How I Take Notes In Medical School | Note Taking Tips from a Medical School Student!

In my first two years of medical school, I found that having a good system of note taking is essential for a medical school student. During my first year as a medical school student I got a chance to try out different techniques of taking notes, and in this video I share best note-taking method that worked for me.

HOW I TAKE NOTES IN MEDICAL SCHOOL
1. Find your crew (study group): this is probably the hardest and the most important part. Considering the volume of notes you need to take in medical school, it’s probably best if you have 2-3 other people working with you. Make sure you can trust them- make sure everyone has the same general idea of what’s important and what’s not. Before the start of the week, divide up the lectures equally and type up the general outline notes BEFORE class. This way, you can print out the notes and write/draw/highlight during the lecture.

2. Preview the notes/lecture slides the day before lecture (whenever they are posted) and make an outline. I like to do a simple bullet point outline on Microsoft Word. Depending on the format of the lecture slides, I can either copy and paste important information or I have to type out the information. As you go through med school, it’ll become clear to you what needs to go into your notes vs. what doesn’t

3. Take advantage of tables and images. These are some of the best ways to condense a lot of information. You can also ANKI the tables later (check out my memorization tip video) and use it actively for test preparation.

4. Little things: decide as a group on format of your notes-- I like to use narrow margins, arial font size 10. My group always labeled each DAY of lecture on the very top of the page so for example (Cardio W2D4)

5. For certain subjects, it might be helpful to study in an entirely different way:
Calculation heavy subjects: make a study sheet (example: acid base questions)
Anatomy or biochem: draw stuff out yourself

6. Be creative and find out what works for YOU and your curriculum

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[phyliciamarie]

Who else spends more time planning how they're going to study rather than study?

[michmich]

am I the only one who is like super indecisive about how to make notes and studying? I just can't seem to find "what works for me" and end up trying something new each term 😂 going into second year of medschool in september!

[davidegbufoama]

I'm not a very good test-taker, and I need to get more in depth with my notes, studying, and lecture preparation. Very helpful. You inspire me so much.

[armanithurman]

Who else thinks the meme popups are super funny and cute!! Makes the video a little more interactive and gives it more personality!!

[kihyunisasaltymegabitchpri]

Our univ usually has a trans system where a group of people (chosen via rotation), would be assigned specific tasks during the course of the lecture.
Person 1: types notes
Person 2: records the lecture then transcribes into the notes
Person 3: Acquires ppt then updates the notes
Person 4: Takes extra notes from the required readings and incorporates into the book.

The whole class is being rotated in this case so we are all involved.

In conclusion, our notes are complete and are time efficient

[magdelene]

Been a silent viewer all this time. But I think you deserve to know that I have always loved watching your videos. Cheers from Indonesia!

[RockWithRonee]

I'm not in Med School yet...but I am in undergraduate school. What I have found that works for me is literally rewriting, retyping, rewriting, retyping....

If my professor has a PowerPoint, I take everything in that PP and retype it into my own study guide. I don't copy/paste, I type word for word, so that I am instilling it into my brain. And then, once I've got as familiar with the printed study guide as I possibly can, I write out key points and important data from my study guide by hand. I repeat that until I feel comfortable with it, or until test day, usually both lol.

[joshuanuesca]

Watching this to prepare for my first year in college, thanks for the great tips, this is awesome.

[malinia.]

Wow, your strategy of turning powerpoints into word documents is amazing! Doing this could have saved me sooo much time spent looking through 1000s of powerpoint slides and being overwhelmed trying to memorize them. Thank you so much, this is awesome! :) Also, the way you edit your videos with the words that pop up is so cute!

[arinasingh]

Reading lecture notes before lecture to stay motivated in the class and not fall asleep.
I can't thank you enough for this. I have always been struggling to be present minded in class.
Lots of love to you and your channel

[Georgielove]

thank you so much for this! I'm in my first year of med school and I've really taken into consideration of your note taking! Thanks again!

[BlueFrost]

Your vlogs are so therapeutic because you have such great voice and of course, the content are enriching too! It keeps me motivated as I have to juggle between work and study.

Thank you so much for being an inspiration! Best regards all the way from Singapore :)

[john-naydavis]

currently a high school student*senior* striving to become an ER nurse Thank you for your videos

[carluhhh]

Absolutely love your vlog! I'm in my 4th & final year of nursing school and I've tried searching for nursing school vlogs, but none of them really ever appealed to me. But I love your vlog because you're so chill and encouraging, and you really set a good example of living a healthy & balanced lifestyle. Please continue doing what you're doing because your videos are so helpful and they motivate me to get into that study grind!

P.S. All of your desk accessories/supplies are honestly the coolest! Literally buying all of them lol. Thanks again!

[MiSSkOCALiNA]

I started studying veterinary medicine 3 weeks ago and find your suggestions very very helpful! So thank you loads!

[presidentialcandidate]

the inception reference made me smile.

[whatwouldhousedo]

Good video- thank you for taking the time to post these tips! What I'm finding works for me is to hand-write my notes in class using the Cornell method. Then in the library after school or when I get home, I type them into flashcards in Quizlet and study them that way, by reading the cards and answers out loud (this is important). Before exams, I will make voice memos of the flashcards I need to concentrate more on and study them verbally while doing tasks around the house, or in the gym, or even driving- I just have them play from my iPhone over headphones or my car stereo. This sequence engages writing (and handwriting is different than typing), reading, listening, and speaking; four levels of reinforcement, all using different parts of the brain. I've gotten 100% on my first two tests thus far, after being out of school for over 25 years.

[watercongas]

I'm not a medical student but I love watching your videos as a motivatotion for me to do better in uni! I think the most difficult part for me is that I simply never know what's important or not for the exam...

[hannahdivic]

Just found your channel I'm obsessed! It's so cool to have someone make chill relatable videos about studying and school that are really informative. I love that you're a med student but u still have a YouTube channel keep it up girl 😊💕

[primaxnocte-]

I know I'm a bit late but this is amazing. I'm currently working toward a B.Sc. in Biology for my Undergrad degree and I'm thankful you've posted this type of info. I coasted through high school and never learned how to study or prep for a class so this is definitely something I'll be using!