important, take notes on everything, and combine that with all the lecture material.


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[Dandine]

I'm a hatchling, but for learning's sake here are some things that haven't worked and my reasons. If they work for you, totally ignore me! Besides, I tend to change my strategies block by block anyways.

• Unless I didn't understand something in lecture but I got the general sense of the topic, listening to recordings don't help because if I didn't understand the explanation once, I probably won't understand it again and need to find another way of explaining it.
• Underestimating BRS. And overestimating BRS (especially when chapters overlap with things you haven't even learned yet).
• Extensive outlines, especially if I'm copying lecture slides verbatim. It gets really confusing to read my outlines back without the framework (because I make unusual paraphrase-y outlines). It seems I tend to do better when making outlines of a few topics of the lecture rather than all main topics presented (more tables, fewer word-for-word explanations).
• Overestimating the time needed to study for an exam (days add up).
• Underestimating the time needed to study for an exam (you'd be surprised what you can learn in a day sitting down and seeing the big picture).
• Not knowing professors' "test languages." If you know for a fact that they will be testing something one way (e.g. question types), don't assume they will completely deviate from that format and go berserk convincing yourself they will do so.
• Assuming I will remember everything from the day before. Nope. But that's what review is for.