Blog Post Focus: Studying Is a Skill That May Have Been Neglected
This blog post is another post on studying. Particularly, this post will discuss how having never needed to study before medical school is disadvantageous. However, it is never to late to learn good study habits now and employ them to good effect.
You Are at a Disadvantage From Never Having Needed to Study
You are smart. People may even tell you so. You don’t need to study. People may even comment on that fact. It may make you proud that you are so smart you don’t need to study.
It may seem like a fact, but it isn’t. You do study. You do review notes and study in your own way. Despite the fact that you do study in some regard, sure, you may not study that much. Or, at least you may not study that much in comparison to the average student or your peers.
No Matter How Smart, You Do Need to Study
Although you are intelligent you do need to learn to study. Up to this point you may have ignored studying because you felt you only needed to do the bare minimum or it even is a part of your identity. To study seems either like a waste of time to you or to admit you are not so smart as you wish to be or so smart as others see you. Get over yourself because this sort of thinking has led to you being at a disadvantage in medical school.
What is the Disadvantage?
The disadvantage is having poor study habits. Up to this point you may have just needed to do the bare minimum, or just rereading some sections a few times. Others had to figure out more advanced studying systems on their own. They had to learn how to endure long studying sessions, but also how to balance those studying sessions with other activities. They had years—a near lifetime for some—to learn how they learn with studying.
You Most Likely Need to Start Studying
Entering medical school or soon after you likely will no longer be able to just go to lectures and absorb all the information. As intelligent as you are you need to start studying. The volume of information and the rate of instruction is beyond what most ever had at college. After two short years one is expected to begin to apply that knowledge as well during rotations, and after whole days at clinics to prepare for exams.
While others have embraced the need to study and developing systems of studying for themselves you have ignored it or rejected it. If now is your first time studying you are likely to use poor study habits. You are likely to feel uncomfortable and to get frustrated. You may have the uncomfortable sensation of learning a near-universal skill for the first time ages behind everyone else. It does not feel good to feel behind. If you have not studied up to this point you are disadvantaged in the skill of studying compared to your peers. But, fear not, as you can make it up.
Embrace the Study
While you are at a disadvantage through your mindset up to this point, you can change that mindset. You can embrace study. Furthermore, you need not necessarily spend all your moments in medical school studying either. You are intelligent, you can figure out how to study very well. You can utilize efficient and effective techniques. While your cohort has the comfort of using studying techniques that have worked well enough for them for years, you can develop better habits right away by using good study techniques.
Start Strong and Overcome the Disadvantage
Starting out from the beginning with good study habits can put you at a major advantage. You can feel confident in employing good study techniques, techniques that your peers are likely not employing. You can begin your study journey confident that you are setting yourself up with success.
There may be times you are frustrated with how much studying you have to perform, but with good study habits you will be saving yourself much time and stress.
Final Thoughts—It May Have Felt Nice To Not Study, but That Most Likely Will Change
If you haven’t felt the need to study up to this point in life you are probably at a disadvantage. Others can endure long hours of studying and have utilized more effective means of study for themselves at this point. If this is the first time you need to study you likely will be tempted to embrace bad study habits and ironically spend far more time than you need for studying. In studying, you will be behind your peers, which is an uncomfortable feeling.
However, learning to study effectively and efficiently is possible with good study habits. These can be employed right away. Check out the resources in the links below, and also check out my posts on good and bad study habits.
Resources
Coursera’s Learning How to Learn
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