Question:
Pharmacy school seems to be a lot of memorizing so far. What are the best strategies for memorizing all of the material?
Response 1:
Study habits are different for each individual, but I will definitely share what seems to work best for me! I’m not very good at memorizing either, so I tend to try and understand as much as possible. For example, knowing the mechanism of action of a drug often helps explain most of its side effects.
You’re right, though, sometimes things just need to be memorized. My go-to method is to read things a few times, go take a break, then come back and write it all down again on a scrap piece of paper without looking at my notes. I also love reorganizing my notes into a bunch of tables, as I’m a pretty visual person. I can kind of memorize the placement of my notes based on its category on the table...if that makes any sense. Sometimes I’ll use acronyms. My friends and I will also quiz each other the night before a midterm. They tend to know that I am pretty bad at memorizing doses, so they gravitate towards questioning those to me a LOT.
I guess there’s no fast and easy way to memorize; they all require some amount of repetition. Definitely use your friends though! You’ll be surprised to see how much you’ll be forced to remember when reciting facts out loud.
Hope that helps a little bit!
Response 2:
Everyone has a different method to memorize in pharmacy school. I found that I needed to try a couple different methods before I found one that worked the best for me. For straight memorization, I found using mnemonics and acronyms very helpful. For me it was a faster way to remember the content required and making unique acronyms for certain concepts makes it easier to remember during assessments.
Another method is to make summary notes outside of the class notes so that I have a more concise doc of what I need to memorize after class. Because pharmacy school has a lot of content, I find this helps me stay more focused! This allows me to focus on what I need to review compared to what I am already familiar with.
With memorization, I find the hardest part is to start reviewing the material the first time. I find the best thing to do with memorization is to review it multiple times. Group study is also very helpful with this and I would definitely recommend this too! Everyone has different tips/ tricks to memorize certain facts that can help while group studying. I find that after discussing some topics in a group, I can remember it more easily than before.