How to: Second Year Medical Sciences at Western, Part 2 — Updating Your Study Habits
This article is the second instalment of the “How to: Second Year Medical Sciences at Western” series co-authored by Jason Wang and Liangchi Zhou . To see the rest of the series and learn more about the purpose/authorship of these articles, click here.
This article will cover some of the common study habits used by students in the core second year Western Med Sci courses (plus some popular elective courses), and will be structured as a FAQ (frequently asked questions). Although many past students were interviewed about their study habits to maintain a holistic scope, everyone has unique study habits and lifestyles, so use this as a very general guideline on how to structure your own study style for second year.
What are some common study habits that students had going into second year?
In first year, a study habit that was widely used was to re-listen to recorded lectures to reinforce knowledge gaps. This could be used after a lecture, to cover for a missed lecture, or to study for an exam. This was a useful study habit as it allowed students to go back into the lecture and retrieve information they may have missed.
Other students preferred to re-write and highlight lecture notes to solidify their understanding. Essentially, this study habit serves a similar purpose as re-listening to lectures, and both can even be carried out at the same time.
Students also mentioned doing practice questions to be a valuable habit in first year. This could involve doing exams or assignments from previous years, doing textbook questions, or using resources from student mentorship organizations. This is very effective as it is an accurate test of their knowledge of course content (assuming the practice questions are relevant to the upcoming assessment). Several students cited doing practice exams after reviewing testable material to yield the best results on assessments.
Which of these study habits were most effective in second year? Did any study habits become less effective? What are some examples?
The majority of students felt that re-listening to lectures was still a valuable tool in second year courses. In second year, many courses become more content heavy, requiring memorization rather than deep thinking. This means that re-listening to lectures becomes even more important, as catching little details that were missed in lecture might make a difference on an exam. Some examples of courses that are especially memorization heavy are: Biochemistry 2280, Biology 2382, Chemistry 2223, Microbiology & Immunology 2500, Physiology 2130, and Pharmacology 2060. However, some students felt that re-writing and highlighting notes became less effective due to the sheer content of some courses, and opted to re-listen to lecture recordings more.
For courses that were considered to require more application and making links between concepts (ex. Chemistry 2213, Biology/Stats 2244, and Biology 2581), students found using a question-based study style to be helpful. This involves asking yourself broad “what if” questions to force your mind to make connections between concepts and apply your knowledge. Drawing diagrams and mind maps to summarize and connect concepts were also popular techniques.
Past students agreed that doing practice questions remained an effective tool in their learning process. However, students had to adapt this tool to fit the style of each course. Some courses (ex. Biology/Stats 2244, Chemistry 2213, Chemistry 2223, and Biochemistry 2280) were consistent in their content year after year and provided many past exams. Other courses (ex. Biology 2382, Biology 2581, Biology 2290, Microbiology & Immunology 2500, and Pharmacology 2060) either did not provide previous exams or did not have a consistent teaching style, so students opted to make flashcards to consolidate their knowledge. Some students cited flashcard softwares such as Quizlet and Anki to be helpful, while others preferred to write traditional flashcards.
Another important comment students made was that most courses, if not all, became more lecture-based and only used the textbook as supplementary material. Therefore, textbook practice questions were no longer useful, and many students did not even buy a textbook for most courses.
What advice would previous students give incoming second years on how to manage their time?
In terms of time management for studying, outgoing students advised incoming students to choose the study style that works best for them. This article gives some examples of effective study habits, but at the end of the day, everyone’s study habits will be unique. It may take some trial and error to find what works best for you, but it is a necessary step to take to learn how you study best! More specific advice that was given by past students was to tailor your study habits to each course. No course is the exact same, so why should you study for them in the exact same way? However, it’s important not to overthink how to study for each course and not to overstudy for exams. Trust yourself that you know your stuff to avoid unnecessary time studying and focus on using your time efficiently. Balance is very important!
With regards to non-academic advice, a common theme stressed by outgoing students was to use your extra free time well. Classes generally take up less time in second year, allowing you more freedom to do what you want. Previous students said to keep a detailed calendar to plan out your time effectively, which will help avoid leaving things to the last minute. Another idea to keep in mind is to use your free time to get involved in extracurriculars. Many students in Med Sci want to pursue a career in healthcare, but finding a passion outside of your field of study can not only relieve some pressure from academics, but also bring a new perspective into the way you approach things. However, it’s important to not overload on extracurriculars and burn out; students have emphasized the importance of knowing when to prioritize academics over other activities and vice versa.
Lastly, Med Sci can be a competitive program. Many students are driven and hardworking, and that can be intimidating. One student we surveyed highlighted the importance of not comparing yourself to others. Everyone has to make sacrifices in their second year. However, those sacrifices are often not seen by others, so it’s key to remember that no one is perfect. Only you are in control of what you want to accomplish, so don’t compare what other people do to what you do. At the end of the day, even if you don’t accomplish your goal, you’ll know that you tried your best, and that’s what matters!
Closing Remarks
We hope you made it to the end of this article, and that you gained some insight on how to manage your study habits! Remember that everyone is different, so there is no pressure for you to do exactly what previous students recommend. Do what works best for you. Additionally, we hope this article answered some questions you’ve had about how to study for some of the courses in second year. If you would like to learn more about “How to Second Year Medical Sciences at Western”, click on the links below for more articles in our series!
This was part 2 of the “How to: Second Year Medical Sciences at Western” article series. To jump to part 3 on extracurricular activities, click here.
