---
title: "Remember More Medicine: 4 Ways Visual Cues Can Help"
description: Incorporating drawings and photos into your study session can help you better remember what you have studied. Here are 4 tips to incorporate visual learning into your study sessions.
---

[We make learning medicine easier ](https://explore.medstudy.com/blog)

# [Remember More Medicine: 4 Ways Visual Cues Can Help](https://explore.medstudy.com/blog/remember-more-medicine-4-ways-visual-cues-can-help)

 Written by [MedStudy](https://explore.medstudy.com/blog/author/medstudy) | Jun 14, 2018 2:00:00 PM

“A picture is worth a thousand words.” Wouldn’t it be nice if the adage were true and a single image conjured up 1,000 words of medical knowledge in your mind? Turns out, using a picture to help you recall information may be more effective than you think.

According to an article in *Psychology Today*, “the effective use of visuals can decrease learning time, improve comprehension, enhance retrieval, and increase retention.” That’s because “[the brain is mainly an image processor … not a word processor](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/get-psyched/201207/learning-through-visuals) … The part of the brain used to process words is quite small in comparison to the part that processes visual images.”

Post-it Note company 3M says that [visuals are processed 60,000 times faster than text](https://web.archive.org/web/20001014041642/http:/www.3m.com:80/meetingnetwork/files/meetingguide_pres.pdf). Advertisers are no strangers to this idea, using logos and striking photos to make products more memorable. Even the briefest exposure to [visual stimuli can promote learning](https://explore.medstudy.com/blog/perceptual-learning). So, what can you do to harness the power of images to remember more medicine?

Though a picture may not contain everything you need to know, it can act as a memory cue for more complex information. The trick is to pair a visual with the concepts you want to remember. Here are 4 ways to get started:

1. **Draw a [concept map](https://explore.medstudy.com/what-are-concept-maps) **or take visual notes. A 2014 study showed that [subjects who drew about something remembered more than those who wrote about it](https://time.com/4304589/memory-picture-draw/). Though researchers still don’t know exactly *why* it works, you can still put the “drawing effect” to work by thinking in visual terms when you take notes.
2. **Zero in on photos **or figures illustrating a concept, whether in the pages of a text, in a slide, or on a video. Associate applicable concepts with the image by writing headings or marginal notes. You can also make an visual more memorable by [imagining you’re taking a photo](https://www.thecut.com/2017/08/how-taking-photos-affects-your-memory.html) of it, taking care to also assign it a mental heading, such as “dilated cardiomyopathy.” When the topic comes up later in an exam or practice, picture the image, and associated information will come with it.
3. **[Create a mental storyline](https://www.anecdote.com/2015/01/link-between-memory-and-stories/)**. This is especially useful when a photo, figure, or illustration is not provided, and you can’t draw in the moment—such as when you’re listening to an audio recording while driving. As you hear a list of symptoms, picture a patient or loved one experiencing each symptom throughout their day. Using those you care about in your storyline also injects [emotion into the memory, which amplifies recall](https://explore.medstudy.com/blog/use-your-heart-help-memory).
4. **[Study in a variety of locations](https://explore.medstudy.com/blog/choose-best-study-environment-board-prep)**. Even if the sights (and sounds and smells) you encounter have nothing to do with your topic, they can act as a cue. As memory researcher Robert A. Bjork says, “the brain makes subtle associations between what it is studying and the background sensations it has at the time … regardless of whether those perceptions are conscious. It colors the terms of the Versailles Treaty with the wasted fluorescent glow of the dorm study room, say; or the elements of the Marshall Plan with the jade-curtain shade of the willow tree in the backyard. Forcing the brain to make [multiple associations with the same material](https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/health/views/07mind.html) may, in effect, give that information more neural scaffolding.”

To maximize your study time with science-based learning techniques like these, consider using the [MedStudy Method](https://explore.medstudy.com/blog/simple-abcde-medstudy-method).

[View full post](https://explore.medstudy.com/blog/remember-more-medicine-4-ways-visual-cues-can-help)

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