Hello! We are Callum, Ellie and Nancy and we’re back with more tips to help you settle into first year at medical school. If you haven’t seen it already, check out our other blog post with our insights into the different types of teaching and learning you can expect during the MBChB programme (link at the bottom). We’re going to start with some study tips, but stay tuned for our advice on how to balance a full social life with your medical studies.
Organise your study space
Having separate folders, be it digital or physical is very helpful. Downloading slides in advance at the start of the week or on a Sunday is often helpful as you will already get an overview of the week ahead. In terms of managing the workload, sticking to routine (mentioned a lot) will be your best friend. Don’t worry if you don’t manage to finish all of the work set on Monday for Monday. Just remember to work often and consistently but don’t be so hard on yourself if you fall behind one week. Also, having a workspace with a nice environment will make that time spent at your desk just that bit better. If sitting in your room isn’t working for you, don’t feel you need to force yourself to sit through it anyway, a good idea is to go to a café instead, maybe even invite some classmates along and work through the days learning together.
Manage your time
Organising your time is about much more than just when you wake up and when you start studying each day. It’s about having a calendar, so you remember which day you agreed you’d climb Arthur’s Seat, and so you organise to get mum a birthday present well in advance instead of being reminded by a facebook notification on the day. It’s about keeping a realistic daily and weekly to-do list, so you don’t get overwhelmed when lots of lectures are released on the same day, or so you don’t get scared when someone tells you they’ve almost finished that essay which, in hindsight you maybe were given enough time to write, but currently have not even started. Finding the optimal schedule for study sessions is also important, as things like Pomodoro work well for some but not others. One thing is for sure though – you can’t study and use your phone at the same time, so it might be smart to set those screen time reminders and make the most of the do not disturb feature.
Find your study style
Some may find studying in a group in-person or online useful whilst others find complete silence more their style. The key thing is to keep looking for a learning style which suits you. If it’s not working, don’t be afraid to change it. Remember to plan out your study sessions, even if it’s just a rough outline of which lectures you’ll cover when, so you don’t feel overwhelmed when starting to study as everything is in manageable chunks. Keep in mind that the way you learnt and studied in school won’t necessarily work at university. Take the first few weeks to try out different methods and see what works, it’s all trial and error. I found Notion (an app and website) to be very useful, especially the toggle function. During the lecture I would annotate lecture slides using my tablet and then make flashcards (Anki and Quizlet seem to be popular) and questions to test myself on later in the week. This made sure that my notes covered all the material that was given, not just the bullet points already provided on the slides. Some friends would use OneDrive, or even OneNote and word documents, different things work for different people, but finding the best one for you and then keeping your study notes organised and accessible is the best way to help you retain the course content.
Keep moving
Exercising is also an essential part of keeping healthy, and now that you’re responsible for what you do with your time, it’s important you don’t forget to include exercise as part of your weekly schedule. Not only is it good to remember to keep up with the sports and exercise that you did before university, but now is a great time to try out some new sport you’ve never played, or maybe even heard of before. It’s all too easy to skip out on sports and exercise during a stressful week or when exam season comes around, but this is when that hour away to get active and have fun with friends is most beneficial. Keeping up with activities and socialising gives you the healthy balance you need to help you focus and work hard when you are studying, and switch that stress off when you’re not.
Find your friends
Surprise surprise, socialising is also an essential part of your health. Try out sports and other clubs’ taster sessions, meet up with your classmates outside of online sessions, remember your friends/family at home still exist. There are so many medics’ societies, both academic and athletic, as well as the hundreds available to students across the university, with more being started every year. These clubs are a great way to meet new people, as well as giving you the opportunity to meet some of the older years too, who are more than happy to reassure you that they went through first year too, and came out the other side with loads of tips to make your experience easier. It may feel weird/scary at first, but try reaching out to new people, getting to know your classmates outside of teaching time will make your time in those lessons much more enjoyable. Sometimes just telling people about a bit of Edinburgh you’d like to explore can lead to a fun day out – so don’t be afraid to organise something. Of course messaging someone can be daunting, and you may feel awkward or that you don’t know anyone, but everyone else is just as new here as you are. People will be relieved that you reach out to them to meet up and explore Edinburgh, you’ve just got to send that first message.
Get some rest!
Sleep is essential. Without the regular schedule of high school and now that you probably live away from home, it’s very easy to drift into an unhealthy sleep schedule that leaves you sleepy during the day and too tired to socialise when you’re done studying. It’s not about never staying up late at the weekend or waking up at 5am to go for a run every morning, but now that you have full responsibility of your sleep and work schedules it’s important that you keep a pretty consistent schedule that works for you. Make sure to incorporate a way to wind down and limit screen time before bed, as a restful night’s sleep makes for a much more enjoyable 9am lecture. Give yourself permission to go and take a nap if you’re yawning through the whole of a lecture, but also if naps just leave you groggy and unable to focus then you should focus on getting enough sleep during the night.
Check out our other blog post for our insights into the different teaching styles you will come across in first year.
