Information retention?

[bryanpearl]

So I'm taking my EMTB, and basically my situation is this; My instructor puts a lot of the learning aspect on his students, I don't blame him, it is in the end our responsibility to learn. But the problem is with me, I am the kind of person where I need to literally read each chapter 3-4 times to REALLY retain it all, versus someone else who can read it once and it all sticks.
I'm basically just looking to see if anyone has tips that could help me out, I am passing the course currently but I don't want to just pass I want to be a great EMT.

 

[STXmedic]

Read it 3-4 times.

Only you know what works for you. If you have to read it over and over, then have at it. Other things you may try are flash cards. Carry them around all day and pull them out at random, any time you have a second. Making your own cards allows for threefold memorization as you have to read the material, write the material, and then practice the material.

You may also try practice sites like JBLearning.com, among others.

Best of luck to you, bud!

 

[J B]

So I'm taking my EMTB, and basically my situation is this; My instructor puts a lot of the learning aspect on his students, I don't blame him, it is in the end our responsibility to learn. But the problem is with me, I am the kind of person where I need to literally read each chapter 3-4 times to REALLY retain it all, versus someone else who can read it once and it all sticks.
I'm basically just looking to see if anyone has tips that could help me out, I am passing the course currently but I don't want to just pass I want to be a great EMT.

For me, the most important thing is to learn the "why" and "how" about things. Avoid rote memorization of random facts if possible. For example, let's say you're trying to memorize these contraindications for giving GTN:

(1) Blood pressure below 120 mmHg systolic
(2) Heart rate less than 60 bpm
(3) Pediatric patient
(4) Any patient having taken medication for erectile dysfunction (e.g., Viagra™, Levitra™, or Cialis™) within the
past 72 hours. Medical consultation is required to override this contraindication.

Don't simply read the list over and over and try to drill it into your head. Go step by step: What are the effects of GTN, anyways? What does it do to the body, and how does it accomplish that? What about different methods of administering it?

1) Why should you not administer it if systolic is below 120? What would happen if you DID give it if bp was that low? Where did this 120 number come from anyways - maybe we should look up some studies and see what kinds of complications can happen?

2) Why does heart rate matter? What happens if we give it to someone with a slow heart rate? What happens if we give it to someone with a higher heart rate? What is the heart's role in all of this?

3) Why can't we give it to peds? What would happen if you did? How old do they need to be before it's safe - 1? 2? 5? 10? Physiologically, why is it safe for a 20-year-old and not a 10-year-old? Maybe we need to look up studies?

4) What complications could arise, and why would they arise? How do erectile dysfunction drugs affect the body, anyways? How do those drugs interact with GTN? In what situations might medical control opt to override this contraindication, and why would they do it?


I feel like a lot of people try to learn by reading something and then asking themselves, "do I know it now?" I'm constantly trying to see what I DON'T know. I'm constantly asking myself "why's" and "what-if"'s about the material and trying to learn every facet of it: "What if this happens? What if that happens? Why did that happen?"

It might take longer to learn something that appears to be pretty straightforward. In this scenario, I would probably need to spend hours researching before I was satisfied that I had a decent grasp of the material. However, I'm fostering a much deeper and more functional understanding than the person who spends those same few hours simply drilling and memorizing by rote.

That said, sometimes you really do need to just buckle down and practice a lot. Go over things mentally whenever you can, create situations in your head and think through them. Be honest with yourself about what your strengths and weaknesses are, and work on your weaknesses until they become your strengths.



Look at how much I just wrote about memorizing 4 "simple" items on a list. I think this kind of shows that it's not just about "retaining information" - you should aim a bit higher than that. If you truly understand things and know how they tie in to the big picture, you will be much more solid and never need to worry about forgetting them.

 

[Trailrider]

So I'm taking my EMTB, and basically my situation is this; My instructor puts a lot of the learning aspect on his students, I don't blame him, it is in the end our responsibility to learn. But the problem is with me, I am the kind of person where I need to literally read each chapter 3-4 times to REALLY retain it all, versus someone else who can read it once and it all sticks.
I'm basically just looking to see if anyone has tips that could help me out, I am passing the course currently but I don't want to just pass I want to be a great EMT.

I find that learning the "why" of why things happen help me understand a great deal i.e in pathop,rather then just learning surface information. I always dig deeper. With that said sometimes trying to understand things gives you more of a headache lolh34r:



things will eventually all come together. good luck.