STUDY TIPS FOR VET STUDENTS
by Dr. M.J Rayala & Dr. Leatrize
Every day is a struggle in vet school, especially when the hell week is coming. Every student wants to pass and studying is the only way to achieve this. So here are the study tips to help keep you going:
1. Set your study
While other students prefer to study at any time of the day depending on their mood, setting a solid schedule would still result to a more positive outcome. Training and motivating yourself to follow a certain schedule will help you create a habit of studying on time rather than just doing unnecessary activities that will consume your chances of passing your exams. You just have to choose the best time you are most comfortable with; whether it may be during the day after breakfast or during the night before your bed time. Remember, ignoring the importance of time management might eventually lead to procrastination - an enemy that we totally need to defeat when preparing for exams!
2. Find a comfortable study area
Aside from a solid study schedule, an organized and comfortable study area is an important factor too for a more effective learning. Nobody likes a messy and noisy place to study at, so it is better to stay somewhere you can sit comfortably and will make you excited to learn more. Tidying your things up and staying at a peaceful place will help you focus more on your studies. But take note, don’t make yourself too comfortable as it may lead to a lovely trap called sleeping!
3. Start from terminologies
Learning terminologies first will provide you a stronger foundation on understanding later topics that require in depth analysis. Lack of understanding certain terms will only confuse you and make you forget what you have read, especially if you only memorize them without even knowing what they actually mean. You may write and define them one by one or at least familiarize yourself by reading their definitions thoroughly. Like in Physiology, when studying a specific body process, you have at least know and analyze first the definitions of the different substances mentioned, so you can easily understand the whole process better than just memorizing the entire topic without paying attention to the small details. In that way, you can easily recall what you have studied during exams by connecting the basic ideas to form a larger one.
4. Write Notes
Immediately write important details on your notepad while reading a book or listening to a class. Not only it will serve as record for your future reference, making this a habit will also help your brain retain lessons and memorize words more than just reading or listening alone. Writing is more often needed in certain subjects that require a lot of analysis and memorization. For example, in Pharmacology, reading a lot of chapters to memorize drug classifications and their examples without writing can be confusing and prone to short term memory, however, writing notes to segregate these different classes of drugs, such as antibiotics, analgesics, antipyretics and etc. followed with their drug examples each, will help your brain to gradually retain a more concrete and simplified details so you can remember them better during exams.
5. Use Highlighters
Using highlighters in marking important keywords on a crowded paragraphs can be helpful, especially when you need to quickly review your notes a few minutes right before your exams. Moreover, another trivial reason why you need to use highlighters is that they can be used as connectors. You may connect related keywords to each other by using your assigned colors. In that way, you can recognize and classify important details faster and more easily. Another good example is when you are studying Microbiology, you may use one specific color to highlight all gram positive bacteria mentioned, and another different color to distinguish all gram negative bacteria.
6. Use Flashcards
Since creating flashcards can take a lot of time, making them a few weeks before exams or during class after each lesson is more recommended. You just have to prepare blank index cards and write important term each card with the correct answer at the back. Gradually study them daily and repeatedly review each set every week until you perfectly remember them. Some students prefer reading them out loud right in front of a mirror like you are talking to yourself, so that both of your visual and auditory memories regarding these terms are retained in your brain. Flashcards are more useful when studying subjects that mainly require a lot of memorization. Best example is Parasitology. Studying the scientific names of a bunch of parasites with their respective common names can be really frustrating and confusing, so using flashcards must be a good idea.
7. Use sticky notes
You may post those sticky notes on certain locations at your home where you roam mostly during your daily routine. May it be at the back of your room door where you can see them immediately while you are sitting on your bed; on your room ceiling where you have the perfect view before you sleep, or even in the bathroom wall while you are releasing all your frustrations in the toilet throne! Seeing them day by day will make your brain familiarize them until you never forget them ever. When studying all those confusing muscles in Anatomy, using this method can be a lot helpful!
8. Watch and listen
After hours of reading and writing, you may suddenly feel tired and lazy sometimes even after taking a break. When this happens, you have to remember that you need to keep going and quitting should never be your choice, so finding another way is our next option. Watching related educational videos or listening to recordings regarding that topic may still expand your knowledge, while only requiring you less effort than by reading or writing. Not only it will make you feel a little less guilty since you are still trying to learn, watching will also help you visualize more about what was written on books, and listening may help you learn proper analysis and term pronunciations too! You can apply this tip when studying those confusing body processes in Physiology.
9. Join study groups
Studying alone may be effective most of the time since you can maintain your focus on analyzing topics, however, learning with your friends can be helpful too! Even if you have already learned a lot, we need to admit that there are still things that we don’t know yet that others would have probably known. Learning with them will help you expand your knowledge more, especially when you have struggle in understanding certain topics. Asking help and questions to others may give you new ideas on how you can understand something the other way around; plus remembering those moments during study group sessions may help you memorize things more.
10. Be Healthy
Studying hard is good but don’t forget to look after yourself too. Make sure you eat on time and have enough time to sleep, so your brain can rest well and absorb things better when you’re studying.
11. Take a break
We should know that when studying, “quality over quantity” also applies. A good quality studying means absorbing the lessons well to the point that it will last long in your brain. Pushing yourself too hard might end up losing this quality and your productivity, so it is important to always consider giving yourself some time to breathe, relax and take short breaks in between your study sessions.
12. Reward yourself
We all try to do everything or almost anything just to keep our motivation up when studying. One way to do this is to plan a reward for yourself if you do well in your studies. For example, give yourself small rewards like having an hour break when you finish all three lessons in a day, have yourself your favorite snack after finishing all the flashcards with correct answers or even buying that iced coffee you’ve always wanted just because you are not giving up. Just like when you are being kind to others, being kind to yourself can also encourage you to thrive more.
13. Set your goals and never give up!
You should recognize the reasons why you are spending those nights studying hard to pass those seemingly unending exams. What is your main goal? Is it because you want your parents to be proud? Because you want to be top of your class? Because you want to achieve that DVM title after your name? Whatever it may be, you have to keep going for it. It may be exhausting to do all of this now and it may be frustrating to achieve your goal that is a long way to go, but if you start now, do your best each day and focus on your path, someday you will be surprised that you are already at your destination without even realizing it! You have already started, why bother quitting? So now go, study hard and never ever think about giving up!