5 Proven Study

Strategies For
Med School

By Lakshya Trivedi, M.D

TheMDJourney.com
Top 5 Proven Study Strategies
for Medical School
Studying in med school is tough and time-
intensive. To succeed you'll have to master how
to do more in less time. Luckily for you, I've put
together my top 5 study methods which can help
you cut your studying by over 50% while
improving your retention. 

Are you ready?

#1

The Brain Dump

Grab a blank piece of paper and try to quickly write down all that you
know about a topic. 

If you nd yourself at a standstill - you just identi ed a gap. Mark this

gap down with a star or highlight. Just something so you know to come
back to it. 

Go ahead and complete the entire lecture and write down everything you
can remember. 

Now once you're done you should have tons of marks from where you
couldn't remember how to get from topic A to topic C. You also likely
forget small fact and details. 

Go look through your resource to nd out what these gaps are. Then
when you're ready - do the brain dump all over again.

Each time you do it you'll nd that you have less and less gaps.

Pro Tip: No one has to be able to read this brain dump. So write quickly,
use abbreviations, and avoid writing down info you know by heart. This
is an exercise to highlight your weakness. So stay e cient. 
#2

The Review Container

What gives us anxiety near test day? Is it the material we know well? 

Nope! It's the material which has been giving us trouble from the very
start. So why don't we create a method to address that weakness from
the start as well?

Here's how it works. 

When going through your lecture - identify the topics which are sure to
give you a tough time.

Grab some scratch piece of paper or index cards and write that topic
down. Place this paper into a bag or some type of container.

Now each evening reach into the container and do 1-4 random topics.
Use active strategies like drawing out diagrams, speaking out loud the
concept, or teaching it to your roommate. 

If you feel comfortable - perfect - you can take that note out. If not then
review the material from your lecture source and put it back in. 

As the test approaches you'll have less and less material which you
consider yourself to be weak in. 
#3

Strategic Group Quizzing

Normal group quizzing can be a distraction and can easily become a
social hour. 

But if used correctly - group quizzing works wonders. 

Here's how. 

Go through your lecture independently and come up with 5-10 major

questions which may show up on the test. Add these questions and
answers to a shared spreadsheet like Google Sheets. 

Now meet with your group 1-3x per week and ask each other questions
from that sheet. Have each other go up to a whiteboard and draw out
the concept or explain it out loud.

If you struggle with a topic - take note and have your classmates help
you. Then make sure to review that topic again that night to assure
you've mastered it. 

Pro Tip: Also keep track of topics your classmates struggle with. You
want to avoid their mistakes and should also brush up on these topics
as well. 
#4

The Anki Method

This is my core method that I teach. You should have a link to the free
video course in your email which walks you through the whole process.

But here's a quick overview. 

1. Skim your material and identify the major headlines and questions
which could be asked. 
2. Precreate Anki ashcards by taking screenshots of the slides into the
answer section. Add 1-3 slides with similar themes into one answer
section. Then create one cohesive question to cover all the slides. Ex.
"What are the risk factors for a myocardial infraction"
3. Go to lecture and add in any notes that are important
4. Review at home by going through all the ashcards. Trick is to give
yourself 10 seconds to learn as much as you can and then move on. You
will be shown the card again so it's important to keep on moving. 
5. Set up a system on the weekends and prior to exam to review your
ashcards. 

The Anki technique is brief here because it's already include in the guide
+ video course you were sent. Make sure to watch those step-by-step
videos!
#5

The Memory Palace

Our brains remember silly images better than they do boring facts. So
use that to your advantage. 

For example if you're trying to learn the drug tiotropium - think about
what it sounds like. To me it reminds me of tio - spanish for uncle and
the tropics. 

Put it together and I have an uncle with a tropical shirt. Now add in the
function of the drug. Tiotropium is used for COPD so we'll make our
uncle holding a cigarette. 

Now it's easy to remember Tiotropium using our silly image. 

If you have more drugs to remember come up with more silly images for
each of them.

Then imagine walking into your home, looking at your couch, and then
looking at your TV. Assign each drug to one of these three areas of your
home. 

1. Drug 1 image will be at my door

2. Drug 2 image will be sitting on my couch
3. Drug 3 image will be showing up on my TV

Now you can easily remember all the drugs using silly images + an area
you can easily picture such as your living room- this is your memory
palace. 
By Lakshya Trivedi, M.D
TheMDJourney.com

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