STUDY, STUDY, STUDY: LET'S ALL GET SMARTER

At the end of this week, I'll be taking our yearly CREOG exams (Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics & Gynecology). These exams aren't necessarily for a "grade" per se but they are scored and are supposed to correlate to whether or not you will pass your board exam at the end of residency. As a result, you're expected to improve your score each year of residency as you gather more experience and knowledge.

The CREOG exam covers everything about OBGYN -- that includes general obstetrics and gynecology, maternal-fetal medicine, as well as urogynecology, reproductive endocrinology, infertility and gyn oncology. Obviously as an intern, you don't know half this stuff because you haven't even seen it yet. But by the time you reach your chief year, you should know most of it. CREOG scores can't be used to see if a resident can move up to the next year but they can be (and are) used by fellowship programs and some jobs.

I am still at a stage where I'm not sure if I'll be applying for a fellowship or not. My hope is I'll know by the early part of my 3rd year (this fall) so that I can either start applying to fellowships or start looking for jobs (crazy!!!). Regardless, this year I've been studying a little bit here and there for the upcoming CREOGs which is more than I did last year. Let's just say that I took it very very lightly... lol.

Luckily for me, I'm on a lighter rotation so I have a lot more study time. I've been taking advantage of that time by mostly cleaning my apartment, working on my research project (all residencies require a resident research project)... and studying intermittently.  But this week, I've had to kick it into high gear!

I have some specific tactics for how I approach serious studying and I figured this would be a good time to share them with you all:

1. Have a plan. Studying for all the shelf and STEP exams definitely taught me that this is paramount. Up until medical school, I had gotten away with a kind of laissez-faire studying while still doing well. Not so in medical school. The sheer amount of information you have to memorize just does not allow for that approach. So, I started planning what I wanted to cover each day. I will sometimes go as far as planning my daily minutes--mostly I did this for STEP exams. For example, when I was studying for STEP 2, I would plan to be studying from say 9am to 5pm. Within that time I would do 45 minutes of studying followed by a 15 minute break.  I don't do this very much anymore just because the information I need to know is not quite as overwhelming (thank God!).

2. Study smart... and hard! The caveat with #1 is that the time that is allotted to studying needs to be time that you are actually focused on studying. It's not helpful to sit there for 45 minutes and only get through a paragraph because you just couldn't focus. Sometimes, you just have to take an earlier break, eat some food, watch tv, sweat a little. I'm also a flashcard person but it can be tedious to make them. When I'm short for time, I'll take post-it notes and write questions on them and use them to cover the answer directly in the text.

3. Know your studying style. Are you a visual, auditory, reading/writing, or kinesthetic (hands on) learner? That's important to know. I retain information best when I draw it out via mind maps, tables, charts, etc. I also learn really well with flashcards. Reading a textbook or listening to audio lectures has never really worked for me--I don't retain that information well and it will put me to sleep if I'm not careful. Kinesthetic learning does work for me but more so in the clinical practice setting than for written exams.

4. Stay active! I love working out so it's not something I sacrifice when I study. I've been making my own workouts for years and I've pared them down to an hour or less which is definitely doable when studying. I am not someone who works out in the mornings so I tend to schedule a longer break during the day for it or just do it at the end of the day.

5. Get rid of distractions. This is really hard nowadays since we're always on our phones. If I'm truly trying to focus, I have to put my phone on Do Not Disturb and set it down away from me. I also let my friends/family know that I'm studying and will likely not be as responsive as usual. I personally need to have some background noise so I listen to music {i like classical music and movie scores} but that's not for everyone.

6. Take scheduled breaks. Like I mentioned above, remember to take breaks! During STEP, I scheduled mine so that I didn't feel guilty. It also kept me from convincing myself that I could get away with "5 more minutes" during breaks... and that turning into 25 more minutes lol.

7. Eat healthy. Staying energized is hard when you're drowning in study material. I always make sure to eat a big breakfast (eggs, oatmeal or protein pancakes are my go to). I also like to meal prep my lunches and dinners when I know I'll be studying heavily just to save me the time. I use my crockpot a lot to make things like turkey chili, sweet potatoes and chicken, couscous, shredded chicken, etc. And of course, stay hydrated!

8. Change your scenery. Every week or so during STEP studying I just needed to change things up for myself. If the weather allows it, go outside! If not, go to a different area in the library, a different room in your house or a local coffee shop. I did all the above and I definitely think it helped keep me sane.

What do y'all do to help you stay focused? Happy studying!

*Cover image by Annie Spratt on Unsplash