Study smarter, not harder was a helpful philosophy. This involves understanding a little bit about how learning (and the brain) in general works– the more you know about something, the easier it is to learn more about that thing. For example, I did not like studying hands, splints, etc. But, knowing this, I focused hard on generating a little schema — a brain-room if you will– all about hands. Then, every time I came across a practice question about hands, I added that little tidbit and weaved it into what I already knew, and that wasn’t too hard. Fun fact: at the neuron/ cellular level, this is called “dendritic arborization” because when the brain makes more connections between cells (learning!!) it looks like a tree (arbor) growing when before and after pictures are compared under a microscope. Grow your brain-tree! Also eat/sleep/de-stress appropriately because it costs your body a lot of cellular energy to learn!

More on notes: I took printer paper and wrote in many shades of colored sharpie different things in the schemas and taped them up all around my house where I would regularly see them. Also draw tiny pictures in your notes, that is easier to remember than more words in my opinion. Your fingertips have memory, and the process forces you to slow down.