Studying and practicing

Why is it that I seem to get my best studying done late at night??? When I was in violin school, I used to get my best practicing in late at night too.

2X speed

Wow... I was just watching one of the presidential speeches and I found myself thinking... "can I double-speed this?" At school here, all of the lectures are recorded and if you would like to watch one again (or just opt to watch it instead of attending class) you have the option of watching it at 2X speed. Also, the videos from pathoma.com (my new favorite site) and numerous Kaplan videos I've watched give you the option of watching them faster. It is just more productive this way, in my opinion. People talk too slow. You can save yourself so much time by doing this. You should try it some time... you get the same info in half the speed. It is soooooo much better.

So, sitting here, watching the president's speech, I would really like to watch it at double speed. I don't even know if I'm going to watch it. The facts-learned-to-time ratio is just way to low for my taste.

FYI, other items with low facts-learned-to-time ratios include the following:

1. Actual text books (this does NOT include review books, which are KEY in med school)
2. Magazines in general
3. looking up facts on the internet and not using wikipedia
4. passive studying/learning (as opposed to active learning/studying) <---more to come on this later

Short post dedicated to the best book in the world

I don't go anywhere without this book. It has EVERYTHING you need to know for your first two years of medical school and it has nothing that you don't need to know (which is even better). This book goes with me EVERYWHERE. I am constantly using it and it is always open while I am studying. It is concise and to the point. It has helpful pneumonics to keep everything neatly organized in your brain. I'm pretty sure that if you memorize this entire book, you WILL get a perfect score on the USMLE step 1. What is this creation that god has sent from the heavens?

This piece of gold is called: FIRST AID! More specifically, "First Aid for the USMLE step 1," also known in the 'biz as FA or just "the bible."

So it's like 2:00 in the morning and I'm studying (hey, when you're in the zone, you're in the zone) and I have decided that I am in love.... with a book... First Aid. You are truly a hero. Where would I be without you? You get me points on every test that I would have otherwise missed. You tell me things that are REALLY important and guide me in figuring out what is important and what is junk. You even recommend other review books that might be helpful in specific subjects. You are really amazing, First Aid. I love you.