HOW I MEMORIZED EVERYTHING IN MEDICAL SCHOOL | KharmaMedic

Summary

In this video, Karma Medic shares his personal strategies for memorizing complex information, particularly from his six years of university, including medical school. He introduces techniques beyond common methods like mnemonics, such as 'the rule of opposites,' simplifying information into symbols, using color associations, physical locations, muscle memory, and creating meaningful connections between facts. He also highlights the importance of reducing information into its simplest form and relating it to real-life examples. The video aims to help viewers apply these memorization strategies to any subject they are studying.

Takeaways

• 😀 **Focus Beyond Mnemonics**: This video is not about common memorization techniques like mnemonics; instead, it introduces unique memorization strategies developed over the years.
• 🧠 **Rule of Opposites**: In medical studies, many facts can be memorized by knowing that one item is the opposite of another, reducing the amount of information needed to recall.
• ✍️ **Simplify with Symbols**: Abbreviating and using symbols can help make the information easier to remember by reducing complex terms to just a few characters.
• 🎨 **Use Color-Coding**: Associating different colors with concepts or categories, like treatments or symptoms, helps create visual cues for memory retention.
• 📍 **Leverage Physical Location**: Memorizing the spatial arrangement of information, like the position of items in a table, can aid recall without needing to remember individual terms.
• 💪 **Employ Muscle Memory**: Repeatedly writing or drawing information builds muscle memory, making recall more automatic.
• 🔤 **Natural Order and Alphabetical Cues**: When learning lists or sequences, organizing them in alphabetical or natural order (like anatomical progression) can improve retention.
• 📖 **Connect to Real-Life Scenarios**: Relating information to real-life examples or visualizing past experiences with patients helps in remembering medical facts more effectively.
• ✂️ **Cut Down and Condense**: Reduce complex information to the simplest form possible—short phrases, single letters, or diagrams help ease the memory load.
• 📚 **Create Words or Acronyms**: Condensing multiple concepts into a single word or acronym, like 'BEWARE' for 'Broca's Expressive, Wernicke's Receptive,' makes memorization more efficient.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of the video?

The video explains various memorization techniques that the speaker has developed over six years of studying, focusing on methods that can be applied to different subjects beyond just medical school.

What are some memorization techniques the speaker avoids discussing in the video?

The speaker avoids discussing common techniques such as acronyms and mnemonics, assuming viewers are already familiar with them.

What is the 'rule of opposites' that the speaker uses for memorization?

The 'rule of opposites' involves memorizing one fact and using it to figure out the opposite or reverse relationships. For example, memorizing that aortic stenosis occurs in systole allows one to deduce that aortic regurgitation occurs in diastole.

How does the speaker simplify information to make it easier to memorize?

The speaker simplifies information by reducing complex words or phrases to single letters, abbreviations, or symbols, making it easier to recall.

How does color coding help in memorization according to the speaker?

The speaker uses color coding to associate specific information with colors. For example, they highlight risk factors and protective factors for cancers in different colors to make recall easier based on visual cues.

What role does muscle memory play in the speaker’s memorization techniques?

Muscle memory helps by repeatedly writing out information until the act of writing and recalling it becomes automatic, which strengthens memorization.

How does alphabetical order or natural order aid in memorization?

The speaker memorizes information by organizing it alphabetically or by the natural order of things in the body. For example, remembering the order of parts of the small intestine (duodenum, jejunum, ileum) helps associate hormones with the right part of the body.

What is the importance of real-life examples or stories in memorization?

The speaker suggests relating facts to real-life experiences, like recalling a patient with a specific condition, to create stronger mental associations for the information.

How does the speaker use acronyms to memorize complex medical facts?

The speaker creates acronyms or short words by combining the initials of key terms to make them easier to remember. For example, turning 'Broca’s Expressive' and 'Wernicke’s Receptive' into the acronym 'BEWARE' for better recall.

What final tip does the speaker emphasize for efficient memorization?

The speaker stresses the importance of cutting down everything to the simplest form, whether that’s turning sentences into words, words into letters, or information into diagrams, to make it easier to memorize.