In medicine, it’s often not enough just to know the facts! We also need the scientific studies that back them up. The AFFIRM trial, ALLHAT trial, SPRINT trial, COURAGE trial... Here are some of Alex’s mnemonic tips for keeping the mountain of study names straight.
Read moreMemorizing Drug Trade Names
Learning trade names (or brand names) of medications poses a classic memorization challenge for medical students transitioning from preclinical to clinical medicine. We learn all manner of generic drug names as first- and second-year students, only to find that doctors and patients throw around trade names far more frequently. Knowing these trade names can be invaluable. Here’s how Alex tackles it!
Read moreThe Body Palace: Memorizing the Review of Systems
A key tool in the physician’s arsenal is the review of systems, or ROS—a run-through of pertinent symptoms while taking a patient history. To the novice clinical student, it can feel overwhelming. Medical students often first learn the ROS as Alex did—as a giant, inscrutable list of symptoms. Here’s how he uses a memory technique to tackle it painlessly.
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