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Best Setup For Studying In Med School?


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I realize that I may have to adapt my study habits to cope with the sheer volume coming at me in med school and so I'm wondering how most people integrate different technological platforms, note taking, study setup etc.

 

For example, what combination based on currently available technology (if needed at all) would be ideal (desktop, laptop + external monitor?, tablet, old school note taking, etc.). Are there any items that you find particularly helpful to maximize study efficiency?

 

Do you find that the way you study in med school is different than undergrad? If so, what did you change?

 

Thanks

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For my tech setup...I use OneNote for EVERYTHING. I have a laptop, tablet (8" and 11" both with pressure-sensiotive styli) a desktop (nnot necessary really) and my Note 4 smartphone...

 

In first year I took notes by hand using my 11" windows tablet mostly....entirely in onenote (I "print" the slides on a onenote page then annotated with my own handwriting during lectures). I have different section for each course. THe benefit of this is everything is searchable...I can instantly search for any keyword across my now two-years of med school notes. A big advantage also is that with OneDrive (also Microsoft) built into OneNote, all my notes sync to all my devices. This is not only gfreat for backup, but also because I always have my notes on me! I use my tiny, long-bnattery 8" tablet for reviewing on the go (or on the treadmill/stationery bike during cram time), my phone even on the subway/whenever I have some free time and nothing else. 

 

I use my desktop mostly for watching recorded lectures (usually at 2-2.5X speed) since U of T posts all lectures online the same day of recording. then i just use my desktop monitor playing the lecture and take notes on my tablet or laptop. The tablet came in very handy during first year (esp in Anatomy) but not so much second year where drawing things isn't as useful.

 

As for studying habits, I'm not a great model for that since I cram everything, just like in UG, except that my cramming sessions have goten bigger (e.g. I now usually cram everything into the last 3 days before an exam). This isn't th ebest method TBH, but works for me. Reviewing regularly (a few lectures most days) would work best....also many people swear by electronic cue-cards, like quizlet or enki...I used this for pure memorization things like pharma/micro and it was useful.  

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For my tech setup...I use OneNote for EVERYTHING. I have a laptop, tablet (8" and 11" both with pressure-sensiotive styli) a desktop (nnot necessary really) and my Note 4 smartphone...

 

In first year I took notes by hand using my 11" windows tablet mostly....entirely in onenote (I "print" the slides on a onenote page then annotated with my own handwriting during lectures). I have different section for each course. THe benefit of this is everything is searchable...I can instantly search for any keyword across my now two-years of med school notes. A big advantage also is that with OneDrive (also Microsoft) built into OneNote, all my notes sync to all my devices. This is not only gfreat for backup, but also because I always have my notes on me! I use my tiny, long-bnattery 8" tablet for reviewing on the go (or on the treadmill/stationery bike during cram time), my phone even on the subway/whenever I have some free time and nothing else. 

 

I use my desktop mostly for watching recorded lectures (usually at 2-2.5X speed) since U of T posts all lectures online the same day of recording. then i just use my desktop monitor playing the lecture and take notes on my tablet or laptop. The tablet came in very handy during first year (esp in Anatomy) but not so much second year where drawing things isn't as useful.

 

As for studying habits, I'm not a great model for that since I cram everything, just like in UG, except that my cramming sessions have goten bigger (e.g. I now usually cram everything into the last 3 days before an exam). This isn't th ebest method TBH, but works for me. Reviewing regularly (a few lectures most days) would work best....also many people swear by electronic cue-cards, like quizlet or enki...I used this for pure memorization things like pharma/micro and it was useful.  

 

Thanks for the reply. Is using OneNote/OneDrive relatively straightforward? (excuse my tech ignorance) and did you find it difficult going from hand written notes to a tablet with stylus? 

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Use OneNote for sure - the syncing is great, but the platform itself is so efficient for organization, keyboard shortcuts to change formatting of items of different importance and I turn essentially my whole screen into a notepad. I prefer typing though, you can type faster than you can write.

 

Don't take notes in lecture IMO and don't re-watch lectures. The slides are the notes; if you spend your time being attentive they are all you'll need. Basically, focus on being as efficient as possible, the more time you spend re-doing things, or have to spend organizing, writing, etc is time that you could be spending learning the material. If you miss an important little detail, chances are it will come up again, and again, and again, in different unites.

 

I don't use Anki cause Mac never tests on lists of facts, but if I had to memorize certain bacteria or antibiotics or something, that is what I would use. Copying and pasting to make the cards of course -- less time building notes, more time using them.

 

Use Wikipedia, Medscape, UptoDate, any sort of compiled research presented in an approachable format. Stay away from textbooks which I find usually give too many details scattered throughout lengthy and unnecessary wording.

 

Studying in the library I find is really helpful for motivation and focus. At home I end up getting distracted by any number of things but being surrounded by likeminded people in the library who won't distract you is great. Can be a pain to bring enough food or to spend excessive amounts on eating purchased food to last for hours in the library, but the efficiency is often worth it.

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Thanks for the reply. Is using OneNote/OneDrive relatively straightforward? (excuse my tech ignorance) and did you find it difficult going from hand written notes to a tablet with stylus? 

 

They are very easy to use! When you install OneNote it'll ask you to link your OneDrive account. There is a student deal for like $99 for a 4 years full office licence that comes with OneNote for all your devices (and obviously all other MS office programs) and 1TB of onedrive storage (that is a TON, ALL my preclerkship notes in high-res colour onenote printouts take up around 0.02TB). 

 

I never really used handwritten notes since first or second year UG for math and physics, so no transition for me. But if you choose to get a tablet with stylus, it'll be just like hand-writing! 

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I use Evernote. Didn't like one note that much and found Evernote played nicer across different platforms.

 

I don't go to lecture. I bought a big monitor to plug my laptop into so I can play the lecture and take notes on the same screen. Any figures I just screen shot right into my notes and annotate as needed. I suppose if I wanted to I could use a stylus to do this on my iPad, but I find since I have the figures I usually only need arrows and text.

 

So, by the time I've watched the lecture I have nice concise summary notes. Evernote is also searchable and turns figure captions and such into searchable text.

 

I don't like to study from the slides. Too much extraneous info.

 

Then, when it's time to actually study, I write out even more condensed notes on good old fashion paper. That way I get the advantage of written notes (proven to help you remember better!) but have nice concise typed notes with important figures if I need to look something up in the hospital or whatever and don't feel like reading the whole up to date article.

 

Has worked well for me so far!

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Remember guys, every Canadian university student can get full version of MS office 365 for free. Microsoft starting doing this last year so make sure you obtain it via your school. For those at U of T, it's as easy as simply downloading it from UTmail+.

This isn't true. Not all Canadian schools are participating. U of T is, but McMaster students are not eligible, for instance.

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This isn't true. Not all Canadian schools are participating. U of T is, but McMaster students are not eligible, for instance.

 

That's boobs. Microsoft said 4 million Canadian students are eligible which I would assume means all big universities. Anyway, get someone at another university to install it for you then. You're allowed installs on up to 4 computers.

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