How to adjust learning techniques

Dear Year 1 Medic Students,

You may have already developed your own learning style which you are comfortable with. But you have to know that your learning style is somewhat relaxed and not rushed. You learn slowly.

However, when you come into the university to study medicine, you will need to readjust and try to learn faster as you have a lot to read, understand, assimilate, see the whole picture, and try to see the relevance.

Since there is so much to learn in first year medicine, the best way to learn is therefore to develop a systematic and faster way to acquire information for better understanding and retention, and overview. Then to fit in as much new information into your skeletal framework. Only then can you advance very fast with reading and learning at the same time. Never fall behind in your reading and learning.

To start you off in the right direction, you must look after your health. This means you must try and develop a safe and yet healthy dietary routine that takes care of your health while you study. That diet must be a rich diet that supplies you all the nutrients and vitamins you need. You must have adequate iron in your hemoglobin.

Your dietary menu must contain a lot of fruits and berries, fresh and cooked vegetables, sufficient chicken or beef. You must drink sufficient fluid, be it water, fruit juices or milk. Fruit choices can be bananas and apples or other.

Eat a good healthy breakfast very early in the morning and empty out before you go to class. Drink a lot of fluids when you are on campus, especially in hot weather. With adequate fluid intake, your alertness is at maximum, and you can pay attention well to what is being taught. If you read ahead of time before each class topic, you should be able to understand each lecture fairly well. There will be gaps in your knowledge while in class and you can jot down the important words you heard but did not understand. Use the Internet to find out what they mean or relate to.

In your free time, use the Internet Google Images to search for relevant illustrations to help you learn. Almost everything taught in medicine today has relevant pictures on the Internet. Download those images and keep them in a folder named IMAGES (separate from your photos). Keep searching and downloading relevant images whenever you see some good ones. These images are very useful when you are unsure or confused about something that you learned. Go through the images when in doubt. Find more images if you need to.

When you read prescribed pages in your textbook for homework, read but at the same time use a pencil to jot down notes at the sides of each page. Go through your own notes to see if they make sense to you. These jotted notes are very useful when you do revision as you won't need to read all the pages again but just the jotted notes at the sides. Thus revision is speeded up.

Read up before class and read again after lecture. Never leave revision till Revision Week, as you won't have sufficient time to revise everything. Revise everyday and every night, all the time. Go through your notes over and over again till they make sense to you. If they don't make sense to you, it means that you didn't understand well and you need assistance. You can ask your roommates or in the next lecture.

If you are shy to ask something in class via the microphone, you can scribble on little pieces of paper and leave them on the lecturn (the lecturer's table up front) or place them in a box and put the box on the lecturn for the lecturer to answer your questions. Never refrain from asking. You will gain a lot by asking lecturers in this way rather than keeping quiet and not asking in class. Always ask the lecturer while he/she is still in the lecture hall. You can still run after the lecturer after class but most lecturers are tired after their lectures and sometimes this will irritate them.

If you have additional questions after class, you can e-mail direct to the lecturer concerned or write in the Forum in MedLearn. This e-learning Forum is under utilised and students tend to lose out. You must try and ask questions in MedLearn Forum

Some students join their lecturers' groups in Facebook and ask questions there. This is alright is your lecturer has a Facebook account and is willing to answer your questions in Facebook. Remember, Facebook is a social medium and is more meant for meet & greet new friends and relatives. It is not much used for learning. However, keep this option open because it is a more relaxed way to ask lecturers questions about your lectures. Ask your lecturers if they have Facebook and whether they are willing to answer your questions in Facebook. Facebook is strictly banned during office hours.

When you read or study, have a stack of scrap paper ready to jot down words or notes. You can cut used A4 paper and tie with a rubber band into a stack. You can buy colourful Post-It flags from Kedai Mahasiswa USM (RM6.00) to bookmark important pages as you read your textbook. That way you can keep track of important pages and diagrams for fast revision.

After you finished reading, you can use your laptop to prepare additional PowerPoint (PPT) presentations. These will help you to retain better as they serve as flash cards. You can narrate and add to your PPT to make a multimedia presentation.

There are many YouTube videos now that cover almost everything that is taught in medicine. Download then at home and bring to campus. YouTube is strictly banned during office hours.

There are many blogs which are opreated by medical students. They may be useful for you for learning purposes.

Whatever means you choose to study, make sure you feel comfortable and it is not burdening you. Adjust and readjust till you find a style that you like and will work for you. Develop a style that you can use for a lifetime and that needs little modification or adjustment. Try out a style for some time and if it works well for you, use it for your entire medical study and for life.

Prof Faridah