title: How to learn effectively in medical school: test yourself, learn actively, and repeat in intervals.
abstract: Students in medical school often feel overwhelmed by the excessive amount of factual knowledge they are obliged to learn. Although a large body of research on effective learning methods is published, scientifically based learning strategies are not a standard part of the curriculum in medical school. Students are largely unaware of how to learn successfully and improve memory. This review outlines three fundamental methods that benefit learning: the testing effect, active recall, and spaced repetition. The review summarizes practical learning strategies to learn effectively and optimize long-term retention of factual knowledge.
authors.affiliation: RWTH Aachen University, Germany.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Augustin
mesh_terms: D004501:Education, Medical; D004521:Educational Measurement; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D011939:Mental Recall; D012577:Schools, Medical; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: active recall; learning; medical curriculum; spaced repetition; testing effect