salma-studies

[salma-studies]

tips for your first semester of medical school:

You may feel like you don’t belong there. You may feel like everyone around you is more brilliant or more organized than you are. ALL OF THAT IS A LIE! Imposter Syndrome is so real, and i encourage you to speak to other people around you and try not to compare yourself. 

If you do notice that you are genuinely behind in your studies, try to use your syllabus and the experiences of older students as a gauge, but don’t use your classmates. whether they are ahead or behind you does not dictate how well you are using your time. 

you are strong, and you can do this

try different resources and see what works for you. for example, i tried using anki and it just wasn’t for me, but so many of my classmates love it. i personally use lecturio, and i absolutely love it. it has great content, a colossal qbank, 3d models, and a great spaced repetition feature  (its not free pro tip: use the code y9GR6 at checkout for 50% off). there are a bunch of other resources too, test them out and decide what is right for you!

make time for yourself!

always feel free to speak to others about your experiences.

#YES YES YES #IMPOSTER SYNDROME IS REAL #and seeing people with nose in books 24/7 scared me

[salma-studies]

Trying to motivate myself to study year 1 content while I have all this time and review topics that I never fully understood but just winged it because of lack of time!

I left uni in such a hurry when the govt announced immediate school closure because of miss rona, i didnt even think if carrying my notes so im stuck with viewing textbooks on the computer and rough notes.

#medschool #study motivation #studyblr #studyspo #study #revision #anatomy #lower limb

[salma-studies]

for as much as studyblr may have its faults, it’s a pretty sizable online space that tells young girls that the absolute coolest thing you can do is be smart and work hard and believe in yourself and i think that’s pretty great

[salma-studies]

here’s the truth about textbooks

i keep seeing posts out there saying that you need to read the textbook to succeed in class. NO. you do not need to read the textbook. at least not for many, if not most, of your classes. first of all, it’s impractical. profs can assign up to 2-3 a week, and if you’re taking around 4-5 classes, that’s a WHOLE LOT of reading. if you have time to do so, go ahead, but a lot of students don’t have that much time on their hands. so i’m suggesting that you DON’T need to read every single chapter your prof assigns. what you DO need to do is to get smarter at selecting what and when to read, as well as scanning the text effectively.

when TO read the textbook

when your profs tell you that they will not be teaching from the textbook but that the exams will cover material and/or questions from the textbook

when the material is difficult, tricky, or lengthy and you need clarification, further explanation, or examples

when you miss a class

when you HAVE TIME to prepare for lectures in advance

when you feel that you actually learn and retain information better by reading the textbook

when NOT to read the textbook

when your profs teach from the textbook pretty much line by line

when your profs tell you that they will not be assessing you based on information from the text, but from their lectures

a strong implication of this is if your profs require lecture attendance

when you feel that reading the textbook does not help you learn or retain information

when you are constantly confused by the textbook (esp when it comes to calculation-based stem classes like math or cs)

when you have absolutely no time whatsoever to read pages after pages of bad academic puns

what you can do INSTEAD of reading the textbook

look at the course syllabus/schedule to see what you will learn in lecture. have an idea of what material you’ll be covering, then do the following steps.

check the course website/resources and ask yourself: what do you have to work with? are there lecture slides? lecture notes from previous semesters? online links or readings?

if one of the above exists, read the lecture slides/notes. they are usually much less text-intensive and get straight to the point. you can zip through them pretty quickly. you will at least have a basic understanding of the material that will be introduced in class.

google terms and concepts that you don’t understand from just reading the lecture slides. again, the idea is to get you to have a basic understanding of the material and not become an expert. this will help you avoid getting lost during the lecture.

if you’re still a little confused, read selected sections from the textbook that deal with the topic you need more help with. please don’t read the entire thing.

if there are no lecture slides or external resources to help you out, scan the textbook effectively.

how to SCAN textbooks effectively

read the chapter title and section headings

read the highlighted, bolded, or italicized terms and concepts, as well as their respective definitions in the content itself, the margins, and/or the index at the back

google the terms and concepts if you’re still confused

examine any charts, graphs, or flowcharts

examples and example questions can be helpful, so pay attention to those

at the end of each chapter there should be a brief summary or main idea section. read those and do the practical problems if possible.

[salma-studies]

Meet Hidan - my best lockdown buddy ✨ Todag I learn italian and try to get my life again after the pandemic 😑 Not so easy but I'm so excited for the following events! Guys I hope you all are fine and safe! Have a nice Wednesday! 🌼

[salma-studies]

motivational accountability frog for u all

[salma-studies]

[15.05.20] 📖💭🌟 notes from today's revision session

studygram

[salma-studies]

may 15, 2020 // this is my work from home set up. My frames came in this morning so I was finally able to set up my gallery wall. I have tagged all the artists on my studygram, click here to see them.

[salma-studies]

to whoever is reading this:

i wish you restful nights, productive mornings, sunshine, smiles from strangers, happy surprises, the fulfillment of your dreams and wishes, good grades, clear skin, great memories, the kind of happiness that fills all the little cracks in your heart and soul and heals all of your wounds, love, the resolution of your problems, that your fears evaporate like rain on a hot summer day, peace, and everything good in this world✨

[salma-studies]

Lmao this is the motivation I need 😂

#study motivation #studyspo #studyblr #medschool #medicine

[salma-studies]

Books For Medical Programs:

Ok, one of my biggest problems when i first started med school was not knowing which books to use. Theres hundrends of books for one single department and its difficult knowing which ones to use, which ones are simpler etc. I had loads of books that I went through and I had to learn which ones best worked for me so here they are:

Anatomy

Netters Atlas - everyone would reccomend this one. Everything is incredibly clear, well structured, the nerves and vessels are shown in great detail in terms of the branches and its course. All the muscles and bones are set out categorically.

Junqueira Histology - I havent seen many people use this but its decent! But its very contenty, so sometimes you’ll need to pick out whats important and whats not. It gives off background information to topics too which not many histology books that i encountered did. Also, i liked the way the chapters were set out and the general lay out is easy to read.

Netters Histology Atlas - i found this book in my last month of first year, and i wish i had it earlier. Like the gross atlas, the diagrams are incredibly detailed and every slide had pointers on what to expect from different tissues/organs, how to differentiate with other slides and the functions. Compared to junqueira, its not at wordy. I’d reccoment junqueira as an initial read and this one for examining slides.

M.A. NOOR.EL.DIN anatomy books - hands down the best anatomy book i have ever encountered and i went through loads. This book is student friendly in terms of its not demoralizing and it gives you information on what you need to know and whay you need to know only. The best thing is the layout! For example in lower limb it will start with the bones, then goes down the limb in a systematic way. Starting with muscles in the region, then nerves, vessels etc. by the time your done with one region, you’ve covered everything! I don’t know how you’ll get this, but we had an egyptian lecturer who provided us with these and its the best!

Grays Anatomy for students - this one is pretty decent too. I liked how its pretty simple. The text and general mayout is spced out so its not discouraging to read. I didnt really stick to this much because i preffered the one above.

Keith Moores Clinically Orientend Anatomy: this book is such a hustle to read because theres so much text in one page your like ‘?!?!?! I have to know and understand all this’ its just too much indormation and its iverwhelming. You kind of have to skim through the text and figure out whats important and whats not. Its probably more suited to senior level students who are in a clinical set up

Inderbir Singh Anatomy- this one wasnt bad too, i like their introductory chapter, which is helpful in getting a person with no background in anatomy get the idea kf whats going on in terms of types of muscles, bones, joints etc. the downside js that they don’t get to the point, you have to pick out whats important and that, but its a good referance book.

#study motivation #studyspo #studyblr #anatomy #anatomy textbooks #medschool

[salma-studies]

This was inspired by Danielle Carter, a profession football player, who suffered two anterior cruciate ligaments injuries within 14 months. She kept a diary to record her good and bad days, because sometimes one bad day can seem to make the whole week look bad, but in reality you had 6 good days and 1 bad day.

This is my version of Dans Diary 😇

#study motivation #studyblr #studyspo #medschool #studyspiration