How to Study Effectively in First Year

First Year Health Science feels like a marathon and a sprint at the same time! With the constant pressure of good grades and the creeping deadlines from a range of online pre and post lecture quizzes, fortnightly labs, assignments, tests and exams all crammed into what feels like no time all, burnout is bound to happen.

However, there are a few techniques that can help you avoid burning out too early. Our team of admissions experts have put together their top tips for First Year Health Science!

1. Planning Your Time

This is the most important technique of all and probably the first to go when students get busy. Time is precious in first year so it is important to pencil everything into a planner, calendar, notebook or set reminders on your phone to make sure you have time to plan around deadlines and stay on top of your work. Staying on track means staying ahead! To ensure you get the highest marks possible, MedView’s Revision Courses can help you!

Delivered by current medical students who gained A+’s and topped their cohort for each paper, so they know all the tips and tricks to success!

2. Pre Studying

This means completing content on a course before the course has started. A good example is pre-reading and taking notes prior to a class to make sure you have a basic level of understanding before the class begins. It can be very helpful to go through the slides prior to the lecture and take notes so all you have to do in class is listen and annotate them based on the lecturers presentation. Unfortunately, when you start falling behind, pre-studying  is one of the first things to go! This is what is so effective about MedView’s Revision Course, it allows you to catch up on each week's content in time for tests and exams to make sure you have developed an understanding of the material, as well as feel less overwhelmed.

3. Staying Calm

Easier said than done I know. The volume of content in FYHS is much higher than at high school or within any other university course. It is at least four times more than the final year of high school, and to make it harder you need to have an A or above average in order to be considered in your application. When there is a lot of information to cover in what feels like a short amount of time it is very easy to feel overwhelmed. In this situation it is essential to take a breath and determine what you are stressed about. Luckily each First Year Health Science student with MedView is assigned an Education Coordinator, designed to take the stress away from you to make sure you can focus solely on your studies.

4. Main Ideas v Details

Most students fall behind because they rely on memorisation of main ideas over a short period of time, which is exactly what you learnt to do during high school but unfortunately won’t work well in First Year Health Science. Knowing the finer details are a lot more important as they form the basic foundation of knowledge for your future years of studying medicine. Learning the finer details will help you replicate specific examples in real life as a medical student or doctor, forming deeper understandings. MedView’s Revision Courses give you the time and resources to focus on the finer details to build a more holistic understanding of the concepts in each core paper. Essentially aimed at saving you time and maximising your productivity in the exam. These classes are taught by current medical students who gained A+’s and topped their cohort for each paper, so they know all the tips and tricks to success!

5. The Curve of Forgetting

The curve of forgetting is essentially the decline in memory retention of time. Essentially the concept is: the first time you hear a lecture or study something new, you retain up to 80% of what you’ve learnt if you review the material within 24 hours. This is cumulative, so after a week, you may retain 100% of the same information. Students that study closer to the day they learnt the information are more likely to retain the information. MedView’s Revision Courses are designed to do just that - help you effectively learn content in the small window of time.

These tips are the foundation for successful study techniques that will enhance and help you succeed through your 30 weeks of First Year Health Science. However, grades are only one hurdle in your journey to medical school.

To learn how MedView can help you successfully gain admission into medical school, click the link below and schedule a free consultation with one of our Academic Advisors!