How to Study for Medical School Exams

As always, I want to clarify that everyone has their own style of studying! But for those still trying to find your rhythm and method, here are some tips that you might find helpful. Modify it to your liking, mix and match, incorporate them into your routine, whatever you like! In order of importance:

Repetition

• This was the single most common advice I received from upperclassmen as an M1.
• Multiple passes of material is essential! Drill power points AND/OR Anki, Anki, and Anki.
  • First pass = first time you attend the lecture, pausing, taking notes
  • Second pass = going through the entire lecture again from top to bottom after you’ve finished note taking.
  • Third pass = going through the lecture one more time before the exam. It’s best to do this over the span of 1 week rather than cramming all material a few days before the exam. Most likely, you’ll be learning new material up until the day before the exam. So as you learn new material, you’ll be reviewing old material so you don’t forget. One way to tackle this is to review 50% of all material the week before the exam, then 50% of remaining material the week OF the exam.
  • If you plan on using Anki, then you may not have to go through three passes since you are getting that repetition from the flashcards. It depends on whether or not you find cards that cover the class material. Sometimes I did 2 passes + Anki, other times I did 3 passes + Anki because there wasn’t much overlap. Play it by ear!
• In medical school, it’s all about efficiency and time management. You won’t have time to rewrite your notes in fancy ways, highlight, etc.

Creating Study Guide/Outline

• Helpful for consolidating all the material from lecture/power points into one place.
• Saves time from having to go back to power point multiple times.
• Makes it easier to review for 3rd pass (or whatever pass you’re on)
• You can do this however you want. The most convenient time to make this would be as you are going through your second pass, after you’ve already attended the lecture. Or, you can make the study guide a few days before your exam after your 2nd/3rd pass.
• If you plan on using Anki, a study guide is important for exposing yourself to material that was not in Anki. It’s a good idea to go through the lectures, un-suspend whatever Anki cards you find related to lecture, and then create the study guide that includes material you did not see in Anki. Unless you have the time and feel strongly about making a complete one.
  • You can create the study guide a few days before your exam. Assuming you keep up with reviews, by then you will know what material wasn’t in Anki.
  • The day before the exam, you can just review the study guide and do the reviews due for the day.

Anki

• After you watch lectures, typically students will search the Anki deck for cards related to lecture material.
• You’ll find that class material contains more detail than what’s in the Anki cards or what’s tested on Step 1. But if you’d like, you can add notes into the “extra” section of your Anki card for yourself to refer to in the future.
• Using Anki to study for class is pretty simple. You just keep up with the reviews and that’s it.
• But sometimes Anki cards don’t cover all the material you learn in class, which you’ll need to know for the exam. That’s why a study guide is helpful.

First Aid

• Use this as a high yield review for your exam!
• Helpful for bringing concepts together, big-picture ideas
• Also a good way to chip away at Step 1 studying in a small way

Group Study Sessions

• Keep group study session to 2-4 people and take turns testing each other on your weaknesses.
• Great way to retain information because you are actively learning and discussing.

My Workflow

1. Watch/attend lecture, taking notes.
2. Go through lecture 2nd time while un-suspending relevant Anki cards (Anking Step 1 deck)
3. Do Anki reviews from previous day
4. Do new Anki cards
5. ONE weekend before the exam, I’d review 50% of ALL lectures covered thus far.
   • If we had a total of 30 lectures so far, I’d review 15 on Saturday and 15 on Sunday.
   • Alternatively, you can divide the 30 lectures over the span of 7 days leading up to the exam.
6. THREE days before exam, create study guide of material not covered in Anki.
7. ONE to TWO days before exam, read First Aid, read study guide, and/or group study session.

Note: I had exams about every 2-3 weeks. They were also P/F.

Hope you found that helpful! Let me know if you have any questions!

With lobe,

Kelly

Kelly

Internal medicine resident physician at UCLA, primary care track. VCU School of Medicine c/o 2022. SoCal born and raised.

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