Study Techniques - A Useful Insight

Hello, I have been asked to write about study skills and transition to university for the new students. Starting university can be a big challenge for many students. Making a smooth transition is important because; it helps you feel like you belong, keeps you engaged, and leads to better academic results. Students often blame the lack of study skills to meaningful engagement with the course and it seems those who are less trained in such skills from secondary schools struggle the most. We hear that students find it difficult to quickly adapt to the new environment, get to know their peers, and understand the university's demands and expectations. It’s important to give yourself some time to get used to university life and to make use of the resources available to you. Your Year Teams or the Student Learning Development (SLD) service are great places to start. They offer support and guidance throughout the year and in the case of the SLD, they also provide personalized one-on-one appointments to help you with your academic style. Don’t underestimate the value of peer support either! Student societies make it their motto to teach, guide, and help their peers throughout the academic year. Societies like GUMES (Glasgow University Medical Education Society) or WAMS (Widening Access to Medicine Student Society) organise MCQ/OSCE practice events, e-mentors, and are always happy to receive suggestions for further engagement. Bridging Education Society used to serve the same purpose but is sadly defunct now as the SRC closes a society that has been inactive for longer than six months. Those looking for a creative outlet – this will be a good time to resurrect the society and plan events that will benefit those who are looking for extra tips to improve their study technique! How to thrive in medical school – study tips from Dr Sneddon Medical school involves a dramatic change in how you study, whether you are coming from School, a degree, the workplace, or even as you move through your MBChB. There is no magic formula, and you need to find the best approach that works for you! You will get sessions in years 1 and 2 on study skills, these will introduce you to a wide variety of techniques, try a variety and see what suits you best! I’d recommend choosing one way and sticking to it for at least a week, if it’s not working, then think about switching. No matter what your method is, my advice is a 4 step approach: 1. Look over the topic before you go to each class – this can be to look at the slides, or perhaps read the relevant chapter in a textbook. 2. When you attend a class, actively listen and take notes / draw pictures / annotate slides. 3. After the class, supplement your notes/flashcards/slides with information from other sources, e.g. videos/books/online whilst the topic is fresh. 4. Spaced repetition – go back over your notes/flashcards regularly – don’t leave everything till the week before the exam! Remember! · You got into medical school – that means you are good enough to be here! Don’t fall foul to imposter syndrome. · You are learning for your career as a clinician, not just to pass an exam. It’s not really about grades – it’s about showing you are competent to care for patients. · Learning is an active and physical process; you are changing your brain by creating new synapses when you learn. · Studying is not a competitive sport – don’t compare yourself to others! · Consistency and efficiency are key – you need to develop these through practice, persistence, and reflection. · Balance – all work and no play makes the MBChB even harder, so take those breaks, get outside, see your friends, eat the cake, then get back to the books! · Sleep is when you make your memories – get into good habits early, and don’t stay up all night cramming! · Ask for help if you need it! It’s the start of a new academic term, and I know that studying for exams is the last thing that you want to think about. I can already hear you screaming ‘I’m just back, give me a break!’. However, starting early and planning is key! Planning a weekly timetable to schedule work, play and rest is so important. Making sure you can fit in your study time around lectures, labs, part-time jobs, and hobbies can be difficult but creating structure will help you to manage your time and be as productive as possible. You should take time to consider what, when, and how you are going to study to ensure your study time is useful and helps you to learn. There is some science behind this, and a great book that I would recommend, as it builds on some of the points I make below, is ‘Ace That Test: Student’s Guide to Learning Better’. Retrieval practice Often, we get so focused at trying to learn information and making sure that we have read/ written all of our notes that we forget to check exactly what we know and, importantly, what we don’t know. By identifying areas that we lack knowledge in, we can revisit these and try to further our understanding. Recalling the information that we know is called ‘Retrieval Practice’, which can take many different forms including using flashcards, quizzes, or writing out information, but importantly it is all without the help of notes. Ever wondered why we try to encourage you as much as possible to not use your notes during PBL feedback? Did you think we were just trying to be mean?! Far from it! Ultimately, we want to help you and by introducing retrieval practice each week, we hope that you will be able to learn and develop throughout the year. Spaced Practice Just because you were able to retrieve information once, doesn’t mean that you’ll never forget it! Revisiting content across the year and using retrieval practice again to identify what you still do and don’t know, will help to solidify knowledge. Spacing out when you study content across weeks will help you to ensure that you are able to revisit topics. Reflection It is also so important to remember to reflect, reflect, reflect! This is something you will do throughout your degree and future career. Remember that it is okay if your technique for studying isn’t working as long as you admit this and change to try and find a method that does work. Importantly, there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to studying and what works for you might not work for everyone. So don’t try to follow the crowd, be honest with yourself and ask for help when you feel you need it!