Exam Studying

I'm in the middle of studying for my neurology exam right now... not a fun time. What's really weird about this exam is that there are some elements I feel like I know implicitly, without ever having studied them, while some subjects I'm not only struggling to learn, I'm struggling with how to learn them.

Learning in medicine is a lot like putting together a giant puzzle. Except, you don't know what the puzzle looks like. Or even it's shape. Or size.

When you learn a new fact in medicine, it's like getting an additional puzzle piece that you're expected to put into your puzzle. Except you don't really know the colour of your piece (or at best, you have a vague idea). It's shape also starts out a bit fuzzy - you don't really know what other pieces that piece connects to. This makes it very difficult to know where to place it, so you guess and hope it's in the right spot.

Over time, as the facts you learn once get repeated, the pieces become a bit clearer. The second time a fact is mentioned, maybe the colour comes into focus a bit better. The third time, an edge stands out clearly. The fourth time, another edge pops more plainly into view. With each repetition, it becomes more obvious where the piece should fit.

Neurology is hitting both ends of the spectrum for me. Cranial nerves I feel like I know, without ever having really studied them. They were introduced in my first year, several times. They've now been introduced again, in my second year, several times. I've never really sat down and studied them, but I also don't feel like I have to.

On the other end, I'm struggling with headaches (the topic, not me having headaches - though that second part may come in time). Headaches have really only been introduced once in my two years. I'm studying the material as best I can, looking for additional resources and trying to figure out all the details, but I don't feel like I have a good grasp of even the basics of headaches.

It really makes me wish more topics were taught like cranial nerves at my school - repeated instances, separated in time and in slightly different contexts. I know that I have to study and not everything can be adequately taught in school, but the divide in confidence I have in understanding these two subjects really strikes me. I'd love to see a lot more longitudinal learning with repetition of material than we currently receive.