Summer classes come with different vibes compared with the days of a normal school year. Aside from the warmer weather, you also need to deal with a more limited timetable to meet all your academic requirements. Thus, if you’re a medical student and you want to thrive in your new summer routine, it’s critical that you create a strategy that will help you survive the summer semester. And below are ways you can do that and more.
Set Goals
Having goals can help you cope with your summer classes better. A study even observed that medical students who first reflected on their goals while preparing for an exam tend to get higher marks than those who didn’t. Thus, if you want to survive this summer semester, you need to set some goals.
Take Notes
Medical student or no, you need good note-taking skills if you want to succeed in your academic career. Not only does doing so help you keep track of all the information you’re covering each lesson, but it will also enable you to retain that information better. Note-taking is particularly important during the summer semester, since classes for that period operate on a more compressed schedule.
Sync Your Calendar
Aside from being on a compressed schedule, summer classes also operate on a more accelerated pace. Thus, you need to sync your school calendar accordingly if you want to survive and thrive in the summer semester. That means reading your syllabus carefully, marking test dates and major deadlines, and including work shifts in a clinic, extracurricular activities and fun stuff (if any).
Form or Join a Study Group
Go alone if you want to go fast, but go together if you want to go far. This saying applies to life in general, but it can also be applied in medical school. By forming or joining a study group during the summer semester, you’ll increase your chances of surviving your classes. Plus, the summer semester is a great time to make new friends, since there would be fewer people in the campus.
Take a Break
Taking a break is just as important as studying hard during the summer semester. Not only does it help you relax and relieve stress after a hard day’s work, but it can also help you become more productive and motivated afterward. Plus, it helps you minimize FOMO or the fear of missing out of your friends’ fun.
Slay Your Studies
Being a medical student is challenging, especially if you’re finishing internship at a medical startup or you need to catch up your academics during the summer. By following the pointers listed above, though, you’ll be able to slay your studies even during the hot season.