The Unofficial Guide to First Year - University of Oklahoma Health ...

UNOFFICIAL GUIDE
HOW TO HOME SCHOOL
Hippocrates was widely ranked by our class as the best resource available, and there are ways to
use it most efficiently. For one, lectures do not have to be played at normal speeds. 1.4 to double
time will begin to sound normal (it’s hard to believe, but it’s true!), and it is ok to see professors
for the first time during IMPS. Rewinding at will saves valuable time when it’s necessary to
decipher thick accents. It’s also great to re-listen to lectures as you commute to and from school
and work out at the gym. Keep in mind that our professors put in a lot of effort to be prepared
for their lectures and it can be somewhat hurtful to find only 30 people in the classroom, so try
to encourage them and attend class when you feel they are doing a good job.
My personal method of studying was to wait until the notegroups had been posted for each
lecture, and then I would watch the video recording on Hippocrates while making edits or
additions to the pre-written notes. Others in our class realized that a large majority of what we
“need to know” (i.e. where the professors will draw their exam material from) will be in the
lecture syllabus, so several students preferred to memorize the syllabus as their main method of
study. This is usually pretty effective, but not all syllabi are created equal, and several professors
are likely to include more information than you need to know in the syllabus (for “background”
information). For this reason, I advise either watching the lectures or at the very least reading
the notegroups in order to see what is emphasized and what is fluff. Jordan Cates provides an
excellent breakdown on specifics below.
MAKE IT COUNT
One way to go about this is to treat school like a job, so work and play hard. Get in a rhythm
with studies as soon as possible, and don’t use your school time for Facebook. This way your
evenings can be free, and you can fully unwind and do all the things you enjoy. If you choose to
study at home, make sure your family understands when you aren’t available. The best advice
for success in medical school is to “know thyself”, so don’t freak out if you cannot focus for long
stretches of time. Study in short chunks and take many mini-breaks if you need to, and don’t be
intimidated by classmates who can study for hours at a time without a break.
USE ALL YOUR RESOURCES
AKA- keep in touch with several class-goers. You will need to be clued in on the few things you
miss, and they can try to convince you that a certain lecturer is useful and you should show your
face that day. Plus, there are rare instances of extra credit for quizzes that are announced in
advance. Anatomy lecture and lab requires attendance, so utilize this time on campus to ask
your classmates if there is anything you need to be aware of.
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