The volume of material covered in the first year of medical school may seem endless. A medical student’s bandwidth to review it, however, is not.
A common bit of advice for medical school is that students should study roughly two hours for every hour they spend in lectures and labs. Over the week, that equates to somewhere between 40–50 hours of study time.
So, if time is finite and the material to cover is vast, how can new medical students succeed? By making the most of their study time.
Lead authored by Taryn Stinchcomb, a 2025 literature review of 13 studies from eight countries evaluated study strategies and their potential impact on medical students’ academic performance and well-being. The study highlights management techniques that can be beneficial to medical students.
Sticking to a schedule
Scheduling is critical to medical student success. In an effort to create a regimen that can lead to academic success and sustained well-being, the literature review highlighted time blocking as a key technique.
With time blocking, students plan out dedicated periods for focused tasks, such as highlighting pathology lecture notes from 9–10 a.m. or reviewing Anki flashcards from 10:30–11:30 a.m. This approach helps avoid multitasking and boosts productivity and concentration.
AMA member Wayne Bond Lau, MD, is dean for student affairs at Thomas Jefferson University's Sidney Kimmel Medical College in Philadelphia. He said that planning is key in navigating the transition to medical school.
“The most successful students that I have seen manage the pressures of medical school are the ones that really have a set out schedule where they really plan free time and they plan out the time that they’re going to work hard also,” Dr. Lau said.
Jefferson Health, which is the home of Sidney Kimmel Medical College, is part of the AMA Health System Member Program that provides enterprise solutions to equip leadership, physicians and care teams with resources to help drive the future of medicine.
The value of goals and focused intervals
For medical students who often have a hefty workload, the question can be: How do you take it on? One effective time-management method says the answer is to tackle the most pressing tasks first.
Prioritized goal setting involves listing daily tasks and ranking them by importance or urgency. Medical students tackle high-impact assignments first, ensuring critical work gets done. Some pros of prioritized goal setting include reduced procrastination, lowered stress and improved overall productivity.
The literature review also highlighted the Pomodoro Technique as an effective time-management strategy, In the Pomodoro Technique, medical students break study periods into short, focused intervals—typically 25-minute focus periods followed by five-minute breaks. After four focused intervals, the technique calls for a longer break, typically between 15–30 minutes. The technique plays a role in regulating mental fatigue.
The literature review does not highlight one-time management technique as more effective than the others. From Dr. Lau’s vantage point, it’s important to have some sort of plan when it comes to managing your time.
“People get into trouble when they freelance and just let things go organically,” he said. “Without good planning, it’s going to fall apart for you. And you’re going to see the results either in your personal health or in your academic performance.”
When you join the AMA as a medical student, you can choose to receive 25% off any Sketchy Medical plan. A Sketchy Medical subscription includes access to 1,000-plus video lessons, over 10,000 practice questions and more than 70 patient-case simulations—with new cases added weekly. Sketchy combines visual storytelling and AI-powered case simulations to help students learn faster, retain more and confidently prepare for real-world clinical challenges. AMA members can also receive a 10% discount on any new Sketchy Medical all-access or cases-only subscription plan. Learn more about why Sketchy works.
Practical application
In the literature review, the authors noted that medical students can meaningfully enhance their performance by combining efficient time management with active study strategies that emphasize active learning.
In highlighting the specific utility of time-management techniques, the study’s authors wrote that when medical students are trained—through structured programs—on Pomodoro sessions, time-blocking, and task prioritization they reported less academic stress and increased motivation.
The literature review’s authors strongly recommended that medical schools integrate evidence-based instruction on study techniques and time management into their academic skills curricula. Yet, formal guidance in these areas is often missing for today’s medical students.
New medical students are being asked to comprehend more material at a faster pace than they have at any previous time in their education. That is compounded by a transition to learning that is far more self-directed than it is in undergrad.
“You will know right away from the first quiz and the first examination just how much adjustment you need,” Dr. Lau said.
For medical students who struggle in the early days of medical school, Dr. Lau emphasized that seeking support right away is the best way to get back on track.
“Schools are there to help you succeed,” Dr. Lau said. “Resources are there. You just need to ask for help and reach out a hand.”
“I don't doubt that every student that gets accepted to a medical school can handle the academic challenge, but it just is a way of figuring out with their teachers, what's the best way to go about learning this material?” Dr. Lau said. “What is the best way to assimilate it?”
More on transitions in med ed
The AMA’s Facilitating Effective Transitions Along the Medical Education Continuum handbook looks at the needs of learners across the continuum of medical education—from the beginning of medical school through the final stage of residency.
The learner sections help medical students and resident physicians acclimate to the various settings and expectations in the medical training environment. The faculty sections then provide blueprints for transition programming, as well as resources to help students and residents navigate challenges in transitions. Download the handbook now (PDF).
