How to Study in Physical Therapy School: Study More in Less Time
First of all, Congratulations on making it into Physical Therapy school. Unfortunately the work is just about to start. From anatomy to clinical guidelines, the information does not stop over the next 3 years. “Drinking from a firehose” You’ll hear this analogy or some various of it about what you’ll experience throughout PT school. Yes, you will not remember everything you’ll cover at PT school, but that should not stop you from trying to learn it all. You’ll find a long the way what to prioritize, how to break it down in digestible information, and how to layer this information throughout the class. But let’s go over the first steps of learning.
There are two big take aways I want you to take from this. The first is active recall and focused study blocks.
If you have not heard of active recall yet, Anatomy will give you plenty of practice. Did you ever study by reading your notes or reading over the slides in your class. This is what we call passive learning. This will not work for anatomy! Active recall is the process of retrieving the information that was stored in your brain instead of reading the answer. Flashcards are going to be your best tool, Anki, quizlets, or physical flashcards. Here are my quizlet flashcards that I used to learn anatomy. But I spend every day for about 15 minutes in the morning and 15 mintues at the night practice. By testing yourself with flash cards, it forces you to think and say out loud the answer. This process has been proven to improve long term learning by over 50%. Remember once you finish your anatomy final, it doesn’t mean you can forget everything like you did in your history class. Reinforce this information now because you will use it for rest of your career!
Parkinson’s Law. No this is not related to Parkinson’s Disease. Parkinson’s Law states that “work expands to fill the time available for its completion.” In other words, if you give yourself two hours to complete a task that could be done in 30 minutes, you’ll likely take up the full two hours. For PT students, understanding this principle can dramatically improve study habits. By setting shorter, focused time limits for study session like 25-45 minutes per topic. You create a sense of urgency that pushes you to concentrate and eliminate distractions. CrammingAKA marathon study blocks are ineffective and only lead to short term learning. If your goal is to pass the test then yes cram. If your goal is to learn the foundation of becoming a physical therapist then study bouts 2-3 times per day to focus only on one topic. Parkin’s Law encourages intentional, time-boxed study sessions that maximize productivity and retention.
