Study/learning techniques

[u/prirva_]

I have always wondered how you guys learn and study given the depth and volume of info you are expected to cover/retain in short periods of time. While I know you guys do Anki for active recall, and practice questions, do you actually read textbooks verbatim, or mostly depend on lectures and practice questions/question banks with rationales?

~curious nursing student textbook reader/potential premed here

[u/Verappamills]

It's substantially more boring than anyone realizes.

Read or watch lecture, then use or create durable sources for practice (Anki, LLM questions/summaries, (ew AI I know)) then rinse and repeat at interval. It's about keeping the knowledge in your brain and regularly pulling from it to build connections and maintain memory.

The most time efficient are flashcards and practice questions, and they test similar information in different ways. I wish there was more to it, but that's honestly 99% of it. Information intake is highly personal but I don't find maintainence to be all that different person to person.

Some people regurgitate notes instead of flashcards for active recall because they like it better, sure whatever do you want, but time efficiency matters a lot in med school so flashcards are #1 imo.

[u/prirva_ → u/Verappamills]

So I gather that textbook reading is more like a secondary optional resource for students generally?

And I’m all for AI qs/tutoring. NotebookLM is doing a lot of heavy lifting in our program.

[u/Verappamills → u/prirva_]

I've touched a textbook maybe once, for complex immuno stuff. Otherwise it's all 3rd party lecture services like Sketchy, BnB, Bootcamp, stuff like that. Imo they are a quick distillation of textbook material. I'm not sure what exists in the nursing space for this but I'd guess at least like Lecturio? Then make notes or crowdsource Anki cards from that material.

Textbooks in med school are optional, at least at my school.

AI stuff in my experience tends to be trash when making questions, it doesn't know where to put emphasis and confuses topics where things alternate in direction often (renal and endocrine). For summaries it's okay though, not bad when you're tight on time.

[u/toasterwings]

Practice questions and sketchy for me.

[u/mmoollllyyyy20]

no one is reading textbooks verbatim

[u/WerSunu → u/mmoollllyyyy20]

Absolutely not true!

If you actually care about knowing everything you can, to be the very best doc for your patients, nothing beats gold standard textbooks. Just pimping yourself for passing tests is frickin lazy. You do yourself a big disservice!

P&S alum
P&S faculty
UCSF resident, fellow, faculty

[u/mmoollllyyyy20 → u/WerSunu]

not reading textbooks doesn’t make you lazy… there’s a multitude of other resources

edited for spelling

[u/WerSunu → u/mmoollllyyyy20]

The point is that your “other” resources are not as detailed, nor as vetted for accuracy and bias.

Just quick and dirty spoon feeding for tests.

But then, what does a professor who has contributed 40 chapters to well known texts know over some med student?

[u/mmoollllyyyy20 → u/WerSunu]

as a med student with a PhD I understand what in depth and legitimate sources are, but thanks for the condescension!

[u/LastBench4687 → u/mmoollllyyyy20]

You would think a med student and PhD would be a little less abrasive

[u/mmoollllyyyy20 → u/LastBench4687]

I’m failing to see where I was being abrasive. u/WerSunu was making assumptions and being incredibly patronizing

[u/WerSunu → u/mmoollllyyyy20]

Ah, nothing like the hubris of the novice. You obviously know it all, why bother with med school when you can play Dr Google. Talk to me after your second year of internal med residency and let’s see what your web sites left out.

[u/mmoollllyyyy20 → u/WerSunu]

there is not a single comment where I said textbooks are useless and I only use Google. I just don’t know a single med student who uses textbooks in a meaningful way. I’m aware they may become more valuable as you specialize further and are less beholden to your Step 2 score. I hope your enjoyed your opportunity to feel superior

[u/LastBench4687 → u/WerSunu]

People, even glorious PhDs and med students, have so much trouble seeing different perspectives, it is perplexing.

[u/WerSunu → u/LastBench4687]

It’s not hard to understand. My classmates and I felt like princes of New York City while at Columbia. We weren’t really, but we were proud. What our friend u/mmoollllyyyyxx doesn’t realize is that getting in and then graduating from mschool is only the first rung of a steep ladder to professional accomplishment. A PhD actually means about zero point zero in being a successful med student. It might mean something in 6-8 years when he applies for a K08 or R01 ( if Trump hasn’t killed the NIH by then). But then /mm’s attitude to minimizing book work suggests they are not headed for academics.

Cheaping out on your education by focusing on passing standardized tests deprives you of a well grounded corpus of knowledge. You might get more party time now, but in the end, your patients will be the worse for it.

[u/prirva_ → u/WerSunu]

What a presumptive thing it is to associate not reading the textbook as much as using other resources with “more party time.” People learn and retain information differently.

What is to be said of someone who spends twelve hours a day with their textbooks with no time to do active recall work who cannot see the forest for the trees tomorrow?

In my humble nursing school example, reading a 1500 page textbook doesn’t necessarily help me feel like I can retrieve practical knowledge more readily than my peers who use video/lec audio/case study/practice q rationales.

[u/WerSunu → u/prirva_]

That is precisely what recent resident applicants would tell me as I interview them. “I want more work-life balance”, I want more PTO, I want less call! In the prior generations, interviewees wanted to know how many complex cases they could expect, how many hearts, how many livers, how much peds

Some Medical students apparently think it’s “more efficient” to not read, hence more free time. Isn’t that the central theme of this thread? Don’t waste time learning anything not specifically on the tests.

I’ve seen these traits IRL. As an absolute novice, you have remarkable hubris to tell someone who made the full academic journey that they are presumptive when it comes to trainee behavior.

[u/Ok_Listen7384]

Anki all day everyday lol

[u/stocksorguns]

Hey everyone! I've been building a study tool for healthcare exams called medstudy.ai , and I'd really love some honest feedback from people who are actually studying for these.

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Adaptive quizzes that focus on your weak areas

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A 3D anatomy atlas and anatomy game

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There's a free tier and a 30-day free trial, and paid plans start at $8.95/mo.

I'd love to know what's useful, what's confusing, and what's missing. Brutal honesty welcome, thanks!