USMLE Step 1: Uncommon EFFICIENCY Hack (By a Doctor and Learning Coach)

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0:00 Introduction
0:50 High-yield strategies
6:30 Memory benefit #1 of higher-order learning
7:35 Memory benefit #2 of higher-order learning
9:13 Upgrading your strategies
16:46 Misinterpreted Effort Hypothesis
18:03 Time efficiency of the modified technique
22:46 What else do you need to supplement this technique?
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Justin Sung is an ex-medical doctor, learning coach and educational researcher who is passionate about creating efficient and meaningful change. He believes that a culture of spoon-feeding and tutoring is a societal issue and that most people are not making good career decisions - especially around medicine. He has worked with thousands of students around the world for over 10 years, teaching them to manage their studies and time more efficiently using evidence-based and rigorously field-tested techniques.
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Study skills course: icanstudy.com/our-programs/ac...
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Instagram: bit.ly/drjustinsung
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[@JustinSung]

If you’ve got any questions or want to probe into how this can work for you, jump over to my IG @drjustinsung where I’ll have a few live sessions. KZbin is frankly terrible for engaging in a more casual format like for Q&A… This has been used successfully by hundreds of my previous and current students, but there are definitely a few more nuances to make it fit smoothly and get the most out of it.

[@haramibudbak]

Hey Justin, Please make a detailed video on HOW TO REVISE DIFFERENTLY (DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES) during each cycle of spaced repetition to study information from multiple angles and to study multiple variations of same information to tackle CURVEBALL questions in exam.

[@Jaididou]

@Rohit Sharma That's clearly one of the greast subjects that no one talk about yea!

[@Satyaprakash__1929]

Justin may i ask u about the Failure stories of this mehord as well??? I would like to know those and Their reasons as well

[@Satyaprakash__1929]

@@haramibudbak justin please do put the frequency of repetition and how to put that??? Like what alogrithm and where to shedule it or so

[@SeanRzewnicki]

@@haramibudbak i

[@ainokoski4303]

I would like to thank you for making videos like this and other free resources. I spent quite some time learning how to better my study strategies last fall as I had a very demanding 9 months of studying for medical school entrance exams ahead of me. I have ADHD and dyslexia which made high school very rough to go through even though I tried my very best. I didn't do very well in the matriculation examination and was barely able to get the top mark in English after retaking the test 4 times. The med school entrance exam is known to be the most difficult exam in the whole country of Finland and there were around 7000 medical school applicants this year. Even though the odds were all against me, I managed to get into the Unversity of Turku to study medicine. I was only two points away from getting into the medical school that is located in my home city, Helsinki, which is the hardest one out of the five medical schools in the country to get into. Only 1,8% of applicants trying to get into the university of Turku medical school got in through the entrance exam and most applicants only get in on their 3rd year/try so getting in on the first try as I did is very rare. I'm quite sure that your videos and efforts are a big part of the reason why I got in. I finally learned how to work with my ADHD brain instead of against it after hearing the basics of how the basics of learning work from your videos. Again, thank you Justin, for helping me reach my dream of studying medicine.

[@ainokoski4303]

You will probably be hearing from me again quite soon as I will most likely be watching these videos through again as I struggle through the first cell biology and histology course in september haha

[@avalonmoonshine5760]

@@ainokoski4303 I have ADHD as well so this gave me hope. How did you work with your ADHD brain?

[@ainokoski4303]

@@avalonmoonshine5760 I gave up on making super strict schedules for myself. Instead I worked when I actually felt like I was able to focus. If I had really bad brain fog one day, I just would take that day off. I learned how to recognize when I was just lazy vs. when it was the ADHD. I tried to work through the most difficult things even if it often made me feel like I was stupid. But that made my studying much more time efficient. I also tried to get interested in those very difficult topics by learning some extra information about them.

[@AbhishekKumar-pattycrab]

@@ainokoski4303 hey I really appreciated of your comment and the struggles you wrote. I'm an ADHD with complex PTSD , I too really struggle with studies even tho I like my subjects but can't remember things very quickly due to fogginess and memory issue my mental health brings. I was really upset that I won't be able to become a doctor. Your comment gives me hope. Thanks bro for doing that. I'm on methyphenidate right now with anti depressant and working on my mental health along with the rigorous medical enterance exam that I've to appear for next year. Could you share how did you study physics, chemistry and learned biology, it'll will be really greateful. Thanks.

[@Gu66y453]

Finally a new video! Thank you Justin for pushing this through your busy schedule!

[@0203Birthday]

This video is applicable for each and every competitive exam. Thanks Justin👍👍

[@CG-rr3wi]

This is such a valuable video! Thank you so much. I will definitely apply this to my nursing courses.

[@shubh_2733]

Hoping for more frequent videos on channel ! Lots of love 🙌

[@user-lee2022]

Hello Justin. Thanks for this and all the other videos. It has made me look at learning in a different way. Wish I started sooner but better now than never. I know you have a busy schedule, but it would be great if you could do a video on USMLE Step 2 strategies: how to use question banks, how to process information at a higher level with medical topics, how to do this while on rotations, etc.

[@lunatikn7255]

Hello! I'm a med student who came across your videos and i am very interested to see how you would learn a new topic from anatomy. A video on that would be awesome as it will surely cover aspects i haven't thought of

[@jpo583]

Thank you, Justin!

[@AdnanMousa]

CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@warlock479]

Thanks Justin, God Bless.... 🙏

[@sebastiancastro21]

Hello Justin, I'm one of your students in your course, I have already taken USMLE Step 1, and I got a pass but was this hard exam that make me wonder about the sustainability of study in long term with high scores, and it drives me to you and your course, I am at the briefing stage now, I hope you keep talking about USMLE journey from your perspective, I think we’ll thank you. I'm Sebastian from Colombia 🇨🇴.

[@bakeral-sheyab546]

Could you tell me some details about his course and for how long you keep with him?

[@sebastiancastro21]

​@@bakeral-sheyab546 Of course, this course is about developing skills to become more efficient when you are studying and increasing your long-term memory, so you can get high scores and also have a normal and fulfilling life. It takes weeks to months to see good results but definitely is worth it. If you want to we can talk more about the course, I need an English-speaking partner to improve my English level.

[@bakeral-sheyab546]

I like it I wish i had it for free, but there isn't any free source for it. I'm studying medicine, and i struggle at studying nowadays 😢

[@minetime6881]

I would love to see a video from you about notetaking, and your thoughts on ZettleKasten systems, vs putting notes into “projects” folders like it says to do in the book “Building a Second Brain.”

[@atef962]

I second this.

[@user-bw1yq5tk6s]

This the best video about revision in my life thank you dr Justin 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

[@survivalofthebitches971]

so helpful!

[@shivashukla2919]

Very excited ☺️☺️☺️

[@Satyaprakash__1929]

Am So glad for a new video ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@motupaji623]

Superb explanation sir

[@fairuzastevenson9896]

Thank you

[@edgarperez8949]

Thanks for the tip.. I have been studying for a programming certification and I usually rush to check the answer when I'm not confident about the answer, and I feel I'm not getting good results... I will start trying to implement this strategy, see how it goes..

[@seeleenjoyer6216]

another great guide from you, ngl. I'm just really want you to coin the term "analyze". I mean what exactly happen in the "analyze" stage of learning.

[@mouse_thakur]

mans is back

[@Fulfill_Your_Potential]

The first time I tried higher-order learning, the exam felt so much easier than normal... It was weird in a way... Everyone was talking about how hard the exam was

[@_luna3clipse]

if you don’t mind, could you explain how to do high order learning / implement it in your study routine ? i’ve watched all of his videos about it but i still don’t really get it 💔

[@daredevilxd2056]

Could you try giving some more details of how you did it plz...

[@farida7125]

how do you apply it please ?

[@cothinker680]

How to apply please

[@sohamgawande6100]

Thanks Justin really appreciate man ur changing the way we study and make one like this on med ug prep im from india btw🤞🏼

[@Satyaprakash__1929]

NEET wale welcome....!!! Am a JEE aspirant as well 😀

[@abinavrathinam7287]

am UPSC aspirant

[@pakhi3053]

Thankuh sir❤

[@steveshepyepyep]

I passed the steps by just blasting through question banks. Definitely didn't do as well as I feel I could have. Now it's time to study for boards and I'm looking forward to trying these strategies out. Thanks for the detailed video.

[@IAMCHIDERA]

Have you tried the study strategies? If so did they work?

[@jibran6906]

Hey Justin, great video but would have been nice with a live example.

[@AayushKapoor-jm4gp]

At 21:03 you mentioned we'd need to repeat every 4-6 weeks. Does this mean we just go over our notes or does it mean that we have to do the "research" on that topic again as we did initially?

[@seanandrews5329]

I will never take part in this test but I watched anyway and it wasn’t bad for me

[@bobpop6996]

It works

[@dearartms]

aw ur back

[@Net-Sec-Dude]

Justin what ipad case are you using?

[@governmentmedicalcollege7688]

Yo justin 🔥

[@AndyBallymun]

Hi Justin. You’re a big fan of mindmapping for studying. But your take on mind maps is quite different from Tony Buszan. I like your ideas about the importance of direction and emphasis. Is there a book on mind mapping that you would recommend? Something that includes the things you talk about? Thanks Andrew

[@roberttallafer2299]

Justin basically uses mindmapping as a form of active recall and see if he has an ordering of information that makes sense. He says though that you should organize in your mind first before putting on paper, so I think what he does is basically active recall of the stuff his mind organized. For review he looks through the mind map to see how well he remembers the organization and reviews whatever he's shaky on.

[@delores3083]

For me, you must study your notes first, before you mind map for active recall and restructuring what you have learned.

[@Pacifiq_Ocean_Music_Live]

I would be interested in a USMLE step 2 video. How this method apply to memorizing long lists of drugs, surgical treatments, guidelines, diagnostics for every condition. I am using Anking via anki hub and it seems like it works, I remember more by doing anki than making mind maps. And anki also remove the struggle of planning when to review a topic via the space repetition algorithm. But I even feel there is something to your method I am curious and would try to apply.

[@IAMCHIDERA]

Im not sure why, but although what you’re saying it’s extremely helpful and true and research backed. I feel you somewhat have a problem with being concise in your videos It could just be me though Great work though!

[@jxrdxn2611]

what if you create flashcards/questions that are based on higher order thinking? can that work?

[@IAMCHIDERA]

So how would you review all the content at the end of the months of studying since it’s so much content in step exams?

[@IAMCHIDERA]

I wish he gave more practical examples. Like a walk through actually learning a new topic But thanks for the video

[@sampathkgopisetty5893]

Hello Dr. Sung I have a question when you were talking about the model answer. You said that when we are doing the model answer we should use our resources to basically build up an answer that we think is right. But, if this is the case can’t you just build the answer that is literally in the notes. I know this question may sound stupid but other than that thank you for these useful tips.

[@rayanmozamel1458]

But its more Effective to think of it and generated it by your self than get it in a spoon feading process

[@ameenakhalifah9076]

Please talk about the SAT and TOEFL

[@padho4416]

Your course price is 1.5 times of my father's monthly income..... Seems it's not in my life to learn from you. But your teaching are great.... I am much doing better from your free content, but i would like to learn more for you. 🙏🙏

[@iamaj7]

Get in touch with them if you really want to join the course. I beleive there is a scholarship program you can join if you can submit proof of income.

[@Haqueip]

Same lol, it's 1x my mother's s monthly lol

[@amandhattarawal5372]

Hey I can provide you with just 80 dollars (I get it with 160 dollars from a friend )

[@krizable1]

I was wondering if this is effective when it comes to things that involves memorization of numbers.

[@De-Zay]

The USMLE test is really frustrating, I can't believe I failed again after studying so much🥺🥺😓😭😭

[@serahwilson160]

Well I've taken the step 1 exams for the second time now and still didn't succeed, i wonder how those who succeeded did it

[@ericsean2770]

You will pass everyone has their own season, just keep praying and believe you will receive

[@mouse_thakur]

failure is progress. fail ur way to success

[@susandorothy9883]

USMLE exams won't bother you or be a problem if you work with someone like Mrs Catherina Moore ... She's God sent, she saved me from taking the test for the 6th time

[@GrantCardoneyt]

I've heard a lot of good stories about this same woman all over KZbin channels can she really help

[@jacobmartinez5600]

Can you teach how the can we create a model answer, in the correct way.

[@ankitchaurasia2654]

Hey Justin, can you elaborate in detail about attempting the questions first time and use higher order learning at the same time?

[@roberttallafer2299]

Higher order learning is about relating and making connections between two or more things so that should be done mostly with your learning material. It can be done wih questions more or less depending on the complexity of the question because complex questions have more higs you can connect.

[@yokoso2386]

high yeild method: much more prioriotize, not only connect to the things but connect to the things, what is the simmilar and difference, it is obvious, how they are different and simmilar to the other, big picture, lots of relationship that are prioritize order and clearly thoighful, which one is more important and less importaant, how can i represent that

[@padho4416]

Next Video Please Sir.....

[@monkehp]

In short, really deconstruct each question jejeje. The hard part is building the knowledge base to actually tackle the questions!

[@excusemeum]

Could you explain more about this? I tried to understand the concept of "model answer" but I didn't quite catch that. Pls

[@JoseRivera-rl3qv]

I would love to translate this… as some of my peers actually don’t get how to study efficiently and they’re basically using low order learning

[@t-alimichael3363]

So what and how does this low order learning works?

[@JoseRivera-rl3qv]

@@t-alimichael3363 that's what most students do, and it's just a deficient way to study, serious lack of retentive. Etc. It's basically not worth it to study that way anymore, that's why most student don't have really good grades

[@t-alimichael3363]

@@JoseRivera-rl3qv so what is or was the method. Explain please. Thanks

[@JoseRivera-rl3qv]

@@t-alimichael3363 you asked for that, I deliver 🗿

[@achannel9598]

@@t-alimichael3363 isloated flashcards, spamming practice questions, rote learning

[@sorbet-fox1334]

Soo I've been watching a lot of these videos and curious how I would apply those concepts to something that's a bit more muscle memory oriented like sketching or digital art or competitive gaming? Encoding, mind maps, interleaving, chunking, etc. All of these tips will work good for my coding degree as well as my future career and that's wonderful. I'd love to learn these other skills as well but have no idea as to how to apply them to something that takes more of an approach with building muscle memory, unless the act of building that muscle memory and thinking how it relates to what my goal is the gist of it? Hmm....

[@rasuru_dev]

Drawing, as any skill I suppose, is a mix of understanding and technique. I learn it one bit at a time. By "bit" I mean technique or concept. Before anything else, the approach/technique/concept you want to learn must make sense in your head. So, the first step is to break it down conceptually, looking at visually appealing applications, studying the references. Then practice and review until you are satisfied with the level of your skill in this particular thing. Then shift your focus on a different concept. Repeat and at some point you will find yourself being good at drawing in general.

[@raymeester7883]

I disagree with the "effort" part. I think it's the wrong word. If doesn't seem like more effort. It's more uncomfortable and ungainly. It makes students unsure about the abilities and affects their ego. It's not the effort that detracts them. It's the feeling. The feeling that makes them feel doubtful and less than.

[@roberttallafer2299]

Effort is just a word. Only people who associate their ego with efficency and anti-hard work will feel queasy from the word 'effort' because it's something they refuse to do even though it will actually have greater chance of getting them to where they want to go.

[@raymeester7883]

@@roberttallafer2299 Words are important. They make the message have meaning. There are hard working people who will avoid public speaking at all costs.

[@escapinglabyrinth3338]

I really can't find relations for gk can u help me find rations for general knowledge which is all facts

[@PrithviThakur-zd5yt]

Im trying to learn with free classes on you tube but i think its not getting in a organised formation ....its very messy heee in you tube and buying your course is out of my limits 😔

[@no8aelanee8a33]

hello i really love your videos but they are toooo long, and the concepts can actually be summarised in a few words.

[@t-alimichael3363]

Dr. Sung saying a lot in this video. Like what the heck is the technique. Confusing

[@DerangedFocus]

6:30

[@adaptivelearner6162]

What is the USMLE?

[@nabilasheherin2511]

United State Medical licencing exam

[@adaptivelearner6162]

Thanks for letting me know.

[@TBC1599]

I do not agree with the hypothesis that "Higher-order learning has trickle-down effects to lower-order processes". My evidence is anecdotal, but I would appreciate some sources showing the empirical evidence. Example: There was indeed a physics question on one of my schools exams that was "Define the term baryon". Defining a term would fall under "remember" in the modern Bloom's taxonomy. Just because you understand how to solve more complex problems involving baryon (using the higher order cognitions of Bloom's taxonomy) does not mean you can regurgitate the *precise* definition the markers were looking for. Indeed, you lose points if you do not use the exact terminology from the syllabus. This is something you would have to explicitly practise. In certain situations you also cannot analyse and evaluate effectively if you are weak on the details (remember and understand). It's the reason good scientific analysis is based on strong data. I'm not saying that higher level learning is not important, but rather that it is naive to believe you can dodge the lower steps entirely.

[@TBC1599]

@Aryan Srivastava My point is, when you actually think about it, just because you can do one higher cognitive skill doesn't mean you can do the others. If I can calculate force using f = ma in a practice problem by plugging in numbers, which would fall under "apply" in Blooms Taxonomy, that doesn't mean that I "understand" the correlation between these variables.

[@sohamgawande6100]

@@TBC1599 Justin clearly mentioned in his webinar on the website that procedural and so other stuff fall on other side of memory which his courses lack

[@TBC1599]

@@sohamgawande6100 If he wanted that to be clear, he would mention it more often.

[@sohamgawande6100]

@@TBC1599 he isn't a highschool teacher he mentioned it thats important don't judge i you know nothing that's what I am saying nothing personal 😃

[@birbott2032]

@@TBC1599 You raised a good point. Thank you. I think higher order learning is still better because it's makes studying enjoyable. We can cram as we get closer to exams.

[@razanesmael]

What does a model answer mean?

[@ProPlayersClips]

From what I understood, an open book answer. Basically, a perfect/correct answer

[@razanesmael]

@@ProPlayersClips thank youuuuuuuu

[@capybaralove3342]

Damn, that live chat is full of rude comments

[@seanandrews5329]

This is basically marginal gains

[@eliaselotmani2805]

Hi Justin, I don't doubt you've gone through much academical reading and research in figuring out the techniques you describe. Therefore I've always found it too bad that you don't reference any scientific evidence to support your claims. I understand that the goal of your videos is more pedagogical than scientific. Yet, given how controversial some of your ideas are in regard to the general dogmas in education research (such as the efficiency of active recall), I think it's really important that you share a few relevant references in the description of your videos, for your more informed public.

[@jaymorgan.]

Always just a bunch of rambling. Why not show examples or provide a clear short explanation?

[@testing1-2three]

Scam

[@fairuzastevenson9896]

Thank you