All medical schools have different curriculum designs, but many schools opt to give quizzes/exams every other week during block 1 to keep students accountable! However, this definitely is not unique to medical schools. I took classes in undergrad that gave small quizzes every other week or chose to give unit exams rather than one midterm. I personally like this method of testing because there is less material and less at stake for each quiz. But, with a quiz and an anatomy practical happening every 10-14 days, I ALWAYS feel like I'm in exam study mode. This makes it difficult to sustain focus and avoid falling behind. I want to share what I've been doing to survive and maybe even thrive with exams every other week.
1. Even though school is almost all online right now, our school still gives us a schedule to follow. Obviously, we can watch pre-recorded lectures whenever works for us but technically each lecture is "assigned" on a specific day whether it is pre-recorded or live zoom. I personally push this schedule up a full day in order to feel "on schedule".
2. Use the weekends to your advantage!!! Obviously enjoy life and continue to do fun things but consider using Sundays to get started on the coming week's material (if you don't have other plans of course).
3. Do NOT neglect new material in order to study! It is so tempting to choose studying over new material but honestly this will make the next week much worse. If you keep up with your schedule, I promise you will be more prepared for your exams if you aren't playing "catch up" after every exam. I really want to emphasize this because I truly think this is the hardest part of having exams so often.
4. Schedule breaks and do fun things! It is so much easier to get through a tough school week when there is something to look forward to. This is definitely difficult because there always seems to be an impending exam but you have to remember to live your life even though you are in school!
5. Focus on Quality over Quantity when it comes to studying! As nice as it feels to passively read notes you've seen 100 times, it may not be effective. Focus on material that makes you uncomfortable because that is the material that you do not know! In addition, active studying is much more helpful than passive studying! Active studying includes doing flashcards, doing practice questions, talking through mechanisms with a study buddy.
6. Start studying new material as soon as you learn it! I use Anki (especially for anatomy) and I open each new deck the day after I watch the corresponding lecture. I also *try* to make sure I start the Anki for one lecture before I watch the next lecture. This keeps me on top of the material. It also lets me avoid having to cram 10000 new terms into my brain at once.
7. Breathe and Slow Down. I swear these past 2 months have flown by because I am so busy. I'm trying to remember to slow down and enjoy being in school. We will see how this one goes moving forward!
That's all I have for now! Thanks for reading :)
xoxo
Happy Studying
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