How to Best Learn Medicine?

Medicine is an exciting and challenging field. You will learn a lot of new things during your medical school journey. The way you learn different subjects is quite different to how you learned at high school.  Your ability to better understand, learn, retain, and evaluate information will make you more successful. From classes to assignments, lab work to tests, students need to put extra effort and energy to succeed in medical school.

Medical school courses and the associated assignments, quizzes and lab work are rigorous. You need to learn an endless amount of information to absorb. You need to collect scientific information and clinical information to clear your concepts. Students find it challenging to learn and memorize intricate medical terminologies and complex medical concepts.

Due to this rigorous course load, many students can’t be able to study well and end up failing these courses. Retaking courses and preparing for make-up tests is so hectic and requires more time and energy to learn the sheer volume of material.

In order to secure stellar grades in medical school, students are required to work hard and study smart to stay ahead of the game. Here are a few strategies that will help you learn best, prepare well for USMLE Step 1, and eventually help you succeed in medical school. Let’s get started.

Plan Your Study Session

Planning is the key to stay organized throughout your academic journey in a Caribbean medical school. Attending lectures, doing assignments, preparing for exams, along with personal commitments can be challenging. However, creating a plan can help you stay on top of your studies. Create a schedule and set aside time slots for studying, relaxing, hanging out and exercising.

Make sure to set aside time for meeting with friends, doing your favorite hobby and watching your favorite TV series. Remember, studying medicine requires immense concentration to perform effectively in medical school. Doing anything that makes you feel comfortable is good for your mental health. So, create a study plan that allows you to achieve your study goals.

Choose the Right Learning Style

As a medical student, you are supposed to learn complex medical concepts and difficult terms. You can do this challenging task when you know the learning style that suits you best. Since there are so many ways to figure out your learning style, the best thing that works best is taking the learning style assessment.

There are many websites, online tools available that will ask you several questions about how you prefer to learn the information and understand the difficult concept. This will give you a better idea of your learning style and how to memorize the concepts more effectively with greater learning retention.

Revise Your Lectures Regularly

During the first two years, you are supposed to digest a lot of information and are expected to memorize each and every medical terminology or concept. In fact, understanding intricate concepts is one of the hardest aspects of studying medicine. Mastering all the medical concepts, mechanism of drug actions, and anatomical terms are the key to becoming an excellent physician and treating your patients. 

To understand the concepts explained in a lecture, it is important to revise the material you have learnt by reading the lecture slides. Reviewing the material daily will imprint the information into your head and make it easier for your brain to recall the information on the test day quickly.

Polish Note-Taking Skills

Creating notes is the basic skill every medical student needs to develop to organize the information in the right order. Building a good note taking skill can make it extremely easier to prepare for the board exams and class quizzes. A good strategy to make effective notes is to revise all the important points taught in the class.

Learn how to take notes. Write down the main concepts, medical terms, and important information presented in the lecture and textbook. Reading your notes will aid in memory retention, enabling you to identify, organize and relate the information you have gathered. This is indeed the best strategy to study well in medical school and prepare for your final exams.

Record Your Lectures

Recoding the lectures is another effective study technique that can maximize the information you take in. You may miss an important point while taking notes during the lectures. However, watching the videos of your lectures will help you better understand the topic. In addition, you can revise every point of the lecture and learn all the important details that will eventually prepare you for the exams.

Set Aside Time to Relax

Managing medical school course load, assignments and clinical work is no easy feat; it is important to refresh your mind and body to better absorb the information. Take regular breaks during the study sessions, so you can find it easier to survive and thrive in medical school. Moreover, a healthy diet and exercise is important for your brain functioning. Do whatever makes you happy, treat your body well and you will be all set to start your medical school with a bang.

Useful Learning Resources

Two African-American woman exercising together outdoors wearing long sleeved sports clothing. The woman with short hair in the dark pink shirt is a plus size model with a large build. She is in her 30s and her friend is in her 40s. They are sitting on the ground on exercise mats lifting medicine balls from side to side to strengthen their cores.

In this digital age, students can easily access powerful study tools and video resources to study smarter. Medical students can use the following useful resources to become a successful student.

•         Flashcards
•         Educational videos
•         Online practice questions
•         Study apps
•         Online courses

Over to You

Medical school is tough. The amount of course material you have to learn in medicine is larger than in college. Mastering the mountain of information, preparing well for board exams, and securing stellar grades is an intricate undertaking. With these effective study techniques, you can learn medicine in the best way possible and succeed in a Caribbean medical school.