Physiology, for me, was a roller coaster. I received my lowest exam grade, and the rest were my highest among any of the other med school exams. My study methods were everchanging, I faced a winter slump, and my husband was gone almost every week which left me trapped in my office most days and incredibly desperate for social interaction. I get distracted easily studying with noise, and so I didn't have much of a choice but to stay home in the quiet or visit the library.
I began to see how finding certain topics you like to study (Neuro, GI, Renal, Endocrinology) really make a difference in how fast you learn them.
Each exam I had to study slightly different to match the professor's teaching style. Cardio involved a lot of images and graphs, with little text. I should have bought the book, because I learn so much better through reading text. The other professors in the core provided a lot of text in their notes, and that helped me out a ton.
I did a variety of tactics to help me memorize and comprehend things. For some professors I didn't attend class and instead I looked at their handouts, explored the topics on my own, and figured it out. When I drove to Minneapolis to visit my husband while he was working, it was surprisingly very beneficial to record myself explaining some of the trickier topics or pathways and listen to myself on a CD. I wrote on a notebook questions and folded the paper over the answers to quiz myself before bed or have Jake ask them to me (if he was home). Another exam I spent hours preparing by writing on my whiteboard. I also used a lot of online youtube videos and explanations.
I didn't buy a textbook for this ten-week core.
This core put together the anatomy and biochemistry that we learned last semester, and it was interesting to see how they all fit together to make our bodies work the way they should. Thinking about your body being made of a bunch of tiny little cells with small, specific, and regulated openings in the membranes of the cells that let in and out sodium, potassium, and more, and how necessary those little things are for life, brings out such an appreciation in me for the human
body.