Exam week for a medical student is synonymous with despair! And when you talk about biochemistry tests then … But it doesn’t have to be that way! To get you out of trouble, Jaleko has prepared 5 tips for you to review the dreaded test, without stress and without decorating.
TIP 1: “Scanning = Dynamic Reading
Make a superficial reading of the matter that will fall in the test! This way, you will identify the phrases or terms that are most repeated in the text, and you will associate them more naturally. So when you find one of these keywords in the test, you will more easily remember the issues related to those terms, and it will not go blank!
TIP 2: don’t memorize formulas, learn concepts
When we study biochemistry, we see several formulas, and we know that decorating each one is an exhausting and even counterproductive job. With so much to learn in medical school, you don’t need more information without practical use, do you? So instead of suffering from recording each one, learn the related concept. For example, to identify an aldose monosaccharide, you do not need to know all the existing types, but rather to know that the aldoses have a carbonyl group at the end of the molecule. That is, you do not memorize the formula, but learn the concept. Simple, isn’t it?
TIP 3: form analogies to realize knowledge
When we study a somewhat abstract and biochemical subject, it is difficult to assimilate concepts that we cannot observe. In contrast, when studying cardiac physiology, we can observe it when listening to the heart or when analyzing an electrocardiogram. But this is difficult when we study bioenergetics, for example, since we are unable to observe the functioning of ATP. And how to facilitate the study of these concepts? Making analogies! If we compare ATP to a battery, which is discharged every time it gives energy to a chemical reaction and charges every time it receives energy from a reaction, we can understand the concept by bringing it into our universe, by making knowledge more “tangible”.
TIP 4: teach friends or train in the mirror
According to William Glasser’s learning pyramid, after 2 weeks of studying a particular subject, the human brain remembers only 10% of what it read, which is very little, isn’t it? But he is able to remember 95% of what we teach! That is, to learn a subject the best way to assimilate knowledge is by teaching someone. But if you are ashamed to explain in front of your friends, no problem, we also retain the knowledge when we explain it to the mirror or the pet.
TIP 5: solve simulations
As well as presenting the learned content, solving questions helps to assimilate the material, and apply it in practical examples. Furthermore, we sometimes have the false impression of dominating the subject, and when resolving issues we realize that we are still in doubt. Therefore, we suggest that at the end of the study, resolve some questions to make the knowledge concrete. And for that we give you a help! Enter Jaleko’s website, and prepare your biochemistry simulation.
