STUDY SMARTER in Three Mastery Principles (PART I)

STUDY SMARTER in Three Mastery Principles

(PART I)

By: Christine R. Guerrero, RMT, MLS (ASCPi)CM

Always keep in mind the Three Mastery Principles of Studying Smarter:

1. Master Your Material 

2. Master Test Taking

3. Master Mutiple Choice

In the First Month, Master your Material by:

• Gathering your Review Material ( Focus only on 1 Review Textbook)
• Get on hand the Review study guides. In the case of ASCPi exam there is a set of guidelines given in the ascp website.  Prioritized on studying the listed topics on each subjects
• Study your material, Study and Read first the Hardest subjects before the easiest subjects 
• Watch videos about the subject's topics, write and condense your review notes, draw about bacteria, blood cells, create an interesting story about the concepts, sing a rhyming songs, create acronyms,
• Bring with you your flashcards or mobile phone flashcards to anywhere so you can read at anytime or during breaks, and more ways of learning.
• Remember, when working in a Laboratory you are learning, so don't be in a hurry to quit your jobs for Review lessons for 1 whole day, makes ways to spread your learning throughout the week, 1 hr each day should be fine! and don't tire your brain because you can easily forget everything you have read and studied, give time to rest your brain, it is very important to remember that LEARNING SHOULD BE FUN!
• Start your practice in the labce.com Free Quiz Game "Daig ng maagap ang masipag". Start practicing in answering multiple choice, don't worry of the score, it's just a game, Enjoy Learning!

Summary: In the First Month, You should dedicate your time 70% in Mastering Medical Laboratory Science Concepts and Fundamentals! And 30% in Testing yourself each after your review session and practice the labce.com free quiz game.

        1st Month
70% - Mastering Medical Laboratory Science
30% - Testing yourself



In the Second Month, Master the Test-taking;

• Decrease Studying Your Material by 30%, you should have already got the Basic ideas and overall scopes of fundamentals of Medical Laboratory Science by now.
• Plan AHEAD your test, from start to finish! Compensate on your weakness and maximize your strengths by starting practicing multiple choice in your weakest subjects first then later on  the easiest subjects.
• Keep reading your flash cards during break time and whenever you can, leisurely! And repetitively, even if it is already boring. There is reason behind this, it's to keep the information to your long term memory! 
• You are not actively memorizing it but passively! Information in the short term memory get easily lost when mental block and test anxiety strikes, so better keep it in the long term memory.
• Pace yourself, keep answering, flagged the difficult questions, go back to the flagged questions after you are done answering the whole exam, by this time it is possible you have already remember what ou have studied and you are now more certain of your answers.
• Start practicing the StudySmarter Test Taking System or StudySmarter "Table" that I taught during the tutorial sessions. This is the secret technique.
• Trust you first gut! Unless, if you think you answer the question wrong! 

By this time you should dedicate 70% of your time in practicing the Test Taking in labce free quiz game and BOC or MLS Review by Harr without time constraints.
30% for Reading and Studying as a reference for the questions in the multiple choice.
Summary: Opposite to the first month.

2nd Month
70% - Master Test Taking
30% - You can still review and read on for references

***END OF PART 1***

"Test Taking and Lab Testing"

"Test Taking and Lab Testing"

Written by: Christine R. Guerrero, RMT, MLS (ASCPi) CM

Preparing for an exam or test is like processing Laboratory tests. There is the
1. pre-analytical phase
2. analytical phase, and
3. post-analytical phase

Pre-analytical phase, is the before processing. A lot of preparation is needed to be done. There is the patient preparation, blood extraction, specimen preparation and etc... Making sure that there is no contamination or clerical error that will cause an erroneous and or random errors in the next stage. 

It is the same way with studying for the exam,

a. You should make enough preparation and avoid procrastination. 

b. Dedicate a "study area", with bright light or enough lighting, this comparable to the processing area in our lab, and we know that the Department Of Health is so hell bound on this requirements! *wink wink

c. Prepare your study material. And yourself mentally, psychologically, physically, emotionally and spiritually.
We should have all what we need in the chem testing for example, wait for the blood to clot, centrifuge, prepare the machines and reagents, control, standards, etc....

Analytical phase is the Studying part and the Test taking strategies. We study and process step by step the laboratory test procedures. We analyzed the test result and correlates it with the diagnosis. We study the Pathophysiology as an analyst and as a clinical scientist. It is the meat of the clinical laboratory, the studying and testing part.

And finally, the Post-Analytical phase whether in clinical laboratory works or in studying,

a. Compare How Well You Performed With How Well You Prepared. 

Identify when you began studying for the test and the strategies you used to prepare. Likewise, determine whether your time was used efficiently and what you can do in the future to improve test scores or your laboratory skills.

b. Laboratory Record keeping can also mean Keep All of Your Study Materials. Do not throw away tests. Sometimes teachers and aides make mistakes while correcting tests. Old tests can be used to prepare for comprehensive final exams and Licensure and Certification exams in the future. And please do not sell your books, you don't know when you might need it, right? I did it once before after taking the boards, but i regret it afterwards.

c. Evaluate Your Test Answers Review test questions to determine what you did right and wrong. Identify patterns, critique your performance, and make notes of what can be done differently in the future. After reviewing tests, develop specific goals to perform better in the future.

"Branded Continuing Education"

Logically speaking Drug Testing and HIV training should be credited as a cpd because it is a continuing education for Medical Technologists, it is evident that we med techs learned a lot of new information and skills from theses training that expands our knowledge more in our Medical Technology professional field. It is like saying that only the brand name "Colgate" has the full ability to protect our teeth. 

How about the other fluoride toothpaste brands like Close up, Happy, etc. Fluoride is the thing that helps protect the teeth from cavities. Continuing Education or CPD is like fluoride, it should help us for our advancement. While some may prefer other hygiene alternatives like the cheaper antibacterial Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2) as mouthwash, or even baking soda for toothpaste and other proven method passed on by generations to generations, still the main purpose is to have a healthy set of teeth, it should be the same thing in the continuing education, CONTINUOUS LEARNING IS OUR MAIN GOAL! 

Whether some could afford to attend the seminars from CPD providers like seminars from PAMET or in my sample analogy afford Colgate rather than the cheaper brands like Happy toothpaste, we can not deny that Happy toothpaste is still a fluoride paste and has the same effect as Colgate. The Department of Health or DOH training and seminars may not be an accredited CPD provider (yet!) but it is still a continuing education and PRC should recognized that! 

On the other hand, there are a lot of learning methods and opportunities where we could gain our cpd units, like the recognition of life long learning from non-cpd providers (online and or face to face), work experience/s, informal online education like the Facebook group “MED TECH'S LOUNGE” where Med techs can discuss work-related issues and case problems, foreign online courses from labce.com and etc, Socio-civic services (medical mission and outreach, etc.), publishing a book or a Medical Laboratory Science related articles and research papers and a lot more. I compare this to the alternative option analogy such as the H2O2 mouth wash and baking soda paste to prevent the mouth from infection and cavities. 

The CPD MED TECH BOARD OF COUNCIL should be considerate and reasonable enough to recognize the other forms of continuing education other than attending seminars from accredited CPD Providers, more specially to those med techs whose salary is below the minimum wage who can't afford to attend seminars and to those who are in the secluded places and the Med Techs overseas.

"Branded Continuing Education"

Logically speaking Drug Testing and HIV training should be credited as a cpd because it is a continuing education for Medical Technologists, it is evident that we med techs learned a lot of new information and skills from theses training that expands our knowledge more in our Medical Technology professional field. It is like saying that only the brand name "Colgate" has the full ability to protect our teeth. 

How about the other fluoride toothpaste brands like Close up, Happy, etc. Fluoride is the thing that helps protect the teeth from cavities. Continuing Education or CPD is like fluoride, it should help us for our advancement. While some may prefer other hygiene alternatives like the cheaper antibacterial Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2) as mouthwash, or even baking soda for toothpaste and other proven method passed on by generations to generations, still the main purpose is to have a healthy set of teeth, it should be the same thing in the continuing education, CONTINUOUS LEARNING IS OUR MAIN GOAL! 

Whether some could afford to attend the seminars from CPD providers like seminars from PAMET or in my sample analogy afford Colgate rather than the cheaper brands like Happy toothpaste, we can not deny that Happy toothpaste is still a fluoride paste and has the same effect as Colgate. The Department of Health or DOH training and seminars may not be an accredited CPD provider (yet!) but it is still a continuing education and PRC should recognized that! 

On the other hand, there are a lot of learning methods and opportunities where we could gain our cpd units, like the recognition of life long learning from non-cpd providers (online and or face to face), work experience/s, informal online education like the Facebook group “MED TECH'S LOUNGE” where Med techs can discuss work-related issues and case problems, foreign online courses from labce.com and etc, Socio-civic services (medical mission and outreach, etc.), publishing a book or a Medical Laboratory Science related articles and research papers and a lot more. I compare this to the alternative option analogy such as the H2O2 mouth wash and baking soda paste to prevent the mouth from infection and cavities. 

The CPD MED TECH BOARD OF COUNCIL should be considerate and reasonable enough to recognize the other forms of continuing education other than attending seminars from accredited CPD Providers, more specially to those med techs whose salary is below the minimum wage who can't afford to attend seminars and to those who are in the secluded places and the Med Techs overseas.