Tips on Study Techniques and Being More Prepared for Exams

[Dhooy7]

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I feel like I am not prepared for my exams. There are too many uncertainties going into my exam. I'm a slow learner as well. My biggest problem is focusing on what is important. I often study and miss important connections that I should make. I met with people at my school for recommendations. They recommended less Anki and so I didn't do as much and know I did awful. I was wondering if you have any tips on what is important. They also recommended mind maps but I think the Feyrman technique is much better. I haven't utilized until the day before my exam; it was recommended to me today by another individual. The problem with this intro course was it was too many topics and we did not learn.

I cannot read over slides so I usually use Anki but I struggle putting the information together. My plan is to watch videos now with my systems course, I also plan to unsuspend Zanki cards that correlate with my courses and focus on videos such as BnB. I also would like to buy UMSLE-RX or a similar resource for practice problems. I think this really helps me apply my knowledge. I struggle with the reading assignments and Any other tips for me?

 

[BobbyKoch]

It's hard because there are so many different resources and techniques--the options are almost paralytic. You've identified that Anki works well for you, so go with that. As your courses change you may have to be flexible and shift your study habits again.

I hear you regarding reading over slides. My eyes glaze over and I just stop caring or learning. My approach, at least for classes like biochem and immunology, is to screen shot slides that I think will be high yield. Then I use the anki "10 questions/1 card" add-on. The screenshot of the slide serves as my answer and I will quickly write 2-3 first order questions regarding the information on the slide. Once I've gotten through a lecture or group of lectures in this manner in Anki, I will go back and read through the slides in order. Often the big picture emerges in a way that it didn't before and I can more easily follow the structure of the lecture.

Another thing I've found useful: find someone who is getting the grades that you want and ask them what they are doing. Sometimes you need to find the right person because certain people will purposefully obfuscate how and how much they are studying. Weird med student machismo. Ignore these people and find someone chill who is doing well and try copying their techniques. Good luck to you and keep hustling.

 

[deleted1005514]

Another thing I've found useful: find someone who is getting the grades that you want and ask them what they are doing. Sometimes you need to find the right person because certain people will purposefully obfuscate how and how much they are studying. Weird med student machismo. Ignore these people and find someone chill who is doing well and try copying their techniques. Good luck to you and keep hustling.

Also ignore anyone who is making As by staying in the medical library until midnight every night, then getting up at 5am (or earlier) to study but is “so worried about the next exam!”

My school has learning objectives for each lecture. Those are the focus of exam questions, so if you can write, articulate or draw the answers to those you’re golden for the exam. If your school doesn’t offer LOs, try coming up with some on your own, focusing on the big pictures first, then working your way towards the details in later passes.

If your school offers tutoring by the upper classes, take advantage of it. They are often a wealth of study tips and advice, and they had to have done well in the class if they’re tutoring it.

 

[Dhooy7]

I've gone to professors, tutoring. I went over learning objectives this time but I only had a few passes on the material with 4-5 days to study before our next exam with whtie coat. I did very poorly.

It's hard because there are so many different resources and techniques--the options are almost paralytic. You've identified that Anki works well for you, so go with that. As your courses change you may have to be flexible and shift your study habits again.

I hear you regarding reading over slides. My eyes glaze over and I just stop caring or learning. My approach, at least for classes like biochem and immunology, is to screen shot slides that I think will be high yield. Then I use the anki "10 questions/1 card" add-on. The screenshot of the slide serves as my answer and I will quickly write 2-3 first order questions regarding the information on the slide. Once I've gotten through a lecture or group of lectures in this manner in Anki, I will go back and read through the slides in order. Often the big picture emerges in a way that it didn't before and I can more easily follow the structure of the lecture.

Another thing I've found useful: find someone who is getting the grades that you want and ask them what they are doing. Sometimes you need to find the right person because certain people will purposefully obfuscate how and how much they are studying. Weird med student machismo. Ignore these people and find someone chill who is doing well and try copying their techniques. Good luck to you and keep hustling.

I'm meeting with one who are doing well this weekend. He said he will study with me. I wanted to do this earlier but after this exam I need to. I guess at least I passed my first class. I would have liked to do a lot better though.

 

[Dhooy7]

I just often make too many cards to be honest

 

[Dhooy7]

Also ignore anyone who is making As by staying in the medical library until midnight every night, then getting up at 5am (or earlier) to study but is “so worried about the next exam!”

My school has learning objectives for each lecture. Those are the focus of exam questions, so if you can write, articulate or draw the answers to those you’re golden for the exam. If your school doesn’t offer LOs, try coming up with some on your own, focusing on the big pictures first, then working your way towards the details in later passes.

If your school offers tutoring by the upper classes, take advantage of it. They are often a wealth of study tips and advice, and they had to have done well in the class if they’re tutoring it.

Students told me they can be helpful for some professors but they can tie almost anything into them. Every second year told me they do not focus on them though. I am going to try focusing on them to see if it helps.

 

[deleted1005514]

Students told me they can be helpful for some professors but they can tie almost anything into them. Every second year told me they do not focus on them though. I am going to try focusing on them to see if it helps.

I use them as a way to structure my notes. They’re a scaffold to hang facts/concepts off of.

 

[Osteosaur]

Anki is good for retaining the information but I find I really need to do some questions to get used to how the material is presented and tested.

 

[Dhooy7]

Anki is good for retaining the information but I find I really need to do some questions to get used to how the material is presented and tested.

Where do you find questions for in house exams if professors do not give them out?

 

[Osteosaur]

Professors need to get their questions and ideas from somewhere. Some do make them up based off class materials, but many times they'll pull them from text books or board prep materials. It doesn't hurt to email your professor or learning consultant and ask "I was hoping to do more practice questions. Do you have any suggestions for resources?" they want you to do practice questions.

Start with your text-books. Our library has a ton of review books and board prep books, too.

 

[Dhooy7]

I have done this already and have not been given any advice for resources. I was thinking using the textbook that is required and try that first once skin starts

Professors need to get their questions and ideas from somewhere. Some do make them up based off class materials, but many times they'll pull them from text books or board prep materials. It doesn't hurt to email your professor or learning consultant and ask "I was hoping to do more practice questions. Do you have any suggestions for resources?" they want you to do practice questions.

Start with your text-books. Our library has a ton of review books and board prep books, too.

 

[deleted1005514]

OP, I want to revisit your post entirely. Did you do poorly on your entire first block, or were you doing Anki and doing ok, then someone told you “less Anki” and then you started doing poorly?

Also, is the block you did poorly in a system, or like a foundations course (biochem, genetics, immunology, etc in one course)?

 

[Dhooy7]

I did about average my first 2 exam. I was missing connections that I should make so suggested mind-mapping. I tried rereading and drawing out but Anki really helped organize what I missing and stuff I remembered after the exam. They suggested less Anki and did poorly on the last exam It was a foundations course and couldn't get many wrong.

 

[libertyyne]

I did about average my first 2 exam. I was missing connections that I should make so suggested mind-mapping. I tried rereading and drawing out but Anki really helped organize what I missing and stuff I remembered after the exam. They suggested less Anki and did poorly on the last exam It was a foundations course and couldn't get many wrong.

The answer is always more anki not less. Add questions from BRS or pre-test or rx or kaplan if you are still having difficulty integrating.

Take everything a learning specialist says with a grain of salt. They still espouse non-sense like kinetic or visual learning as being scientific. Keep experimenting and see what works for you.

 

[deleted1005514]

I did about average my first 2 exam. I was missing connections that I should make so suggested mind-mapping. I tried rereading and drawing out but Anki really helped organize what I missing and stuff I remembered after the exam. They suggested less Anki and did poorly on the last exam It was a foundations course and couldn't get many wrong.

One more time...stop me if I’m wrong. You’ve taken two exams and did fine (around the average). Then you decided to switch your working study methods based on advice you received, and you did poorly. Correct?

Personally, I would go back to what worked before, and try to find a way to fill in the knowledge gaps you’re missing. I second the practice questions. If you don’t have any in your textbooks, you might want to invest in a q-bank.

 

[Dhooy7]

One more time...stop me if I’m wrong. You’ve taken two exams and did fine (around the average). Then you decided to switch your working study methods based on advice you received, and you did poorly. Correct?

Personally, I would go back to what worked before, and try to find a way to fill in the knowledge gaps you’re missing. I second the practice questions. If you don’t have any in your textbooks, you might want to invest in a q-bank.

Yes that is correct

 

[Osteosaur]

As a bit of a sidebar has anyone actually ever benefitted from some that learning specialist nonsense? I went there once after I failed an exam in MS1. "Draw the information! See how it links together!" It sounds like such an unfeasible waste of time given the volume and how this is about recognition on a multiple choice test.

If you're not doing practice questions, and can't even find them, I really think that is the issue man.

What does your 'new' study method look like compared to your Anki method that got you an average?

 

[Dhooy7]

As a bit of a sidebar has anyone actually ever benefitted from some that learning specialist nonsense? I went there once after I failed an exam in MS1. "Draw the information! See how it links together!" It sounds like such an unfeasible waste of time given the volume and how this is about recognition on a multiple choice test.

If you're not doing practice questions, and can't even find them, I really think that is the issue man.

What does your 'new' study method look like compared to your Anki method that got you an average?

My new study techique is to make notecards and possibly preview BnB or video of topic if I do not understand. Hammer the details with Anki but use the Feynman technique to connect dots. Before my exam I need to practice problems. This is similar to what I was doing except Feynman and practice problems

 

[libertyyne]

As a bit of a sidebar has anyone actually ever benefitted from some that learning specialist nonsense? I went there once after I failed an exam in MS1. "Draw the information! See how it links together!" It sounds like such an unfeasible waste of time given the volume and how this is about recognition on a multiple choice test.

If you're not doing practice questions, and can't even find them, I really think that is the issue man.

What does your 'new' study method look like compared to your Anki method that got you an average?

The problem with these learning specialists is that they have never attended medical school so they have no real idea what they are talking about.
They tend to espouse non-scientific/non-evidence based nonsense.
They tend to give the same advice to different students.
They really dont have any skin in the game in terms of your performance.

There was one professor in this entire group of people that gave decent advice, his job was more related to overseeing testing . He gave evidence based advice looking at previous years data in regards to doing more unique questions etc.

 

[Dhooy7]

The problem with these learning specialists is that they have never attended medical school so they have no real idea what they are talking about.
They tend to espouse non-scientific/non-evidence based nonsense.
They tend to give the same advice to different students.
They really dont have any skin in the game in terms of your performance.

There was one professor in this entire group of people that gave decent advice, his job was more related to overseeing testing . He gave evidence based advice looking at previous years data in regards to doing more unique questions etc.

Do you remember what the post was called? I would be interested in reading it.

 

[libertyyne]

Do you remember what the post was called? I would be interested in reading it.

This was IRL advice. not a post.

 

[Goro]

I feel like I am not prepared for my exams. There are too many uncertainties going into my exam. I'm a slow learner as well. My biggest problem is focusing on what is important. I often study and miss important connections that I should make. I met with people at my school for recommendations. They recommended less Anki and so I didn't do as much and know I did awful. I was wondering if you have any tips on what is important. They also recommended mind maps but I think the Feyrman technique is much better. I haven't utilized until the day before my exam; it was recommended to me today by another individual. The problem with this intro course was it was too many topics and we did not learn.

I cannot read over slides so I usually use Anki but I struggle putting the information together. My plan is to watch videos now with my systems course, I also plan to unsuspend Zanki cards that correlate with my courses and focus on videos such as BnB. I also would like to buy UMSLE-RX or a similar resource for practice problems. I think this really helps me apply my knowledge. I struggle with the reading assignments and Any other tips for me?

Read this:

• Goro’s guide to success in medical school

 

[Deecee2DO]

When I started doing questions is where I really started to perform extremely well. The biggest piece of advice I got studying in medical school is don't wait until you know the content to do practice problems. You can learn a lot from practice questions because many times questions are on important high yield concepts and studying from them can help you focus on the important stuff. My buddy in my class the other day was asking me how I was prepping for our MSK block exam and I told him im doing questions (Uworld, Robbins, Webpath, Rx) and he was like how its the second day of the block and i was like yeah i do questions asap. I dont care if I get a 40% on them the first few days of the block because I know I am learning the material. You wan't deliberate practice, basically practicing concepts you aren't as good at, it'll crush your ego but you'll be a better student for it

 

[Dhooy7]

When I started doing questions is where I really started to perform extremely well. The biggest piece of advice I got studying in medical school is don't wait until you know the content to do practice problems. You can learn a lot from practice questions because many times questions are on important high yield concepts and studying from them can help you focus on the important stuff. My buddy in my class the other day was asking me how I was prepping for our MSK block exam and I told him im doing questions (Uworld, Robbins, Webpath, Rx) and he was like how its the second day of the block and i was like yeah i do questions asap. I dont care if I get a 40% on them the first few days of the block because I know I am learning the material. You wan't deliberate practice, basically practicing concepts you aren't as good at, it'll crush your ego but you'll be a better student for it

How did you find the appropriate questions for each block? As an MS1 I don't know what is recommended for each block such as skin (histology), and immunology. Any advice?

 

[Deecee2DO]

How did you find the appropriate questions for each block? As an MS1 I don't know what is recommended for each block such as skin (histology), and immunology. Any advice?

M1 I would stick with BRS, Lippincott, Kaplan, access medicine for basic sciences. UWorld is a little aggressive to start first year but then again you can if you want to-maybe it would be good. I didn't start UWorld and Robbins till M2 since it is more path and large clinical question stems. Access medicine is really good and you can skip to the immunology chapter questions for any of those resources. Blue histo is really good for histology you can narrow it down to systems (skin etc)

 

[Ho0v-man]

For crazy stuff like anatomy and histology the only way I survived was to take the lecture handouts and put them in notability and read through them. As I read through them I would mark through certain words that were important to the sentence. Then everyday I would go through it and try to regurgitate blacked out parts of my notes. crazy painful to do it that way, but board review resources wouldn’t get me close to a pass in those classes.

 

[Dhooy7]

Man I feel very overwhelmed in skin/immunology. I'm very behind on Anki

 

[4thtimeretaker]

Man I feel very overwhelmed in skin/immunology. I'm very behind on Anki

Did you purchase any Qbanks to help practice the material?

 

[Dhooy7]

I have free trial of osmosis histo guide for histology and blue histo. I dont have any questions for staph or strep.

I was told to avoid qbank this early on because they dont matchup with lecture. Usmle RX. BRS and Pretest are good and have access to these.

Immunology I'm using the kaplan book my professor recommended.

Did you purchase any Qbanks to help practice the material?

 

[Dhooy7]

Also heard lipincotts is good. I emailed my professors asking for additional questions

 

[Dhooy7]

If you have any suggestions I'd be interested in looking over them but haven't found any that match up. We are doing a lot of basic sciences in skin/immuno

Did you purchase any Qbanks to help practice the material?

 

[Dhooy7]

How about micro staph vs strep species virulence factors, lab test results, and diseases? I know sketchy is good

 

[Dhooy7]

If I PM someone questions would they be willing to give me feedback? I do not feel good about this upcoming quiz in 2 days