Speaker 1: Hey guys. My name is Jamie and I'm a first year emergency medicine resident. Today I wanna talk about a pretty common question in my channel and that is how to study effectively for exams. And with the exam season right around the corner, I think now is a great time to talk about it and without further ado, let's jump right in. My tip number one is to stop procrastinating and have a study plan. I know that sounds really obvious but it's also one of the biggest pitfalls of studying for an exam. The last thing you wanna do is wait until the last minute to study for exams. Studying until the last minute can get stressful and most of the times it can result in a grade that's not ideal. The best way to stop procrastination is by prioritizing and having a study plan. If you haven't already, I suggest creating a schedule of when your exams are going to be. One of the ways I approach making a study plan is by actually quantifying the materials you have to know for an exam. So to make a simple study plan, I like to quantify what I need to know and then divide it evenly by the number of days I have to study. I then add a comprehensive review day or a day of practice questions to really make sure I know my stuff. And then I take the exam the next day. This is a basic skeleton I use to study for all my exams in medical school as well as big exams like USMLE Step 1 and 2. For the most part, what you're going to study for first is going to be dictated by which exams you have first. But sometimes exams aren't spaced out evenly so be sure to prioritize ones that are harder to study for. So for example, if you find chemistry challenging then it makes sense to prioritize it over a subject you don't find as challenging. Once you have a plan on when to study, my second tip is find an area where you can study. People have different preferences when it comes to study locations. Some people like to study in a quiet library or at home while others like to study in a cafe with some background noise. In both scenarios, you want to find an area where distractions are minimal. So that means if you're easily distracted at home then maybe you should consider studying in the library and alternatively, if you're easily distracted by people then it would be better to study at home. A lot of people have told me that they find Study With Me videos to be really helpful when they're studying. If you haven't tried them, you can check out some of mine at my Strive Studies channel. My third tip is to change your study style for different subjects. Some classes require a lot of memorization while other classes require a lot of application. So for example, classes like anatomy and pharmacology require a lot of memorization while a class like general chemistry and math require a lot of application. So for classes that require memorization, I've made a video in the past about how to best memorize and I'll link that video up here. And stay tuned because I'm looking to update that video in the future. For application heavy classes like chemistry or calculus, the best way to improve your grade is to keep doing practice questions since memorization can only get you so far. My fourth tip is to study in groups and avoid stressful people. One of my fondest memories in medical school is studying in groups. It was like a security blanket because we were able to compare notes, help each other with concepts, problems from practice questions, and things like that. The key to having a productive group is making sure that everyone is on the same page. And with that said, there are some people that you may want to avoid. If you're studying with someone that you're close friends with, after a while it may be hard to stay on track because you may end up distracting each other. So the best way to go about this is going back up to my first tip which is having a plan. Schedule when to meet up and what topics to cover. And once you're done with that, you can either go back to studying separately or move on to other classes to cover. I personally like to avoid people who stress me out, especially during exams. And this might mean having some quiet time to yourself before exams instead of joining in on the conversation about what you know or don't know, what you think is gonna be on the exam. I think anxiety can definitely play a big role in how people do on exams so it's best to avoid people who stress you out and stay as calm as possible before taking your exam. Finally, my last tip is to make sure to get enough rest. Sometimes all-nighters can seem like it's appealing, but again, going back to my first tip, if you're planning and prioritizing, there's really no need for all-nighters. Sleeping should be a priority. Several studies have shown that sleep is required for consolidation of memory and without it, it's harder to absorb and recall information. I've talked about the importance of sleep in a previous video which I will link up here. But really quickly, the lack of sleep comes with a lot of negative consequences in learning like decrease in attention span, memory loss, and the ability to concentrate. So please make sure to take care of yourselves and get enough sleep. So that's all the tips I have today on how to best study for exams. And before I close today's video, I'd like to thank Brilliant for supporting today's video. One of the most common questions I get regarding medical school is whether you have to use it at math and science in order to get in. And the short answer is yes because there's a heavy focus on math and science in the MCAT as well as the pre-med curriculum. 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If you'd like to check out more videos, please click over here and I will see you guys next time. Bye.