through trial and error I FINALLY figured it out and want to help you girlies out too: (also of course everyone is different this is just what worked for ME) 📝 summary sheets after lectures: no more writing out the lectures or trying to study of off dense PowerPoint slides for me… making 1/2/3 page summaries (depending on the lecture) was KEY for me and the best way was making them the day or night after the lecture because it was fresh in my brain 💭 spaced repetition: anki anki anki was my liiiifesaver but also any type of flash card situation would work! this saved me from cramming the night before exams and I found especially helpful when I first started med school because it helped me stay on track and get used to studying every day (with breaks of course duh we’re balanced) 📚 knowing when to use outside resources… and when it’s too much: certain lectures were fine on their own BUT some (the ones that assumed you knew basic science concepts really well) meant I needed to go outside my schools resources for some extra learning. Thank goodness for the internet and resources such as osmosis, medschoolbootcamp, etc because they helped me so much. Before I started using these in the right way I was SO overwhelmed and frustrated that I didn’t know what was going on (especially any biochem stuff during foundations!) 🗒️ practice questions/testing myself: silly me that I didn’t realize I actually had to test my brain! 📖 active recall/teach it method: again… I felt silly that I didn’t realize this was so effective! It helped “wake up” my brain instead of just passively rereading my notes all the time!! Once I pretended to teach subjects during my study sessions, and I felt confident “teaching” a topic, I knew I was ready for an exam! 🫶🏻 giving myself grace in the beginning: it was a learning CURVE adjusting to the volume of stuff med school requires you to learn, plus clinical skills, etc etc etc… so when I stopped being so hard on myself I actually felt more relaxed and my marks and understanding went UP. you got this, non trad premeds do just as well, you’re gonna be a great doctor one day 🫶🏻🤍🩺 medstudent premed nontradpremed medschool