How I Study
I should have written this a long time ago - in as much as I am the self-appointed spokesperson for Anki/AnkiDroid, the pitch does get old and I'm tired of explaining the same thing repeatedly. (So if you're reading this because I linked you because this discussion came up, don't take offense - in fact, know that this is especially for you).
So let's just get to it.
Anki.
It's a program free on PCs across the board and a free app on Android devices (on iOS you get to pay $25 because they know they can get away with it).
You use it to make flash cards.
Which you then study.
Every day.
Before I get further, an explanation of its basis is due, methinks. Hello spaced repetition.
A wise man once said that you shouldn't waste energy doing something that someone else has done better (or if he hadn't, he should have), and so, courtesy of Wikipedia, here's a brief summary of what Spaced Repetition is: An evidence-based learning technique that is usually performed with flashcards. Newly introduced and more difficult flashcards are shown more frequently while older and less difficult flashcards are shown less frequently in order to exploit the psychological spacing effect.
I said brief summary, so I'm not going to start going into what the psychological spacing effect is - Google is your friend - and in my opinion, what's important there is what I put in bold. The idea is, you quickly 'filter' away the 'easy' cards and they come up less often, which is fine, because you know that content, while 'difficult' cards keep coming up regularly and force you to learn them, whether or not you like it.
Issa perfect!
There's actually a ton of ways in which you can use Anki (and other flashcard apps, for that matter), including getting pre-made decks to help supplement your other study techniques, but you know how the title above refers to me?
I'm just going to stick to that…otherwise I might as well have just posted a link to the Anki Manual.
What I do is, I make my own flash cards. It's somewhat easier because I type notes, but these days we get presentations anyway, so that's a small aspect of it. The other is, which I will re-emphasize in a while, is that it's been so worth it that even if making cards gets tiring, I'd rather do that than not. Third, and this is what I'll highlight here - it's much easier to learn cards that you've made yourself.
We need to backtrack a little here first though, because this is me trying to explain how I study, generally - not just how I use Anki.
I take notes in class (mostly…sometimes I just copy-paste what someone else has already typed, and it's not just notes that I jot down, if you know what I mean), and then, if they don't feel adequate, I add things to them. I'll sit with a textbook, or Medscape/UpToDate article, and add whatever I think is needed. What I need to understand, I make it a point to do it then - I like to think that I grasp concepts fairly quickly, and usually remember them (and then, apparently, explain them in such a way that the person I'm speaking to will understand, but won't be able to tell someone else…) - so once that's done, it's locked in. After that, I make my cards.
Making cards means that I set the question and then put in the answer.
And I made that extremely obvious statement only because it serves as a launch pad for me to explain what a 'question' could be: sometimes it's just a fill-in-the-blanks type of thing, where I need to remember a specific fact or figure (e.g. jaundice in a newborn is always pathological if it manifests…in the first 24 hours); other times it's a concept that needs to stick (e.g. explain the basis of the synacthen test); and other times it's good ol' lists (e.g. give 3 complications of an unrepaired VSD). Actually, there's a whole range of things I do here - the point I wanted to make was, there's no one way to set a question. It's all up to you and it just depends on what you're trying to remember, as well as how you've understood it.
Over the years I've made a number of terrible cards, having loaded them too much (i.e. put too much to be answered in one card) or having set useless non-specific questions - and that's something I'm still learning to do better, but a few things I feel must be said are:
Don't do what I did. Don't fill up too much information on one card. It will quickly grow incredibly painful and you will dread it every single time.
Don't be afraid to make a billion 'cheap' cards - where there's very little information per card. It's actually not that hard to get them done, and as a bonus, you're not afraid to mark that you got it wrong.
Set specific questions. You might know exactly what you're referring to when you type 'Dopamine' while making cards on the mechanism of action of neurotransmitters at the time, but three years down the line when you've merged decks you're just going to question what was wrong with you.
If you can't find a way to break down a card, ask, please. There's a way 99.9% of the times and you'll be glad to have split it up.
Those were specifics about making cards in general. A few more caveats about what I do with regard to school:
I try to make cards as soon as possible - that is, the day the topic was covered. Sometimes class notes are enough and I'll start on it in class itself, other times I'll do it after going home. I do that because it's the freshest it'll ever be in mind, which means that I'll spend less time 'learning' the cards for the first time.
I then also 'learn' the cards ASAP - through Anki (which means doing them for the first time on the app) on the same day. Again, it's very fresh because I learned it in class and typed the question and answer just a few hours ago, so I'm able to filter away cards as 'Easy' relatively quickly, which reduces my workload.
Since school is all day, I tend to learn my cards at night. Sleep consolidates memory, and my first review happens the next morning, before the next set of classes (read: new cards).
It's honestly that simple.
I make flash cards for everything that I can possibly make cards for, and the rest I highlight in my notes so that when I'm revising near exam time (which happens to be the next time I ever look at my notes), I know that that's stuff I need to spend a little more time on.
I'll also throw in at this point that I make cards for every subject, mostly because it spares me the effort of needing to make a timetable and figure out when to study what I left out. This may or may not have been inspired by a certain experience where I'd carded everything but one subject and near exams I was caught off-guard because I'd never made the time for it…haha. I passed though, so it's all good.
Once the cards are made, it's just a question of learning and reviewing them daily.
If that sounds like a drag, well, all I have to say is…a couple of things:
I'm the type of person who refuses to pull all-nighters or study 'intensely' in a shorter span of time - I'd rather do bit by bit over a sustained period.
It's not always easy. I do need to pep-talk myself as well, but…it's worth it. None of us enjoys stress, and I'm even worse, so to me there's no debate of what the better option is. (Along this note, by the way, check out this other semi-related thing I wrote about how 'one change' isn't really that straightforward)
This is a system that works for me. That's the only person I can absolutely guarantee it's effective for - though I do have people who joined the bandwagon. The point is, I do recognize that this isn't necessarily for everyone (remember, there is no absolute!). Maybe you've got a different study system that works really well for you, in which case, congratulations! You're really under no obligation to give this a shot.
Just to be clear on the last one there - it's not a snide 'fine, don't listen to me' type of comment. There are people who can…I don't know, draw things out and remember them forever. I am not one of those people - and so, even if you told me that it would give me 100% recall, I'm just going to have to pass and reasonably expect that you won't take offense because that's just stupid.
Ditto with me, in reverse.
Anki is just what I do.
Anki is also what I'd recommend you give a shot, at least.
Anki all the waaaaaay.
Okay, clearly, we're done here.
Till next time!