Study habits for medical school

Notes on Studying
Intro: You will notice the recurring theme of active listening, note taking and studying. There are a
variety of study methods presented here. Choose what works best for you. You are restructuring
your mind and this is always difficult. By being active you initiate and perpetuate this process. The
structure, curiosity and discipline you bring to your studies will be reflected in the structure and
ability to retain, synthesize and utilize your mind will develop. It is a recursive and self-perpetuating
process. Studying is primarily creating constructs for making sense of the world. As a child you did
this first via physical action. (Piaget ± Kant's Categories, even including causation, space and time
developed via physical interaction with the environment) Now it is an intellectual process, but one
that should still have the child-like character of innocent discovery, imaginative model building and
energetic exploration.
Table of Contents

How to Study in Medical School by Armin Kamyab .................................................... 1
Donǯt jst do it - Get better at it .......................................................................................... 2
How to be a Straight A Student by Cal Newport ........................................................... 3
Cal Newport Blog.................................................................................................................. 6
Holistic Learning .................................................................................................................. 7
How To Succeed At Medical School by Dason Evans and Jo Brown ....................... 7
Sundry Advise by Ben Robison ..................................................................................... 11
How to Memorize .............................................................................................................. 12
Core Concepts for Studying ............................................................................................ 21

How to Study in Medical School by Armin Kamyab

1. Start on day one - complete notes each day
2. Take notes actively
Always ask µwhy?¶ and answer in notes
Look it Up! Spend time looking up answers as soon as you have them
Use image search to implant image in mind
Notes should analyze, organize, investigate and condense material from classes/books

QEA method - questions top, evidence middle, answers at the bottom
Cornell method - questions in right column
Sample questions to consider why taking notes
What is product X?
How will this be asked on a test?
How will this be used clinically?


How can this be applied to other subjects?
How will I remember this in a week?
Notes should be dynamic - change format to suit class and week
Point form
Diagrams
Question and Answer
Remember - these you will use these notes over and over
Quiz
Test
Final
USMLE
3. Review by giving lecture out loud to self (answering questions from notes)
4. Stay up to date! Keep working each day until your notes are up to date
5. Weekends are for review!
By the weekend, all the class slides and lectures have been condensed into your notes
Use weekends to review your notes
Saturday and Sunday study notes from week
Sunday study notes from previous weeks/semester
6. Only use your own notes
Can refer to others but all the information should be in your own hand
7. Memory
Mnemonics

Word Association
Short catchy phrases
8. Study Groups
Only if you need it
Have a particular reason
Share responsibility and make sure the group helps each other fill gaps in knowledge
9. Skipping
Don¶t
If you do, only skip if you will use the time to study the same material more efficiently
10. Tutoring
Consider tutoring as a way to review material from previous semesters

Don¶t just do it - Get better at it
1. Attitude/Energy ± relaxed but intense, playful, positive, happy
Two learning types: Entity versus incremental. Be the second
Be ready for a challenge
Be clean and well dressed
Be patient ± don¶t rush to finish
2. Focus ± relaxed but intense
Deep presence during ³practice´ ± don¶t ³go through the motions´
Deep immersion in the depths/details of a subject
Do one thing at a time


Work in one-hour blocks
Remove distractions and don¶t be distracted
3. Goals ± well defined and emphatic
Read for specific knowledge
Dig deeper into problematic items
Establish goals for each day

Review and assess long-term goals for inspiration
Review material for long-term retention
4. Memory ± transfer of information to an easily accessible internal format
Associate
Take notes
Write out all questions and find answers
Organize
Structure memories - chunk knowledge
Diagram
Add connecting comments to notes
Practice ± use knowledge in problems
Review
a. End of section - articulate each concept as you learn it
b. End of chapter ± articulate the main point
c. Connect/Diagram major ideas and supporting detail
d. Five times in 72 hours, seven times total
5. Invest in loss - this is where you grow
If you are a winner when you win, then you are a loser when you lose

How to be a Straight A Student by Cal Newport
1. Time Management - goal is to minimize time spent managing time:
a. Each day set aside 5-10 minutes first thing to create a schedule where you plan out
what you will do when and compact busy work into blocks. In addition, use this time
to take To Do items discovered the day before and place them in your calender for a
particular day.
b. Keep a single list that you update throughout the day with new To Dos. Deal with
scheduling these To Dos the next morning during your 5 minutes
c. Take one hour for meals, end at a reasonable hour and schedule breaks
d. Feel free to move tasks around in your schedule depending on energy level or
unexpected events

e. Aim to complete most of what is on your daily schedules 5 out of 7 days
f. Everyone breaks down. A period of intense work will cause one to want to free one¶s
self from a schedule. But return to it - it is a stress reducer
g. Sunday Ritual - After a late brunch and reading the newspaper, go off along and plan
the next week.


2. Defeat the Urge to Procrastinate
a. Keep a work Progress Journal - Note the most important tasks to be completed each
day in your schedule. At the end of the day, check to see if completed. If not, record
with a reason.
b. Eat well and regularly. Keep Hydrated.
1. Moderate caffeine and alcohol
2. Drink water often
3. Don¶t skip meals
4. Fresh fruits and veggies, raw nuts, whole grains - not much else.
c. Make an event out the worst tasks
1. Find a unique location (coffee shop, bookstore cafe, etc.)
2. Arrange time to be at the location
a. Tell everyone you¶ll be busy and how horrible the work is
d. Build a routine
1. Identify daily free hours in the morning and early afternoon and use them for
the same work each week
e. Choose your hard days
1. Plan them in advance if possible and space them out
2. Let your friends know about your hard days - keeps you motivated.
3. Plan them on a regular basis and hype them up. Expect, prepare for and
survive the challenge.
3. Choose When, Where and How Long
a.

Study early in the day
b.
Study in isolation
c.
Study one hour max without break
d.
Study immediately after class if possible - quiz and recall
e.
*** Condense the days material into your own words by the end of the day***
4. Take smart notes
a. Remember studying is hard work. You should be thinking hard by transforming material.
b. Always go to class and take the best possible notes
c. Format Notes Aggressively
i. Don¶t record lectures verbatim
ii. Use the Question, Evidence, and Conclusion (QEC) format
1. Identify the Big Ideas
2. Leave room at the top of each page for questions based on the
material
3. Place answers at the bottom of each page
iii. The key is to manipulate the material and put it in your own words if
possible
iv. For a technical course (i.e. Calculus), copy as many examples as possible
and leave space between the example questions and the answers. Create
mega problems sets with an example from the text and lecture for each
concept. Study by lecturing out loud the solution to these problems
without looking at your notes. If you miss one, return later.
v. For a non-computation technical course (i.e. Biology) reduce notes to a
series of focused question clusters (Every day ± don't get behind)
1. i.e. "Five parts of the auditory system?"
2. Add to each cluster one or two background questions that flesh

out the big idea


3. Study by quiz and recall: Review by answering the cluster of
questions (1 min) and then lecturing based on the background
question. The background questions give you structure for your
memory and the clusters insure that you remember all the detail.
4. If you have trouble with anything in the cluster, mark it and
return to the entire cluster during your next round.
vi. Have a folder for lose paper for each course and one notebook for each
class
5. Study smart ± transform and structure material
a. Tell the story of the lecture immediately after class. Out loud!
b. Study notes via quiz and recall method
a. Notes should already be in a format where you can study by answering questions
posed in your notes.
c. Do not reread notes - rote review is a waste of time
d. Do not do technical reading - use it as reference if there is something in class you
don¶t understand
e. Do bring reading to class and follow along
f. Work constantly
g. Read from favored sources and prioritize
i. Papers with arguments
ii. Readings that describe events or person
iii. Readings that provide context
h. Spread out memorization over multiple days and move between different topics
i. Answer ALL questions that come to mind over the day
j. The context in which you study is very important. Set up a great studying
environment!
6. Writing Papers

a. Clearly delineate steps and don¶t blur purpose
1. Sifting through existing arguments
2. Forming own argument
b. Start early and keep brainstorming
c. Conduct a Thesis-Hunting Expedition
d. Start general, get specific, use bibliographies
e. Use journal databases (JSTOR)
f. Ask librarian
g. Get second opinions from your professor
1. Communicating your argument clearly
h. Research like a machine
i. Find sources
j. Make copies of all sources
k. Annotate the material
l. Decide if done
1. Craft a powerful story
2. Describe argument in a topic-level outline
3. Type supporting quotes directly into outline
4. Consult experts about outline prior to beginning writing
5. Write easily
a. No more than 3-5 pages per weekday, 5-8 per weekend day
m. Editing


1. Read on computer to make sure argument is clear, fix obvious errors
2. Read a printed copy out loud
3. Sanity Pass - check overall flow and root out last errors

Cal Newport Blog
1. Do less, well. Only have 2-3 projects that you schedule. You can have other

experiments (learning to carve, paint, etc.) but they should come during
unscheduled free time. Successful people don¶t do a lot, they do a few things
really well.
2. Don't print out powerpoints. Load them up in PP and take notes at the bottom of
the slides ± then consolidate after and print in notes view.
3. For tough reading assignments where keeping up momentum is important.
Preread using the dot, dash method then take notes. Also preread assignement
and look up review articles on Google so you have reference points for the
assignement
i. Dot's for important points
ii. Dashes for supporting information
4. 48 Hour Rule ± Consolidate new information within 48 hours so that you can
teach it!
i. Active review ± lecture ideas out loud without notes
ii. Take notes in a format read for active review
1. Sample problems with problem separated out
2. QEC method
iii. Ask questions immediately
iv. Schedule two review times during the week for the new material
v. Use an autopilot schedule (same material at the same times)
5. Learning complicated subjects requires the expenditure of lots of uncomfortable
and difficult hard focus. Build a system that respects this mental labor.
6. Adaptable students constantly question why they¶re studying the way they are,
and then seek concrete feedback on whether their hypothesis is correct. They¶re
not afraid to make informed changes, again and again and again.
7. Use an autopilot schedule! (Schedule regularly recurring tasks for the same time
each week)
8. Work out ideas for papers, projects, diffucult problems AWAY from the
computer and the Internet. Take a pen, a good notebook and find and inspiring
space to think!

9. Acing problems sets
i. Set aside 2-3 hours to do the easy problems and attempt the hard ones
ii. Give them a second shot and think about the hard ones away from your
desk.
iii. Go to a study group (not last minute)
iv. Attend office hours
10. Be a Zen-Valdictorian
i. Underschedule
ii. Innovate


iii. Focus (Single major, single extracurricular activity)
11. Context matters ± find inspiring places to study. Consider adventure studying.
i. During hiking
ii. At a quiet lounge

Holistic Learning by Scott Young
Create networks of knowledge, not lists. Studying should be a time to build Constructs (think of a
building) by first creating a model when knowledge is limited and then replacing the model with
the bricks of knowledge. The construct is the coherent whole. Studying should either be
exploratory or creative. The idea is to "create vast webs of interlinked ideas."
Specifically
1. Visceralize ± Link knowledge via all your senses. Create strong imagry for abstract
concepts. What does something feel like?
2. Use metaphone ± another way of linking while building a good construct.
3. Explore ± explore your models and constructs and fill in missing holes. Look for gaps
in knowledge and insecure foundations.
If you have studied a passage multiple times and still don't remember, you don't have a construct.
Work on visceralizing, creating metaphors or exploring to increase linkage and build your model
or construct.

How To Succeed At Medical School by Dason Evans and Jo Brown
Academic Learning
What to learn
Keep a notebook of questions and set aside time to look up answers
Skill to know
what you need to know
what you might need to know
when you know enough! (to continue to learn and keep up to date)
Daily studying that includes both learning new material and reviewing previous material
Self directed learning
What do I know about topic?
What don't I know about topic?
What do I need to learn?
How can I learn what I need to learn?
How will I know when I have learnt it adequately?
Can you explain it?
Consult curricula
Study with friends and compare depth and breadth of knowledge
Blooms Taxonomy (Levels of knowledge) ± make sure you can engage in the all the levels of


knowledge when learning material.
Knowledge
Comprehension
Application
Analysis
Synthesis
Evaluation
When memorizing ± create as many visceral images as possible using all 5 senses

Regular review sessions
Effective learning is ACTIVE
Prior to studying:
Ask questions
Obtain an overview
Write down what you already know as a brainstorm or concept map
Note key questions you should be able to answers by the end of your learning
What do you need to learn?
During studying:
Don¶t write down things verbatim
Look for links to other knowledge
Write down key words
After studying
Tidy up notes
Did you learn what you needed?
Rewrite your network of key information
Can you put away your notes and answer questions that you identified at the start?
Can you explain what you learned to someone else?
Learn by doing!
Make notes in such a way so that when you review you don't simply read them.
Note taking (Less useful than Cal Newport)
Use keywords
Personal so that they trigger recall
Difficult to do at the start and requires practice
SQ3R
Survey
Question
Read, Re-read (take notes), Review
Cornell
Use dividing lines

Top space for title (date, topic, etc.)
Bottom quarter for 1 sentence summary
Left hand column (2 inches) for key words
Concept Mapping
Note: It can take up to 3 months to get used to any particular note taking method
Learning from Lectures


Preparation -20 minutes to read up on a topic
Label paper carefully
Sit where you can concentrate best ± up front!
Write down what you understand rather than content of slides
If the lecture is terrible, look up the lecture objectives and open the appropriate book
Learning from books
Work alone and in quiet
Take notes while reading
Distill key information and make sure the notes will require active review later on.
Learning from the Internet
Limit to new articles, English, Core Clinical Journals
Clinical Skills
Three Elements for mastery
Sensory Motor - Technical skill
Simulation, Practice, Review, Show for feedback, teach
Ask patient for help (in practicing skills)
Give name
Explain what you intend to do
Explain that the interview is for education only
Explain that refusal will not affect the patient's treatment
Explain confidentiality Issues
Tell how long its going to take

Offer to come back if patient is tired, unwell or busy
Understanding
Understand underlying biological principles, anatomy, physiology, physics
Clinical reasoning
Making sense of findings to make diagnosis
Study sheets should contain these three aspects
Be an active learner in the wards ± get involved ± go and find it!
Ask nurses!! Stay late if someone offers to teach you
Look awake and attentive, dress smartly, make the first move, accept rejection, ask for feedback
Learning opportunities
Drug charts ± Look over everyone's drug chart and look up unknown drugs
Practice writing down drug treatments for common illnesses.
Get comment from doctors or pharmacist!
Drug rounds ± learn medications by following nurses
Practical skills - Help nurses take blood pressure, pulse and temp
Physiotherapy ± Check it out
Radiology ± read about it then go ask to ask to come along and watch
Communication Skills
Effective communication leads to empathetic, effective, efficient and satisfying interviews for all
concerned. Communicate clearly, sensitively and effectively.


Explore some of the philosophical and ethical positions around being a doctor ± become a
humanist.
Skill Inventory
How good are you at listening? ± really listening?
Do people feel comfortable with you?
How good are ou at trying to put yourself in someone else's shoes?
How comfortable are you with silence?
How able are you to listen to people's feelings about their distress?

How able are you to listen to people's feelings about their anger?
How good are you at explaining things to people?
How good are you at recounting events or telling stories?
Could you summarize clearly and accurately something you have just heard or read?
Are you able to tell someone honestly what you think when you know the truth may offend,
upset or hurt them?
Are you able to negotiate options when there is disagreement?
Have someone you trust to answer the above questions for you.
See rest of How to Succeed at Medical School prior to 3rd year if necessary.
Working in Groups
Find and clarify rolls (everyone tends to be good in multiple rolls but look for missing pieces):
Chariman/coordinator
Shaper/motivator
Lateral thinkers
Monitor/evaluator ± progression toward deadline
Company worker ± gets work done on time
Team worker ± builds team moral
Completer/finisher ± for the perfectionist ± dots the i's.
Resource investigator
Four stages of team development
Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing
Make sure goals are concrete
Work hard to ensure that everyone has input in final product
Ensure similar levels of prior knowledge
Make sure goals are owned by everyone
Make sure you are actively learning in the group by asking questions
Consider setting ground rules for study sessions
Brainstorm
Review of learning objectives
Make individual questions and model answers as group

Ask questions, make links, elaborate knowledge
Is debate welcomed?
How structured is the process? Would more structure help?
What does group do to maximize motivation of its members?


If there is conflict, consider taking on a facilitative role. Restate opionions, find common ground,
move toward brainstorming«

Problem Based Learning
Usually contains a chair, a tutor and a scribe. The chair guides the group through the
steps and insures everyone has a say. The scribe can be a real motivator based on how notes are
taken on the whiteboard ± use colors, concept maps, flow diagrams as they drive innovation more
than lists. The tutor is only a facilitator, challenging and nudging conversation.

Sundry Advise by Ben Robison
1. Read the notes on how to study and developing memory (see below), take them as a starting
point, especially for classes you find difficult. They represent a philosophy of thinking and
learning that are logical and helpful.
2. Labs: Write every word that comes out of your instructor¶s mouth. Be prepared to work as hard
for this class as any other course you take. Finish your lab write ups several days before they are
due and check them with the T.A.s They determine your grade!
3. Don¶t complain
4. Preread before lectures. It should take 20 minutes max and do you a world of good.
5. Go off by yourself after class and review/re-interpret your notes from class.
6. Be prepared to study really hard 2nd year. Let this process transform you.
7. Find something to love in each and every subject you take. It¶s your life, might as well enjoy it.
Also intelligence is about finding something interesting in all things whether by will or by natural
inclination. You can develop curiosity for all things.
8. Focus on content, not on grades. Grades will come. If you get a poor grade, focus even more on

content and not on grades.
9. Sleep. Eat (well). Exercise. ± Regularly. There IS time.
10. Premed is preparation for the habits you will take into medical school. Use it to perfect them.
11. Read Organic Chemistry as a Second Language one month before taking Organic Chemistry.
Ready Organic Chemistry as a Second Language II one month before taking Organic Chemistry
II.
12. Some teachers change the way you think. It will quite possibly and most likely hurt. Keep at it.
Keep up and do the work with intensity and interest. The mind you are creating will help you.
13. Translate lectures into your own words
14. Read The Joy of Living by Yongey Mingyur Rimpoche or Happiness by Matthieu Ricard. A little
Buddhist perspective during a week with two exams, two quizzes and a lab report never hurt
anyone. It's all about a peaceful and steady mind, loving-kindness for others and compassionate
action. Both authors reflect quite a bit on current neuroscience.
15. Remember, you are unique, interesting and exciting and are going into a fascinating field of
endeavor. You have a whole new world opening up before you. Enjoy!
16. Learn to enjoy difficult. Learn to enjoy the projects that are only pleasurable as you complete
them. Learn to accept the temporary frustration of not understanding.
17. Being a good doctor means being compassionate, empathetic, legitimate, authentic, industrious
and happy. Start now by helping a colleague, teacher, friend or stranger. Repeat.
18. Figure out acid/base equilibrium before your second semester of Chemistry.


19. Take chemistry lab with Chemistry II or during the summer. Same for organic chemistry lab.
20. Start MCAT preparation six months before the exam. Study hard and intelligently. Use the Exam
Krackers books and audio unless you need the structure of a class, than take the Kaplan class ±
but still check out the EK books.
21. From Atul Gawande: 1. Don¶t complain, 2. Ask unscripted questions, 3. Count something, 4.
Write something, 5. Change
22. Real change is hard. This is what you are doing. Learn to enjoy it.
23. Learn to enjoy reading science. Do it every day.

24. Start to figure out the question that will keep you up at night. This will help focus you and can
help you decide about what volunteer and research work to take on.
25. Do as much research and volunteering as you can. Find out what you really like about medicine.
26. Create semester goals. Each week create new goals based on last week's work and the semester
goals. Each morning, take five minutes to update your calendar and create a work schedule for the
day based on the week's goals.
27. Set aside regular study times for each of your subjects.
28. Reverse Engineer your schedule

How to Memorize
Selections from Memory: How to Develop, Train, and Use It by William Walker Atkinson
Summary:
Develop interest in subject through application of will.
The basic steps for remembering are:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Impress (take interest, bestow attention and concentration)
Associate (by contiguity=sequence in time and space or similarity of kind)
Exercise/Practice
Review

I.e. Interest-Attention-Associate-Practice-Review
But, remember this²for it is important: Whatever can be done in this direction by means of attention, inspired by
interest, may be duplicated by attention directed by will. In other words, the desire to accomplish the task adds
and creates an artificial interest just as effective as the natural feeling.
"The principle of asking questions and obtaining answers to them, may be said to characterize all intellectual
effort" Kay

POINT I. Give to the thing that you wish to memorize, as great a degree of concentrated attention as possible.
We have explained the reason for this advice in many places in the book. The degree of concentrated attention
bestowed upon the object under consideration, determines the strength, clearness and depth of the impression
received and stored away in the subconsciousness. The character of these stored away impressions determines the
degree of ease in remembrance and recollection.


POINT II. In considering an object to be memorized, endeavor to obtain the impressions through as many
faculties and senses as possible.
The reason for this advice should be apparent to you, if you have carefully read the preceding chapters. An
impression received through both sound and sight is doubly as strong as one received through but one of these
channels. You may remember a name, or word, either by having seen it in writing or print; or else by reason of
having heard it; but if you have both seen and heard it you have a double impression, and possess two possible
ways of reviving the impression. You are able to remember an orange by reason of having seen it, smelt it, felt it
and tasted it, and having heard its name pronounced. Endeavor to know a thing from as many sense impressions
as possible²use the eye to assist ear-impressions; and the ear to assist in eye-impressions. See the thing from as
many angles as possible.
POINT III. Sense impressions may be strengthened by exercising the particular faculty through which the weak
impressions are received.
You will find that either your eye memory is better than your ear memory, or vice versa. The remedy lies in
exercising the weaker faculty, so as to bring it up to the standard of the stronger. The chapters of eye and ear
training will help you along these lines. The same rule applies to the several phases of memory²develop the
weak ones, and the strong ones will take care of themselves. The only way to develop a sense or faculty is to
intelligently train, exercise and use it. Use, exercise and practice will work miracles in this direction.
POINT IV. Make your first impression strong and firm enough to serve as a basis for subsequent ones.
Get into the habit of fixing a clear, strong impression of a thing to be considered, from the first. Otherwise you
are trying to build up a large structure upon a poor foundation. Each time you revive an impression you deepen it,
but if you have only a dim impression to begin with, the deepened impressions will not include details omitted in
the first one. It is like taking a good sharp negative of a picture that you intend to enlarge afterward. The details
lacking in the small picture will not appear in the enlargement; but those that do appear in the small one, will be

enlarged with the picture.
POINT V. Revive your impressions frequently and thus deepen them.
You will know more of a picture by seeing it a few minutes every day for a week, than you would by spending
several hours before it at one time. So it is with the memory. By recalling an impression a number of times, you
fix it indelibly in your mind in such a way that it may be readily found when needed. Such impressions are like
favorite tools which you need every little while² they are not apt to be mislaid as are those which are but seldom
used. Use your imagination in "going over" a thing that you wish to remember. If you are studying a thing, you
will find that this "going over" in your imagination will help you materially in disclosing the things that you have
not remembered about it. By thus recognizing your weak points of memory, you may be able to pick up the
missing details when you study the object itself the next time.
POINT VI. Use your memory and place confidence in it.
One of the important things in the cultivation of the memory is the actual use of it. Begin to trust it a little, and
then more, and then still more, and it will rise to the occasion. The man who has to tie a string around his finger in
order to remember certain things, soon begins to cease to use his memory, and in the end forgets to remember the
string, or what it is for. There are many details, of course, with which it is folly to charge the memory, but one
should never allow his memory to fall into disuse. If you are in an occupation in which the work is done by
mechanical helps, then you should exercise the memory by learning verses, or other things, in order to keep it in
active practice. Do not allow your memory to atrophy.


POINT VII. Establish as many associations for an impression, as possible.
If you have studied the preceding chapters, you will recognize the value of this point. Association is memory's
method of indexing and cross-indexing. Each association renders it easier to remember or recollect the thing. Each
association gives you another string to your mental bow. Endeavor to associate a new bit of knowledge with
something already known by, and familiar to you. In this way to avoid the danger of having the thing isolated and
alone in your mind²without a label, or index number and name, connect your object or thought to be
remembered with other objects or thoughts, by the association of contiguity in space and time, and by relationship
of kind, resemblance or opposite-ness. Sometimes the latter is very useful, as in the case of the man who said that
''Smith reminds me so much of Brown²he's so different." You will often be able to remember a thing by
remembering something else that happened at the same place, or about the same time²these things give you the

"loose ends" of recollection whereby you may unwind the ball of memory. In the same way, one is often able to
recollect names by slowly running over the alphabet, with a pencil, until the sight of the capital first letter of the
name brings the memory of those following it²this, however, only when the name has previously been
memorized by sight. In the same way the first few notes of a musical selection will enable you to remember the
whole air; or the first words of a sentence, the entire speech or selection following it. In trying to remember a
thing which has escaped you, you will find it helpful to think of something associated with that thing, even
remotely. A little practice will enable you to recollect the thing along the lines of the faintest association or clue.
Some men are adept memory detectives, following this plan. The "loose end" in memory is all the expert requires.
Any associations furnish these loose ends. An interesting and important fact to remember in this connection is that
if you have some one thing that tends to escape your memory, you may counteract the trouble by noting the
associated things that have previously served to bring it into mind with you. The associated thing once noted, may
thereafter be used as a loose end with which to unwind the elusive fact or impression. This idea of association la
quite fascinating when you begin to employ it in your memory exercises and work. And you will find many little
methods of using it. But always use natural association, and avoid the temptation of endeavoring to tie your
memory up with the red-tape of the artificial systems.
POINT VIII. Group your impressions.
This is but a form of association, but is very important. If you can arrange your bits of knowledge and fact into
logical groups, you will always be master of your subject. By associating your knowledge with other knowledge
along the same general lines, both by resemblances and by opposites, you will be able to find what you need just
when you need it. Napoleon Bonaparte had a mind trained along these lines. He said that his memory was like a
large case of small drawers and pigeon-holes, in which he filed his information according to its kind. In order to
do this he used the methods mentioned in this book of comparing the new thing with the old ones, and then
deciding into which group it naturally fitted. This is largely a matter of practice and knack, but it may be acquired
by a little thought and care, aided by practice. And it will repay one well for the trouble in acquiring it. The
following table will be found useful in classifying objects, ideas, facts, etc., so as to correlate and associate them
with other facts of a like kind. The table is to be used in the line of questions addressed to oneself regarding the
thing under consideration. It somewhat resembles the table of questions given in Chapter XVII, of this book, but
has the advantage of brevity. Memorize this table and use it. You will be delighted at the results, after you have
caught the knack of applying it.
QUERY TABLE. Ask yourself the following questions regarding the thing under consideration. It will draw out

many bits of information and associated knowledge in your mind:
(1) WHAT?

(2) WHENCE?

(3) WHERE?

(4) WHEN? (5) HOW? (6) WHY? (7) WHITHER?

While the above Seven Queries are given you as a means of acquiring clear impressions and associations, they
will also serve as a Magic Key to Knowledge, if you use them intelligently. If you can answer these questions
regarding anything, you will know a great deal about that particular thing. And after you have answered them


fully, there will be but little unexpressed knowledge regarding that thing left in your memory. Try them on some
one thing²you cannot understand them otherwise, unless you have a very good imagination.

Develop Attention:
In order that a thing may be remembered, it must be impressed clearly upon the mind in the first place; and that in
order to obtain a clear impression there must be a manifestation of attention.
But there is this important point to be remembered, that interest may be developed by voluntary attention
bestowed and held upon an object. Things that are originally lacking in sufficient interest to attract the involuntary
attention may develop a secondary interest if the voluntary attention be placed upon and held upon them. As
Halleck says on this point: "When it is said that attention will not take a firm hold on an uninteresting thing, we
must not forget that anyone not shallow and fickle can soon discover something interesting in most objects. Here
cultivated minds show their especial superiority, for the attention which they are able to give generally ends in
finding a pearl in the most uninteresting looking oyster. When an object necessarily loses interest from one point
of view, such minds discover in it new attributes. The essence of genius is to present an old thing in new ways,
whether it be some force in nature or some aspect of humanity."
It is very difficult to teach another person how to cultivate the attention. This because the whole thing consists so

largely in the use of the will, and by faithful practice and persistent application. The first requisite is the
determination to use the will. You must argue it out with yourself, until you become convinced that it is necessary
and desirable for you to acquire the art of voluntary attention ²you must convince yourself beyond reasonable
doubt. This is the first step and one more difficult than it would seem at first sight. The principal difficulty in it
lies in the fact that to do the thing you must do some active earnest thinking, and the majority of people are too
lazy to indulge in such mental effort. Having mastered this first step, you must induce a strong burning desire to
acquire the art of voluntary attention²you must learn to want it hard. In this way you induce a condition of
interest and attractiveness where it was previously lacking. Third and last, you must hold your will firmly and
persistently to the task, and practice faithfully. A simple exercise is to pick a house and be able to describe exactly
in Detail!
There are three general rules that may be given in this matter of bestowing the voluntary attention in the direction
of actually seeing things, instead of merely looking at them.
1. Make yourself take an interest in the thing.
2. See it as if you were taking note of it in order to repeat its details to a friend²this will force you to
"take notice."
3. Give to your subconscious a mental command to take note of what you are looking at²say to it; "Here,
you take note of this and remember it for me!"
Remember first, last and always, that before you can remember, or recollect, you must first perceive; and that
perception is possible only through attention, and responds in degree to the later. Therefore, it has truly been said
that: "The great Art of Memory is Attention. ''

Develop Associations:
It will be seen that it is of great importance that we correlate our impressions with those preceding and following.
The more closely knitted together our impressions are, the more closely will they cohere, and the greater will be
the facility of remembering or recollecting them. We should endeavor to form our impressions of things so that
they will be associated with other impressions, in time and space. Every other thing that is associated in the mind


with a given thing, serves as a "loose end" of memory, which if once grasped and followed up will lead us to the
thing we desire to recall to mind.

The habit of correct association²that is, connecting facts in the mind according to their true relations, and to the
manner in which they tend to illustrate each other, is one of the principle means of improving the memory,
particularly that kind of memory which is an essential quality of a cultivated mind²namely, that which is
founded not upon incidental connections, but on true and important relations."
Memory Classes:
1. Memory of Sense Impressions (mostly sight and sound: sight impressions: of locality; figures; form;
color; written or printed words. sound impressions: of spoken words; names; stories; music, etc.)
2. Memory of Ideas (facts, events, thoughts, lines of reasoning, etc)

Training the eye:
Before the memory can be stored with sight impressions²before the mind can recollect or remember such
impressions²the eye must be used under the direction of the attention.
³Perception, to achieve satisfactory results, must summon the will to its aid to concentrate the attention. Only the
smallest part of what falls upon our senses at any time is actually perceived."
The way to train the mind to receive clear sight-impressions, and therefore to retain them in the memory is simply
to concentrate the will and attention upon objects of sight, endeavoring to see them plainly and distinctly, and
then to practice recalling the details of the object some time afterward.
Exercise:
Walk by shop windows and try to remember as many elements in the window as you can. (as Houdin and also the
example from Kim of the Hindu trays)
But the principle is the same in all cases²the gradual practice and exercise, beginning with a small number of
simple things, and then increasing the number and complexity of the objects.
It is all a matter of attention, interest (natural or induced) and practice. Begin with a set of dominoes, if you like,
and try to remember the spots on one of them rapidly glanced at²then two²then three. By increasing the
number gradually, you will attain a power of perception and a memory of sight-impressions that will appear
almost marvelous. And not only will you begin to remember dominoes, but you will also be able to perceive and
remember thousands of little details of interest, in everything, that have heretofore escaped your notice. The
principle is very simple, but the results that may be obtained by practice are wonderful.
The trouble with most of you is that you have been looking without seeing²gazing but not observing. The
objects around you have been out of your mental focus. If you will but change your mental focus, by means of

will and attention, you will be able to cure yourself of the careless methods of seeing and observing that have
been hindrances to your success.
You have been blaming it on your memory, but the fault is with your perception. How can the memory remember,
when it is not given anything in the way of clear impressions ? You have been like young infants in this matter²
now it is time for you to begin to '' sit up and take notice,'' no matter how old you may be. The whole thing in a
nut-shell is this: In order to remember the things that pass before your sight, you must begin to see with your


mind, instead of with your retina. Let the impression get beyond your retina and into your mind. If you will do
this, you will find that memory will "do the rest."
³It is true that it is the mind and not the eye that really sees
It is the mind and not the ear that really hears´
Improving Listening
The remedy for "poor hearing," and poor memory of things heard is to be found in the use of the will in the
direction of voluntary attention and interest.
Try to memorize words that are spoken to you in conversation²a few sentences, or even one, at a time. You will
find that the effort made to fasten the sentence on your memory will result in a concentration of the attention on
the words of the speaker. Do the same thing when you are listening to a preacher, actor or lecturer. Pick out the
first sentence for memorizing, and make up your mind that your memory will be as wax to receive the impression
and as steel to retain it. Listen to the stray scraps of conversation that come to your ears while walking on the
street, and endeavor to memorize a sentence or two, as if you were to repeat it later in the day. Study the various
tones, expressions and inflections in the voices of persons speaking to you²you will find this most interesting
and helpful. You will be surprised at the details that such analysis will reveal. Listen to the footsteps of different
persons and endeavor to distinguish between them²each has its peculiarities. Get some one to read a line or two
of poetry or prose to you, and then endeavor to remember it. A little practice of this kind will greatly develop the
power of voluntary attention to sounds and spoken words. But above everything else, practice repeating the words
and sounds that you have memorized, so far as is possible²for by so doing you will get the mind into the habit of
taking an interest in sound impressions. In this way you not only improve the sense of hearing, but also the faculty
of remembering.
If you will analyze, and boil down the above remarks and directions, you will find that the gist of the whole

matter is that one should actually use, employ and exercise the mental faculty of hearing, actively and
intelligently. Nature has a way of putting to sleep, or atrophying any faculty that is not used or exercised; and also
of encouraging, developing and strengthening any faculty that is properly employed and exercised. In this you
have the secret. Use it. If you will listen well, you will hear well and remember well that which you have heard.
Specific types of memory:
Names: (Told in the style of a true story about a Mr. X who successfully learns to remember names )
He made a study of voices, until he could classify them and analyze their characteristics. Then he found that he
could hear names in a manner before impossible to him. That is, instead of merely catching a vague sound of a
name, he would hear it so clearly and distinctly that a firm registration would be obtained on the records of his
memory.
He would repeat a name to himself, after hearing it, and would thus strengthen the impression. If he came across
an unusual name, he would write it down several times, at the first opportunity, thus obtaining the benefit of a
double sense impression, adding eye impression to ear impression. All this, of course, aroused his interest in the
subject of names in general, which led him to the next step in his progress.
Mr. X. then began to study names, their origin, their peculiarities, their differences, points of resemblances, etc
1. Repeat name while looking intently at the person bearing it
2. Visualize the name, see the letters in mind¶s eye
3. Associate with other well-remembered people of same name


Numbers:
Remember sound, visualize, remember form (as in seeing the shapes of the numbers on a door then if you
remember the door you remember the number)
Dates: Visualize the number in the scene
Occurrences/Events:
It is not advisable to expend much mental effort in fastening each important detail of the day upon the mind, as it
occurs; but there is an easier way that will accomplish the purpose, if one will but take a little trouble in that
direction. We refer to the practice of reviewing the occurrences of each day, after the active work of the day is
over. If you will give to the occurrences of each day a mental review in the evening, you will find that the act of
reviewing will employ the attention to such an extent as to register the happenings in such a manner that they will

be available if ever needed thereafter. It is akin to the filing of the business papers of the day, for possible future
reference. Besides this advantage, these reviews will serve you well as a reminder of many little things of
immediate importance which have escaped your recollection by reason of something that followed them in the
field of attention.
Thurlow Weed, a well-known politician of the last century, testifies to the efficacy of the above mentioned
method, in his "Memoirs." His plan was slightly different from that mentioned by us, but you will at once see that
it involves the same principles²the same psychology. Mr. Weed says: "Some of my friends used to think that I
was 'cut out' for a politician, but I saw at once a fatal weakness. My memory was a sieve. I could remember
nothing. Dates, names, appointments, faces²everything escaped me. I said to my wife, ' Catherine, I shall never
make a successful politician, for I cannot remember, and that is a prime necessity of politicians.
A politician who sees a man once should remember him forever.' My wife told me that I must train my memory.
So when I came home that night I sat down alone and spent fifteen minutes trying silently to recall with accuracy
the principal events of the day. I could remember but little at first²now I remember that I could not then recall
what I had for breakfast. After a few days' practice I found I could recall more. Events came back to me more
minutely, more accurately, and more vividly than at first. After a fortnight or so of this, Catherine said 'why don't
you relate to me the events of the day instead of recalling them to yourself? It would be interesting and my
interest in it would be a stimulus to you.' Having great respect for my wife's opinion, I began a habit of oral
confession, as it were, which was continued for almost fifty years. Every night, the last thing before retiring, I told
her everything I could remember that had happened to me, or about me, during the day. I generally recalled the
very dishes I had for breakfast, dinner and tea; the people I had seen, and what they had said; the editorials I had
written for my paper, giving her a brief abstract of them; I mentioned all the letters I had seen and received, and
the very language used, as nearly as possible; when I had walked or ridden²I told her everything that had come
within my observation. I found that I could say my lessons better and better every year, and instead of the practice
growing irksome, it became a pleasure to go over again the events of the day. I am indebted to this discipline for a
memory of unusual tenacity, and I recommend the practice to all who wish to store up facts, or expect to have
much to do with influencing men.''
The careful student, after reading these words of Thurlow Weed, will see that in them he has not only given a
method of recalling the particular class of occurrences mentioned in this lesson, but has also pointed out a way
whereby the entire field of memory may be trained and developed. The habit of reviewing and "telling" the things
that one perceives, does and thinks during the day, naturally sharpens the powers of future observation, attention

and perception. If you are witnessing a thing, which you know that you will be called upon to describe to another
person, you will instinctively apply your attention to it. The knowledge that you will be called upon for a
description of a thing will give the zest of interest or necessity to it, which may be lacking otherwise. If you will


"sense" things with the knowledge that you will be called upon to tell of them later on, you will give the interest
and attention that go to make sharp, clear and deep impressions on the memory. In this case the seeing and
hearing has "a meaning" to you, and a purpose. In addition to this, the work of review establishes a desirable habit
of mind. If you don't care to relate the occurrences to another person²learn to tell them to yourself in the
evening. Play the part yourself. There is a valuable secret of memory imbedded in this chapter²if you are wise
enough to apply it.
Facts:
"Over the associations formed by contiguity in time or space we have but little control. They are in a manner
accidental, depending upon the order in which the objects present themselves to the mind. On the other hand,
association by similarity is largely put in our own power; for we, in a measure, select those objects that are to be
associated, and bring them together in the mind.
Associate by similarity not contiguity
1. Ask questions about the fact/Analyze it
2. The answers are the associations!
This matter of association by relation is one of the most important things in the whole subject of thought, and the
degree of correct and efficient thinking depends materially upon it. It does not suffice us to merely "know" a
thing²we must know where to find it when we want it.
When we associate what is new with what most nearly resembles it in the mind already, we give it its proper place
in our fabric of thought.
I. Where did it come from or originate?
II. What caused it?
III. What history or record has it?
IV. What are its attributes, qualities and characteristics?
V. What things can I most readily associate with it? What is it like!
VI. What is it good for²how may it be used²what can I do with it?

VII. What does it prove²what can be deduced from it?
VIII. What are its natural results²what happens because of it?
IX. What is its future; and its natural or probable end or finish?
X. What do I think of it, on the whole² what are my general impressions regarding it?
XI. What do I know about it, in the way of general information?
XII. What have I heard about it, and from whom, and when?
The more other facts that you manage to associate with any one fact, the more pegs will you have to hang your
facts upon²the more "loose ends" will you have whereby to pull that fact into the field of consciousness ²the
more cross indexes will you have whereby you may "run down" the fact when you need it. The more associations
you attach to a fact, the more "meaning" does that fact have for you, and the more interest will be created
regarding it in your mind. Moreover, by so doing, you make very probable the "automatic" or involuntary
recollection of that fact when you are thinking of some of its associated subjects; that is, it will come into your
mind naturally in connection with something else²in a "that reminds me" fashion. And the oftener that you are
involuntarily "reminded" of it, the clearer and deeper does its impression become on the records of your memory.
Another point to be remembered is that the future association of a fact depends very much upon your system of
filing away facts. If you will think of this when endeavoring to store away a fact for future reference, you will be


very apt to find the best mental pigeonhole for it. File it away with the thing it most resembles, or to which it has
the most familiar relationship. The child does this, involuntarily²it is nature's own way. For instance, the child
sees a zebra, it files away that animal as "a donkey with stripes;" a giraffe as a "long-necked horse;" a camel as a
"horse with long, crooked legs, long neck and humps on its back." The child always attaches its new knowledge
or fact on to some familiar fact or bit of knowledge²sometimes the result is startling, but the child remembers by
means of it nevertheless.
The grown up children will do well to build similar connecting links of memory.
Attach the new thing to some old familiar thing. It is easy when you once have the knack of it. The table of
questions given a little farther back will bring to mind many connecting links. Use them.
Words, speeches, poems, etc.
1. Learn one line, review it
2. Learn 2nd line, review it

3. Review both together noting connections.
Not only does this exercise and use develop the memory along the particular line of the faculty used, but also
along every line and faculty. This is so because the exercise develops the power of concentration, and the use of
the voluntary attention.
Exercise:
We suggest that the student, who wishes to acquire a good memory for words, sentences, etc., begin at once,
selecting some favorite poem for the purpose of the demonstration. Then let him memorize one verse of not over
four to six lines to begin with. Let him learn this verse perfectly, line by line, until he is able to repeat it without a
mistake. Let him be sure to be "letter perfect" in that verse²so perfect that he will "see" even the capital letters
and the punctuation marks when he recites it. Then let him stop for the day. The next day let him repeat the verse
learned the day before, and then let him memorize a second verse in the same way, and just as perfectly. Then let
him review the first and second verses together. This addition of the second verse to the first serves to weld the
two together by association, and each review of them together serves to add a little bit to the weld, until they
become joined in the mind as are "A, B, C." The third day let him learn a third verse, in the same way and then
review the three. Continue this for say a month, adding a new verse each day and adding it to the verses preceding
it. But constantly review them from beginning to end. He cannot review them too often. He will be able to have
them flow along like the letters of the alphabet, from "A" to "Z" if he reviews properly and often enough.
Then, if he can spare the time, let him begin the second month by learning two verses each day, and adding to
those that precede them, with constant and faithful reviews. He will find that he can memorize two verses, in the
second month, as easily as he did the one verse in the first month. His memory has been trained to this extent.
And so, he may proceed from month to month, adding an extra verse to his daily task, until he is unable to spare
the time for all the work, or until he feels satisfied with what he has accomplished. Let him use moderation and
not try to become a phenomenon. Let him avoid overstraining. After he has memorized the entire poem, let him
start with a new one, but not forget to revive the old one at frequent intervals. If he finds it impossible to add the
necessary number of new verses, by reason of other occupation, etc., let him not fail to keep up his review work.
The exercise and review is more important than the mere addition of so many new verses.
After he has acquired quite a large assortment of memorized selections, he will find it impossible to review them
all at one time. But he should be sure to review them all at intervals, no matter how many days may elapse
between each review.

Summation of exercise: The student who has familiarized himself with the principles upon which memory
depends, as given in the preceding chapters, will at once see that the three principles of attention, association and
repetition are employed in the natural method herein recommended. Attention must be given in order to memorize
each verse in the first place; association is employed in the relationship created between the old verses and the
new ones; and repetition is employed by the frequent reviewing, which serves to deepen the memory impression
each time the poem is repeated. Moreover, the principle of interest is invoked, in the gradual progress made, and
the accomplishment of what at first seemed to be an impossible task²the game element is thus supplied, which
serves as an incentive. These combined principles render this method an ideal one, and it is not to be wondered
that the race has so recognized it from the earliest times.
Books, Articles, Ect:
Noah Porter says: "We have not read an author till we have seen his object, whatever it may be, as he saw it."
Also: " Read with attention. This is the rule that takes precedence of all others. It stands instead of a score of
minor directions. Indeed it comprehends them all, and is the golden rule. . . . The page should be read as if it were
never to be seen a second time; the mental eye should be fixed as if there were no other object to think of; the
memory should grasp the facts like a vise; the impressions should be distinctly and sharply received."
1. Read
2. Visualize places/characters
3. Review the book upon completion and at the end of chapters.
At the end of each reading, take the time to mentally review the progress of the story²let the characters and
scenes pass before your mental vision as in a moving picture. And when the book is finally completed, review it
as a whole. By following this course, you will not only acquire the habit of easily remembering the tales and
books that you have read, but will also obtain much pleasure by re-reading favorite stories in your imagination,
years after. You will find that your favorite characters will take on a new reality for you, and will become as old
friends in whose company you may enjoy yourself at any time, and whom you may dismiss when they tire you,
without offense.
Lectures:
Note each general idea
Note the connection to the next
Review

By practice and exercise, the subconscious mentality will do better work, and will show that it is rising to its new
responsibilities. You have allowed it to sleep during the many discourses to which you have listened, and it must
be taught new habits. Let it know that it is expected to retain that which it hears, and then exercise it frequently by
reviews of discourses, and you will be surprised at the degree of the work it will perform for you. Not only will
you remember better, but you will hear better and more intelligently. The subconsciousness, knowing that it will
be called upon later on to recollect what is being said, will urge you to bestow the attention necessary to supply it
with the proper material.

Core Concepts for Studying


Study Method Part I: What it takes to be an Excellent Student
Note: I found this floating around on the internet and don't know the author but it is good.
In a very basic sense, we all learn the same. We must understand the material and then see it over and over again.
In undergraduate, because of the low volume of learning, a person can get away with all sorts of weaknesses.
However, the best students will often not have to alter their study methods at all for medical school.
To be a good student, the intangibles are required: work-ethic, dedication, and self-confidence. However, in
medical school, you will discover that almost everyone has that. The filtering process of undergraduate has
removed most of those that lacked these intangibles.
At this point it comes down to study method. The students who have the best methods are called geniuses. The
students who have the worst methods flunk out or barely pass.
Get this in your mind and keep it there: It is the study method that makes the good student!!!
Now, one last important point, it is most important that one realizes that every good study method comes down to
just a few things. You must understand the material by translating it in your own language. You must then review
the material over and over again. You need to see the material at least 4 times with an optimum of at least 6 times.
And finally, you need to review over several days. That is the best way to do it. When methods have these simple
points in them, they are good methods.
Study Method Part II: 3 Most Common Mistakes by Medical Students:
Please note: premed students make many of the same mistakes.
1st NO NO: Don¶t oversimplify the material.

I¶ve now had the chance to watch many students flunk out. Every single one of them gave the same response.
³Well, the material was easy to understand. It¶s just the volume of information.´ Wrong, Wrong, Wrong« The
few times that I spoke to a student about this, I would ask them questions about the material that they understood.
Again and again, I would notice a superficial memorization process in their answers. This is why they were
overwhelmed on the questions. Medical school and USMLE test questions are conceptual. You don¶t get that
many memorization gimmies. You need to understand the material and manipulate it in your mind. Understanding
the material is not easy. It takes effort, but it is a rewarding endeavor.
2nd NO NO: Donµt just read and reread the material. You must take your own notes.
I¶ve seen this countless times. In almost every case the student who did this was failing. A good student takes
their own notes and transcribes things into their own words. This is critical because you are translating the notes
into a language that you understand. Students who don¶t do this will end up failing. This is basic study strategy
and it must be done.
3rd NO NO: Don¶t start to review the material on the day before the test.
Student who are doing bad are often as tired as they can be. They stay up all night before the test slaving. They
put in incredible 18 and 19-hour study days on the day before a test. Yet they still do bad. You have to understand
that the mind is a muscle in many ways. You can¶t work it for 18 hours straight. Review needs to start well-before
the day before the test. Give those concepts time to become entrenched within your mind. In undergraduate, you


can get away with not doing this. In medical school, it¶s a very bad idea. Remember, medical school is like the
pros. You need to be better. A good method has review built into it, such as the method that I will present.
Finally, here is an overview of one study method that will work in medical school. Enjoy. Let¶s begin. This
method will address every defiency that medical students make.
1st: You must preview a lecture. You can count this as the first time that you seen the material. Go here for how
to preview a lecture:
Before every lecture, I preview the material. Now, I should explain where most medical students go wrong -where I went wrong. Previewing the material SHOULD not involve reading it for 2 hours! That is LEARNING
the material.
Previewing involves creating a roadmap in your head. You need to develop a feel for where the lecture is going.
This will remarkably increase comprehension. There are two methods for doing this:
How to Preview

Method 1: 8 Sentence Process-Oriented Method
Look over the lecture. Write 8 general sentences explaining the lecture. The 8 sentences need to relate as a
process. Make sure that you leave plenty of space between each point. The goal is to come back and fill in the
details under those 8 points. Always be aware that the main point of this is to create a roadmap in your head. You
need to have a feel for where the lecture is going. Within time, you will be able to do this in a few minutes. Please
remember that you don¶t need to learn the lecture during the preview phase! You just need to develop a feel for
where it is going.
Method 2: 8 Sentence Question-Oriented Method
Look over the lecture. Write 8 general questions that you have about the lecture. The 8 questions need to cover
multiple aspects of the lecture. Make sure that you leave plenty of space between each question. The goal is to
come back and fill in the answers under those questions. Again, be aware that the main point of this is to create a
roadmap in your head. You need to have a feel for where the lecture is going. Within time, you will be able to
preview within a few minutes. Please remember that you don¶t need to learn the lecture during the preview phase!
You just need to develop a feel for where it is going.
Now, let¶s do a brief tab. So far, you have seen the material one time for preview. You only went over it for a few
minutes, but those were an essential few minutes, as you will now come to see.
Getting Something Out of Lecture: the Actual Lecture Itself:
This part is relatively simple if you engaged in the previewing method.
You need to bring your 8 or 10 sentence list to class. As the professor lectures, check each point that you feel the
professor has covered as the professor lectures over it. You may still take notes on another sheet of paper. But use
the "checklist." It takes two seconds to check a sentence. Whenever the professor has not touched something, put
a question mark by it.
Use the question mark if you don't understand something also. Write it down and then put a question mark by it.


IMPORTANT: it is extremely important that you put a question mark by anything that you don't understand and
IMMEDIATELY see the professor about it!
Now, after class is over or during class, ask questions about everything that you don't understand. Don't be
embarrassed. Just tell the professor that you didn't understand it. Write down each point that you don¶t understand
on a separate sheet of paper. Go see the Professor about it.

Now, there is a Part II to getting something out of lecture. If the professor initially explains something and you
still don't understand it go to the professorµs office hours. Ask the professor to explain it again while politely
telling him or her that you didn't get it. If you still don't understand it, ask the professor again -- but this time try to
be more specific in determining what aspect of the professor¶s explanation is causing problems.
If you don't understand it for a third time, go home. Pull out a book. Read it. Come back the next day and ask the
professor to explain it again. You will most likely get it.
It is important to understand that you can still do well in medical school without going to lecture. It¶s just that you
will have to study a lot longer and harder than if you learn how to retain information from lecture. It¶s
advantageous to use a proven method, such as this one, that will help you utilize things like lectures.
Many learning psychologists maintain that you should do an additional step.
Take 10-15 minutes immediately after the lecture to re-read the material. I will personally do this, but it is
optional. Supposedly, studies have shown that it greatly increases comprehension.
Time for a tally: You have seen the material one time for Preview. You have also seen the information 1 time in
lecture. That is two times. If you do the Optional Derivation, then you have seen the material 3 times! But lets
assume that you don¶t do the optional derivation. You¶re at two times right now. It¶s time to learn how to cover a
lecture.
Covering the Material:
Now, we enter the next stage of learning.
This should be the third time that you see the material within 24 hours (possibly fourth)! When you finish
covering the lecture, you should have everything entered into memory, save a concept or two that you will need to
ask the professor about for clarification.
You must learn to become a transcriber. This means that you must get used to transcribing the notes or books that
you have been reading into your own, concise words.
These need to be in an organized format: Something that naturally flows within your own mental construct.
What¶s important is that you learn to word your notes in a clear, concise fashion.
Second, and this is extremely, extremely, extremely important. You must diagram. Now, you might find yourself
copying diagrams and pathways. That¶s okay. You need to do that. But challenge yourself to try and create your
own diagrams and drawings also.
The process of learning and memory works like this. Learning something is a skill. That is, you understand
something as a process and you are able to master the process within your mind. Afterwards, you form logical

representations within your mind of various relationships. This is what enters the information into long-term
memory.


You¶re a thinker suddenly. You¶re thinking through your information as you study it. You¶re finding
relationships, and it enters memory. That is the whole key to learning! You have to form relationships.
Think about this. What is a mnemonic? A mnemonic is simply a relationship that links words to a simple concept.
In essence, you are forming a primitive relationship of the scientific material so that it enters memory. Now,
imagine the power of forming your own relationships. You will remember things longer and faster.
Train yourself how to think through material. Many medical students never master that and they pass. But they
never become excellent at mastering the scientific material. You can, but you have to work hard to learn how to
do this.
Now, I can explain why the diagram and drawing is so important. The diagram that you make represents
interconnecting relationships that you have made yourself. At least that is the case when you make your own
diagrams. Use drawings, use boxes, use learning trees, etc. Try to understand the process.
Challenge yourself to make at least 5 diagrams per a lecture at the beginning. After that, you will naturally find
how many you need for the information to enter memory.
Finally, make sure that you understand everything. If there is word that you don¶t know, look it up! If there is
something that you don¶t understand, ask for help. You need to understand these concepts to form relationships.
IMPORTANT! There is a common question that should be addressed. People often ask how to diagram and how
they should ask their questions. That is a very good question, and it is easy to answer. The best way to learn how
to word your own notes is to look at the professor¶s lectures. Take a look. You will notice plenty of diagrams
along with concise, interconnecting points.
When you get done with covering the material, your information should look like a lecture that you prepared.
Imagine yourself getting ready to present it in front of the class. Imagine having to answer questions about the
material. That¶s the key to covering this stuff.
After you finish going through all the trouble to make your own notes, make sure that you organize them in a
folder. You will use these for the review process.
It is time to take a Tally. You have now seen the material 3 times (4 times if you do the optional way). You know
it (mostly).

Now, it is essential that you review like a madman or madwoman. This is where the difference between a highpass and honors student takes place.
The Review Phase
If you don¶t remember anything else, remember this: The Review Phase Must Happen Over Time!!!!!!! Let me
say it again. The Review Phase Must Happen Over Time!!!!! The best method of review is to do it over time, not
all in one day.
Review 1: This occurs the day after lecture. Spend no more than 10-15 minutes reviewing a particular subject
each day. But there is an art to reviewing also. Most students make the oft-repeated mistake that I used to make.
They simply scan over the material and call it review. Hell NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!