How to Take Notes Effectively for FMGE?

Effective Notes Taking Tips for FMGE:

• Nothing can replace a good set of your own notes, therefore creating your own text is one of the main goals of note-taking.
  • Capture as much of the lecture as possible using a fast-moving writing instrument.
  • The most advantageous time to study is within 24 hours of exposure to new material (your notes or up-to-the-minute textbook).

1. The Outline method of taking notes for FMGE preparation:

• Most popular & easy note-taking methods for the students which helps you save a lot of time for further reviewing and editing.
• Topics and their subtopic: structure your notes in the form of an outline by using bullet points to represent different topics and their subtopics.

1. 1. Topics: Write the main topics on the far left of the page.
   2. Subtopic: add related subtopic in bullet points below.

2. The Cornell method (Highly recommended by DMA) of taking notes for FMGE preparation:

• Cornell note-taking system, Cornell method, or Cornell way is one of the very effective ways of the note-taking system devised in the 1940s by Walter Pauk at Cornell University.

1. Divide the paper into three sections:

• • Draw a dark horizontal line: about 5 or 6 lines from the bottom.
  • Use a heavy magic marker to draw the line so that it is clear.
  • Draw a dark vertical line: about 2 inches from the left side of the paper from the top to the horizontal line.

2. Write notes:

• • The large box to the right is for writing notes.
  • Skip a line between ideas and topics.
  • Don’t use complete sentences: Use abbreviations, whenever possible (Develop a shorthand of your own, such as using “&” for the word “and”).

3. Review and clarify:

• • Review the notes as soon as possible after class.
  • Pull out main ideas, key points, formulas, and write these in the left column.
  • Use color coding (Von Restorff effect): Minimum 3 color code
    • High yield & easy: Green
    • High yield & confusing: Yellow
    • High yield & easily forgettable: Orange

4. Summarize:

• • Write a summary of the main ideas in the bottom section

5. Study your notes:

• • Re-read your notes in the right column.
  • Spend most of your time studying the ideas in the left column and the summary at the bottom.

Grab the Best video lectures for the FMGE 2022 ↓

3. The Charting/Tabular Method of taking notes for FMGE preparation:

• The most-effective & ideal method for notes that involve a lot of information in the form of facts and statistics, that need to be learned by heart.
• This method cuts down the amount of time you spend on editing and reviewing during test time.
• Structure: organize several columns similar to a table where each represents a unique category which makes the rows easily comparable

4. The Mapping Method of taking notes for FMGE preparation:

• The mapping method works best when the lecture content is intense.
• Structure: write the main topic at the top of the map →divide them into branches→ Keep dividing it into subtopics on the left and right as you go down→ establish relationships between the topics.

Also watch:

• How To Take Cornell Notes Properly on the Youtube channel Mometrix Test Preparation: