How do you study?

Hi! It seems from your discussion that you can't cram for an exam. I went to medical school and I know that pharmacology is such a pain! Well, I'm a great crammer, so I don't have much of a problem. I would suggest, though, what my classmates would do. First, you need motivation. Actually, this alone can help you. You need to be inspired somehow, or have a goal. You have to be more competitive by reading/studying in advance. Why don't you study with a competitive friend so that it would motivate you to study harder? Second, you need to have a technique. Like what the other respondents here mentioned, you can make note cards. I would suggest memory aids or putting the words in a song. For example, the starting letters of the cranial nerves could represent a statement. My classmates and I would sing the functions like, "sensory, sensory, motor, motor, mixed..." to the tune of "Row, row, row your boat.." Third, you have to study in a place and at a time you're comfortable in. For my friends, this works; but for me, the stress level I would encounter during the time of exams make me study anywhere and anytime. You are on an adrenaline high when you're stressed. That works for me.

You should Study in silence and in a closed room... You shouldn't study when you want to sleep...

I am studying to be an allied health professional, and when I need to study hard stuff like anatomy and medical terms and stuff like that I just go to a quiet place with a good desk and start at it. I have to focus hard and really study stuff over and over, because repetition is key.

When I was going through my inpatient medical coding course I found out the best way to study hard material or lots of material is to make flash cards for each section and study bits of information at a time.

For me, writing notes help me study better. The notes that I write gets stamped in my mind and when I scan those notes, I can easily remember the lesson that it belongs to.