Dr Tom Heaton

For more learning techniques, you can get my FREE flashcard guide here:
striveseekfind.kit.com/cd20498490

Difficulty (challenge) is one of the most controllable when planning your learning.

Testing is one of the best ways to do this.

Test yourself on everything that you are learning.

Avoid passive activities:
Reading
Rereading
Highlighting

Medical Mastery Tip #1

Make your learning active!

Learning activities need to activate your brain to cause the changes that are learning.

Examples:
Difficultly
Interesting
Emotive

We want our learning to be difficult.

Not too easy (we don't learn) but not too hard (we can't do it).

We want it to challenge us.

Expertise boils down to effective mental representations.

How well can you internalize, organize, and recall vast amounts of information instantly?

How are you actively improving your mental models?

Don't confuse "doing" with "getting better."

Naive practice often leads to plateaus, not progress.

Are you truly practicing, or just going through the motions?

The Science and Art of Flashcards How to study smarter, not harder

Flashcards are one of the core tools for learning.

Here, I look at some of the nuances for getting the most out of them.

drtomheaton.substack.com/p/the-scienc...

​Are you making this common mistake?

Cramming for an exam feels effective because you can pass a test the next day.

But skills and knowledge learned this way decay faster and are less flexible for future use.

​Avoid the cram session; embrace the spaced-out study.

"We have to accept human behaviour the way it is,
Not the way we would wish it to be."
-Don Norman

Come and join the Anaesthesia Reports editorial team!

Applications are due 10 August 2025.

#AnSky

anaesthetists.org/Home/About-u...

Are you familiar with the 7 core values of ‘trustworthiness’ of research

ENhancing TRUSTworthiness in Pain Evidence (ENTRUST-PE) is a comprehensive framework for building trustworthy pain research.

#AnSky #PainSky

doi.org/10.1111/anae...

The prefilled syringes do make it much easier

Prefilled syringes definitely make if easier

a man in a suit and tie is standing in front of a window and says everybody stay calm ALT: a man in a suit and tie is standing in front of a window and says everybody stay calm

Here is the weekend newly named #MedSkyDebate from Nicholas Chrimes @chrimsey.bsky.social of the #VortexApproach

Do you draw up emergency drugs before every list/case?
If so, what & why?

Be very interesting to see what everyone says!
#AnSky #MedSky

Depends (I know, cop out answer).

Depends on the likelihood of needing them and the consequences of delay.

Metaraminol is an always for adults.

Atropine, sux and extra prop for kids.

The Pareto Principle is grossly undertaught in medicine. It is everywhere

I'm doing some more of my writing on Substack.

It'd be great to have you join me there, too.

substack.com/@drtomheaton

Learning to Learn - YouTube

I'm trying to get back into making some educational material.

Here's my latest approach at videos, this time describing the testing effect.

I'd love your feedback.

youtube.com/playlist?lis...

Learning is all about repetition.

The trick is to make that repetition fun and engaging.

This maximises engagement and progress.

Hi #medsky,

I'm close to finishing my course on medical mastery.

It looks at the learning skills needed for thriving in this specialty.

I'd love to get some initial feedback, especially from medical students.

Please send me a message if interested

Learning needs a purpose.
Our brains function almost entirely around "why?"

Why am I expending effort to know this?
Why do I need to remember this?

Being clear in our purpose - and creating the learning environment to simulate this - makes the learning stick.

Yes, a great list. Definitely on my list too

Nice. Were there any particular study techniques you ended up finding really helpful when you practiced together?

Hi #medsky, an education question

What are the things you wished that you knew about learning when starting med school?

Hey #medsky,
Can you recommend me some examples of great online education course/websites

What were people's favourite strategies for post graduate exams?

Did you have a clear set of techniques and strategies that you used?

What are some of the best resources for the management of major incidents?

#medsky

Do people feel that they have a clear model/strategy for approaching postgraduate exams?

I don't think I did until quite late.

If you have an interest in human factors, I'm enjoying this series breaking down the different types.

There are a number of different ways that we can look at our interaction with complex environments, each with different pros and cons.

humanisticsystems.com/2017/08/12/f...