“How will I ever manage to remember all that information?”
“How do people survive to sit over the books for years on end?!”
“How do you study to have a life outside of studies?”
“How to prepare for tests in vet school??”
These were all questions I had before starting vet school. I actually went to study technique courses and bought books about it before even starting - which actually helped me a lot. I guess it’s safe to say I also developed a lot of other study techniques throughout the years of vet school. Let me share my 6 best tips with you here - easy and simple!
1. Saving time making notes:
Making the actual notes for me has been one of the things that takes the longest of my time. Writing down the material in an understandable way, find videos and pictures that describe it better, and make the notes nice so I can find what I’m looking for later. I may admit I spent the majority of the time before googling and going through books. Yes you learn in the process but it also takes a lot of your time. What if you could find a way to shorten this time - so you’ll have more time to actually cram the material?
Making notes with friends:
What I’ve found as a great solution is to go into groups of students in the same class that are around the same level, that you work well with - and make the notes together with them. I have 2 trusted friends that I make my notes with (on Google docs), and I would say I save around two thirds of the time!
Make notes before/during or right after class:
The best way to make the most out of class would be when the teacher sends the presentation beforehand, so you have time to write it down and go through it before the actual class so you have some background info. Not only do you remember it easier but it also makes it easier to write down extra stuff the teacher says during the class. If this is not possible it’s optimal to write them during class, to save yourself some time making them later. You’re already there listening so might as well make notes, no? Even better when you are several people and someone can write from the presentation and some can write what is being said by the professor. If none of these are possible, it would be a good idea to write them directly after class - when you still have everything fresh in mind and making the notes will go faster than if you wait a few weeks. This doesn’t only lead to the best possible notes - but also reserves some time during exam season that you already have all your notes ready.
One thing I usually regret every exam season, though, is that I didn’t spend some more time on the material during the semester. Don’t fall into the trap of only hurrying to make notes and then not looking at it again until the exam. That can easily lead to a stressful situation before the exam. Besides, “repetition is the mother of all learning!”
2. Visual learning and understanding
It’s important that you understand the material in order to remember it better, but also be best possibly armed to handle situations later as a vet. One of the best ways to understand difficult subjects is to look at pictures and videos. Here’s my best tips to do so:
Watch videos:
Watching youtube videos is a great way to understand things, as they can use animated videography to explain the processes in a way you can understand it. The downside of this is that sometimes it can take some time, especially when you are in a hurry before your test it can be stressful to go through loads of videos right before. And sometimes they explain a lot of things that you know already. That’s why I usually speed up the videos so I can go through them faster, and rather slow them down if I need some time to understand things. You can speed them up 1,25 x or even 1,5 x if the person isn’t already talking incredibly fast! There are usually some dots in the corner of YouTube videos (as shown on the photo) where there is an option to increase the speed of the video. You are welcome.
Make drawings:
One way to understand and remember things better is to make it into a drawing. It’s proven that it is easier to remember a picture than just a bunch of words (most of us anyways). Some teachers even prefer it when we can show our understanding through a picture on the test rather than words. I remember once I had an exam where my only drawing was a drawing of the pain pathway - which was my highest (and easiest) score on the entire test.
3. Practice with a classmate
Sometimes it’s easier to remember things you have talked about. Maybe your friends understood something you didn’t and can explain it to you (or the other way around) - that will also make them/you remember it better. Win win situation!
4. Study techniques
There are loads of study techniques out there, feel free to give it an extra search if you haven’t already. I must admit my study techniques have varied over the years, depending on type and amount of material. But other than the ones already being said, here are the main ones that got me to 5th year:
Making stories:
You have one day and you have to remember a list of 30+ anatomical structures or drug names. What do you do?! There might be a few absurd words you’ve never heard about, and there are nothing that sounds like it. How will you remember them? And even worse, how will you remember things about them?! Here’s my golden nugget that has worked wonders for me: Making stories. Maybe this latin name’s first few letters remind you of a person back home, and the second part maybe reminds you of an object? Lets say this bone or this group of drug’s story happens at a specific place or a house that you associate with it. You walk in and what do you see? This person from back home is holding this object. But what is this person doing? Let’s say this drug (for example) affects the nervous system: Maybe the person is having a seizure? Add all the necessary details. And the next drug on the list or part of the bone? Maybe another person/object that is doing something else. This is how you build a rediculous story - so dumb that you just have to remember it. I usually spent some time making these stories - sometimes even making them into pictures (example pictures attached haha, don’t judge my drawing skillz), but once they were made, I would read through it once and remember the story - and then I could sit down and write a list of all the different drugs - usually without too many spelling mistakes. Funny thing is, many of my friends just crammed all the words the day before to survive the test, thinking they would save some time not making the stories. But years later when I hear a drug I made a good story for - I still get the picture up in my head and I know what group and usually some details about the drugs as well.
50:50:30
How often does it happen that you think you are going to be efficient and study for 4 hours straight - only to study for 2 hours and then having your brain melting and floating out your ears after and being unable to study and remember things for the next few hours, maybe even the rest of the day. This is why taking breaks in your studies is essential. Taking short breaks enables you to basically study the whole day without reaching this brain melt. This study technique basically means that you study for 50 minutes, take a 10 minute break. Study for 50 more minutes, and a new 10 minute break. Then you study for 30 minutes, and take a 30 minute break (this is when you do the major things like cooking / going for a walk etc.) The attention span may vary from person to person, so it’s important to find a time limit that works for you. Remember that what you read in the beginning and what you read at the end will be what you remember the most!!
Short notes:
During the last few years of studies I’ve noticed the huge amount of material makes it almost impossible to study in the same ways as before. What I’ve found to work the best for me is to read through the material and mark everything in red/yellow, and then go back over it and write the short info down on a piece of paper. Maybe the disease, causative agent, specific symptoms/syndromes and anything else that makes the disease different from other diseases. I go through my papers a couple of times until I remember the ‘bones’ of the body. Then I continue and read all the material again (if enough time) to put the additional ‘meat’ on the body.
Lists with symbols:
Sometimes it can be handy to organize your notes in lists with symbols. For example in bacteriology I made a nice list over G+ and G- bacteria, and made symbols for which ones that were catalase +, which ones had flagella/capsule etc etc. Then I would put the symbol beside the names. After looking through this list several times you should be able to tell what bacteria is G+/G- and remember which ones have this and that properties!
5. Distractions:
This one might be obvious but yet so easy to forget. Put yourself in a space where you can concentrate (listening to white noise, classical music or whatever works for you). When you do your 50 minute study session - put your phone on flight mode, ear pods in and make sure nothing or no one will disturb you. The phone is usually the biggest time-thief! Stay focused on your material. If you for example remember something you absolutely have to do later - write it down somewhere and wait until your break/later with doing it.
6. Self-care
Again pretty obvious but I know it’s very common during hard study seasons that one forgets to take care of oneself. This will mean things like eating healthy (fueling your brain/body), still making sure you get enough movement throughout the day (cuz who can sleep if they don’t move?), hygiene (easy to de-prioritize, haha), and sleep(!!) Most people concentrate better in the morning than at night, and will study a lot more efficiently by going to bed early and waking up early rather than staying up all night - risking getting sick and exhausted in the middle of exam season.
In reality there is no perfect answer to how to survive or make the best out of vet school. All in all you just have to find what techniques work for you - and do your best!
I also talk about study techniques at the end of my previous podcast which you can see HERE!