I can’t, and no one should, memorize every single detail. To me it’s “Hey, what are five interesting facts here that I can talk about, and that make this unique?” And sometimes, a disease has 6 or 7 interesting points, so I made some cuts. No disease process fits into a template, so not locking into: “Presentation, causes, diagnosis, labs, treatment” was useful this process is very flexible. What is it called? How do I treat it? And then what are five facts about it. Here’s an example:įor me, it was all about getting topics down to 7 bullet points. My retention of the information of four entire PPTs relied on scenes from Pixar movies. So is it possible to borrow a trick from a medical student who can memorize a deck of cards in 15 seconds to remember almost every single detail about 44 different bacteria? It is possible, and that’s exactly what I did.Īs much as I promote the use of flashcard app, Anki, and previously have had Anki decks with over 1000 cards for a single exam, I just took an exam where for half of all of the content, Infectious Disease, I made zero flashcards. And to me, a task so seemingly insurmountable was extremely enticing. I counted 44 individual species of bacteria, all with overlapping symptoms, manifestations, some had single therapy, others had dual therapy, second line, allergies, inpatient, outpatient, prophylactic, supportive, antitoxins, empiric coverage, rashes on the hands, rashes on the feet, blanching, non-blanching, it was never ending. How many gram positive and gram negative bugs did we need to know? All of them. How many antibiotics did we have to know? All of them. I want to say this morning’s exam, on 11 slide decks, split evenly between Infectious Disease (ID) and Neurology was brutal, overwhelming, stressful, and required an unreal amount of preparation, but I find myself saying those words for every subsequent exam so the words are losing meaning. And the answer to “Per minute, what is the most effective, most comprehensive way to learn anything?” I think is unquestionably the memory palace. Alex, Lukas, and pretty much every other memory champion uses the same strategy as their foundation for memorization. If what the strategy Lukas used isn’t the most burning question you’ve ever had as a student, then I don’t know what is. In the book, the author Joshua Foer talks about an experience he had with two other world memory athletes: They’re not savants they’re just like you and I. And Alex, along with every other USA Memory athlete all had pretty average memories before they started competing. The book was mentioned in a video featuring USA Memory Champion Alex Mullen, who was a medical student when he learned how to memorize an entire deck of cards… in under 15 seconds. I picked up a book called Moonwalking With Einstein by Joshua Foer over Spring Break. Per minute, what is the most effective, most comprehensive way to learn anything? I’m fairly sure I’ve found the answer. Statistically, what’s the best use of my time?” And sometimes that amount of time is a few days, and other times it’s an hour at lunch. I think there’s a really fascinating question in PA school: “Okay, I have X amount of time left to study for this exam. A parent isn’t going to say, “Hello, yes, I came to get my child’s strawberry tongue, sandpaper rash, and Pastia’s lines checked out.” And that’s exactly what we need clinical year is all about real-life practical scenarios.

What I’m doing is working fine for exams, but I feel like I’m missing something.Īs we we inch closer and closer to P2 year, the questions are becoming more vignette-focused and they’re giving us less buzzwords and hints. I study for hours but then show up at exam review and completely freeze up at some questions. I can match the buzzwords like “Owl Eye Inclusions” and “Herald Patch” & “Hutchinson’s Sign” with the correct diseases, but I can’t really tell you about those diseases as a whole. One of the big problems I encounter with the innumerable topics that we’re responsible for in PA school is that I can’t really speak to any of them in a comprehensive way. What does throwing a rock and a shoe at Buzz Lightyear’s spaceship, Mike Wazowski chasing a sheep around his apartment while Sully inhales some toxic soup, and a nickel falling from the sky into the volcano of the fish tank from Finding Nemo have to do with infectious disease? Well, if you were me about seven hours ago, absolutely everything.

Protein turnover quizlet