When a student enrols for their first medical foundation course, they are often struck by how fundamentally different studying medicine is compared to high school or college.
Typically, students will realise quite quickly whether degree-level education is for them and drop out if it is not, with the vast majority of those who choose to withdraw from medical education doing so within the first year.
The reason for this is the focus on self-directed learning; whilst there are lectures and seminars for particular courses, a student is expected to do their own wider reading around a lecture topic and set up their own strategies for learning in the most effective way for them.
It is a lot of freedom and a lot of responsibility, but here are some top tips for boosting your self-directed learning skills quickly.
Encourage Curiosity
People tend to learn the most when they are engaged in a topic, so do feel free to start your self-directed learning by focusing on aspects of the particular session that you found most interesting and expand outward from there.
For example, if you happen to find a particular interest in, for example, medical ethics after having a lecture on it, then that can be the first part of your self-directed learning session.
Set Your Own Goals
The best and scariest part of self-directed learning is that you set your own learning goals, at least on a day-to-day level. Decide what you think is most important to learn right now and set yourself a specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-sensitive goal around it.
Allow For Variety
Whilst spending lots of time in the library is an essential part of self-directed learning, it is far from the only way to learn.
Build a network of peers and discuss the course with them, collaborate and help each other with your learning goals.
