(Alternative) Ways to study medicine

Today I'd like to talk about how I bring variety to my own learning by doing lots of different methods of learning.

because I am not a very patient nor hardworking person, if I were to limit myself to a single study method, (e.g. in my university, the "best" way or the most popular one was to just read from the lecture notes and MEMORIZE EVERYTHING) - I would just die. I mean, I would lose that interest and my brain would stop producing endorphin and dorpamines and all the feel-good substances that I need to sustain my healthy mental health.

I like to have variety in learning because...

1. It makes studying less boring and hence I can study longer
2. I would be able to find out what's best for me
3. I can be like hey check out my new way to study (like right now)
4. By employing other ways in which I learn, I can provide an alternative viewpoint - who needs another boring medical student who studies like everyone else?

and the list goes on. I want to study differently, so I study differently. 

Now, if you're a.... say, a third year student, you might already know those following ways to learn because you've gone through that "I would rather die than read another page of notes" and turned to other ways to study. 

So, perhaps this blog entry would benefit the more junior students more than the seniors. anyways here goes!

other ways to study!

watch youtube videos
Youtube has plenty of stuff that are both informative and fun to watch. some channels in Youtube are dedicated to provide quality information FREE OF CHARGE. Basically, there are people who want to learn medicine all over the world and we face the same pains. So might as well learn from them!
here are some youtube channels I follow!

Armando Hasudungan  - He draws a very comprehensive schematic diagram with which he describes basic medical facts. Some of his videos are really great at understanding basic concepts that you may need to straighten out before you get to the specifics in 10 minutes or less. here's an example - Overview of Immunology - great introduction to immunology and an overview of what immunology is all about. 

Geeky Medics - These guys make this blog an embarrassment because their OSCE guides and demonstrations are far easier to understand and refer to, than the text format I provide. They provide really good quality OSCE demonstrations. here's an example - Cardiovascular Examinations  - a straightforward examination of CVS. 

OnlineMedEd - This channel would be very useful for senior students OR current doctors whom (surprise surprise) are studying for exams. They are fully-fledged doctors trying to provide quality medical education to people, apparently their videos are free but with some cash, they'll teach you how to pass exams and most importantly, to be "a better doctor" - their slogan. here's an example - Antibiotic Ladder - It requires that you have some knowledge about drugs and microorganisms, but this tutorial is great for 3/4th years. 

Teach other students

You can offer to teach your friends or your juniors - the great thing about teaching is that the moment you teach, you win - teaching is one of the best ways to integrate information in your mind so that you can make it your own and answering exam questions would be a piece of cake. Teaching is hard,  but if you're able to teach so that other students can understand, that means you have really grasped the essence of the topic you're trying to cover, and this is my personal opinion but doctors should all  be teachers as well - to the peers, patients, and themselves. If there's some information to be learnt, it might as well be presented in forms that are most easily digested. Teaching will make you realize some things you needed to know, but didn't know you didn't know at that moment. 

If you're good, people would start paying you even! Which is not uncommon in medical school - some students can afford it!

Form a study group

Who does study group nowadays? Nobody! I think this is because everyone assumes that either you can manage to learn everything by yourself, or that everyone else has no time for group study. Which I beg to differ because group studying is one of the best ways to study - as evidenced by the fact that most medical schools now employ group learning sessions like PBL / TBL system. 

What is important about study group is that you're forced to output information more than you input - of course you listen to your peers, so that's an input, but when you need to present your ideas and facts to your peers, It requires that you fully understand what you're talking about.... either that or you develop a skill to beat vigorously around the bush until you bang onto something relevant - which is also a useful skill to have - but don't rely on it! Ultimately we want to be safe doctors, not politicians. 

here's me making the most out of group discussions. 

Take tests 

I like this method because it does two things - it forces me to get used to be tested, and it makes me realize what information I am missing out. Sometimes I go ahead and test myself before I read up anything about the topic so I can vaguely understand what may come out and what seems to be more important. 

It is best to take tests where the answers are properly provided on the back of the page or elsewhere. 

taking tests and checking the answers stimulate our brain more because of that pressure of answering questions, getting it wrong, and the "ahhhhhh" moment when you look at the answers. when you go  "ahhhhhh" that's when the information sticks. because memory tend to stick with emotions. 

here's me checking my answers. 15% correct...!? fffffff

Keep things at your fingertips

... and what are near your fingertips by default? YES - your smartphone.

I use apps which makes it very easy for me to readily refer to good source of medical information.

here are some example - 

Medscape  - Medscape is a website with a great deal of good quality medical information. It is also free (I think) with registration. Whenever I need to look things up, I can refer to this for a solid back-up of facts. Perhaps if i spent more time on this and less on Instagram, I could have been an A student. 

as you can see I can refer to drugs, conditions and procedures any time - even with 30% battery remaining.

but lastly....

don't study too much. get some rest. 

I personally don't need to choose where to rest. every floor is a bed. Chair is a pillow. 

exam tips - OSPE

here's little something for my juniors sitting for EOS 2 -

I bet you're terrified of OSPE - you just sat for SAQ (and I bet it was hard as hell) and you're wondering - "what will come out!?" well here are some of the trends in questions i see-



pathology

they may give you pathology photos - for e.g. lung cancer. here's what you should do when they ask you to list out what you observe from the photo.

• identify the organ - say what is the organ in the first place.
• identify the size, shape, colour etc. anything out of ordinary?
• size can be looked at by looking at the scale - if there is a scale in the photo, by all means mention the scale.
• identify the pathology. - lets say its lung cancer.
• say where - where in the lung is the cancer? is it central / peripheral? near the bronchi, near the mesothelium?
• say how many - is there more than one?
• say how big - if it is multiple, give a range - use the scale
• say how it looks like 
• shape - irregular, cirucular, wedge-shaped, oval - whatever that comes into mind.
• is there any central necrosis etc? (important in cancer description)
• does it have a capsule?

etc etc. see, there is so many things you can say about a photo.

microbiology

in my semester 2 OSPE, they were very generous about parasitology - no life-cycles - just had to say WHAT is the organism was. make sure you can identify the major characteristic ones like filariasis, ascaris lumbricoides, Malaria, tricomonas vaginallis, eggs of necator, ascaris, enterobius etc etc. 

in bacteriology, you may be asked to describe a microscopic photograph 

• gram positive / negative?
• shape of organism - cocci? bacilli? elongated?
• in clusters / in pairs / isolated?
• any other cells you can see in the microscopic picture?

after asking these few questions, you should be able to answer what is the organism. which means you need to remember the characteristics of the different unique microorganisms.

also, they may ask you what may be their clinical manifestations. if they're feeling slightly mean, they might give you a clinical manifestation of an infection, e.g. cellulitis, meningitis and you may have to identify what the organism may be.

they may also give you a culture photo - a very characteristic one would be like... b-haemolytic strep, or Tuberculosis.

virology - same as bacteriology. you may be asked for their characteristics, like capsulate / non-capsulated, DNA / RNA etc etc. 

Physiology

it may be worth your while going through all the diagrams and graphs that you've come across in your physiology. for e.g. cardiac cycle, respiratory curve, blood-typing etc etc.

biochemistry

i hate biochemistry. i skipped it but the questions i got were mainly those protein synthesis pathways, oxidative phosphorylation and whatnot. they may give you a pathway, and you may be asked to fill it up. I filled all the blanks with one word - Aspartate. not recommended at all. *sigh*

immunology

they could do something similar with biochem and give you a pathway (WBC maturation etc), or they could ask you regarding structures of antigens (my year, they asked me to label an immunoglobin.)

other than that, nothing much i guess.

Pharmacology

ah another headache subject. they like to give you some tables for this - which drug works on which enzymes, what disease its for, etc etc. 

some exam techniques - 

• use your "rest-time" wisely. you may rest, but you can also do those;
• look back at your questions - check for spelling errors, silly mistakes etc
• look front to other questions - some questions doesn't need the photo to be answered. you'll know if you see the question - e.g. theme - GI "list 3 possible position of this organ" - obviously asking about appendix. retrocaecal, pelvic, subcaecal, - write them down at the side of the blank - it will save time.
• your friends may take the calculator with them as they go to the next station. (because they might think there is no time, and its okay) don't panic. you can always jot down the equation on the paper, solve it (algebra 101) and do it in one go once it comes back. try not to take the calculator with you to the next station. it gives people heartattacks.
• relax. its a long exam. you screw up one question, there will be 20 more to save your ass.

that is basically it i guess. 

all the best, sem2s!