Blog Post Focus
This blog post is another discussion on studying. This time focusing on why good study habits are so helpful. If interested in good study habits in general, check out my prior posts for prospective medical students and for medical students.
Introduction: A Major Benefit to Good Study Habits
Good study habits in medical school are essential. They can make your studying more effective and more efficient, which can decrease your stress in medical school. They can increase your confidence in yourself because you have faith that you can learn the material well. Additionally, they will make it easier to pursue your desired specialty. Finally, they will make you a better physician.
Making Study More Effective and Efficient
First of all, good study habits make your studying more effective and efficient compared to bad study habits. Being more effective means that you learn the information more thoroughly. Being more efficient means studying the same quantity, but in less time.
Increasing Confidence With Good Study Habits
When you are keeping pace with all the expected learning in medical school you consistently show yourself that you can handle large amounts of responsibilities. Although studying as a student is different than being a doctor, you are laying the groundwork as a student with good study habits. Learning does not end with residency or when one becomes an attending. Then, it is even more important to be able to look up information, synthesize it, and have the confidence to utilize it.
Think instead of having bad study habits. Think of spending tons of time and effort learning material poorly. Barely passing classes. The hard work in this case does not correlate with success. Instead, it is preparing you to poorly manage time and effort. Even as a highly intelligent and capable person, when bad study habits are used in medical school it translates into overwhelming amounts of time of study and stress. When this is continued for prolonged periods it translates into anxiety.
Pursuing a Desired Specialty
Good study habits in medical school mean standing out on rotations. Instead of wondering what is going on, you are better able to recall and put to use information. Instead of learning something over and over again you can learn it once and continue to strengthen it so that you are ready to use it and put it to action. This translates into a better chance of impressing peers and residents and attendings. Even if you are just meeting the high expectations of a program, it relieves you from constantly stressing about how to prepare. Instead, you have habits that can be used for any situation to prepare diligently.
Becoming a Better Physician With Good Study Habits
Good study habits mean becoming a better physician. You don’t want to be a physician who is unsure of oneself. You don’t want to be unaware of what you do and don’t know. Good study habits make one aware of what one knows and doesn’t know. It makes it easier to recognize patterns and to be aware of abnormal presentations. By the time you are an attending you have had the opportunity to solidify learning for nearly a decade from the time you started medical school.
A physician who is always strengthening their learning instead of forgetting and then re-learning, and then forgetting again cannot be as effective as the physician who is always strengthening their knowledge. When one knows what they do or do not know they can look up the information they need and refine their knowledge.
Conclusion—Good Study Habits Are Essential
Good study habits as a medical student are essential to success throughout the entirety of the medical education journey and into practice.
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