A little more than three months into graduate school, and I may just be getting the hang of it. That may sound like a surprise to anyone reading, but graduate school is not at all like undergrad. For one thing, you only really study one subject, and pharmacology was not a subject I came anywhere near as an undergrad. Then there's the fact that class is only three or four hours a day, and usually for less than that most days. With so much free time, and with living in a new city, it can be incredibly easy to lose track of time. But beyond that, there's the huge difference in what classes are like. Medical Pharmacology with the T2 Medical Students is unlike any class because it IS a medical school class, with vignettes for exam questions and the over-looming fear of a cumulative exam at the end of the year. In some ways Principles of Pharmacology, Advances, and Molecular &Cellular Pharmacology provide the background that is necessary to make sense of MedPharm. But the point is: graduate school is not just "furthering one's education." It's having to figure out a new way to learn, to manage one's time, to succeed.
Although I have done fairly well on most of my block exams, it's always a little disheartening to find yourself staring at a question (or 3) on the exam that you just don't know. I've probably tried out at least five different studying techniques, but it wasn't until this past Renal exam that I figured out something that left me feeling confident. Usually I feel unprepared right up to the exam, running through hundreds of flashcards and stressing out about all that I still don't know. But this time, and with 1/5 the number of flashcards, I was able to master the material exam days before the test. I had finally found a technique that worked!
Despite this recent success, I doubted whether my technique was really a good one. Therefore (and partially for this blog), I thought it might be interesting to look at the book Dr. Clarkson recommended- Success Types in Medical Education. A Program for Improving Academic Performance as well as an online test to figure out what my learning style really is. I was surprised to find that the way I normally learn things- through a linear manner, or through "sensing" rather than through "intuition," is not conducive to doing well on MCQ, especially in medical school classes. The book explains how, while we all have a psychological type that determines how we approach a variety of situations (learning included), we should work to develop the traits of other psychological types in order to succeed. So for me, taking the time to make graphs and charts that show how different facts are related by certain concepts is crucial to really learning the material, and learning it efficiently. While this isn't how everyone should learn everything out there, it is the way that students should approach the vast amount of material in most sciences, and especially in the study of medicine.
While it was frustrating to find out that how I learn is not exactly conducive to succeeding on certain exams, it is also a relief to know I can change my habits before I get to medical school. I think that's one of the great things about this program (and most other Special Masters Programs)- it's a test run for medical school. Getting good grades here is the goal, but in order to do that and to keep doing it, I have to learn to study smart.
No comments:
Post a Comment