😴 How I Study 8+ Hours without getting tired
Hey friends,
Towards the end of my USMLE step 1 I totally, and completely, lost the motivation to study.
I suspect I am not alone in this experience. I saw several friends experience their own form of burnout after 6 months to a year of USMLE studying... So how did I remedy this?
My saving grace was actually a YouTube channel called MDProspect (now StudyMD). Every morning I had to complete 4 hours of flashcards before clinical rotations, so I would put on a four hour study with me video. The only rule was, I had to sit in my chair until the end, no pausing.
Something about the combination of: virtual study partner + pomodoro timer + calming music, allowed me study for superhuman periods of time. On some days, it was 8+ hours!
Recently, I uploaded my own study with me video to the channel. I genuinely hope it works as well for you as it did for me when I was burnt out on studying.
What are your thoughts? Hit <reply> down below and let me know 👇
All the best,
Chris
📚 My Favourite Resources
📱 App - BlockYT for Safari Something I've been trying to prioritise recently is sleep, and YouTube on my iPhone has become a huge distraction - keeping me up late with blue light. This is the only app I've found on iPhone that blocks YouTube shorts, which are particularly addictive. I've been able to curb my shorts addiction with this relatively cheap app - strongly recommend.
🌐 IMG Resource - USCE spreadsheet This spreadsheet is absolute gold. It's a pretty comprehensive list of >200 US clinical experience opportunities across the US, complied by the USMLE Sarthi team. Elective rotations are critical to your US application, so make sure to check it out and see if you can find something.
💊 Medicine - Royal Society of Medicine I have probably attended 50+ online webinars and workshops organised by the RSM over the past year. Great stuff for padding out your CV with relevant experience, and it looks impressive being from the UK. The membership is very cheap for the amount of content you can access.
💊 Medicine - Wound Care Review I'm starting my general surgery clinical rotation this week, so I thought I would try and review the principles of wound care. I found this helpful resource that you might find useful.
✍️ Quote of the Week
Who you are, what you think, feel, and do, what you love—is the sum of what you focus on.
From Deep work by Cal Newport. Resurfaced using Readwise.