taking notes in class

[rock_climber]

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laptop? pen and paper? what do most med students do?

 

[MadameLULU]

Most of my class does pen and paper, but there are lots of people who bring laptops/tablet PCs to class. The question you need to ask yourself is how best do you learn. I need a hard copy of the material to learn so I can highlight line by line in multiple colors [😉 ] the things i need to know. 😀

 

[Droopy Snoopy]

Most of us don't go to class and have the note service transcribe notes for us. Seriously, most of our non-mandatory lectures are attended by less than 25 people (out of a class of 100+). If it's my turn to do notes I bring my laptop and type notes directly into the powerpoint text box. Except for anatomy last year, since the profs had this annoying habit of not giving lectures but drawing everything we'd see on the damn chalkboard. Some people took paper notes there since it's easier to draw that way, but I just used the time to catch up reading emails and stuff.

 

[soeagerun2or]

Most of us don't go to class and have the note service transcribe notes for us. Seriously, most of our non-mandatory lectures are attended by less than 25 people (out of a class of 100+). If it's my turn to do notes I bring my laptop and type notes directly into the powerpoint text box. Except for anatomy last year, since the profs had this annoying habit of not giving lectures but drawing everything we'd see on the damn chalkboard. Some people took paper notes there since it's easier to draw that way, but I just used the time to catch up reading emails and stuff.

Agreed.

You can either go to class or you can pass class. The two are mutually exclusive.

 

[doctorp82]

Don't take too many notes during class. If there's no handout, I don't write anything because I won't generally transcribe it later. I usually go back through the lectures with some textbook when I review and add more notes then than in class, because it's a lot easier to reference a book than to write down something you may or may not have heard. It helps me to not miss something the lecturer says either. Review them soon after you hear the lecture.

 

[Hurricane95]

For lectures on powerpoint (most of them) i bring my laptop and take notes directly into the notes page. Now we currently have a couple of very old school profs. for the current pharm/physio module who draw and write entirely on the board. So in this case I do pencil/paper note-taking, because I cant draw figures on the laptop. For anatomy also it was all netter's highlighting and paper. But if I can I prefer electronic notes...so organized and neat, and no papers to lose.

 

[Arctic Char]

stay home and sleep. or, if you aren't tired, brew some coffee, kick your feet up and read goljan or robbins or the washington post.

 

[pagemmapants]

>95% of our lectures are done on powerpoint and then posted to our online schedules for download immediately. Most of us DL the powerpoint, then convert it to an adobe .pdf file and take notes in text boxes directly on the .pdf. I, for one, then take those notes and the book and make a new .doc outline that encompasses a) everything on the slides themselves, b) everything the lecturer said that wasn't on the slides, and c) relevant information from the book. Then I study from those (and usually send 'em out to a list of classmates that want them).

I would guess that the majority of us kids (esp SDNers) type a lot faster than we write with pen and paper, so this works pretty well. However, as Hurricane noted, it's tough to draw diagrams unless you have one of those fancy electronic sketchpads. Also: sucks like hell if your compy breaks and you haven't backed up your files recently.

 

[AuburnPreVet]

Anyone have any experience with the notepads that can be written/drawn onto and them transcribed into text when linked to your computer.

If you don't know what I'm trying to describe - here's a link to one of the several different setups.

http://skymall.com/shopping/detail....00&v=&ddi=/products/28/17/06/102180968gx2.jpg

Do they actually do a consistant job ''reading'' your handwriting and transcribing words correctly, especially odd scientific/medical terms?

 

[symphony]

Since I haven't had an exam yet, I don't know how effective my study skills are. I go to class in the morning with a printed handout/lecture notes. I preview them before lectures. During lectures, I don't write on the lecture notes. I take my own notes using "trigger words." By the end of the lecture, I have a general idea of what the lecture is about and the things that I have to review and study.

I think that my own notes with trigger words will help me in the future - for the shelves and USMLE.

I just make sure that I go through whatever lecture I have on that day before I go to sleep.

I guess my method is too time consuming so far - I am already behind 😱

 

[Tired]

Since I haven't had an exam yet, I don't know how effective my study skills are. I go to class in the morning with a printed handout/lecture notes. I preview them before lectures. During lectures, I don't write on the lecture notes. I take my own notes using "trigger words." By the end of the lecture, I have a general idea of what the lecture is about and the things that I have to review and study.

After lectures, I watch them online (my school record each lecture and put them online) while going through my lecture notes. Then, I study my own notes and the lecture notes.

I think that my own notes with trigger words will help me in the future - for the shelves and USMLE.

I guess my method is too time consuming so far - I am already behind 😱

Sounds like a lot of overkill. Have you thought about cutting out the part where you watch the same lecture twice? Or do you really get that much out of hearing it (I know some people learn better hearing things than reading them)?

Personally, I know exactly what I would do if I were you: Never go to lecture, and just watch them online . . . imagine all the extra sleep!

 

[symphony]

😀

I agree.
I forgot to mention that I watch them in 2x for the lectures that I have a pretty ok grasp and in slow motion for lectures that go really fast with fresh information, like anatomy.

Lots of people just don't go to class and stream the lectures live... I go to lectures because it's so much more fun to see things live than just watch a computer monitor all day.

😀

Thanks for the advice!
I am so scared of failing medical school...... haha 😀

 

[turkleton]

Man, I wish I never went to class looking back. Lecture based learning is so archaic and inefficient... I never absorbed anything. We recorded our lectures, so I began to just get the tapes and listen to them at my leisure while reading the notes... MUCH more efficient.

 

[chocolate-e]

The majority of students at my school attend class. Glancing around the room, I'd say that maybe 50% take notes on a laptop/tablet, 25% takes notes on a hard copy (syllabus or ppt), and 25% with a blank sheet of paper. I'm a big fan of the last category: having to write down everything important forces me to stay awake and focused in lecture, and concise notes are far more efficient to study from than a 200+ page syllabus.

 

[MartianOddity]

In my class about 80% take notes with paper and pen whilst only 2 people in our class of 48 students use their laptop to take pictures on the slides (which is strictly prohibited by the regulations, but these two will most certainly fail med school anyways...). The rest are too drunk after last nights party to even bother taking notes (yes you read me right, they'll fail most certainly as well). And this is only an estimation 🙂.

 

[OncoCaP]

... only 2 people in our class of 48 students use their laptop to take pictures on the slides (which is strictly prohibited by the regulations, but these two will most certainly fail med school anyways...). ....

What do you mean by "...take pictures on the slides (which is strictly prohibited by the regulations,..." ??

Do you mean that they annotate a PDF version of the slides? Or do you mean that they have a camera and take pictures (whatever is written on the board) with it in class and then add that to the slides? What exactly does the "regulation" prohibit?

 

[degoo_]

Its surprising and slightly reassurring that so many of you don't attend class

 

[Trepp]

Man, I wish I never went to class looking back. Lecture based learning is so archaic and inefficient... I never absorbed anything. We recorded our lectures, so I began to just get the tapes and listen to them at my leisure while reading the notes... MUCH more efficient.

My grades improved quite a bit when I stopped going to class. I just wish I hadn't waited until the second year to learn that! 🙁

The time waste of class in enormous: First you get up, get dressed, eat something, drive to school, wait for lecture to start (hopefully on time), take the 10 minute break, another lecture, etc.. then drive home. I was so tired it made studying even harder. Compare that with waking whenever you feel, downloading the lecture notes and studying/reading at your own pace. There is no beating that!

 

[psipsina]

I only go to class if I find that I absorb well from a particular lecturer, which usually means that they have well organized powerpoints and make an effor to make their lectures interesting and accessible. Last semester I went to anatomy and skipped human prenatal development/genetics and histo. This semester I am attending physio and scattered neuro when they are clinical and interesting and skipping the rest of neuro and biochem. When I do attend lectures I take notes with pen and paper, the old fashioned way. It is more about getting the most out of my time in lecture and less about writing everything down for me, so I am never frantically trying to keep up with the lecturer. We have a note service that transcribes from a recording so I know I won't miss any details, I write and draw to keep myself engaged thruout the lecture. I've also learned to keep my laptop in my backpack for the lecture, as I inevitably end up surfing the net when its open in front of me, even if my intention was to take notes on the powerpoint or look something up on wiki . . .

 

[MartianOddity]

What do you mean by "...take pictures on the slides (which is strictly prohibited by the regulations,..." ??

Do you mean that they annotate a PDF version of the slides? Or do you mean that they have a camera and take pictures (whatever is written on the board) with it in class and then add that to the slides? What exactly does the "regulation" prohibit?

They have a webcam on their computer and take pictures on the Powerpoint slides that are copyrighted by the anatomy professor that's lecturing us. Then they keep the photos for themselves and don't take any notes during class. They take pictures of anything that's presented to us.
They use no flash on the camera and thus go unnoticed, but us students in the back can see everything they're doing. And since the webcam is attached to the lid/screen of the laptop (a quite new innovation) the anatomy staff don't know about the students having them.

Our Study Regulations (mind that I study abroad, but I could guess that this might apply in other med schools as well) clearly prohibit us from using any kind of recording device during lectures. This is for ensuring that the students have the dicipline of taking notes sitting on uncomfortable chairs for hours so that they can become "good" doctors through that. Don't ask me how. If they find out you have used or are using such tools, then you have to visit the Dean and get a strict warning. If you've taken pictures on any of the anatomy specimen you'll most certainly get suspended or kicked out of med school.

Mind that this is the regulations of the school that I'm attending at Poland.

 

[logos]

Most here dont take notes. I dont, as the powerpoint slides are more than sufficient. The few that do, seem to take them directly onto the powerpoint slides in adobe. The first years do a bit more of this i'd imagine though because they can write directly onto their tablet PCs.