taking things more slowly
I finished my second week of medical school this week, and I've been overwhelmed with the amount of content. As my classmates say, a whole one-hour lecture in medical school is literally an undergrad semester's worth of content.
One thing I thought I could do to save time is watch lectures on 1.5-2x speed. I mean, a 30-minute video in 15 minutes ? Heck yeah !
I would try to watch Bootcamp Med's lectures and my school's in-house lectures doing this. However, I wasn't really able to follow along or recall anything I was taught. I even took notes when I watched the lectures at such a pace, and the information just quantum-tunneled. Now, I am spending the weekend catching up on my horrible system.
I figured I might just watch things at 1x speed, continuing to take notes as I go. This time, I'm able to follow the information better and my brain is actually taking it in. I'm also able to form some thoughts and questions as I'm learning. Sure, this might be because it's a second pass, and I've seen it before, but to be honest, it also feels like I'm learning it for the first time.
And that's a new learning style I figured out for myself. Just watch things at 1x speed. It's better for learning. It will save more time in the long run. I'm still trying to get my bearings, and it's been difficult adjusting to a new environment and dealing with the car accident from last week, but I'm slowly getting there.
I may have broke down at the end of anatomy lab on Friday, and the teaching fellow pulled me aside. Something she told me was that she wasn't a fan of people who say medical school is supposed to be stressful and only the best make it through. She said that it will take time to get things together, and we should be more supportive instead of one-upping or putting others down. It'll be manageable.
I know the workload and content will get harder, but I'll be alright. I just need to take things slowly.
Also, I will probably watch random Youtube videos at 2x speed. Just not the lectures I need to understand.