A 2008 journal article, "A conceptual model of medical student well-being, promoting resilience and preventing burnout," outlining how tough studying medicine can be, got me thinking how I have managed so far.
The coursework can be stressful and demanding. Often there are many subjects and topics to study all at once. This could be for an upcoming OSCE (Objectively Structured Clinical Examination), laboratory class including cadaver dissections, guest lectures delivered on difficult topics and even the end of semester exams.
Here are the top 10 methods you can implement to maximise your efficiency studying and managing your time better while you are in medical school.
#10 - Semester/Year Wall Calendar
A wall calendar of the semester or whole year can help tremendously with keeping track of all the upcoming events. This is especially useful to track when you will start the next block of learning so you can plan ahead and better manage your time. For example, to prepare for the surgical block a few weeks in advance, I revised key anatomy topics and common surgical pathologies that present to the emergency departments/rooms.
You should mark in any upcoming exams, papers, presentations and blocks of teaching. Seeing the whole semester helps with understanding how much or how little time you have left.
#9 - Weekly/Daily 'to-do' List
This one is pretty straight forward, keep a list to not get distracted too much. Make sure to set realistic goals. Those who use spaced repetition platforms such as Anki are particularly good at this because the application incentivizes studying everyday a set amount of flashcards.
#8 - Pomodoro Technique
This tip is so useful while studying, basically you set a timer for 25 minutes with no distractions. This time period is called a 'pomodoro'. Every 25 minutes (or 1 pomodoro), you take a 5 minute quick break to refresh your mind.
Repeat this 4 times. So far you have done 100 minutes of study, with 20 minutes of break time in between. During these mini breaks, you have refreshed your mind by having a drink/checking social media etc...
Now take a longer break, approx 20 minutes - 30 minutes, allow your knowledge to be consolidated and come back later and study again using the Pomodoro Technique!
#7 - Be Realistic
At this point studying medicine, you should know how long it takes you to learn a new concept, read through tons of pages in a textbook, cram all the semester lectures in a short time period etc. You can set goals, but try and make them atleast a bit realistic and not too far fetched. If you wish, you can track your activities in a week to see how far your progress.
#6 - Divide the Time Remaining
The key is to work backwards. If you know what needs to be done, you can divide the time remaining by the tasks you have. Remember to weigh the tasks accordingly and leave some time at the end to revise the content.
#5 - Be Specific
Saying that you will just study on the weekend or during a break carries little weight. Rather, be specific and commit that you will study X chapter on Saturday and Y on Sunday. Make sure to hold yourself accountable to minimise procrastination.
#4 - Avoid Long Study Sessions
Having mentioned the Pomodoro Technique, don't over exert yourself studying. Realistically, closer to exam time we all start cramming more hours in so try and set the hours depending on how you study normally.
#3 - Study During the Most Productive Hours
Depends what sort of person you are, if you are a morning person, try and learn during the early hours. If you are a night owl, then the opposite. I always find it better to study at night due to quietness and very little disruptions in the outside world.
#2 - Maximise Extra Time
This is a really useful tip I learnt in the hospitals on placement. A 5th year med student who was also there was revising his notes during down time when there wasn't much activity going on. You can also use your time wisely in between classes and breaks!
#1 - Regular Sleep
Really useful tip since you do this everyday. However many hours you do sleep, try and maintain a normal schedule. Really important when learning new content because it leads to more rapid learning and clear thinking the following day.
