Pre-Med Study Strategies - What I Wish I Knew in College (Tips from Medical School)

How to Study Better and Get Better Grades: Learn how to study smarter and more efficiently, which translates to better grades and more free time for the things you enjoy. These are the study strategies and tips I wish I had known in college, as they would have made my life much easier. This video will help you improve your grades and have you spend less time studying!

In medical school you are forced to learn information at a faster pace than in undergrad. In this video I go over the various strategies that helped me study more effectively and efficiently, and what I wish I knew during undergrad as a premed student. Life would have been much easier and I would have had more time to do other things if I knew these study tricks earlier.

In this video, I help go over key strategies that will help premedical students excel in their courses and help gain admission to medical school. I cover:
1) Active vs Passive learning
2) Learning Environment
3) How to obtain information from lectures and textbooks
4) How to review information
5) Simple principles for test day

[vincenttang]

I'm not procrastinating if I'm watching videos on how to study (:

[emelineemeline]

Great strategy - I also do this on occasion:
1. Bring a stack of blank notecards, a pen and your podcasts to the gym
2. I like the treadmill so I would listen to podcasts and jot down key components on my flashcards every 15 min.
3. Run the same podcasts back with the note cards in front of you (you can prop them up on the console)
4. With pen in hand edit and elaborate when needed
5. Go home and review!

[magicianmana]

Dude, this was so helpful. Universities never teach you how to study. I normally re-listen to lectures, but now I see I could do a much better job just synthesizing the information. I see now that I don't do enough active learning. I waste too much time on passive learning. Thanks!

[tylerschrand]

The beginning. Never forget where you came from. U a real one for keeping this up even though you updated. You’ve inspired me to do better in my premed classes. Thank you.

[zajdabneeg]

eventually one will learn that active learning will be more effective. summarizing summarizing. don't type don't highlight. if highlight resummarize afterward. for memorizing stuff focus on repetition.

[ohdanielle]

How I Study:
-Write Down Important Topics/Sub-Topics about Reading (I make sure to understand the reading and if I don’t I mark it)
-Type during Lectures and Ask about any Questions I have
-Write down the notes I have from lecture in my own words
-Go to Office Hours for anything left that I didn’t understand
-Review every 3 days - 2 weeks depending on how well I understand the material

[asianbluex]

Love your style. Clean white paper, neat hand writing, straight to the point, organized w/ helpful drawings. Reminds me of khan Academy. Thank you!

[catscansonyeodan]

Honestly, the problem for me with writing the information or condensing it in my own words is that everything seems important!!! 😭😭😭

[pazl]

are you sure a future dr? because i can read your handwriting.

[krishnanclips]

Becoming a good doctor has nothing to do with grades. You can be a topper and the worst human and vice versa. Here are tips to be both a good doctor and get top grades. Google the topics mentioned.

1. a) Study. b) Sleep. c) Exercise. d) Eat healthy e) Have fun. f) Manage your time. e) Develop communication skills. Skip one item and your grades will fall or you won't be a good doctor. Study, but smartly. Find your style of studying. Some students are auditory, some visual, some like to touch and feel... Mix and match. Experiment what works for you. Each person is unique.

2. Focus on learning concepts, not rote learning. Focus on clinical applications in every topic. Build strong foundation in preclinical and esp. paraclinical subjects. Only then can skyscraper come up.

Make brief, illustrated mind map/spider diagram/pointwise notes of important topics throughout medical course. Will help in final revision and PG/USMLE exams. Students ignore this and start making notes only during PG preparation with online/offline coaching, which charge a lot. Writing notes throughout med school is a better technique. Scan regularly. Revise previous years' subjects too. Spend 80% of study on current year's subjects, 20% revising earlier years' material (do it in weekends). Don't wait till last year!

Reading books is passive (recognition). Instead, ask yourself questions, do exams, teach someone (active recall). In real life, you must extract stuff from your brain. Take notes of how profs do procedures and dissections. Make checklists. They save lives, time and money. Make checklists for everything, esp. procedures. Share with others (read Dr. Atul Gawande's "Checklist Manifesto").

3. The night before class, watch YouTube videos on the subject, such as Dr Najeeb Lectures, Ninja Nerd, Medcram, Osmosis, Lecturio. In morning, review at 2x or 3x speed. Then scan textbook’s chapter heads, subheads and bold-type points, pictures, tables,  captions, questions. Then attend lecture.

4. In class, don't take notes. Instead write in mind maps (Tony Buzan's videos and books).

5. Back in your room, don’t read. First, recall & write lecture points. Then, read book, asking why, what, how, etc. With another colour pen, write points you missed. Watch more YouTube videos, such as Sam Webster, Pathoma, to reinforce ideas.

6. Make up questions. Think like an examiner. Load onto both ANKI and Excel/Google spreadsheet. Add photos, drawings, cartoons (Picmonic/Sketchy medical), vulgar mnemonics (Google), bizarre stories to remember them, songs, audio in the answer decks. Use mind maps, memory palaces, BMJ medical, Geeky Medics, Marrow, Prepladder.

Revise daily (Anki has edge here with spaced repetition as it automatically asks when retention curve dips, but disadvantage is you have to go through huge stacks of cards unlike the spreadsheet, where you can mark difficult ones in red and read only them. Best is to use both). Use Anki DAILY, even while walking to class or while waiting for professor or next patient. A minute here, a minute there add up.

7. Colour code syllabus in Google Spreadsheet or Excel. Focus on "must know". Mark each review (recalling, not reading books).
Mark date after each revision and difficulty in 3-5 colours (easy green, medium orange, hard red. Focus on red). Write in one column why you found it difficult or if just guess. Find solution to problem.

8. The more you draw, the more you will remember. Use colour.

9. Read standard books, such as Guyton, Big Robbins/Medium Robbins, and Gray's Anatomy for Students rather than exam-oriented point-wise guides. These may help you pass exams but will not build concepts. Most books, including Pathoma, are available free on Library Genesis; most videos on YouTube or BitTorrent. Look around instead of investing money.

10. Focus on what professors teach. They have read the important books. Concentrate in class, don't let your mind wander. Never skip practicals and clinics.

11. Spend maximum time in practicals and clinics. Dissect as much as possible. Volunteer to do procedures. See how to use knowledge for practical problems. Eg: videos of "Athlean-X" and "Ask Dr Jo" or quick memorisation techniques of Dr.James Preddy. Make up questions needing info from many subjects. Most people have neck ache, backache, knee problems. Can you solve them with exercises and therapeutic yoga even as a student? Incorporate alternative medicine, plant-based whole foods. Learn tips from them. Don't automatically debunk them.

12. If you want to remember something really well, write down key points and read it 15 times immediately before going to bed and 15 times within first five minutes of waking up.

13. Google the topic “medical punch words”. Questions contain these words. Load in ANKI and revise daily.

14. Use Pomodoro technique to study. Buy a small alarm clock, not phone alarm. Study in 25-min blocks, then do anything else for five minutes. Do it again. After two hours, take a 30-min break. Reward yourself. Do NOT look at phone, saying "only one minute". In final year, delete social media.

Study with a friend (More than 4 people gets disruptive). In groups, tap on desk to start, tap again to indicate break, tap to resume. Study in library rather than in hostel to reduce distractions.

15. Teaching someone without using notes is the best form of recall. Else, lecture to empty bedroom.

16. Write very brief points, drawings on Post-It Notes above your desk for every topic (Anas Nuur Ali "how to memorize"). Scan 15 min daily. By the end of the year, you would have seen them hundreds of times. Unlike ANKI, it jumps at you if you stand there.

17. Don't study sequentially. Do topic 1&2, then test yourself by recalling topic 1. After studying topic 3, test on topic two. Do same with the rest. While studying several subjects, study a little here, a little there rather than sequentially.

18. Before sleeping, write out plan for tomorrow. Mentally review what did you studied today and what you want to do tomorrow. The brain will focus on these when sleeping. Sleep 7-9 hours daily. Sleep by 10 pm and wake up at 5. Immediately exercise vigorously. Then study. Most students stay awake all night, sleep for 4-5 hours, wake up 15 min before class and run there unbathed! Tests showed that they retained only 30% of what they had studied all night. Studying in the morning after a good sleep helps in better retention.

19. Studying daily for one hour over a week is better than studying the whole thing in seven hours in one day. Before exam, study and recall weak areas. Read red chapters.

The night before exams, sleep rather than study all night. If you study without sleeping, you will not remember what you studied. Else, sleep, wake up early and study.

During exams, every 30 minutes take three breaths of 4 sec inhalation, 7-sec hold and 8-sec exhalation. Sure, you could have answered a few questions in those 57 seconds but did you get them right? This boosts oxygen to tackle questions correctly.

20. Watch Marty Lobdell, Ali Abdaal, Kharma Medic, MDprospect, Dirty Medicine, Anuj Pachchel, Rachel Southard for tips.

21. Spend weekends, holidays and whenever possible helping people in cancer wards, old-age homes, schools for children with special needs,   physically and mentally  handicapped people. Be empathetic. Never be arrogant. Everyone is a teacher. Nurses have a lot of experience as they spend more time with patients unlike doctors. Be extra courteous to them. Involve them in treatment decisions. Get 2nd, 3rd, 4th opinion from various doctors. (Read Dr Lisa Sanders "Diagnosis" about rare cases that doctors couldn't identify but solved by the public using common sense).

Ask seniors and professors for tips, their memorable experiences. Listen to patients without interrupting them or getting impatient. If you listen long enough, you will know the problem. Rely on brains, not costly diagnostic tests. Imagine you are in a forest or desert without them. What would you do? (Cuba does this because of sanctions, and now has some of the best health indices in the world.)

22. Don't focus on money in life. Don't be greedy and seek commissions or do unethical things even if others are doing it. Prescribe cheaper drugs. Read inspirational articles about doctors who went out of the way to serve people, often getting no money.

23. Improve your handwriting. Nearly all doctors have terrible handwriting! Many drugs have similar names with only one letter different.

24. Read fiction, humanities. Will widen your horizon. See esp. Michael Sandel's Harvard lectures on Justice--What is the right thing to do. Watch Yale prof Shelly Kagan's lectures on Death. You will encounter these situations in life.

25. Be punctual. It will help you in life. See how many minutes it takes to go from room to classroom desk. Learn self defense during college. Will make you fit and will make you safe in life.

Extra:
Study of 1, 000 world leaders, CEOs found that they all sleep well, and wake up early, often at 4 a.m. They do not look at phone on waking up. Instead they immediately exercise vigorously, do pranayama, meditate and write a daily journal (mentioning three things they are grateful for that day and why). Only then they touch their phone. They all focus intensely on the job on hand. They work like crazy during the week and party like crazy in the weekend! They all have a hobby that they actively pursue. They network a lot. By helping people, they also get help eventually. They read a variety of books lifelong. Their aim: be happy, healthy and helpful to all.

[TheOneZepphyr]

This very well may be the ONLY helpful study video I've ever watched. Thank you so much for the suggestions. Downloading Anki as I'm typing this.

[knotwilg]

Very useful indeed.

My mistakes in my first attempt which I rectified in the second:
1. Not go to lectures - none of the smart guys did. Later I did and the discipline amplified by peer pressure helped me a lot. In those days we didn't have the luxury of podcasts.
2. "plan" - the planning is done by the organizing body. The only thing you need to do is study. Planning creates an artificial rhythm which eventually makes you study x pages a day - pointless.
3. Use someone else's notes. 1) they're unintelligible 2) the point is making notes, not using them afterwards

But the main message is clear in this video: find out what works for you. Don't let your peers, your parents, your teachers dictate that.

[JohnnyD]

You're amazing.!!!! As a high school student I'm going to use these tips in my AP Bio class, which is sadly the first class I've ever struggled with.

[beingmealways]

As a premed who has the medical exam in the next 2 month .... I can say that all these points are true, practical and important so they should be followed.

[jillysenk]

As a high school student, I found this video very useful. I liked this so I can refer back to it in the future (hopefully as a pre med student!) thanks for the tips!

[TubeDeviant]

Thank you for filming this informative video..!!

My entire life, I never knew how to study properly. Growing up in a dysfunctional, broken family unit made me have ZERO interest and energy in school and studying, leading to very little information and knowledge being grasped and retained.. It also meant that I never had anyone to teach me how to study.. It in part lead to me dropping out of high school.. Wasting a lot of time, and potential.. I did learn a lot in other aspects of life though, so not a complete waste of time..

While high school was a LONG time ago for me (I won't go into detail about the dysfunctional crap in my life..), I'm planning to go back to get my diploma, hopefully get up to speed and be able to do pre-req's for a nursing program.. That's the plan.. No pre-med or medical school for me, but this information is still valuable, nonetheless.. I'm sure it is for others as well, no matter what they are majoring in and planning on in the future..

Thanks again for the informative video..  Going to check out some of your other videos..!

[amanimotloung]

Something about watching you write is so satisfying

[weirdo-gjxz]

can you make subvideos on (1) how to identify what's most important and (2) how to organize. i tend to think everything is important that's why i write down every detail

[PollyLWorld]

Odontology student here, the summarize maker of my group of friends. Key points: 1) GO TO CLASS! ( take notes to later add extra material from the book) You will remember things from listening to the Professor and from that create a guide that will visually organize the main points. 2) Be consistent. Study every day a bit. 3) For every exam I create a small booklet summarizing all the info. Thus I have everything I need at the end of the Year. ( Annual Classes, 4 exams per class before Finals) I also use the powerpoint technique and used groups for some classes.
Great video, do your best and good luck everyone :)

[raya]

This is gold... I literally took notes of this bc this is the best study video i’ve seen. Hats off 👍🏻