I’m having problems with my studies actually and it worries me alot, I don’t know whether my study skill isn’t good enough. What happens is that whenever I’m studying I grab things easily but after a day or two I find it very difficult to remember most of the things I read.
Your comment here…That’s d prblm with most of us,I think d best soln for it is reading gradually, we shouldn’t rush to cover all,we shud read little and repeat it several time even if we feel we grab it,and after dat we shud be practicing by answering PQ’s,quizzes,etc.
Many study techniques have been studied and analysed, but no one proved better or more helpful than the active recall technique….. Active recall deals with testing yourself immediately after reading and continuing the testing process over a long period of time….If you read a topic today, get past questions on the topic, test yourself immediately after reading, test yourself after 5 hours, 24 hours, 2 days, 3days, 5 days and how long you can go…With this technique, you find out that things you studied can easily be remembered because you’ve made the neural network in the brain stronger on the subject matter….Other techniques such as jotting, cramming, glancing do not work as compared to this method…Studies even show that the act of re-reading is just a waste of time because you become familiar with the text instead of understanding what the text really says….Active recall also entails, linking the subject matter you’re reading to other experiences you must have had in the past, pausing when reading to remember a very important fact on the subject matter and also linking it to the place where you are on the subject matter….Thank you!
That’s exactly how the brain works. When you learn a new content, you have to repeat it (actively) and force your brain to recall it. It might sound crude, but definitely effective. Note down whatever you’ve learnt. e.g Let’s assume that I learnt about “poland syndrome” syndrome today (note: you should fully understand the concepts of the topic). The next day you wake up, check your jotter for the cogent stuff you’ve learnt the day before! Are you able to recall it fully without checking your textbooks? If you find recalling it easy, then don’t go over it for like a week. Actually, forgetting is a phase of learning stuffs actively. If you just learnt something, and you didn’t find it retaining it hard, then it’s either you’re a genius or you aren’t really learning it actively. The more you force your brain to recall a detail, the more it realizes that the detail is actually an important stuff you need to learn (thereby strengthening the connections). So, if you’re always forgetting stuffs you read (after understanding the concepts), then you’re probably still in the forgetting phase of learning. With constant and spaced review, you will soon/surely get to a stage where you will find reviewing the contents as a waste of time.
Also, try to capture the big picture. Imagine studying the innervations of ECRL,Triceps brachii, ECU, ECRB,EDM….. Separately! Almost everybody did that, but that more like a waste of time. The big picture is “The extensors(muscles of posterior compartment of arm and forearm) of upper limb are all supplied by radial nerve.
I once thought that forgetting denotes that I’m dumb. But the truth is that….for *long term* memorization, forgetting is actually a phase
Recall helps but try the usage of things around you to code what you have read and hold conversations using what you have learnt.It helps a lot.We mostly don’t forget conversation especially if we had to go back to confirm if we were right.
My sincere advise, if you have the time, s arch for the “Feynman technique”. It’s perfect
I think consciously practicing PQ, using funny mnemonics, jotting key points(facts) and active review will do alot in helping your recollection power to excel in med school
This is totally me. Although, I find that if I read and forget the next day, I reread and reread.. When exam comes, even if I didn’t remember the answer to the question the previous day, the answer comes to me as I start writing. Just flows back in..
Study group will solve the problem.
Taking voluntary tutorials too will do wonder for him.
If you want to know everything in your text at once you may end up learning nothing at all. You should try to practice spaced repetition…and for each reading make sure u understand atleast a section very well. You can also try visual reading and also watching of videos….your reading must be intentional ….read it until you know all the details and this won’t happen in one day sha
Tell him not to worry please.
He only need to be consistent.
By the way, if he’s just in 200l, he maybe having much of the issue because he’s new to medical terminologies.
Medicine is for hardworking folks actually