Hello, all. Hope everyone had a relaxing weekend.
This weekend was perfect for outdoor activities down here in
Florida. We got a little bit of a cold front Saturday and Sunday,
so my pals and I went to the Florida State Fair Sunday afternoon. I
haven't been to the fair since I was kid, and it was still as
awesome as I remembered it. I'm sure Dr. Seaman (our resident
nutrition expert) would have never approved the mass amount of
carni-food I consumed, but it was a weekend, and it was the fair.
We hit Cracker Country for some beef jerky and kettle corn, and
even tempted fate, riding several extremely sketchy rides. All in
all it was a pretty darn good weekend.
Midterms are around the corner, and like most of the students I
talked to last week, I started the strenuous task of studying this
past weekend. Each trimester I try to write a little something to
guide some of the incoming students on how to go about tackling the
upcoming barrage of exams. It took me about two and a half
trimesters to lock down a study plan that finally seemed
effective.
Guy, Margo, and I studying for our radiographic positioning
midterm.
The biggest factor that weighs on the study process is time. It
is vital to give yourself enough time to process and learn the
material. After my first trimester, I quickly realized that
cramming would not cut it in this program. There is just too much
information to try to memorize.
This leads to me to my next study pearl--do not just memorize
information. Here is where anatomy, physiology, and pathology
are critical. If you are able to understand the mechanisms
underlying the topics you are trying to learn, the light bulb will
click on a lot faster. This may take a little extra time and some
spatial reasoning to put everything together, but it will
definitely make you a better doctor in the end.
Another shot of Guy, Margo, and I studying for our
radiographic positioning midterm.
The third and final tier of Dex's amazing study plan is to
create study guides. There is a reason this is the last tier,
because it's my least favorite. Though this last step seems
repetitive and tedious, it is arguably the most effective part of
the plan. Here is where it all ties together. By writing out your
notes and reading them aloud, you begin to filter information
through multiple parts of your brain, more areas than simply
reading notes. Think of it as throwing a mud ball at a fence. The
first time you throw the ball of mud, only some of it may stick.
The next time some mud gets flung at the fence, more will stick,
until you have a huge wad of mud--knowledge--hanging on the fence
that is your mind. Decent analogy, right? Thank you, Dr. Stark.
There you have it. The three step process that has successfully
gotten me through seven and a half trimesters worth of exams. This
is just how I do things. I'm not saying it's the cat's meow or
anything, but it seems to do the job.
I hope this was a helpful entry for some, and if anyone has any
questions, don't hesitate to post a comment or shoot me an
email.
Catch ya next time,
Dex