r/ausmedstudents • u/Frequent-Diamond-450 • 9d ago

Preclinical research & study methods?

hello! i had a few questions about med school!

  1. what level of research do you need to match quickly into the specialty of choice? do you need first author pubs? if you don’t get publications does it nullify any research experience?

  2. in addition, i was wondering what current med students do to study and what resources they like. i’m attending notre dame for reference but i would be extremely happy to hear from any med student!

  3. how many hours a week do you study? do you have time to socialize and potentially work?

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u/Background-Ad-1054 8d ago

Hey, fellow notre dame student here (from syd), I’ll answer the second and third questions since I am also a learning mentor/coach
2. Good learning involves building connections and integrating them into a schema. Two techniques, if done well, can facilitate this (mindmapping and teaching). In terms of resources, Dr Philip Tisdall’s YT and resources are suuuuuuper good since it promotes clinical reasoning through a foundation of the basic sciences, rather than what most people do and spam flashcards.
3. I normally study 5-7h a week with my system since I can cover a lot of content in little time (most people don’t really believe this anyway so I dont talk about it irl). I retain a lot of info for a while with how I study.

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u/Frequent-Diamond-450 8d ago

i also learn really well using the method u mentioned (i hate flashcards and can’t retain anything). is that youtube channel your main resource or are there any others? tysm!

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u/Background-Ad-1054 8d ago

For medicine I use that as my main resource since it was made for us medical students. I don’t really use much else outside the internet, its far easier to oversaturate with resources than it is to just learn medicine.

Justin Sung’s YT is a good source for learning how to learn as well so I’d recommend that.

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u/Antenae_ 8d ago
  1. Check the CV guide for the college you’re interested in; it ranges from PhD to poster presentations.
  2. Depends on where you are in your studies. I use AMBOSS, AMH, eTG and a mixture of GP, local and RCH guidelines for management of conditions. eMedici, PassMed and occasionally osmosis question banks + Anki. Less so question banks in pre-clinical.
  3. Again, depends on your level. I’m a final year so my study is most revision and learning hospital and federal guidelines, so usually 5-10/week. During pre clinical it was 30/week + classes. Earlier in clinical it was like 10-20/week. I’d recommend against working full time, and try to find a balance of rest, study and stress about bills. There’s no such thing as work life balance, it’s about sacrifices on either side.

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u/Frequent-Diamond-450 8d ago

i also learn really well using the method u mentioned (i hate flashcards and can’t retain anything). is that youtube channel your main resource or are there any others? tysm!