Academic Support

Hello and welcome! Student Academic Support Services (SASS) at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health wants you to be successful and we're here to help you achieve your goals. You will be expected to learn in one day the same amount of material that took two weeks as an undergraduate. Wow!

You may never have had problems learning, organizing and retaining material. You are an intelligent person, or you would not be in medical school. In order to get through all the material needed, you need to have a method that works for you. Learning is a sequence of events that allows you to obtain information, organize information, and use information.

The basic learning sequence involves the following steps:

1. Read objectives — knowing objectives keeps you focused
2. Preview — includes pre-reading/scanning of lecture objectives, gathering key ideas and questions, as well as learning new vocabulary
3. Lecture — actively listening to lecturer, taking some notes
4. Read and write — reread objective then review notes, read, summarize in your own words to answer the objective
5. Study — now study what you summarized, then restate the objective
6. Review — restate the objective the next day, next week

A lot is happening during this learning sequence. There are other issues you must be aware of in order to make your learning sequence work for you.

Follow the right PATH to success:

• Find a good PLACE to study
• Be an ACTIVE learner
• Manage your TIME efficiently
• Ask for HELP if you need it

We have provided information on the following topics:

• Board Exam Preparation
• Learning Styles
• Time Management
• Note Taking
• Reading
• Concentration
• Memory
• Study Methods/Tutors
• Test Taking/Test Anxiety