Whether you are taking your board exam, earning MOC points, or updating your knowledge, it is a good strategy to plan ahead. Taking even the smallest steps today increases your chances of success tomorrow. Here are our top 5:
Start with your exam date or CME/MOC due date and count backward to today’s date by the number of days, even if you have a year or more. Research suggests that you will be more motivated to complete a task if you tell yourself it is 365 days away rather than one year away.
Write in specific topics on the dates you expect to review them. This way, you can ensure in advance that you have a plan in hand to cover everything you need to review before exam time.
Learning is a process, and you may not grasp all the information you need to your first time through. Be patient with yourself. Forgetting is a friend of learning. The more you attempt to recall information, the more likely you are to remember it.
Avoid ineffective study strategies such as re-reading and highlighting text. These are passive strategies masquerading as active ones. Neither contributes significantly to understanding or long-term retention. To consolidate information, it is much more effective to write marginal notes. This active strategy is particularly effective when notes take the form of questions that you might use to self-test at later date.
To ensure long-term durability and easy recall of what you learn, MedStudy suggests dividing your study time into six segments. This approach is founded on research-based learning theory that utilizes active—rather than passive—learning strategies. Download a free guide to the MedStudy Method for more info.
Congratulations! You are on your way to success in 2017. For additional resources, visit MedStudy’s Method page.
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