How to Study in Medical School

Book Preface

Medical students who know me know that I spent A LOT of time tutoring students and helping others out. To this day, I get almost daily e-mails from many students, asking me how to study.

I used to spend much of my time replying to each and every one of those e-mails, revealing my method of studying, telling them what I think they should do, explaining why my method works, and why their method of studying does not work in medical school. After a close friend of mine e-mailed me asking me how to study, the idea dawned on me to write a short book about my study method. Being a close friend, I wanted her to have nothing short of the full version of my study method. So after starting the reply, the e-mail got longer and longer, until I realized how substantial my method actually is when I leave no detail behind. As the e-mail kept getting longer, I jokingly thought to myself, “I could probably write a
book about this!” So I did. So why did I constantly get e-mails from various students asking me how to study? I asked a recent emailer that very same question. She told me “Because you’re Armin!” Her answer did not really answer my question, but if I had to guess, it would be because even though I am just your average guy, there is one exception: I breezed through all my medical schoolexams, rocked the USMLEs™, and yet always had time to tutor, often spending twenty to thirty hours a week tutoring students in various semesters. In fact, I was also the head Anatomy TA for three semesters handling all the tasks associated with the position. In addition, I held various student leadership positions, including one in the student council, as well as in departmental focus groups. All in all, I probably spent a good forty hours or so per week on nonmedical- school-related activities, and still managed to get ninety-plus on all my medical school exams.