I can’t give you a fixed method that I can say is sure to work because even during my first 2 years I switched up my methods so many times. I tried different things and weirdly enough they all kind of helped, though I realised some of them were a lot more time efficient than others as I progressed through. I have a huge blog post up which summarises all the different ways I studied during years 1 and 2. If you read/skim through that you’ll see exactly how I approached each aspect of Medicine and what stuck with me all the way through the first 2 years.
I have to say, one method of revision I found that was definitely superior for me among everything I did was using flashcards for Anatomy. I sometimes struggled to recap my flashcards as often as I perhaps should have, but the sets that I did manage to review regularly have been embedded in to my brain and I can still remember despite having not reviewed Anatomy since 2nd year!
One big tip in the way I’d recommend studying is by bringing everything together. Don’t study lectures, then PBL (I’m not sure if you do PBL at Leicester, but whatever the equivalent to it), then Anatomy all as separate entities. Instead bring all your notes on one topic together considering it from the biomedical perspective, from what the lectures touches on, the anatomy of that area all simultaneously because a) it’ll be easier to learn b) it’s more real because it’s less artificial and more like the way you’ll be expected to think and apply knowledge as a doctor.
In terms of handwritten vs typed, I’m sorry if people disagree with me but I do have a definite answer on that one: 100% typed. There is so SO much content to cover that if tried to handwrite all my notes it would have actually been a waste of time. If you type notes it’ll make it easier to make notes in lectures, use online resources (which is what I solely relied on to learn everything) and it also makes editing your notes so much easier because medical guidelines are changing all the time! That being said, making brief handwritten summaries afterwards is totally fine and for me, that really helps me to digest the content.
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