Study Skils in Medical School

[FLco07]

I realize everyone's methods are different, but I'm hoping this thread will provide a variety of study techniques.

I am getting ready to graduate from undergrad in May, and I hope to start medical school sometime in 08. If I don't make it thorugh medical school, it will be because of a lack of motivation to study and poor study skills. I'll read throuhg sections and feel like I've memorized the facts, but then I have difficult applying them! Sometimes I'll get stuck on a question, and I'll get discouraged from studying because I feel I can't move on until I understand that question.

Currently, I'm a crammer, and my mind has grown accustomed to working last minute. Although I've managed with this approach, it's bad because I feel like I'm retaining very little. So I have a few questions that I hope current med students can answer.

1) What materials do you use to study (books, notes, both, none, recordings, notecards, highlighters...etc)?
2) How long do you study?
3) Do you read aloud to memorize, read in your head? Are you a visual or audatory learner?
4) Any other tips for good study skills (this could be in your opinion, or web site references to learn good skills...anything!

I'd appreciate the input. I want to tone my study skills so I can retain the material--like a catelog

[regnart]

This could be a great thread, if you can attract some serious responses. I'm not sure the relaxing lounge is the best place for it though - there's a lot of silly stuff going on here. If you don't get a decent response, try posting elsewhere on ValueMD. Good luck!

[FLco07]

How the hell did I end up posting this in here??? Okay as you can see, I'm new and obviosuly getting used to navigating the site...I thought this was the General International thread...I'll try to move it. Thanks!

[jaywalk81]

med school is very different than undergrad. the cramming will definately not work here, it might jut get you by barely if you tend to cram for the exams. but cramming leads to the problem of not retaining any materials in the long run, which you would need for step1.
you would need to have the self control to study everyday. typically i avg studying seriously for about 6 hrs. when i say "seriously" i mean im not fooling around on the internet, watching movies or even having music in the background. all i have are the materials i need and want to study.
as far as what to use, that varies from class to class and from person to person. the best way to study in med school for any class, is to pre-read, attend lectures, post-read. so in one day you will have been exposed to the materials 3 times and then on the weekend, review, so in 1 week you should have at least been exposed to the materials 4 times. more exposure usuallyy will help in consolidation into long term memory.

and pre-read doesnt mean you read to learn and memorize the materials right away or even highlight the stuff! i see many ppl doing that andthey get frustrated b/c they dont understand the stuff they highlight. when you pre-read my suggestion is just to get the overall sense of the topic such as perhaps any new vocabs that you may need to know to understand the lecture/topic. and when you post-read then highlight the important stuff b/c by then you will have attended the lectures and should have a better sense of what is important to be highlighted.

and this point will be harder to do. many med students when they study, they tend to study just for the exams, which is obviously fine! but dont lose your focus of step 1 and that the materials in step1 will probably be more in depth and might have stuff that you didnt study for the "class exams"

study hard and learn each class well. it pays off. i have to say that b/c i learned all of the materials really well and understood the major concepts and points of each subject, pathology (which is usually the most dreaded class inn med school) isnt that bad to me. sure its volume overloaded, but all the other classes taught you the normal, and pathology is just the abnormal. so if you know the normal, all you have to do is to think in reverse sort of and pathology really wouldnt be that hard to understand.

as far as integration goes, that takes time. the more you know, the more you can integrate. its a skill that usually takes time to develop. but start doing it early. remember this, USMLE doesnt test and ask "what" the Qs ask "why" and "how". so start thinking along those lines as why and how does this work or not work. b/c everyone can memorize the key words for each disease or process, but do you really understand why and how it occurred? that is the whole process of learning medicine.

good luck!

[stephew]

i moved this thread frmo the main med school forum but i agree, the lounge is not a great site. will come up with better location. sorry.

[FLco07]

Thank you so much for the detailed information, jaywalk. It sounds like consistency and discipline are keys to good study skills in med school. I'm really going to have to work on putting myself on a schedule if/when I get there.

I'm glad to know that you moved this thread, steph...because I was so confused thinking that I posted this in the lounge section when I could've sworn I put it in the main int'l section lol. Sorry for reposting it there again...I realize now that it's not the right place for it.

[stephew]

well its really tough to know where best to put it. we'll figure something appropriate out.
best,.

[53ring]

i think its a great place to talk about study skills . relaxing studying lounging .
or for short RSL . proven method of study .

Or wait is RSL really slow learner ......