One of my favourite resources, to learn about learning, is Learning Scientists. Their most recent vlog deals with learning in medical school. Relevant to medical students obviously, but some of the underlying ideas are probably relevant to all of those in high pressure, high content degrees.
AI Summary 🤖
Expanded Insights for Medical Students:
1. 📚 Focus on Efficient Strategies
- Challenges of Volume: Medical school requires students to absorb an overwhelming amount of material. Instead of aiming for complete mastery of all details, students are encouraged to prioritize efficiency.
- Spacing and Retrieval Practice:
- Spacing: Reviewing material over multiple sessions instead of cramming improves long-term retention.
- Retrieval Practice: Actively recalling information (e.g., using flashcards or answering questions) strengthens memory and comprehension.
- Rearranging Existing Practices: For example, instead of revisiting lecture notes immediately after class, students can engage with the material a day later to benefit from spacing.
2. 🗂 Balance Memorization and Integration
- Foundational Memorization: Early in medical school, students often need to memorize terms and concepts. Tools like flashcards are useful here.
- Relational Learning:
- Transition to understanding how terms and concepts relate to each other.
- Use study aids like concept maps, tables, or charts to visualize connections.
- Practice applying knowledge to clinical scenarios or disease mechanisms to see relationships in action.
- Application: Exams often test integration through complex, scenario-based questions rather than simple factual recall. For instance, a question might ask about the downstream effects of nerve damage.
3. 📋 Develop Question Strategies
- Understanding Question Types:
- Basic recall: Rare in medical exams but foundational.
- Second-order questions: Require applying knowledge to infer answers.
- Third-order questions: Ask students to synthesize information and make clinical decisions.
- Efficient Test-Taking:
- Learn to triage questions: Quickly identify questions you can answer easily, those that need time, and those to skip temporarily.
- Practice with NBME-style questions to get comfortable with their complexity and structure.
- Test Anxiety Management: Developing a calm approach to decision-making under time pressure is a critical skill.
4. 🧠 Tackle Neurodiversity and Anxiety
- Recognize Common Challenges:
- Medical students often experience ADHD, anxiety, or impostor syndrome for the first time due to increased stress and workload.
- ADHD can hinder focus over long periods, while anxiety occupies working memory, reducing the capacity to solve problems effectively.
- Strategies for Management:
- Flexible Scheduling: Instead of rigid, hour-by-hour plans, create fluid daily goals that accommodate variability in attention.
- Mindfulness and Stress Management: Incorporate techniques like meditation or deep breathing to manage anxiety.
- Build Coping Skills Early: Practice strategies in low-stress situations to ensure they become second nature when needed.
- Support Systems:
- Seek help from mental health services or academic counselors to design personalized strategies.
5. 🌟 Cultivate a Healer’s Perspective
- The End Goal:
- The ultimate purpose of medical education is to prepare students to provide excellent patient care. Empathy, problem-solving, and communication skills often outweigh perfect test scores.
- Think Beyond Scores:
- Focus on becoming a compassionate, resourceful doctor rather than obsessing over top grades.
- Develop the skill of asking for help when needed, as this is vital for patient safety and collaborative healthcare.
- Clinical Context:
- Relate theoretical knowledge to patient scenarios. For example, when learning about nerve pathways, imagine diagnosing a patient with a related condition.
- Keeping a patient-centered approach helps motivate learning and makes it more relevant and impactful.