- Joined
- Feb 27, 2007
- Messages
- 19
- Reaction score
- 1
Hey all,
In most all of my upper-level science classes, I've been able to pull off A's. However, I am still left feeling that the way in which I make the grade is quite inefficient. I don't think it would work for medical school due to the sheer volume of material that is presented to medical students (4-7 hours of lecture a day?).
My current process for every class is the following:
Step 1. Attend lecture and take clear notes. Pouring all my energy into soaking up every important piece of information straight from the professor's mouth is key, for me.
--Problem 1: After my longer lectures of 1.25 - 2 hours, my mind is exhausted from concentrating so hard. But, my notes are good. However, I can't imagine maintaining this level of attentiveness for the amount of time that lectures are given in medical school.
Step 2. After coming home or going to the library, I recopy/update/fill-in notes (within 24 hours) to the point where they become a very condensed and easy to follow study guide. This takes quite a bit of time up front, but it leaves me with an amazing amount of retained knowledge for the exam. My motto is "internalize everything," meaning that I almost never study from primary figures or primary lecture slides after the study guide is completed. Everything is put into my own words in my text file (which grows with each lecture). Additionally, if the class is problem-oriented (such as physics or chemistry), I will do problems as the professor recommends. Nothing too special there.
--Problem 2: This note recopying phase must take me anywhere from 1.5 to 4 times the length of the lecture itself. I do like the amount of knowledge and security I gain from making such thorough study guides, but I feel it would be extremely inefficient in medical school, where time is a valuable commodity. It would probably take me 5-6 hours just to do two medical school lectures when I still have two more to do before the day is out. At that rate, I'd have about 1-2 hours left for sleep each day. Ouch.
Step 3. The best part is that once the above two steps are completed, I almost never study for the test until the day before. Just one day of intense studying will refresh almost everything I heard in lecture for the past month or two. I think the real reason this works, though, is simply because the volume of material in undergrad just isn't THAT much.
So yeah, I made this thread because I feel that although my study methods work for undergrad, they are taking me in the wrong direction for medical school preparation. I have a horrible time reading textbooks and rarely do. I've gotten by all this way just by listening to professors in class and reading a few pages only when I have to. I hear in medical school it is important to be able to learn from textbooks and study material independently and that lecture is, many times, worthless. After all, learning independently is what a medical student/physician must ultimately do, especially after the first two years of medical school. If this is the case, my study strategy would experience a severe crash landing.
To remedy the situation, I'm using one of my classes as a guinea pig and trying to get myself to study from primary lecture slides and the textbook. More of a "hands off " approach since I'm just reading with minimal writing or highlighting or notetaking. I'm just not sure how to do this efficiently, though. I keep wanting to go back and make study guides because I'm afraid I'll miss something.
My questions to you:
-What is your system of studying?
-Do you read textbooks a lot instead of relying on the professor? Do they become easier to read after awhile?
-How do you keep track of information read in textbooks without excessive highlighting or notetaking? Do you just read sections/chapters over and over until it sticks?
-For current med students, how do you study the massive volume of material?
-Any other tips (pre-med or current med students)?
Once again, efficiency is my goal. I don't mind putting the time in, but there's got to be a better way to internalize loads of information. Thanks to all.
In most all of my upper-level science classes, I've been able to pull off A's. However, I am still left feeling that the way in which I make the grade is quite inefficient. I don't think it would work for medical school due to the sheer volume of material that is presented to medical students (4-7 hours of lecture a day?).
My current process for every class is the following:
Step 1. Attend lecture and take clear notes. Pouring all my energy into soaking up every important piece of information straight from the professor's mouth is key, for me.
--Problem 1: After my longer lectures of 1.25 - 2 hours, my mind is exhausted from concentrating so hard. But, my notes are good. However, I can't imagine maintaining this level of attentiveness for the amount of time that lectures are given in medical school.
Step 2. After coming home or going to the library, I recopy/update/fill-in notes (within 24 hours) to the point where they become a very condensed and easy to follow study guide. This takes quite a bit of time up front, but it leaves me with an amazing amount of retained knowledge for the exam. My motto is "internalize everything," meaning that I almost never study from primary figures or primary lecture slides after the study guide is completed. Everything is put into my own words in my text file (which grows with each lecture). Additionally, if the class is problem-oriented (such as physics or chemistry), I will do problems as the professor recommends. Nothing too special there.
--Problem 2: This note recopying phase must take me anywhere from 1.5 to 4 times the length of the lecture itself. I do like the amount of knowledge and security I gain from making such thorough study guides, but I feel it would be extremely inefficient in medical school, where time is a valuable commodity. It would probably take me 5-6 hours just to do two medical school lectures when I still have two more to do before the day is out. At that rate, I'd have about 1-2 hours left for sleep each day. Ouch.
Step 3. The best part is that once the above two steps are completed, I almost never study for the test until the day before. Just one day of intense studying will refresh almost everything I heard in lecture for the past month or two. I think the real reason this works, though, is simply because the volume of material in undergrad just isn't THAT much.
So yeah, I made this thread because I feel that although my study methods work for undergrad, they are taking me in the wrong direction for medical school preparation. I have a horrible time reading textbooks and rarely do. I've gotten by all this way just by listening to professors in class and reading a few pages only when I have to. I hear in medical school it is important to be able to learn from textbooks and study material independently and that lecture is, many times, worthless. After all, learning independently is what a medical student/physician must ultimately do, especially after the first two years of medical school. If this is the case, my study strategy would experience a severe crash landing.
To remedy the situation, I'm using one of my classes as a guinea pig and trying to get myself to study from primary lecture slides and the textbook. More of a "hands off " approach since I'm just reading with minimal writing or highlighting or notetaking. I'm just not sure how to do this efficiently, though. I keep wanting to go back and make study guides because I'm afraid I'll miss something.
My questions to you:
-What is your system of studying?
-Do you read textbooks a lot instead of relying on the professor? Do they become easier to read after awhile?
-How do you keep track of information read in textbooks without excessive highlighting or notetaking? Do you just read sections/chapters over and over until it sticks?
-For current med students, how do you study the massive volume of material?
-Any other tips (pre-med or current med students)?
Once again, efficiency is my goal. I don't mind putting the time in, but there's got to be a better way to internalize loads of information. Thanks to all.
