Day 20 - Changing My Study Method With 3 Weeks Left
Okay, I'm stuck.
I'm realizing that the method I've been doing thus far, isn't going to get me to the end, let me explain.
So my plan, as well thought as it was at the beginning, was more or less dependent on content review. I think this was because I didn't feel ready to do questions until I at least reviewed the material first. Ironically if you asked me 20 days ago if I should focus on content review or questions, I would've probably said questions. But without realizing it, I kinda found myself in this predicament.
I feel like there's still a chance that I can finish reviewing material before my exam, and be semi-prepared. But yesterday, I realized that I don't think I'm gonna gain much from it anymore.
What Happened
Yesterday, I decided to go over old Cardio topics. I went through all my M1 reviews on my Anki just by scrolling. I just wanted a list of what I once learned. I then did all the Cardio M2 review cards. Don't get me wrong they were very helpful, but I ran into an issue.
The surprising part was that it felt like as I went through it, a new topic would pop up that I would dive in to learn.
I.e. I hear about anti-arrhythmic on the card and I would like "wait, I haven't seen that Sketchy Pharm. *proceeds to spend the next hour watching those videos". So on and so forth.
I feel like in the process of trying to collect all this detail, I'm missing out on broader reasoning that you get from doing questions. Like, for example, I know that you use Class 1C and Class 3 antiarrhythmics for Atrial Fib, but NBME questions would never ask for information like that explicitly.
Getting the details is undoubtedly helpful. But I don't think it's efficient because each piece is being collected one at a time. Although I realized this after yesterday, I don't think my method was entirely wasteful. Let me explain.
Why It's Not All A Loss
The Anki that I've made for myself, largely required multi-order thinking. Meaning, I wouldn't just ask "What does class 1c treat", I would say "Patient presents with a saw tooth appearance on ECG, what would you treat with".
This way, I was forced to know more than 1 concept from each Anki card.
While I still think this is a great way to learn, I think that UWorld is going to offer me a more diverse range of knowledge. More interconnectivity between subjects, as well as more niche knowledge. Instead of 1 fact or even two facts from each question, it would be a whole concept linked to multiple disciplines.
So I've decided after some thought that I'm going to shift my study technique.
How Its Going To Look Going Forward
Thus far, throughout M2, I've finished about 45% of UWorld. I've made Anki cards on all the information I've learned from my mistakes and successes too. Remember the whole Anki as a second brain thing?
Instead of trying to do all my reviews, I think I'm going to focus on just doing the UWorld cards I've made. I think with time, I'll be able to remind myself of old content by getting questions wrong/ reading explanations.
I think going forward, my priorities are going to be:
- Finish UWorld review Anki
- Random 40Q Uworld Block
- Review
- Supplement Micro/Pharm with Pepper Deck
My Feelings Now
I feel like I should be more worried about switching my tactics almost 2.5 weeks into dedicated, but I don't think this was time wasted. I feel like seeing that I went through a decent chunk of UWorld pre-dedicated gives me faith that I can get back to understanding the information I once knew.
Honestly, I genuinely think that understanding the concepts from 50% of UWorld is enough to get you past the passing line. I understand that others might disagree, but that's my take.
I also usually take Saturdays off, but my goal today is to catch up on my UWorld reviews in preparation for my practice test tomorrow. I'm going to try to spend more time reviewing information for this following test, unlike the last exam where I barely reviewed anything. Objectively if I don't review it, it's a pretty big waste.
But since I'll have more time now that I'm not trying to review all my content all the time, I should be able to dedicate more time to reviewing my full lengths in detail.
Final Thoughts
I hope my sharing this part of the process, as daunting as it may seem, serves to say that it's never too late to course correct. If you feel like something not working, don't just buckle down and push forward. Improve it and make it better.
This is not to say toss out the entire thing and start a new one. Fix the parts that aren't working as well, and be honest with yourself about the parts that are working.
I'll keep you posted on how this new method goes, and 'til then.
Good luck. ✌️
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