There
FEATURE
CONFABULATING METHODS of Education ( CME )
Martin Huecker , MD Angela Horn , PhD
“ are men that teach best by not teaching at all .” -Abraham Flexner
The knowledge and skills of medicine require a deep understanding of how we , as humans , students and physicians , learn to learn . We have excelled in grade school , high school , college , medical school and beyond . We could not have achieved so much without understanding how people learn .
Truly gifted teachers make learning fun and effortless . Reread , reread , underline , and highlight . You need a routine , a consistent study area , and an established schedule . Stick with the same material ; do not give in to distractions , especially if you are working through a sticking point . Similarly , do not interrupt a lesson before you have finished it . No music in the background while studying , and if you must , it should always be the same music . Studying leads to retention , testing is for assessment . Experts make the best teachers . If a learning method feels clunky and slow , switch to another method . You know yourself and can tell when you have mastered the material . Just put in the time and the information will stick . Intensive week-long board review is the best way ensure retention . Some people just have stronger memory retention . Everyone has a unique learning style . As an educator or mentor or parent , you should praise kids for being intelligent .
We assume you are quite familiar with these axioms . You might not be familiar with the inarguable evidence that they are WRONG ! We ’ ll review these myths and examine the research that debunks them . But you will not be left empty-handed . Be receptive to the concrete strategies to enhance your clinical skills and to share with the next generation of physicians .
" TRULY GIFTED TEACHERS MAKE LEARNING FUN AND EFFORTLESS ."
Many medical students know the false nature of this myth , as they consider the difficulty of studying for board exams . Though it can be fun , learning for maximum retention and application feels difficult , even cumbersome . There exists a “ curious inverse relationship between the ease of retrieval practice and the power of that practice to entrench learning .” One example involved experienced baseball players working on better batting . Practice performance in the group exposed to varied pitch types and speeds lagged behind the group with more organized practice . When it came time for assessment (“ game time ”), the players in the more arduous , random pitch group displayed better hitting ability . The varied practice pattern and “ interleaving ” related but distinct principles recurs in studies assessing learning .
14 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE