Throughout the course of my collegiate and medical training, the manner in which I’ve studied has evolved tremendously. In this podcast, I’ll share this process and outline how I study these days. Check out this post with book references too!

Learning is a highly individualized process, and as a result, study habits vary from person-to-person, the material at hand, and even around one’s work schedule. The last of these is important because in undergrad and even med school, students have so much more time dedicated to learning their trade and coursework. As a resident, balancing a full workload (60-80 hours per week) while ALSO attempting to study for in-training exams and boards can be a daunting task. Here are some study tips which have served me well over the course of my training.

QUALITY OVER QUANTITY

“How many hours do you study?” I never understood the point of this question. With all the distractions we have in the modern era, the sheer volume of “hours spent studying” probably has little to do with actual comprehension and retention.

I study in very short bursts (no greater than 30 minutes) with distractions between sessions, but I’m extremely focused when I read. It’s also why I have to take my exams very quickly, because I can’t sustain that degree of concentration for very long. Naturally, the overall time commitment ramps up just before exams and falls off immediately after an exam. And that’s okay. Just focus on how much material you were able to get through (and retain) rather than the number of hours.

SACRIFICE

“Burnout” is an incredibly important concept in healthcare training, but individuals have different thresholds where they cross the proverbial line. Know yourself and the circumstances surrounding your work schedule and personal life. Don’t feel guilty if you find yourself choosing sleep or recreation over studying from time to time.

That being said, sacrifices must be made to truly commit oneself to healthcare. I can’t tell you how many times I chose studying over celebrating special occasions, hanging with colleagues, vacation, etc. Fortunately, I’ve found studying with the goal of teaching to be a very zen-like experience which brings me a great deal of happiness. Find your motivation and resilience to stay afloat amidst a life of sacrifice. Learning will become a natural extension of your daily pursuits, and you’ll feel like studying is less of a chore and more of a hobby.

STANDARDIZED EXAMS – PRACTICE QUESTIONS

Programs are always looking for “well rounded” individuals, but standardized exams (USMLE, SAT, MCAT, etc.) are still way more important than applicants want to acknowledge. Think about it – they’re objective exams. For example, it doesn’t matter where you want to college, everyone takes more or less the same MCAT. In this sense, these exams are an (imperfect) assessment of one’s fund of knowledge and critical thinking which can be compared directly to other applicants. That’s just how our system works.

With that in mind, for each of these exams, find a single text to use as your primary book (i.e., First Aid for USMLE Step 1). Minimize the number of additional resources you use, annotate material from those sources into your primary book,