As A Medical Student, How Do You Study So That You Can Get To Understand And Keep Remembering?

This question was originally posted on Quora.com and was answered by Gary Larson, MD for 35 years - ER and Radiation Oncology - academic and private practice



When I started medical school, I didn’t know how disadvantaged I would be by having so few “biologic science” credits in college. I majored in Engineering Physics, which taught me to solve problems, mostly using mathematical concepts - which had essentially no relevance to what I would need to learn in the first year of medical school.

I had done some rote memorization in high school, but very little in college. I had taken only the bare minimum of “pre-med” requirements.

Biochemistry made sense, since it was built on the general and organic chemistry I had in college. Things like anatomy and embryology, however, were completely foreign.

I soon learned that the problem was that I had nothing to anchor these new pieces of information to - so they would just float out of my memory.

The best answer I can give you is to spend the time it takes to learn basic facts by repetitive cognition - repeating them over and over in your mind (while driving, taking a shower - anytime you can’t actually be looking at a book). Then, one by one, add new facts that can be anchored to those - then new ones that can be anchored to those - gradually branching from a seed to a tree (from the trachea to the lung segments, the aorta to its branches, etc.)

And - pay no attention to the rantings of the frustrated basic sciences professors when they tell you that patients will die if you don’t know the trivial facts they’re teaching in their class. (They’re just angry they couldn’t get into medical school themselves - “those who can, do…”) Medical education is built on years of repetition. What you don’t end up remembering from the first two years, will be repeated over the next 5 - 8 (depending on your specialty). You will thoroughly learn the small part of the “basic science” facts that you will actually use in your specialty. Just pass the first two years, so you can get on to the important stuff.



Source