What efficient studying techniques are there to try?

[MO_Sawa]

Hey.

I'm about to become a second year student, and through out the 3 semesters of my first year I have been lost in picking up the most efficient studying method for subjects, at least for me, so far I have a GPA of (3.95/4), nevertheless I can tell that my memorization skills are really bad, and I manage to study subjects blindly and with great randomization. I could understand most of the information I was exposed to but when it comes to memorization part of them, I failed. I tried Anki, and ended up like many creating the cards but never been able to use them..

Currently I'm in my month break before the 2nd year sets off, and TBH I've wasted so much time looking for methods on youtube, articles, etc.. or trying to come up with useful mnemonics, I looked over youtube videos and google articles but couldn't come up with something suitable, and I know medical subjects are of various levels of memorization, some are pure memorization, some focus on understanding more. So I came here to learn from other medical students with more experience, maybe I could find some common technique between most students, or try out several methods suggested by students on several subjects to see what suits me most. Could you please help me by suggesting good methods / techniques you found useful?

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[varaprasad]

Dear MO_Sawa ,

Lets take a subject

1)first, simply go through total chapters and topics in that subject
2)secondly, know the objectives of the chapters and topics in that subject and its relevance in future medical practice [this really narrows down the content and makes easy for u to remember and no to burn out]

for example lets take microbiology, u don't necessarily need to know all bacteria in the world but u need to know medically relevant bugs their classification ,traits,lab techniques and lab diagnosis etc .....got it?

3)you are still in your 2nd year of your med school so don't rush.

now here are my tips for your MEMORIZATION

a)build blocks ---- lets take bacteriology just classify all the bacteria [ classify them based on their distinguishing feature]
b)don't use mnemonics, or catchy lines etc for every thing [ make them simple and effective , use mnemonics for high yield topics]
c)make notes ----don't dump everything in your notes [only important points ]
----your notes should be your guide
d)now coming to resources ----different sources have different strong areas and weak areas
-----u don't need to remember or learn them all
-----take matter from the resources what helps and note them in your notes
e)u no need to remember the whole subject -------[make them short and sweet ]
f) now coming to ANKI - don't create 1000 of anki decks
-- create anki decks for the topics u have to master and trouble learning not all [ just 5-10 decks for concept
---create decks for concepts that are not used for mnemonic creation
g) lets take u have to memorize 10 important things
1)make 5 things as mnemonics
2)other 3 things for anki
3) other two things for diagrams,charts,cycles,flowcharts,mind maps
i think your GPA is great ,u don't have trouble learning and understanding ,i think u have trouble remembering

in med school, 70% -understanding and application
30% -remembering [ link different concepts from various subjects -interpretation]
so concentrate on training your brain to understand and application
don't stress on remembering ,if u stress on it , its likely u end up forgetting .
------>learn underlying concept for better memory
-------->practise daily --start with less time and improve your time period
-------->buiding memory techniques takes time
thank you.

 

[stickgirl390]

Anki

 

[MO_Sawa]

@varaprasad thanks for your tips i'll focus on them, i think i do exaggerate it when it comes to mnemonics so yeah you're right i have to take other methods in consideration.
@stickgirl true, everyone talks about anki and how charming it is, it just needs to some usage skills and moderation in number of cards, maybe that would come by practice

 

[The wise one]

Try this video: OnlineMedEd | OnlineMedEd

It's evidence based thus far it's working for me.

It's the reason why I recommend light-year + bb video. Buy their book on Amazon, go over the note first then the video then the question on the same day. Do the cards, 2 days later.

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[Goro]

Hey.

I'm about to become a second year student, and through out the 3 semesters of my first year I have been lost in picking up the most efficient studying method for subjects, at least for me, so far I have a GPA of (3.95/4), nevertheless I can tell that my memorization skills are really bad, and I manage to study subjects blindly and with great randomization. I could understand most of the information I was exposed to but when it comes to memorization part of them, I failed. I tried Anki, and ended up like many creating the cards but never been able to use them..

Currently I'm in my month break before the 2nd year sets off, and TBH I've wasted so much time looking for methods on youtube, articles, etc.. or trying to come up with useful mnemonics, I looked over youtube videos and google articles but couldn't come up with something suitable, and I know medical subjects are of various levels of memorization, some are pure memorization, some focus on understanding more. So I came here to learn from other medical students with more experience, maybe I could find some common technique between most students, or try out several methods suggested by students on several subjects to see what suits me most. Could you please help me by suggesting good methods / techniques you found useful?

Read this:

• Goro's Guide to Success in Medical School (2018 edition)

 

[Osteosaur]

Hey.

I'm about to become a second year student, and through out the 3 semesters of my first year I have been lost in picking up the most efficient studying method for subjects, at least for me, so far I have a GPA of (3.95/4), nevertheless I can tell that my memorization skills are really bad, and I manage to study subjects blindly and with great randomization. I could understand most of the information I was exposed to but when it comes to memorization part of them, I failed. I tried Anki, and ended up like many creating the cards but never been able to use them..

Currently I'm in my month break before the 2nd year sets off, and TBH I've wasted so much time looking for methods on youtube, articles, etc.. or trying to come up with useful mnemonics, I looked over youtube videos and google articles but couldn't come up with something suitable, and I know medical subjects are of various levels of memorization, some are pure memorization, some focus on understanding more. So I came here to learn from other medical students with more experience, maybe I could find some common technique between most students, or try out several methods suggested by students on several subjects to see what suits me most. Could you please help me by suggesting good methods / techniques you found useful?

Revisit Anki, but don't make your own cards. Get a premade board prep deck like Zanki. Its is based off Pathoma and FA and will, at a minimum, allow you to start prepping long-term for boards and hopefully cover some class material.

 

[MO_Sawa]

thanks all, i'll try your suggestions and see what fits me best.

 

[The wise one]

First aid and make your own cards. Do your pre reading.
Zanki is a low yield at this point.

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