So I think this might be the question I get asked the MOST often. People are always asking me how do I study for this or that class. So I thought I would just make a master post I could link you all to. :)
All classes
Watch my video on how to study. This applies to almost everything you have to study.
See below for additions to doing everything listed in that video.
Math
Do problems. Do all the problems. Do them again.
Do all the problems in your book.
Get another book and repeat step 2
Trust me 99.9% of all math classes is pattern recognition. If you can learn how to solve the problem you can ace any set of variables they throw at you.
Physics
See math–because physics is JUST applied math. You have to learn how to read the questions and pull out the information you need–the only way to do that is to do dozens of questions!
Micro Bio/ID
Flow charts–break things up by group to understand them. You have to group things to remember what’s gram positive or gram negative
Don’t blow off the actual micro part of micro. If you understand the virulence factors you’re more likely to understand the sx/tx
I had to use a lot of silly sayings to remember all the little pieces of micro. So I would remind myself about the diseases of haemophilus influenzae by saying haEMOPhilus (epiglotitus, meningitis, otitis media, pnuemonia). It was silly but it worked for me.
O Chem
Do all the problems. Do them again.
Get another book and repeat step 1
Flashcard the reactions you don’t understand–put the reactants on one side and the products on the back. Practice these backward and forward.
Draw out every step of reactions you don’t understand
Circle your electrons or mark whatever it is you lose track of
Count–count where everything went at the end to make sure you didn’t screw up.
Categorize. Do all members of this group react this way?? It’s easier to learn the rules and the exceptions than force memorize every individual compound’s reaction.
Gen Chem
See math
Understand real world examples. I related all of the stuff about heat to a cup of coffee. It worked for me
Talk through it! I had to read chemistry out loud or try to repeat it out loud in my own words to have any idea what was going on.
YouTube videos are absolutely perfect for gen chem!! (There’s even a whole CrashCourse series on Gen Chem that’s appropriate especially for high school level chem).
General Biology–Genetics/Immunology/Cell Biologyetc
You really need to watch my video
Cross relate–you have to integrate all your biology together to keep all that information in your head.
Flashcard only the stuff that can’t be understood. (Like cell markers, etc)
Charts! Biology is all about categorization and understanding the similarities between different groups of things. If you can simply remember the characteristics of a group it’s easy to know everything you need to about all the members of that group.
Pathology
Pathoma
Look at the pictures until you feel sick.
Make flashcards of the pictures so you can at least do immediate identification of what you’re looking at even if you don’t know exactly what the pathology is.
Integrate! How does the physiology relate to exactly what is going on with the pathology? How does the pathology predict treatment?
Learn some latin and greek root words. Even if you have no idea what the word means you might be able to figure it out from there. :) I’ve gotten more than one question right by just figuring out what the word meant.
Pharmacology
Understand the mechanism of the drug–it will really predict how it is used or what its toxicities are for
Flashcard the bare minimum or anything bizarre you can’t remember any other way.
Figure out the similarities in the names. If it sounds the same, it probably belongs in the same class.
Don’t learn in isolation. It’s hard to study pharmacology on its own–instead study it integrated with physiology and pathology whenever possible for the best understanding.
Study as case studies!! What diuretics would you give to a patient with CHF? With ESLD?
Biochemistry
Charts–get poster boards or tape together a ton of sheets of paper and try to write out every pathway you can to see how it all is integrated.
Always track the flow of energy!! Where is your NAD/ATP/etc?
Group pathways by the “point”. Are you destroying carbohydrates or building fats? How does this compare to other pathways that do the same thing?
Try to rewrite the pathways from memory then see what you missed.
Anatomy
Spend a bunch of time with the specimens if you have access to them.
DRAW even if you suck at drawing
Learn the clinical correlations–why do you care
Thing about everything in relationship to one another!
Do questions!! Grey’s has a student question book I recommend.
I’ll probably add more to this list as I go and as more of you ask for specific subject advice, but here you go!!
When in doubt, always ask yourself “how would this be asked on a test?”. If you could write a test question about it, you should definitely know it!
And always remember that you should study for understanding and not just for a grade–always be learning and not memorizing. It’s more important you understand the material than you get the A!!
Happy studying!
I wanted to make a revision printable for myself now that I’m in VCE, so I based it off the curve of forgetting in order to combat it. :) Usually I do a bit more revision than this, but I like use this sheet as a minimum for revision and also as a way to keep track of what to revise.
Here’s a downloadable link for anyone else who would like to use it too!
“Overcoming the Curve of Forgetting” Printable
HOW TO USE:
one subject per printable
tick boxes for what tasks to do each revision session (there are two blanks to add any other unique method you like to use)
sub topics to revise in each subject
a tick & the date in each box for completion
Good luck revising!
2/JUL/2016 || Since I will be spending most of my time next week in the lab, I thought it would be smart to do some revising on the experiments before hitting the gym to work on my cardio.
heres some wishes for u beans (add some more if u wish)
a) good grades/ improvement b) being healthy (physically mentally emotionally all that good stuff) c) being happy n content with urself d) achieving all of ur goals e) no more (or less bc lets be realistic here) procrastination lets kick it in the butt off to pluto ok f) WATER !!! h2o is ur life buddy ok get at least 8 glasses/day g) no financial problems (bc rn the economy isnt at its v peak for most)
Lovely, sun-filled room is perfect for plants. (The lucky lady who lives here says, “ Y’all… I am never going to get over how privileged I am to be living in this room.”)
via instagram
if it takes less than two minutes, do it now
always carry a water bottle!! you’ll (obviously) drink more water but you’ll also save money on buying drinks when you’re out on hot days
if you notice something you like about someone, tell them. genuine compliments are way too few and far between.
when you meet someone, repeat their name back to them. it’ll help you remember it (bc i am the worst at zoning out and immediately forgetting someone’s name)
give yourself a time limit to get work done. you’ll do more up against a 30 minute timer than if you have all day to get something done
also: be specific with your goals. if you want it done by winter, say you’ll do it one november 15. it’s easy to let time slip by.
no one’s forcing your friends to hang out with you. they want to be around you. don’t try to convince yourself otherwise.
never under estimate the power of a hot meal if you’re feeling unmotivated. take a break and make a grilled cheese dude
always keep $20 in your car for emergences
have a binder/folder to keep all your financial/important documents together. even if you don’t organize them beyond that it’ll make them so much easier to find when you need them
don’t sleep w makeup on!! keep a travel size thing of makeup wipes by your bed for nights that you’re too exhausted to wash your face for real
if you’re studying/working and can’t focus, go outside and take a walk around the building. stare at the sky for a minute. it helps.
networking: when you meet someone, put some notes in with their contact. remembering their kids’ names will make you stand out
fold your clothes while they’re still warm + you won’t have to iron later
get that chair out of your room. we all know your dirty clothes are sitting in it more than you are.
instead, stick some hooks on your closet door for those sorta-clean, sorta-dirty clothes that you wanna wear again
keep a running list on your phone of songs you hear that you like, books you want to read, etc
write down all your friends birthdays!!
if you can’t sleep, try to imagine something in great detail. design your dream house. plan your wedding. whatever makes you happy + relaxed
get dressed as soon as you get up, even if you aren’t going anywhere. it’s hard to feel productive in sweat pants.
if you don’t ask, the answer is always no
thrift stores are super trendy lately, but they really are great for finding high-quality clothing for cheap.
don’t read the comments section. especially if it’s something you actually care about.
fresh veggies go bad fast, so if you can’t get to the store often have a couple frozen bags of your favs on hand!!
also, pasta is crazy cheap and easy to make into a meal. add some olive oil and those frozen veggies and bam, grown up meal in no time.
be intentional with your friendships. if you want to see someone again, set a date instead of the old “let’s get coffee sometime!” that never actually happens
libraries exist!! and theyre fantastic!!!
if you’re buying anything, always google “_______ coupons” while you’re in line. you can usually find one, esp at chains!!
if it’s not something you need, put it back and sleep on it. if you want it bad enough to go back and get it a day or two later, it’s (probably) worth the money.
also, think if you’ll enjoy it for the same amount of time if took to earn that money. doesn’t work with everything (food, experiences), but for things like clothes/technology/home goods, it can help you save some $$$
you don’t have to do something if it makes you unhappy. sure, there are times that you have to suck it up and power through, but 99% of the time you have to option to say no and get outta there.
be kind. seriously you hear it a lot but it is so important.
Something I think we don’t do enough, especially as students, is forgive ourselves. We’re constantly striving to be better, achieve better but along the way we’re beating ourselves up for making mistakes. For being human. It’s impossible to constantly be eating healthy, working out everyday, getting 8+ hours of sleep and getting straight As as well as doing a ton of co-curricular, we’re not superheroes and anything that promotes otherwise is lying. We are not perfect and the standards that we are held to these days is simply unrealistic. And beating yourself up for not achieving unrealistic expectations isn’t going to do you any good! Something we need to do more of is forgiving ourselves, forgive yourself for not doing the homework. You know you can do it tomorrow. Forgive yourself for not going to the gym when you know there’s a mountain of work waiting for you at home. Forgive yourself for having days where all you ate was junk. FORGIVE YOURSELF! We’re only human. We can only do so much.
–Ira Byock, The Best Care Possible: A Physician’s Quest to Transform Care Through the End of Life
Waddup my name is Charlie, im 21, and i never fucking learned how to study.
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