Bansari Modi's Blog
March 10, 2014
This one amazing study tip saved me countless hours studying for the NBDE
One of my friends in dental school always seemed to do as well as me but without studying nearly as much (don’t you hate those people)! He finally taught me this amazing tip that changed everything for me. And now I'm going to share it with you.
All the information you’re taught can be separated into either a memorization basket and comprehension basket. The more material that you put into comprehension basket, the more you’ll remember. Once you try and understand the reason behind any given fact, it will become so much easier to remember it because then it’ll just make sense to you.
If you’ve even started reading my workbook, then you know that I push you guys to understand instead of memorize. That’s because my number one biggest learning tool is to figure out the why. Science usually works by logic, so use your logic to come up with the why. Once you figure out the why, you’ll never need to memorize that fact again since you’ll remember it because now, it just makes sense. I use this approach all over my book, but you can use it on your own when you’re studying anything in school.
Let’s try it out on a fact that was tricky for me in dental school: Is it the lingual artery or the lingual nerve that’s deep to the hyoglossus muscle?
We know that the hyoglossus connects from the HYOid bone to the tongue (glossus) on both sides. It kind of creates two walls right below the tongue. Any vessel going between these two walls can access the tongue and only the tongue. We also know that the lingual nerve has a lot of jobs - some involve the tongue (getting taste) but others involve glands that are really off to the side (like salivary secretion from the sublingual and submandibular glands). The lingual artery only provides blood to the tongue. Thus, it makes sense that it’s the lingual artery that’s trapped between the two hypoglossus walls because it really only has to go the tongue, in the center of these walls. There’s a small branch off the lingual artery that goes to the suprahyoid muscle, but even this muscle is much more centrally located so it works with our logic. Now this also make it easier to remember that the lingual artery (NOT the nerve) crosses the hypoglossal nerve since we already know the it’s the artery that’s located right in the center below tongue.
Try using this tip today and please share your favorite study tip with your fellow students in the comments below!
- Bansari Send me more free tips!
All the information you’re taught can be separated into either a memorization basket and comprehension basket. The more material that you put into comprehension basket, the more you’ll remember. Once you try and understand the reason behind any given fact, it will become so much easier to remember it because then it’ll just make sense to you.
If you’ve even started reading my workbook, then you know that I push you guys to understand instead of memorize. That’s because my number one biggest learning tool is to figure out the why. Science usually works by logic, so use your logic to come up with the why. Once you figure out the why, you’ll never need to memorize that fact again since you’ll remember it because now, it just makes sense. I use this approach all over my book, but you can use it on your own when you’re studying anything in school. Let’s try it out on a fact that was tricky for me in dental school: Is it the lingual artery or the lingual nerve that’s deep to the hyoglossus muscle?
We know that the hyoglossus connects from the HYOid bone to the tongue (glossus) on both sides. It kind of creates two walls right below the tongue. Any vessel going between these two walls can access the tongue and only the tongue. We also know that the lingual nerve has a lot of jobs - some involve the tongue (getting taste) but others involve glands that are really off to the side (like salivary secretion from the sublingual and submandibular glands). The lingual artery only provides blood to the tongue. Thus, it makes sense that it’s the lingual artery that’s trapped between the two hypoglossus walls because it really only has to go the tongue, in the center of these walls. There’s a small branch off the lingual artery that goes to the suprahyoid muscle, but even this muscle is much more centrally located so it works with our logic. Now this also make it easier to remember that the lingual artery (NOT the nerve) crosses the hypoglossal nerve since we already know the it’s the artery that’s located right in the center below tongue. Try using this tip today and please share your favorite study tip with your fellow students in the comments below!
- Bansari Send me more free tips!
February 19, 2014
How to get a free copy of the new 3rd Edition
Big news!! The bigger and better 3rd edition is officially for sale on Amazon! To buy it, click here.
Let me guess...the reason you're reading this is because you want the new edition for free? Am I right or am I right?
For emailing your classmates about a group discount (15 students or more), I'll ship you a totally free copy of the book...without sneaky shipping fees because that's just mean:
When I was class president, I hated collecting money from my class for any reason...there were always two or three stragglers that I had to bug like five times! So you don't have to do it for the group discount - it's all through crowdtilt.com. This is a cool website just fyi.
If this isn't down your alley, no big deal - you can always get it on Amazon. But since I was once a broke dental student who held onto as much of my cash as I could, I thought some of you might like a discount/free copy. Shoot me an email if you're interested.
-Bansari
Let me guess...the reason you're reading this is because you want the new edition for free? Am I right or am I right?
For emailing your classmates about a group discount (15 students or more), I'll ship you a totally free copy of the book...without sneaky shipping fees because that's just mean:
When I was class president, I hated collecting money from my class for any reason...there were always two or three stragglers that I had to bug like five times! So you don't have to do it for the group discount - it's all through crowdtilt.com. This is a cool website just fyi.If this isn't down your alley, no big deal - you can always get it on Amazon. But since I was once a broke dental student who held onto as much of my cash as I could, I thought some of you might like a discount/free copy. Shoot me an email if you're interested.
-Bansari
February 13, 2014
IF YOU HATE MICROBIO, THIS CHEAT SHEET WILL MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER.��
I never understood why biochemistry got the bad rep when microbiology is really, truly and absolutely the worst! I may have passed my microbio class in dental school, but I've never been so scared of failing an exam in my life. You all know I'm a huge fan of comprehension instead of memorization, but when it comes to microbiology, I might have to give up this fight...damn you mycobacterium tuberculosis!!
Since I struggled so much with microbio, here's a little study tool that I hope makes your studying easier! As a quick reference/cheat sheet (I'm not sure which term is more catchy, so I'm using both), I've listed twenty important facts that tend to show up on the exam.
If I were desperate to etch these facts into my brain, I would save this pdf on my phone and stare at it while waiting for the subway, or waiting on line at Subway, whichever applies to you my friend. Also, if you think this is a good resource, like this post to let me know that I should make more!
- Bansari
IF YOU HATE MICROBIO, THIS CHEAT SHEET WILL MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER.
I never understood why biochemistry got the bad rep when microbiology is really, truly and absolutely the worst! I may have passed my microbio class in dental school, but I've never been so scared of failing an exam in my life. You all know I'm a huge fan of comprehension instead of memorization, but when it comes to microbiology, I might have to give up this fight...damn you mycobacterium tuberculosis!!
Since I struggled so much with microbio, here's a little study tool that I hope makes your studying easier! As a quick reference/cheat sheet (I'm not sure which term is more catchy, so I'm using both), I've listed twenty important facts that tend to show up on the exam.
If I were desperate to etch these facts into my brain, I would save this pdf on my phone and stare at it while waiting for the subway, or waiting on line at Subway, whichever applies to you my friend. Also, if you think this is a good resource, like this post to let me know that I should make more!
- Bansari
January 30, 2014
New 3rd edition is coming out in February and here's why it'll rock your socks!
Are you as excited about this as I am?? 
If you're taking the NBDE Part 1 this year, then your answer better be yes! After staying up too many nights in a row, I'm almost finished with the 3rd edition!
Like many a suspicious student, you're probably wondering if this is just the same as the 2nd edition but with fewer typos - well, I have a big fat NO for you! Here's everything I added in the new edition:
30 pages of completely new content - that's a lot!A HUGE chapter on nucleic acids, including metabolism, structure, and all the fun stuff. (helpful tip of the week - click here to check out a sample of it.)I rewrote 90% of the book. Why? Because I hate free time? No, but because it wasn't perfect and I wanted it to flow better, make more sense, and be easier to digest.More information about pathology and pharmacology, because that's important too.Took out some redundancy. Who would want to read the same thing twice? Seriously, who would want to read the same thing twice?
Okay - I hope you get my point, which is - you need this book! Unless you're not taking the NBDE 1, in which case you should close this site and go back to watching funny cat videos on YouTube.
But if you ARE taking the NBDE 1, I would recommend you like my Facebook page or join the newsletter so I can tell you when the 3rd edition will reach bookshelves (well...the shelves at the Amazon distribution warehouse that is). It should be available to order by mid to late February though so keep an eye (or even both) out for it.
- Bansari
If you're taking the NBDE Part 1 this year, then your answer better be yes! After staying up too many nights in a row, I'm almost finished with the 3rd edition! Like many a suspicious student, you're probably wondering if this is just the same as the 2nd edition but with fewer typos - well, I have a big fat NO for you! Here's everything I added in the new edition:
30 pages of completely new content - that's a lot!A HUGE chapter on nucleic acids, including metabolism, structure, and all the fun stuff. (helpful tip of the week - click here to check out a sample of it.)I rewrote 90% of the book. Why? Because I hate free time? No, but because it wasn't perfect and I wanted it to flow better, make more sense, and be easier to digest.More information about pathology and pharmacology, because that's important too.Took out some redundancy. Who would want to read the same thing twice? Seriously, who would want to read the same thing twice?
Okay - I hope you get my point, which is - you need this book! Unless you're not taking the NBDE 1, in which case you should close this site and go back to watching funny cat videos on YouTube.
But if you ARE taking the NBDE 1, I would recommend you like my Facebook page or join the newsletter so I can tell you when the 3rd edition will reach bookshelves (well...the shelves at the Amazon distribution warehouse that is). It should be available to order by mid to late February though so keep an eye (or even both) out for it.
- Bansari
January 18, 2014
How to register for the NBDE I
My new obsession is infographics. Whether it's beekeeping or basics of accounting, if it's on an infographic, I'm going to care about it. Since it's the perfect blend of pretty and practical, I decided to try my hand at making one. Here are the most important facts about registering for the NBDE Part I in the most beautiful NBDE-related infographic you've ever seen!
If you don't see the infographic below, you can download it here.
- Bansari
If you don't see the infographic below, you can download it here.
- Bansari
December 27, 2013
A downloadable weekly study planner for the NBDE I
The only good part of spending an afternoon running errands is taking a pencil and crossing off each item on my to-do list when I get home. It’s rather satisfying actually - that feeling of accomplishment that grows with each line I cross off. Without my to-do lists, I would probably forget half the things I need to do and put off the other half. The same goes for studying.
One of the keys to getting everything done in dental school, without wanting to pull your hair out, is having a fancy glorified to-do list - a weekly planner.
To make it easier to manage your time, I’ve created a weekly planner printable for dental students, from those in their first year to those studying for the NBDE I. Feel free to download for yourself and share with any of your friends.
When you’re planning out your schedule, make sure to BE REALISTIC! Setting unrealistic goals will just set you up for failure!
Click here to download the weekly study planner!
Let us know below what you think of the planner or if you have any suggestions on how to improve it!
One of the keys to getting everything done in dental school, without wanting to pull your hair out, is having a fancy glorified to-do list - a weekly planner.
To make it easier to manage your time, I’ve created a weekly planner printable for dental students, from those in their first year to those studying for the NBDE I. Feel free to download for yourself and share with any of your friends. When you’re planning out your schedule, make sure to BE REALISTIC! Setting unrealistic goals will just set you up for failure!
Click here to download the weekly study planner!
Let us know below what you think of the planner or if you have any suggestions on how to improve it!
December 17, 2013
Listening to music while you study? ��Think again.
Studying for the NBDE I for hours in the dark corners of the library can be exhausting, especially when your Facebook friends keep uploading pictures of parties, dinners, and overall happiness. So it's only natural to want to make studying more fun by listening to some of your favorite tunes. According to the research cited in this article, listening to distracting music (i.e. Katy Perry or any loud lyric-heavy music) is only making your retention worse. Differentiating between the superior orbital nerve and the superior peri-lateral hemicircumferential neural ganglia is hard enough. Adding music that makes it more tough to concentrate is not helping you any bit!
If studying in silence isn't your thing, here are some non-lyrical tracks that may be less distracting, as long as you're not blasting the volume:
1. Thank You Space Expert by Mogwai
2. I Know You Are But What Am I by Mogwai
3. Your Hand in Mine by Explosions in the Sky
4. First Breath After Coma by Explosions in the Sky
5. Brennistein by Sigur Ros
6. Guilty Cubicles by Broken Social Scene
7. Loro by Pinback
8. Intro by The XX
9. Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus (...just kidding!)
Do you have any good songs that would make non-distracting background music to study to? Let us know in the comments below!
Listening to music while you study? Think again.
Studying for the NBDE I for hours in the dark corners of the library can be exhausting, especially when your Facebook friends keep uploading pictures of parties, dinners, and overall happiness. So it's only natural to want to make studying more fun by listening to some of your favorite tunes. According to the research cited in this article, listening to distracting music (i.e. Katy Perry or any loud lyric-heavy music) is only making your retention worse. Differentiating between the superior orbital nerve and the superior peri-lateral hemicircumferential neural ganglia is hard enough. Adding music that makes it more tough to concentrate is not helping you any bit!
If studying in silence isn't your thing, here are some non-lyrical tracks that may be less distracting, as long as you're not blasting the volume:
1. Thank You Space Expert by Mogwai
2. I Know You Are But What Am I by Mogwai
3. Your Hand in Mine by Explosions in the Sky
4. First Breath After Coma by Explosions in the Sky
5. Brennistein by Sigur Ros
6. Guilty Cubicles by Broken Social Scene
7. Loro by Pinback
8. Intro by The XX
9. Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus (...just kidding!)
Do you have any good songs that would make non-distracting background music to study to? Let us know in the comments below!
