Taking notes when studying?

[JustSomePreMed]

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This might be a pretty basic question, but do most of you guys just read through books like Blueprints/Case Files/Pre-Test and that's that? Or do you take notes on stuff and review those like with lectures during M1/M2? I suppose that doesn't really seem very time-efficient.

I'm basically just having an awkward time adjusting to "studying" as it exists during third year (and I guess I'm not the first person to experience this). Any help would be great!

 

[turkeyjerky]

i typically just read w/o taking any notes, although I know people who take notes while they read and then review them later--this is more time-consuming, but might be more efficient than reading the whole book a second time, which I might have to do, since retention isn't exactly high. I'm on my first rotation, so I'll see how this works out in a few weeks after I take my first shelf. Studying this year has been a big change from the past two.

 

[mTOR]

I was a devout note taker my first two years.


After taking Step I and realizing how incredibly more efficient studying can be when learning by way of doing practice questions (sometimes repeatedly), I abandoned note taking completely. My retention likewise sky rocketed on rotations.


I scoff at note taking now and cannot believe how much time I wasted and sacrificed my first two years by doing that crap.

 

[custard]

What about taking notes based on UW questions? I did this for Step 1... annotated FA based on answers to UW questions.

Also, is it worth buying UW at the start of third year and working through it to help study for the shelfs?

 

[mTOR]

**** Yes.

 

[NPEMTIV]

**** Yes.

Ditto.