#study technique

Hi guys,

Here I am with another post about one of the more demanding but fascinating exams in med school.

I am a physiology lover over anatomy, and it was a pleasure to study this subject, even though I admit it was tough.

When I first had a look at the syllabus, it seemed to me it was immense. In my University, it is a single exam, with the possibility of splitting it into two partial interims during the same exam session.

Since the coursework was enormous, I decided to break it into pieces, worrying about one part at a time. Every section was a macro topic, such as neurophysiology, physiology of the cardiovascular system, etc.

Here is what I did for every piece:

1.Attend classes: I think this is an unskippable point for the physiology exam. It is a subject that you must understand more than memorizing. Go to class, ask questions, take precise notes, and you will have done nearly half of the work.

2. Deepen: I used the book to add extra information to my notes, to have a complete view of the topic. Physiology is an enormous subject, so the professor does not have time to deal with all the material. Having a general idea of the omitted parts will be helpful to understand the subject better.

3. Schematize: at the end of every section, I made a minimal scheme. It was a sort of index of the topics, with titles and subtitles, to have a precise outline in my mind. I used different colours for every section to visually remember it.

After having gone through all the material, I picked up the pieces. With a general idea of the subject in mind, I read all my notes again. While reading, I hooped the keywords with a pen.

For every part, I wrote on a copybook the essential information, using colour coding. For example, for the cell physiology, which was purple, I wrote all the necessary formulas. For the neurophysiology, which was pink, I schematized the principal sensory pathways. For the endocrine system, I draw a chart of the main hormones and their characteristics.

Then I started recalling everything to understand whether I could build a speech on all the topics. I did this alone, speaking out loud but also with my usual study buddy.

Also, since it was a written test, I practised using the past rounds’ exams.

And that’s it! Hope this can be useful to someone, and good luck if you are preparing for this exam

Hello everyone,

I am so glad to announce that I just finished the second year of med school! I am sorry for having not being active on Tumblr during the last months, but now I am here to share my study methods for the exams of this session, beginning with neuroanatomy.

Neuroanatomy was, for me, the better part of the anatomy exam. It may seem chaotic when you start studying it, but I find so fascinating the way we are precisely organised and the abilities our brain allow us to have.

Since neuroanatomy might be hard to understand at first-lecture, I advise a layeredstrategy to approach this exam.

Also, I strongly suggest using an atlas to memorise the structure of the nervous system. I found Netter’s Atlas of Neuroscience very complete and understandable, and it is cheap too (I paid less than 20 euros).

Here are the steps of my preparation for this exam:

1) Reading all the material

When I first faced this subject, it seemed to me that I could not understand anything. Everything was so confused, with unclear terminology and references to structures that I did not know.

That is why I preferred to have a general look at all the material, without focusing on understanding in depth what I was reading, but trying to catch as much information as I could to have a basic knowledge of neurosciences.

During this phase, I attended classes, read my notes and read the book. After that, I drew a minimal mind map with main topics to start building a scheme in my mind.

2) Active comprehension and schematisation

After having gone through all the material, I quitted the classes and favoured studying on my own. I guess this is a personal decision: generally speaking, I find it vital to go to classes, but in this case, I felt I was losing my time. I realised I needed much more time than a two-hour lesson to comprehend a topic, so I could not focus, ending up distracting and wasting my time.

I started reading all the material again, trying to grasp the point.

I also began to schematise the topics. I selected the most helpful images of the atlas, and I copied them on my notebook, adding a description.

It may seem time-consuming, but it was easier to memorise anatomical structures after having drawn them.

I also compared my notes with the professor’s slides to have a more schematic view.

3) Memorisation and recalling with a friend

I based the last part of my studying on trying to remember all the information.

I used mnemotechnics for the most mnemonic parts, such as the peripheric nervous system. By the way, I think neuroanatomy is not one of the more mnemonic exams in med school.

The technique that helped me the most to fix the information was recalling them with a friend. I am not a fan of studying with someone when I still have to comprehend the topic, but I find it vital some weeks before the exam. Having a study buddy allows you to see the subject from a different point of view and to understand whether you missed relevant information.

Also, I recalled all the topics out loud on my own. It helped me test myself and perceiving if I was able to build a speech on that point.

And that’s how I prepared for one of my favourite exams in med school so far. Let me know whether you agree with this method or you would have changed something.

Hope this post will be useful for someone ✨