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Cognitive Skills Program

Penn State College of Medicine’s Cognitive Skills Program (CSP) provides comprehensive cognitive skills development and learning support to our medical, graduate, and physician assistant students.

The CSP offers workshops, interactive learning sessions, and individual support for exploring content, processes, and thinking skills to maximize our students’ success. The CSP serves all students in the College of Medicine by providing programs to help promote effective and efficient life-long learning. The CSP also provides remediation services for students who are struggling academically.

Programs are provided throughout the year based on student needs and interests, including:

  • Study skills sessions, such as time management, studying and test-taking strategies
  • Remediation and support for learning
  • Strategies for content boosting
  • Using technology to enhance learning
  • The learning process and effective strategies for learning
  • Collaboration and approaches for successful group learning

Through these and other engaging and transformative program offerings, students can learn how language, thinking, and metacognition directly impact their knowledge and understanding.

The CSP supports and empowers all students in developing essential skills, provides opportunities for applying these skills to relevant content, and guides students in implementing strategies for success at the College of Medicine.

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Iyabode OkoroIyabode Okoro, EdD
Director of Cognitive Skills Program
Penn State College of Medicine
500 University Dr.
Hershey, PA 17033
Office: C1802 C

Email: iokoro@pennstatehealth.psu.edu
Phone: 717-531-5665
Appointments: Schedule through Starfish


Learn More about the Cognitive Skills Program

What is the Cognitive Skills Program? Expand answer

The Cognitive Skills Program (CSP) provides students with instruction and consultation to develop study strategies, time management and test-taking skills. The program offers workshops, interactive learning sessions and individual support for exploring content, processes and thinking skills in order to maximize student success.

Who uses the Cognitive Skills Program? Expand answer

The Cognitive Skills Program (CSP) provides comprehensive cognitive skills development and learning support to medical, graduate, and PA students at Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, PA.

Students visit the CSP for a variety of reasons including: to learn better ways to study, for support in developing a study plan for an upcoming course exam or shelf exam, to practice effective test-taking strategies or to learn more about learning in general.

The CSP serves all students in the College of Medicine by providing programs to help promote effective and efficient life-long learning. In addition, remediation services are provided for students who are struggling academically.

Should I know what I need before I go to the CSP? Expand answer

You will discuss your current study habits and test-taking approaches during your first meeting. If you have concerns or ideas about areas you would like to focus on improving, you can discuss them during your visit.

What should I bring with me to my meeting? Expand answer

The more we know about your work and learning approaches, the better we can help you. We recommend that you bring any or all of the following items:

  • Course documents/relevant handouts
  • Calendar, planner, or schedule
  • Current notes from lecture or reading
  • Your questions (if you have any).
Will my professors be notified that I am using the CSP? Expand answer

No. We will not discuss your use of the CSP without your consent.

Can the CSP help me with the content of the course that I am currently taking? Expand answer

No. The CSP focuses on strategies and approaches to thinking and learning. We can share suggestions for using these strategies within your current courses. If you need assistance with course content, you should contact the course director or Student Affairs for tutoring services.

Can my study group meet with someone at the CSP? Expand answer

Absolutely! We can work with you and your study group to organize and manage time, activities, and develop a plan for studying as well as effective strategies for group work and collaboration.

Study Skills

Effective study skills can help you become an efficient learner. There are study strategies you used in your undergraduate coursework that supported your success; unfortunately, those strategies developed by most pre-meds are not efficient enough for the amount and type of material you will be required to master in medical school.

The most fundamental principle of efficient studying requires active learning. Active learning integrated with metacognition will help you be successful in learning. By making decisions about the material – “Is this important?”, “How is this organized?”, “Where does this fit into the ‘big picture’?”, “What is the precise definition of this term?”,“Where have I seen this in an earlier lecture?,” etc. – you can make the best use of your time!

For more tips, check out some of the Quick Guides below.

Memory and Processing Expand answer

Processing Information – Strategies for Supporting Memory

For information to be learned and remembered, it is essential that it is manipulated mentally and processed. In a way, mental manipulation means repeatedly retrieving the information to be learned and doing something with that information.

Use the steps below for each lecture/large group session to develop an effective study routine.

Basic Checklist for Lecture/Large Group Sessions:

  1. Preview
  2. Watch/Attend Take BRIEF notes.
  3. Review your notes against the PowerPoint/textbook/handouts.
  4. Create a study product (i.e., summary sheet, concept map, table or chart, diagram)
  5. Practice with Self-Testing
  6. Review and revise your study

Suggestions for creating a study product to help you review information

  • Write Visually separate main ideas from other important topics. Try to paraphrase – or put the ideas in your own words – as often as possible. Transcribing the lecture is not helpful.
  • Relate what you learned to something you already Make connections whenever possible. Concept maps are a great technique for this.
  • Discuss what you have learned with a friend, colleague, or in a study
  • Draw diagrams, charts, pictures in your notes or summary sheets to help you understand and learn the material. For example, create a graphic organizer to compare/contrast topics, disorders, diseases, etc.
  • Prepare a Imagine you are giving a lecture tomorrow on this topic. What are the main ideas you will include? What are the key “take away” points? How will you explain them to your audience?

Ways to Practice with Self-Testing

  • Create Questions – if you can’t ask a question, you don’t know the material
    • For example, if you are studying anti- arrhythmics, some questions might be:
      1. What is the rationale for selecting this drug (A) over this other drug (B)?
      2. How is drug A different from drug B even though they are in the same class?
      3. What is the process that drug A uses?
      4. What pathways are impacted by the use of drug B?
      5. Why is drug (C) an effective treatment for [fill in the blank]?
      6. Why is there an interaction between this drug and this drug?
      7. Because of the actions of drug A, what accumulates inside affected cells?
  • Use practice questions – A few days after studying a topic you should answer practice questions on that topic. You should spend time trying to determine why you got the questions wrong. Identify why the right answer is correct and why the wrong answers are Think about this: What would need to change in the question to make one of the other options correct? Spend more time on this review than on completing the actual questions.
  • Add Your Patient – After you have studied the information and you think you know your stuff, try to create a patient to illustrate application of this newly acquired To achieve this, here are some questions you can answer:
    • How will a patient with disease/disorder x appear?
    • Is age/race/sex, important to disease x?
    • Is a particular lifestyle/environment a risk factor for
Concept Mapping Expand answer

Concept mapping technique

Humans learn new information best by integrating the new information into an existing knowledge base. This is called meaningful learning as contrasted to rote learning. Rote learning doesn’t hang around the brain very long. Concept mapping utilizes this knowledge about learning by providing a technique by which interrelationships can be mapped or charted. It taps into a learner’s cognitive structure and externalizes what the learner already knows while depicting relevant concepts and relationships the learner is currently learning. A meaningful map will integrate the new knowledge with the previous knowledge.

Examples of concept maps can be found in Concept mapping: A strategy for promoting meaningful learning in medical education,” Pinto & Zietz (1997).

Concept maps are picture, words, or graphic representations that allow you to link, differentiate, and relate concepts to one another.

Steps to Construct Your Concept Map

  1. List the most general topic/concept.
  2. Identify several more specific concepts that relate to the topic/concept.
  3. Rank the importance of the concepts using a number (1= most important; 5= less importance).
  4. Start with the most general concept at the top of the page, then spread out or work down to supporting concepts. (B. Leave room to add details as you learn more or review the map.)
  5. Tie the general topic/concept to the specific concepts using linking words/phrases or explanations that make sense to you. You do not need to use the exact words from the lecture/text. Use whatever language you understand best.
  6. Once you have reviewed the initial linkings you identified, look for any cross
  7. Elaborate by naming the kind of relationship between concepts on the connecting line, or using arrows to indicate direction of relationship.
  8. Think about additional information that is not included on the Should it be there? Where?
  9. Cross-check your concept map with the lecture notes and/or text to confirm that your map includes correct information and all the necessary concepts/topics.
  10. Revisit your concept map each week to determine if you can make additional linkings between and among new topics and existing The more you can link between topics, the easier the concept/topics will be for you to remember and apply. However, not all concepts/topics will have connections and that’s okay!

References

“Concept Mapping: A Guide for New Medical Students.” Office of Academic Support and Resources. University of New Mexico.

“Study Skills and Learning Tactics.” University of Kansas Medical Center. Office of Student Affairs.

Study Tips Expand answer

Rephrase.

  • After reading or listening to the definition several times, try to rephrase the definition into your own words.
  • Encoding is more effective if the information is familiar, so paraphrase definitions or

Reduce.

  • Eliminate all unessential
  • Focus only on the key words that must be present in order to understand the topic/concept.
  • The less there is to encode, the more likely one is to remember the

Associate.

  • Try to link the term and key words to something you already
  • Associate the information with past experiences, personal feelings or beliefs, pictures in the text book, songs heard on the radio, or images seen in movies.

Visualize.

  • Try to mentally picture the term and key
  • Visualize objects that represent the words or ideas in the

Memorization Tips

  • Create mnemonics
  • Create flashcards
  • Make short lists
  • Take short breaks

Processing Tips

  • Draw pictures/charts
  • Label pictures
  • Map ideas
  • Summarize processes

Test Preparation Tips

  • Focus on one topic at a time
  • Study the most important or difficult information first
  • Review old exams/practice questions
  • Create practice exams

Diagram with a 2-by-2 grid with signs/symptoms in the upper left, details about details in upper right, lab work/tests and indicators in lower left and treatment/maintenance in lower right; topic/disease in a circle in the middle; a box at the bottom that says Similar Diseases/symptoms...what to look for to differentiate...other critical information

Preview Quick Guide Expand answer

Previewing Content

Often times when your brain hears a word or a phrase, the next thing you think about is related to that word or phrase. This is the same effect preview can have for your learning. Previewing primes the brain and makes it more receptive for hearing the content again (Moraine, 2012, p.51).

How to Preview:

  • Surveying Techniques: Surveying is a skill that can be applied to a wide range of learning opportunities. Surveying a block of subject material (a lecturer’s handout, a section of a course syllabus, a chapter in a textbook, a patient’s chart) is carried out by skimming the material to be
    • Read major topics and subheading and the first sentence of
    • Look quickly at charts and diagrams and read the
    • Review books and textbooks usually have a summary at the end of each chapter that will provide an overview. Read this summary.
  • Identify Learning Objectives: It is important to determine what it is you want to or need to Not everything is of equal importance. Objectives help focus on the more important information. Some textbooks contain learning objectives. Other times learning objectives may not be explicit, and you will need to determine what is important to learn. Some ways to determine what is important to learn are:
    • Pay close attention to the lectures, handouts, and other learning material supplied by the instructor. Frequently instructors structure their lectures and handout materials with heading and subheadings that will tell you what is important.
    • After you identify a topic or concept that is important, ask a series of questions about the topic or concept, that, when fully answered, will provide essential information necessary to understand the topic or concept.
  • Pre-Lecture/Class Outline/Overview: The evening before class, lecture, or lab survey the subject material to be covered the next day. Skim the text or syllabus. Major topics, subheadings, and the first sentence of paragraphs might be read. Charts and graphs are quickly scanned and the captions are Major topics and concepts are quickly listed in the notebook used for lecture notes. The skimming and major topics list should be done in 30 minutes or less. This outline or overview list will help you form “advance organizers” that will serve as categories or concepts around which other information can be learned and organized.

Did you know….

Surveying carries out the following important functions:

  • Overcomes “student inertia.” Surveying is an excellent way to get started with studying.
  • Provides advance. Advance organizers serve as topics or categories around which facts and details may be organized and subsequently learned. Advance organizers have been shown to be very important in helping students learn, remember, and interrelate material they have studied.
  • Builds a foundation: provides an overview of the material to be studied and forms a broad framework upon which new knowledge and understanding can be built.

References

Moraine, P. (2012).“Preview and Review” in Helping students take control of everyday executive functions: The attention fix (pp.49-58). Philadelphia, PA: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

“Study Skills and Learning Tactics.” University of Kansas Medical Center. Office of Student Affairs.

Before, During and After a Lecture Expand answer

Before Lecture

Steps for Previewing

  1. Identify your purpose for
  2. Ask yourself some questions: What do I already know about this topic? Why is this topic important? Where does it fit with other information I already know? What characteristics of this topic make it different than the other concepts/topics I have studied?
  3. Read the
  4. Read the Summary or
  5. Scan the text for headings, sub-headings, and important terms/words that appear in bold
  6. Look at the figures, slides, graphs, and
  7. As you do steps 3-6, ask yourself questions to support
  8. You may create an outline or list of topics and record your questions if you

How long should previewing take?

The amount of time you spend previewing will depend on the volume of information, the difficulty of the topic, and the amount of time you have available. The purpose of previewing is not to learn all the information, but to develop familiarity with the main components. Previewing even for 10 minutes is helpful.

During Lecture

  1. If you created an outline or list during Preview, you will want to have this available during the
  2. Check your focus throughout the Do not multi-task!
  3. Distinguish key information and main When the lecturer spends a lot of time on one topic, or repeats, or shows several examples, s/he is indicating that that topic is important.
  4. Take notes OR using available handouts, annotate the lecture Write down only what is essential to know or what you don’t know.

After Lecture

  1. Review your notes that Add in missing details and clarify any concepts.
  2. Summarize the information in your own
  3. Reformat the key information in a way that will be useful for you to This could be a concept map, mind map, graphic organizer, etc.

Move material into long-term memory

How to move all this new material into long-term memory so you can find it again:

Understand the content and information and check for your ability to identify the key information. Paraphrase. Create a chart or an image. Use problem-solving techniques (break material down into parts and make connections).

Recall the main concepts or topics and important characteristics. Think about the retrieval process as a problem-solving process. What’s the difference between your present state of knowledge and your goal state? Set up reasonable sub-goals to get you there.

Detail the main ideas with specifics. After recall of the main ideas, fill in with details on the material just learned.

Expand – This phase organizes the information pulled together during acquisition and helps you move into maintenance so the information begins to be stored in your long-term memory.

Review – Translate the information/material into your own words. Schedule your periodic review: 24 hours, 7 days, 28 days later to make it part of your long-term memory.

Practice – Take a practice test, find case studies to test your understanding, create questions and quiz yourself and friends. You must use information to retain it!

Reference

Adapted with permission from: Strategic Learning: A Guide for New Medical Students. Office of Academic Resources and Support at the University of New Mexico.

Test-Taking Strategies

Test-taking strategies can always be improved and can help you identify what you really do know versus what types of errors you made during the test.

More difficult exam questions often require that you apply information in a new way – this can be especially difficult under the pressure of an exam. Practice questions and creating your own questions can help provide examples and should be used to practice the approaches needed to answer that style of question.

Check out some additional test-taking strategies by clicking on the links below.

Multiple-Choice Strategy Expand answer

Approach to Multiple Choice Questions

  1. Read the last sentence (the question stem) FIRST and if needed, read the next to last
  2. Read the rest of the
  3. Pay attention to words that would change the meaning if they were left out, such as: gain/loss, early/later, ab-/ad-, etc.
  4. Predict your answer without looking at the answer Brainstorm what you know, what it makes you think about, what is related, etc. This will help you focus on the big picture.
  5. Look at the answer choices and eliminate any that you know are
  6. If you narrow it down to two, think about how the options are different. Is one MORE correct because of the words you identified in Step 3?
  7. Select the BEST The best answer matches the evidence/data provided in the question.

When you… Narrow it down to two answers and aren’t sure what the best option is

Try…

  • Step 1: Remind yourself: ‘I know this!’ and ‘This is not a trick question!’
  • Step 2: Re-read the question. What are the 3 or 4 most important (and relevant) details about the case/patient? Jot them down if helps you focus on those key pieces of information.
  • Step 3: Look at your first option. Ask yourself: ‘What do I need to know for sure (100%) to say this is the best answer?’ If a piece is missing (for example, a lab result to diagnosis that disease), then it isn’t the best option. Look at your second option. Ask yourself again: ‘What do I need to know for sure (100%) to say this is the best answer?’ If all the evidence is presented in the data (question stem provides), then that is your best choice.
  • Step 4: Move on! Don’t second guess your answer or dwell on your choice. Remember – you know this!
Practice Questions Expand answer

Practice Questions & Self-Assessment

“After studying to the point where you think you know the information, be certain to test yourself more formally (using test questions) to ensure that you are learning in a way that will lead to success on examinations” (Saks & Saks, p.61).

Objective of Strategy: Identify the areas of strength and weakness to determine target topics for follow-up review and studying.

Step 1: Use practice questions from a review book or online question bank.

  • Think aloud through the stem:
    • What is being asked?
    • What do I know?
    • What do I need to know?
  • Think aloud through options
    • Why is this likely or not?
    • Is this the best choice?
  • Errors often made:
    • Answering a question that is not being asked
    • Focusing on an irrelevant fragment of the question
    • Not identifying important sections of the question
  • If you are stuck, try these focusing strategies:
    • Identify lead-in question
    • Jot down three important words in stem
    • Jot down three important words in answer choices/options
    • Use true/false strategy
    • Divide long stems in to segments
    • Restate the question – ask yourself: “What is this question really asking?”

Step 2: Analyze your errors using the error analysis form.

Step 3: Compare progress

  • Are you doing better or worse on the practice questions? Why?
  • What worked well for you in preparing/studying before the assessment?
  • What can you do differently? How/when will you do it?
Test Taking Strategies for Step 2 CK Expand answer

General Recommendations for MC Questions

  • assemble key clues into a mental “snapshot” of the patient
  • understand precisely what is being asked
  • allow a few moments to think, recall, and to anticipate possible answers
  • compare the given choices to your anticipated answer
  • mark choices that match best
  • rule out choices that don’t account for all findings
  • mark the best answer

Errors to Avoid

  • Answering a question that is not being asked
  • Focusing on an irrelevant fragment of the question
  • Not identifying important sections of the question
  • Focusing on the answer choices/options

MC Question Approach Steps 1 & 2:  Read and Paraphrase

  1. Read the last sentence or two of the question vignette (the actual question) first. This will help you know what to look for in the vignette to answer the question.
  2. Read the rest of the question (vignette). Before you look at the answer options, stop to paraphrase the case and question.

Try it out: Read and Paraphrase

A 75-year-old smoker and alcohol abuser is hospitalized for evaluation of a squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx. On his second hospital day, he complains of sweating, tremors, and vague gastrointestinal distress. On physical examination, he is anxious and has a temperature of 101°F, heart rate of 104/min, BP of 150/100 mm Hg, and a respiratory rate of 22 breaths per minute. Later that day, he has three generalized tonic-clonic seizures. Which of the following is the most likely cause of his seizures?

Remember:  Read & Paraphrase

  1. Read the last sentence or two of the question vignette (the actual question) first.
    • Share:  What do you need to look for?
  2. Read the rest of the question  (vignette). Stop to paraphrase the case and question.
    • Share:  What are the key aspects of this case?

MC Question Approach Step 3:  Predict

  1. Read the last sentence or two of the question vignette (the actual question) first. This will help you know what to look for in the vignette to answer the question.
  2. Read the rest of the question (vignette). Before you look at the answer options, stop to paraphrase the case and question.
  3. Predict the answer.

Try it out: Predict

A 75-year-old smoker and alcohol abuser is hospitalized for evaluation of a squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx. On his second hospital day, he complains of sweating, tremors, and vague gastrointestinal distress. On physical examination, he is anxious and has a temperature of 101°F, heart rate of 104/min, BP of 150/100 mm Hg, and a respiratory rate of 22 breaths per minute. Later that day, he has three generalized tonic-clonic seizures. Which of the following is the most likely cause of his seizures?

MC Question Approach Step 4:  Consider Options

  1. Read the last sentence or two of the question vignette (the actual question) first. This will help you know what to look for in the vignette to answer the question.
  2. Read the rest of the question (or vignette). Stop to paraphrase the case and question.
  3. Predict the answer.
  4. Look through the options. If you see your answer, pick it.

Try it out: Consider Options

A 75-year-old smoker and alcohol abuser is hospitalized for evaluation of a squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx. On his second hospital day, he complains of sweating, tremors, and vague gastrointestinal distress. On physical examination, he is anxious and has a temperature of 101°F, heart rate of 104/min, BP of 150/100 mm Hg, and a respiratory rate of 22 breaths per minute. Later that day, he has three generalized tonic-clonic seizures. Which of the following is the most likely cause of his seizures?

  • Brain metastasis
  • Febrile seizure
  • Hypocalcemia
  • Alcohol withdrawal
  • Subdural hematoma

MC Question Approach Step 5:  Eliminate Incorrect Responses

  1. Read the last sentence or two of the question vignette (the actual question) first. This will help you know what to look for in the vignette to answer the question.
  2. Read the rest of the question (or vignette). Stop to paraphrase the case and question.
  3. Predict the answer.
  4. Look through the options. If you see your answer, pick it.
  5. If you don’t see your answer, begin eliminating those you know are incorrect.

When eliminating responses:

  • Think about the data presented in the question. Use the evidence to make your selection.
  • Avoid adding assumptions or reading more into the question/case than what is presented.

Try it out: Eliminate Incorrect Responses

A 75-year-old smoker and alcohol abuser is hospitalized for evaluation of a squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx. On his second hospital day, he complains of sweating, tremors, and vague gastrointestinal distress. On physical examination, he is anxious and has a temperature of 101°F, heart rate of 104/min, BP of 150/100 mm Hg, and a respiratory rate of 22 breaths per minute. Later that day, he has three generalized tonic-clonic seizures. Which of the following is the most likely cause of his seizures?

  • Brain metastasis
  • Febrile seizure
  • Hypocalcemia
  • Alcohol withdrawal
  • Subdural hematoma

MC Question Approach Step 6:  Choose your answer

  • Brain metastasis
  • Febrile seizure
  • Hypocalcemia
  • Alcohol withdrawal
  • Subdural hematoma

A 4-year-old boy is brought to the local emergency department by his mother because he is “not acting right.” His mother reports that he seemed well last night, but this morning he was uncharacteristically groggy and appeared “flushed.” He fell over twice while walking around the house and “passed out” for 20 seconds while eating breakfast. Although he did not hit his head, he did complain of a headache. On the way to the hospital he vomited once; it was nonbloody and nonbilious. There are no sick contacts in the household, but his father awoke with a severe headache this morning. The family is vacationing at a nearby mountain resort noted for its “rustic log cabins with wood-burning fireplaces.” The boy’s temperature is 37°C (98.6°F), blood pressure is 90/50 mm Hg, pulse is 130/min, and respiratory rate is 26/min. The patient is minimally cooperative; he refuses to walk, preferring to nap in his mother’s arms. There is no evidence of head trauma and his physical examination is otherwise unremarkable. Further testing would most likely reveal which of the following abnormalities?

  • Blood glucose level of 60 mg/dL
  • Low partial pressure of arterial oxygen measured on arterial blood gas testing
  • Metabolic acidosis with increased anion gap
  • Pulmonary effusion on x-ray of the chest
  • Pulse oximetry reading of 89%

After completing practice questions, complete a test error analysis form: what are your areas of strength? What are your areas of weakness?

For content issues, identify the topics that you need to review and re-learn.  Complete a targeted review of these topics.

Effective Study Strategies

  • Ask yourself questions as you review material.
  • Create charts, tables, and graphs to summarize and synthesize information.
  • Identify key information.
  • Create summary notes – what are the 3 or 4 key things you need to remember about this disease?
  • Practice, practice, practice.

USMLE Step 2 CK

  • approximately 350 multiple-choice questions
  • divided into eight 60-minute blocks
  • the number of questions per block on a given examination form will vary, but will not exceed 44

Question Types

  • Single Item
  • Sequential Items – one patient/case vignette with 2 or 3 questions
  • Matching Items – series of questions related to a common topic; you will be presented with each question one at a time
  • Pharmaceutical Advertisement (Drug Ad) Format: The drug ad item format includes a rich stimulus presented in a manner commonly encountered by a physician, e.g., as a printed advertisement in a medical journal. Examinees must interpret the presented material in order to answer questions on various topics, including
    • Decisions about care of an individual patient
    • Biostatistics/epidemiology
    • Pharmacology/therapeutics
    • Development and approval of drugs and dietary supplements
    • Medical ethics
  • Abstract Format: The abstract item format includes a summary of an experiment or clinical investigation presented in a manner commonly encountered by a physician, e.g., as an abstract that accompanies a research report in a medical journal. Examinees must interpret the abstract in order to answer questions on various topics, including
    • Decisions about care of an individual patient
    • Biostatistics/epidemiology
    • Pharmacology/therapeutics
    • Use of diagnostic studies

Course-Specific Tips (for Phase I)

Approaching Anatomy Expand answer

Suggested Approach for Learning Anatomy

Before Class/Lab:

  • Preview by reading the appropriate section in the Begin to learn the structures and how they relate to one another.
  • If you encounter terms that are unfamiliar, or you are confused, refer to one of the other suggested resources (such as the Moore’s “Essential Clinical Anatomy” text).
  • If you preview, this will increase familiarity with new terms and By the end of a given day you will see/hear a term multiple times: during preview, during lecture, during afternoon review sessions (both student and T.A. lab) and during formal lab/imaging time.

Each day during the week:

  • Focus on 7-10 structures per Identify 2-3 structures within this group to use as your anchors. You will use these anchors to help you learn the other structures.
    • Use the anchor structures as the starting point and then work on learning the other structures based on how they relate to the anchors.
  • Go back into the lab with a few Practice locating those 7-10 structures on several bodies (identifying them on 5 bodies is recommended).
  • When practicing identification, focus on being able to explain how you know it is that structure or how you know it’s not a different structure. Explain why it is that structure to your group. If there is disagreement amongst the group, discuss your anchors to resolve.

Study Tips for Anatomy

  • Use words to guide you through Make connections between what is written in the text and pictorial information.
  • Learn the terminology in a meaningful The words often will direct you – for example:
    • Myo (muscle) + cardium (heart) = myocardium
    • Myo + blast (immature cell) = myoblast
  • Pay attention to the relative Focus on how each structure relates to surrounding structures.
    • The common carotid artery is: anterior to the vagus nerve and anterior to the superior cervical cardiac nerve.
    • Study connections between regions – or the entire path – that the structure takes and its relations to other structures along that path.
    • You might also then add in a clinical correlate or pearl which will help you remember the significance of these relationships
Cardio Study Tips Expand answer

Suggestions for Studying Cardio

  1. Understand the basic physiology/pathology.
  2. Use graphics, flow charts, illustrations, and diagrams to help you conceptualize and organize the You can use different approaches to organize information, such as sequencing and classification.
  3. Identify rules to help make facts more meaningful and easy to remember.
    • For example, blood flow through the cardiovascular system requires a pressure gradient. This gradient is analogous to the difference in pressure between two ends of a tube through which fluid flows. Flow through the tube is directly proportional to the pressure gradient.
  4. Understand the concept behind the formula before you memorize the
  5. Practice! Use your knowledge by completing practice questions, using Harvey, listening to heart murmurs online, and so on. Think about potential complications, drug interactions, compare and contrast diseases, identify different types of heart murmurs and their characteristics, Use the Question Stems or check out some of the Online Resources listed below.

Sequencing

Information may be sequenced by:

  • events in time – for example, the events in a normal menstrual
  • stages leading to an end point – for example, the stages of a
  • position in space or location – for example, structures arranged in sequence from the dorsal surface to the ventral surface of the chest cavity.
  • importance – for example, sequence from most to least important symptoms of a disease process.

Example of sequencing

(from the American College of Cardiology–American Heart Association Chronic Heart Failure)

Stage | Description

  1. High risk for developing heart failure | Hypertension, diabetes mellitus, CAD, family history of cardiomyopathy
  2. Asymptomatic heart failure | Previous MI, LV dysfunction, valvular heart disease
  3. Symptomatic heart failure | Structural heart disease, dyspnea and fatigue, impaired exercise tolerance
  4. Refractory end-stage heart failure | Marked symptoms at rest despite maximal medical therapy

CAD, coronary artery disease; LV, left ventricular; MI, myocardial infarction.

Classification

Information may be organized according to categories or characteristics.

Example:

  1. Disease
    • Prevalence (age, gender, culture, etc.)
    • Symptoms/physical manifestation
    • Lab studies
    • Prevention
    • Management/treatment
    • Memory Cue or Key information

How to Practice

Use question stems along with your notes or chart/organizer. It is important for you to not just memorize the information, but to understand it and apply it.

Create a chart on diseases based on the classification strategy above, and ask questions like:

  • How would you differentiate between disease A and disease B?
  • What is the rationale for using/doing to prevent disease A?
  • How is disease A different from disease B?
  • What are the steps leading to disease C?

Online Resources for practice and additional review

Question Stems

  1. Definitions
    • What is the definition of [blank]?
    • What does [blank] mean?
  2. Lists (Characteristics, parts, sections, summaries, causes, effects, steps, stages, phases, processes, elements, summaries)
    • What are the key characteristics of [blank]?
    • What are the components of [blank]?
    • What are the steps/stages in [blank]?
    • Outline the causes and effects of [blank].
  3. Application (Analyzing, summarizing, describing, predicting, translating, criticizing, justifying, determining)
    • What is happening when [blank]?
    • Summarize the actions you see in [blank].
    • Describe what happens when [blank].
    • Criticize the use of [blank].
    • An example of this is [blank].
  4. Process/Procedure (How something works)
    • Describe how [blank] responds when [blank].
    • What are the steps/stages/phases in [blank]?
  5. 2 or more sets of information
    • Compare [blank] with [blank].
    • Compare and contrast [blank] with [blank].
    • Make connections between [blank] and [blank].
    • What is the relationship of [blank] to [blank]?
    • What role does [blank] play in [blank]?
  6. Solutions to problems
    • What are the steps involved in determining the diagnosis of [blank]?
    • What are the steps in solving or addressing (problem/disease/disorder/symptoms)?

Suggested Review and Study Process

  1. Review your notes from that day’s lecture – do not rewrite the notes word for word, instead work to put things in your own words, make connections, and use Active Review strategies to help process the content.
  2. Review the lecture, notes, PBL case, or other information from the day. Make connections and consider other links between materials.
  3. Use your weekends for Comprehensive Review and Self-Monitoring/Self- Assessment. Use your results to target additional review.
  4. Don’t get behind… you will not be able to catch up due to the volume of
  5. Always take time to Preview! You can do this by briefly reviewing the PowerPoint before lecture or surveying the text for overall This should take 30 minutes maximum.

Sprint tips:

  • SPacing
  • Retrieval practice
  • INTerleaving/INTerweaving

References

Moraine, P. (2012).“Preview and Review” in Helping students take control of everyday executive functions: The attention fix (pp.49-58). Philadelphia, PA: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Saks, N.S. and Saks, M.A. (2007). How to excel in medical school, 3rd edition. Alexandria, VA: J&S Publishing Company, Inc.

“Study Skills and Learning Tactics.” University of Kansas Medical Center. Office of Student Affairs.

Endo Repro Study Tips Expand answer

Suggestions for Studying Endo/Repro

  1. Understand the basic physiology/pathology.
  2. Use graphics, flow charts, illustrations, and diagrams to help you conceptualize and organize the You can use different approaches to organize information, such as sequencing and classification.
  3. Practice! Use your knowledge by asking yourself questions, completing practice questions, or reviewing scenarios with a classmate. Think about topics like – red cell abnormalities – what are some examples? What causes them? How do you recognize them? Use Question Stems to create your own questions or check out some of the Online Resources listed in the chart below.

Sequencing

Information may be sequenced by:

  • events in time – for example, the events in a normal menstrual
  • stages leading to an end point – for example, the stages of a
  • importance – for example, sequence from most to least important symptoms of a disease process.

Classification

Information may be organized according to categories or characteristics.
Example 1 – create a chart with Disease in the first column and then subsequent columns as listed below.

  1. Disease (first column)
    • Prevalence (age, gender, culture, etc.)
    • Symptoms/physical manifestation
    • Lab studies
    • Prevention
    • Management/treatment
    • Memory Cue or Key information

Example 2 – create a chart with the following setup:
Title: Anterior Pituitary Hormones
Column 1 — Column 2
Hormone — Target Gland
Growth hormone (GH) — Multiple
Prolactin (PRL) — Breast
Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) — Adrenal
Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) — Thyroid
Luteinizing hormone (LH) — Gonad
Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) — Gonad

How to Practice

Use question stems along with your notes or chart/organizer. It is important for you to not just memorize the information, but to understand it and apply it.

Looking at a chart on diseases that you create based on Example 1 under Classification, ask questions like:

  • How would you differentiate between disease A and disease B?
  • What is the rationale for using/doing to prevent disease A?
  • What are the steps leading to disease C?

Online Resources

Question Stems

  1. Definitions
    • What is the definition of [blank]?
    • What does [blank] mean?
  2. Lists (Characteristics, parts, sections, summaries, causes, effects, steps, stages, phases, processes, elements, summaries)
    • What are the key characteristics of [blank]?
    • What are the components of [blank]?
    • What are the steps/stages in [blank]?
    • Outline the causes and effects of [blank].
  3. Application (Analyzing, summarizing, describing, predicting, translating, criticizing, justifying, determining)
    • What is happening when [blank]?
    • Summarize the actions you see in [blank].
    • Describe what happens when [blank].
    • Criticize the use of [blank].
    • An example of this is [blank].
  4. Process/Procedure (How something works)
    • Describe how [blank] responds when [blank].
    • What are the steps/stages/phases in [blank]?
  5. 2 or more sets of information
    • Compare [blank] with [blank].
    • Compare and contrast [blank] with [blank].
    • Make connections between [blank] and [blank].
    • What is the relationship of [blank] to [blank]?
    • What role does [blank] play in [blank]?
  6. Solutions to problems
    • What are the steps involved in determining the diagnosis of [blank]?
    • What are the steps in solving or addressing (problem/disease/disorder/symptoms)?
GI Study Tips Expand answer

Tip # 1: Identify and organize the details and important processes. You can write out the steps, draw a diagram, or even try to recreate a diagram from lecture or your readings.

Tip #2: Check for understanding and elaborate. Ask yourself “Why is this important?” and “So what?” or “Then what?” or explain how it relates/connects to another related topic/concept.

Tip #3: Create concept maps or tables to help you organize all the information. Look at the flow charts or diagrams or other organizers you have that identify important information for each section and determine how you might be able to bring them together or connect them. Are there topics that relate?

Tip #4: Once you feel comfortable with the information in the diagram, chart, or table, use Question Stems to check your understanding and apply the knowledge.

Tip #5: Use the daily questions and other practice questions to support your learning. Ensure that you truly understand the basics and are able to describe the interactions, variations, etc.

MSK Study Tips Expand answer

MSK: Steps to Success

  1. Understand the anatomy of particular conditions.
  2. Use graphics, flow charts, illustrations, and diagrams to help you conceptualize and organize the information.
  3. Identify rules to help make facts more meaningful and easy to remember. For example, the Ottawa rules for foot and ankle:
    • A. An ankle x-ray is required only if there is any pain in malleolar zone and any of these findings:
      • bone tenderness at A
      • bone tenderness at B
      • inability to weight bear both immediately and in the casualty department.
    • B. A foot x-ray is required if there is any pain in the mid-foot zone and any of these findings:
      • bone tenderness at C
      • bone tenderness at D
      • inability to weight bear both immediately and in the casualty department.
      • An image shows an illustrated lateral view and media view of ankle and part of foot pointing to different areas
        Image from www.gp-training.net.

  4. Practice! Use your knowledge by completing practice questions or thinking through different clinical

Using charts:

The image below identifies the morphology of a bone lesion combined with the age of the patient.

Abbreviations used:

  • ABC = Aneurysmal bone cyst
  • CMF = Chondromyxoid fibroma
  • EG = Eosinophilic Granuloma
  • GCT = Giant cell tumour
  • FD = Fibrous dysplasia
  • HPT = Hyperparathyroidism with Brown tumor
  • NOF = Non Ossifying Fibroma
  • SBC = Simple Bone Cyst

A table from a study guide shows bone lesion imaging for well-defined, ill-definded and sclerotic, with columns below for age ranges and different morphologies.

Source of table image: Van der Woude, H.J. & Smithuis,R. (2010). “Bone Tumor – Systematic Approach and Differential Diagnosis.”

How to Practice

An effective way to test your understanding of material, and to increase retrieval and recall, is to Add Your Patient. After you have studied the information and you think you know your stuff, try to create a patient to illustrate application of this newly acquired knowledge. To achieve this, here are some questions you can answer:

  1. How will a patient with disease/disorder x appear?
  2. Is age/race/sex, important to disease x?
  3. Is a particular lifestyle/environment a risk factor for disease x?
  4. How common is disease x?
  5. What will the patient complain about to the doctor?
  6. What significant findings will appear in the patient’s history?
  7. What significant findings will appear on physical exam?
  8. What tests would you do and what results might you expect?
  9. What underlying agent/cause is responsible for disease x?
  10. What treatment (drug, surgery, lifestyle change, ) might be needed to correct disease x? What treatment might be needed to prevent disease x?
  11. What is the prognosis of disease x?
  12. What key point from the lecture is illustrated by disease x? What does it exemplify?

Online Resources

Scientific Principles of Medicine (SPM) Tips Expand answer

Tip #1 – Use the Learning Objectives

For example, Lecture 2 from Sept. 30, 2014, identified the following LOs:

  • Describe the regulation of gluconeogenesis and list the steps in glycolysis it bypasses to form glucose
  • Describe the steps and regulation of glycogen synthesis and degradation
  • Understand the hormonal and metabolic adaptation to starvation
  • Describe the role of the pentose phosphate pathway in RBC survival along with lipid and nucleic acid metabolism
  • Be able to diagnose a glycogen storage disease from a clinical scenario
  • Describe the metabolic pathways that become important when glucose is persistently elevated in the plasma and their clinical significance

Step 1: Start with the “big picture” and work your way down to the details.

For example, looking at the second LO, I could say:

Regulation of glycogen phosphorylase is largely accomplished by phosphorylation. The addition of a phosphate group coverts the inactive phosphylase b to an active phosphylase a. In addition, this enzyme is also regulated allosterically. The form in the muscle is activated by AMP and inhibited by ATP. The form of phosphorylase in the liver is inhibited by glucose. The mode of allosteric regulation tailors the overall regulation of the enzyme to the needs of specific tissues.

Glycogen synthesis and degradation is largely controlled by the phosphorylation state of the enzymes, with fine tuning by the allosteric signals listed above. The phosphorylation levels of proteins within the cell are directly controlled by response to hormones.

    • When there is demand from glucose protein phosphorylation occurs, signalling the release of glucose from glycogen in the liver. Therefore the phosphorylated state of glycogen phosphorylase must be the active form of the enzyme so that glucose is released from glycogen. To insure that both synthetic and degradative pathways are not active at the same time we would expect that the phosphorylated state of glycogen synthase must be inactive.
    • During periods of high blood sugar levels, hormonal signalling causes the storage of glucose in glycogen by leading to dephosphorylation of enzymes in the cell. This dephosphorylation activates glycogen synthase and inactivates glycogen phosphorylase, again insuring that only one direction is active at a time.

(From Glycogen & Integrated Regulation)

Step 2: Identify or organize the details and other important parts of the process.

You can write out the steps, draw a diagram, or even try to recreate a diagram from lecture or your readings.

Step 3: Check for understanding and elaborate.

Ask yourself “Why is this important?” and “So what?” or “Then what?” or explain how it relates/connects to another related topic/concept.

Using LO#2, I might say:

The coordinated regulation of glycolysis and gluconeogenesis fits perfectly with the direct hormonal control of glycogen metabolism to insure the liver cell responds appropriately to hormonal signals. For example, the production and release of glucose when glucagon or epinephrine are present, or the storage and, if required, the oxidation of glucose when insulin is present.

Tip #2 – Create concept maps, flows charts, or tables to help you organize the information.

There are a lot of details and steps involved in some of the processes and pathways and giving the information a structure and identifying key characteristics will help with long term memory and retrieval.

  • Once you feel comfortable with the information in the diagram, chart, or table, use Question Stems to check your understanding and apply the knowledge.

Tip #3 –Understand the basic principles.

Ensure that you truly understand the basics and are able to describe the interactions, variations, etc. For example – consider: what happens when glucose is not available? What role do lipids play then? What are the pathways for breaking down lipids? For making lipids?

Five learning strategies for studying more effectively

  1. Prioritize understanding the material over memorizing it. Active learning strategies that include reciting, summarizing, predicting, and reorganizing information can be used to promote deeper understanding.
  2. Preview and Predict: Skim all chapter headings and subheadings. Read any bold or italicized words. Read the chapter summary. Review any end of chapter questions. Try and predict the answers to the questions and find out if your predictions are correct.
  3. SQ3R: Survey the chapter or video module, question, read, recite and reflect on what you have read.
  4. Summarizing: Conclude each chapter or video module by creating a brief review or synopsis.
  5. Reorganizing information: Make an outline or a concept map.
  6. Elaborating: Relate to-be-learned information with already-known information.