Chapter 5 : Am I doing it right ( 5 )

5.4 How do I  remember what  I have studied?

To remember what you have studied  requires a lot of sincerity during studying and blessing from God. By God’s grace I can still remember things that were taught more than twenty years ago such as Additional Mathematics, Organic Chemistry and Physics, and I have been able to teach these secondary school subjects to form five students. If one studied for the love of it and never regarded studying as a chore, then one will enjoy and remember the subjects well.

Teaching others  does help a great deal. It forces you to know the material very well in order to teach others. We must be aware that there are many steps of learning including reading, understanding, remembering, synthesizing, analysis and evaluation.

For one to be able to teach well, one has to reach the stage of analysis which is not easy to do

But once this knowledge is acquired, it will stick in the mind and be recalled when needed especially in exams, which is to one’s definite advantage. In the end, it is the people who teach others that benefit the most, has full control of his or her knowledge, and gain the blessings from God in the process.

Learning through our senses :

# Sight – 83%

            - show pictures and diagrams

            - make a good effort to illustrate points

# Hearing – 11%

# Smell – 3.5%

# Taste – 1.1%

# Touch – 1.5%

Here are some tips on how to have a good and solid understanding of your pre-clinical material where a lot of reading, understanding, remembering, synthesizing, analysis and evaluation are required.

# Review your notes and reading frequently, so the material is ‘fresh’

# As you’re reading your text or reviewing your notes, generate and write down questions about the material.

# Keep track of any terms you need to know. Mark these on a separate note title it as ‘grey area’ or ‘ must-know list’

Must-know, good-to-know

Must-see, good-to-see

This is a very important list for all medical students and they should obtain the help of lecturers to develop them. The list will help highlight to them which cases, subjects or topics need to be empahasised over and over again. An example of a must-know : the clinical features of heart failure. A good-to-know may be the current treatment of heart failure. As for the must-see, as an example, all students must see and recognise a case of papilloedema, and a good-to-see case is one of optic atrophy due to glaucoma.

The do’s and don’ts of studying

The do’s :

# Prepare before any lecture or tutorial

# Practise output learning

# Start studying with a prayer

# Smile while studying

# Ensure conducive environment

# Green and yellow colours have been proven to be stimulating and able to enhance learning

# While reading, use your index finger to point the lines in the book or to underline to remain focused and maintain concentration

The don’t’s :

# Studying while lying down

# Study with the music on

# Being absent from any lectures or tutorials

# Study passively

# Read only, with no pencil or paper to scribble

Research have shown that we remember :

10% of what we read

: Not effective if done without the next four steps. This is the most common cause of student studying so hard and yet still fail the examination.

20% of what we hear

: Attending lecture is mandatory

50% of what we hear and read

: Hence it is important to see the presentation and hear the lectures

70% of what we discuss

 : Study group will help

90% of what we do: Need to do MCQs, essay, etc

100% of what we teach.

(How to become a good & successful medical student; Muhaya Hj Mohamad)