Doctors how did you memorize all the medical terms?

Question

what is your study habits when you were studying?

Answer 1

Do I need to say anything more???

Answer 2

Unfortunately, many students entering college in the 21st century are poorly prepared for college work. Most have poor or no study habits, i.e., routines that are necessary for academic success. More and more students are entering college without the ability or know-how for taking notes and for critical/logical reasoning. Many do not plan their study time and do not know how to organize subject material in order to learn and succeed. Unfortunately, if effective study routines are not learned or taught before entering college, as they should, the student must learn them during their Freshman year and this must then be regarded as remedial work. Without good study habits, a student will not be likely to succeed.

Attend all Classes and Be on Time

Outstanding students never cut classes. Missing even a single class creates gaps in knowledge and disrupts the continuity of information. In theory or math classes it is especially important to miss nothing, because gaps will impair your comprehension in subsequent classes. If you must miss a class due to illness or emergency, be sure to get the information that you missed and ensure that any missed obligations are being met. This is your responsibility, not the instructor's. Tardiness is just as bad as absence and additionally disrupts the classroom. Please be considerate of your fellow classmates and the instructor by being regular and on time. Plan your schedule accordingly.

Keep a Notebook

It is best to use a 3-ring binder for your notebook, because pages can be added or subtracted, and revisions are easier. Your notebook should contain:

    * the syllabus and course outline (these are supplied by the instructor)

    * your class notes

    * notes on your readings

    * a calendar/class schedule with notes about assignments, due dates, and tests

    * handouts and special assignments

    * any returned homework or tests

Take Notes!

Always take your own notes in pencil in class and date them!! Just listening to a lecture or reading a textbook is inadequate preparation for learning and success. It's also important to take notes on your text readings, rather than just reading the material. At a minimum, your text should be highlighted and/or underlined. It is not advisable to rely on someone else to supply notes or to copy their notes. Writing down your own notes during a lecture hones your listening skills, develops your ability to distill the salient points of a lecture, and organize your thoughts as well as they relate to the lecture. If you do not take notes in class, you will be unlikely to develop these important life skills; your study and thoughts will be unorganized, chaotic, lacking direction and purpose. Learning new material will then be difficult and frustrating. It is best to compile notes in outline form, with main headings and sub-headings, organizing and ordering the material into logical groups.

Notes are also the greatest help for memory. In order to learn and retain information, you must write it down. Without notes, studies have shown that you will forget most of what was said in the lecture within 24 hours. To incesase and strengthen your memory, review your notes as soon as possible after class. Reviewing your notes for a few minutes each day thereafter will assure that you won't forget what you have learned. Study is enhanced by highlighting, underlining, and adding your own comments to the existing notebook. For this reason, it is best to leave space where you can write your notes on the right side of the notebook, and leave the left side blank for additions. Arrows can be used to relate the left and right sides. Use a pencil and eraser, not a pen. For purposes of revision, a good eraser that makes a clean erasure is as important and necessary as a good pencil.

Ask Questions

It is just as important to formulate questions as it is to find answers. Practice formulating questions as you review your notes and text. As you study your notes, write down questions that you would like the instructor to answer. Pose these questions ASAP at the beginning of the next class. The instructor will usually call for questions at the beginning of class. There is no such thing as a "dumb question." All questions are intelligent and worth answering when relevant to the subject.

Critical Thinking

There is a lot more to an education than just memorizing facts and information. Critical Thinking is an essential quality of any well-educated person. Although it is possible for someone to get good grades and acquire a college degree without mastering the ability to think critically, that person does not qualify as being educated. Critical Thinking enables one to draw valid conclusions from data or premises, to correctly induce and deduce. It also involves the ability to draw valid inferences, evaluate, explain, and judge rationally. Most importantly, it includes self-evaluation,  self correction, an open mind, a willingness to admit erro

Answer 3

It depends on the person, actually.  People learn through different methods.  For example, some learn best when they physically write something down, while others remember it best if they hear it.  People also work in different environments - I preferred absolute silence, but some people like to work with the TV on.  You have to find out what is right for you.

Personally, I read through the notes fairly quickly (compared to other people), but I did it several times.  After several times I remembered it.  This worked fine for tests.

Now that I've been working on a PhD for 3 years, I have found that I have forgotten most of what I learned in the first 2 years of med school.  The things I DO still remember are ones that I made up little mneumonic devices for.  I was never a mneumonic person because I never really needed to do it, but now it seems that the few subjects for which I did need to make up mneumonics are the ones that stuck with me.  As such, I strongly recommend these.  There are even websites out there devoted entirely to medical mneumonics to help you remember things.

Answer 4

I taught the subject for 30 years and wrote two textbooks on it.  Many doctors and other medical professionals came through my classes.  Flash cards are very helpful.  Learning the basic elements and how they are combined allows you to read, write, and understand thousands of medical terms.  Take basic courses in medical terminology...it will help with everything you do along the way. the basic elements that form medical terms are constant...new terms are formed from the same basics, so this knowledge never becomes irrelevant.

Answer 5

Everything will eventually become second nature to you.

Reading, studying, test taking. Working with actual patients. Talking with your fellow students, doing case scenarios. Everything, together will help you.

Trust me, eventually, it will all make sense to you. Good luck!

Answer 6

Frankly, at first it's like learning a second language where mnemonics and anything you can do to help you get a handle on the medical lexicon is valuable.  Having some knowledge of Latin is certainly helpful.  Memorizing "all the terms" is a bit tough, and even if one memorizes every term for a given course, chances are that the terms may become irrelevant as new ones come along or one forgets them.

The key is diligent review of material and repetition.  With experience, it gets easier and one can filter through what's important and what's not.  At first it doesn't make a whole lot of sense why the medical jargon is so complex, but in time it's clear that precision in terminology is critical, in a very practical capacity.