Proffs are here !

A small study guide for the beginners out there

Proffs are coming up and I'm sure everyone who's ever given medical exams KNOWS that this is the worst part of the year for us. There's just a lot of stress in the air and if we could , we would just snap our fingers to fast forward and skip the whole dang month to the end ! Agreed ?

It's my fourth time dealing with this epidemic and I thought I'd share some of my little tips and tricks that have helped me overcome this mess every single year.

Number 1 : Start easy

Try to start with the easiest and the smallest topics, because:

• They're not scary to look at so it wont be as repelling. 
• It'll get you into the flow of studying 
• Completing every small topic will subconsciously give you a sense of achievement and motivate you to move forward with a feeling that you got this !

Number 2 : Study Effectively, not Endlessly 

If you believe that sitting down with a book in front of you and cramming every single word for 8 hours straight is going to get you the most learning outcome, my friend, you are wrong. It's not how MUCH you study, it's about HOW you study.

The way you are learning, effects a lot on the time you take and the amount of information that your brain will retain. Some ways to study effectively are :

Know your learning style :

Broadly categorized , there are 4 different types of learners :

1. Visual learners
2. Auditory learners
3. Reading/ writing learners
4. Kinesthetic learners

Visual learners :

These individuals learn best by looking at images. They can retain most concepts and information if it's related to an image or is in the form of an image. If you are a visual learner, I'd suggest you to make diagrams and link the information to the diagrams and different pictures. For example, if you are trying to memorize the distribution of the facial nerve, make a diagram of a face and color the different areas of the the distributions associated with a particular branch. If you are trying to memorize the facial motor points, draw a picture and locate them. draw the picture a few times and it will be easier to remember them in the long run.

Auditory learners: 

These individuals learn and memorize best if they listen to the information. They can retain most of the information delivered during a lecture or by listening to auditory tapes . If you are an auditory learner, have a friend read a topic and verbally explain it to you or summarize it to you in person or even by sending auditory messages. If you don't have anyone to do it for you or you feel like you don't want to trouble anyone, read it yourself. Say the important things and concepts out loud and record yourself. You can listen to your own recordings later . (Listening to your own voice may be one of the most cringy-est things you've ever done but don't worry ! It'll grow on you .)

Reading/ Writing learners :

You guessed it. People in this category memorize most information if they read it or write it down. If you are one these people , consider yourself lucky because you can learn best and get the most learning outcomes by simply reading your textbooks. If you are one of those who need to write stuff down to memorize it, go ahead, read the information and write it down a couple times. Tables, lists or just a plain concept. You'll ace it all.

Kinesthetic learners :

Now these are tough ones. They need to associate everything they learn with a movement or an activity of some sort. Hands on and experiments make them retain most of what they learn. If you are a kinesthetic learner, associate everything with an activity. For us physiotherapists , this is vital and an easy option since most of what we learn has a practical side to it and applying it on a fellow student or a colleague is an easy option. But for others who do not have this option available, try walking while you are memorizing. Have a pen or pencil in your hand. Underlining and highlighting can be helpful for individuals who learn well with activity. Get creative and experiment with ideas that you think will help you memorize better.


Figure out which category(ies) you fit best in . It may be one or more than one. Once you know HOW you can memorize things better, it will take less time and less energy. 

Take breaks !

Let me make this very clear, that at this point of your education life, it's not about how much you study, it's about how much you LEARN. Let me explain. When you drink a glass of water, you can only take a particular amount of water in a sip because then it starts to overflow , right? It's only how much water your mouth has the capacity for. (This is a weird example but it fits okay !) You drink that sip and then you get space for more. Similarly, your brain has a certain capacity. Reading and cramming through your textbook isn't the best way to get as much information as you'd like. You'll just keep gathering information in your head until it decides it's too much and starts to overflow. You need to give your brain the time to digest the given information so it can retain most of it and then be ready for more.

Use the 20-20 rule. Study for 20 minutes and then take a 20 minute break before you start again . You can even set a timer if you'd like . Do this for a while and then you can add variations in the rule according to your own individual capacity and need. Like study for 30 minutes and take 20 minutes off and then lower it down to 10 minutes etc etc. You get the idea. This will give your brain the time to retain the valuable information .

Only take the main concepts :

If you have two pages of information on a certain topic , say Stroke for example , read it thoroughly. But only to gather up the main concept given in those two pages. Underline or highlight those concepts. What stroke is , why it happens , what it does to the body and how you can treat it. That's all you need . Leave the statistics ,random case scenarios and the geographical distributions to one-time-reads only. This will help your mind retain the most important information because of the selective amount you're giving to it. 

Skimming and Scanning :

Skimming is rapidly over viewing the text to get the general idea and concept in it . Scanning is to rapidly go through a text to quickly collect the facts and figures in it. Know how to both ,skim and scan.Trust me , it's going to save you loads of time and energy.

Preferably , thoroughly read your text first. Then when you are reviewing it for the second time , skim and scan through the text to skip the data that you don't think is important to read again.
This is really really helpful when you revise everything before the exam and have limited time.

Now that we know how to study EFFECTIVELY and EFFICIENTLY , let's go through some important ways to learn for the long term  .

Number 3 : Repeat

Repetition is  key to remembering. But repeating the same text over and over again at the same time isn't the way to do it.
When you first read the text, take a break. Repeat it after 20-30 minutes. Then repeat it after 3 -4 hours. Then the next day. By repeating a text three times after a progressively increasing time duration, your mind classifies the data as an important piece of information and stores it to the long term memory.
You can even make flashcards for this purpose. Every once in a while pull out the flashcards and repeat the little pieces of information that you are afraid you will forget ,like the names of the cranial nerves and the muscles of the arm's extensor compartment etc etc.

Number 4 : Filter the given information

What I personally like to do is that when I study a chapter or topic for the first time, casually on the weekends or for my class tests , I use a pencil or a pen to underline everything I feel like is most important. The facts, the figures, the concepts. When I read through the text again for the second time for another test or maybe the send up exam, I use a bolder marker or pen to even narrow down the things that I feel like are most important from everything that I previously underlined. Or maybe when I read it for the second time , I realized that half of the things I previously underlined actually weren't that important. And for the third time when I study the same topic for my finals, I go through with a highlighter , to specify, even further, the important points.

This saves a lot of time when I'm revising everything finally before my exam because I know which things are the MOST important and which I only need to read for extra information and concepts. 

Number 5 : Study like a teacher

Another tip is that when you study any topic , study it with an idea in mind that you are going to teach this to someone. When you study a topic to teach it , you make sure you include the most relevant and sophisticated details in your lecture in the most easiest way to communicate. Which makes it easier for YOU to memorize it . This will help you focus on details that you think are important and specific and would've been skipped as unnecessary if you were skimming the whole thing to get through with it. To make this even more effective, ask a friend (even better if the friend is an auditory learner) to sit with you and listen to you. If no one is available , just teach an imaginary friend! No one's judging.

Number 6 : Study to learn

Lastly, I'd like to highlight here that what you are studying NOW in your professional studies, what matters is the knowledge, not the marks. Don't study to get the numbers. Study so you can actually collect knowledge and use it later in life to serve the purpose you are studying for in the first place. The numbers will come when you focus on what you learn. It's not about the quantity as much as it is about the quality.

So these were the few main things that I like to keep in mind and implement while I study for my finals or whenever I study in general . I hope it helps any beginners or struggling ones out there. Finally, DO NOT panic. Don't stress out if you're a procrastinator and you cant help it. Don't be hard on yourself. Don't be frustrated that your pace is slow and you're not going to make it in time. Even if you do a page a day, just keep going . You'll get there. When you go smoothly , the speed will gradually increase itself but panicking and stressing out is only going to decrease the quality of information you learn in the mean time.

Be patient. Be relaxed. You'll do great !