1. Find a private & quiet space or corner in your home where you can set up a table, chair and lamp and where you can leave your study materials out without anyone disturbing them.
2. Purchase the book at or before the first day of class. Purchase a highlighter.
3. Post a wall calendar at your study space and mark the dates assignments are due. Look at you class schedule daily. Stay ahead of the reading.
4. Buy a pack of index cards so you can write down vocabulary words or names of medical conditions with the meanings + signs and symptoms written on the back. Carry them around and test yourself whenever you have some spare time during the day.
5. Always complete the assigned reading one or two days before the class.
6. List questions about the assigned reading the day before the class.
7. Listen carefully to the lecture & take notes. If the instructor has not answered your questions in the lecture, then ask.
8. Listen carefully when they review quizzes/exams. Many questions are repeated over and over again.
9. Find a friend in the class that lives near you. Plan to meet before or after class to review notes and test each other on your stack of index cards.
10. During skill sessions, make sure you take your turn at doing the skill. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes, practice makes perfect. Sitting there watching others does not develop muscle memory.
11. Attend as many free tutoring sessions as you can. Bring questions, take notes.
12. The book is not a novel (story) and cannot be read that way. Some pages need to be read over and over. Go to your study area every day when you are fully awake and study one topic at a time. Small bites are easier to digest.
13. Be your own coach. Someone needs to make you sit down & study and if mom and dad aren’t available any more, then that person is you….READ/STUDY/READ!
GOOD LUCK, WE KNOW YOU CAN DO IT
