As a medical student preparing for the USMLE, you will be very familiar with listening listening to lectures and accompanied by slide in the classroom. But even as you listen, there are personal characteristics of your listening skills that you should be aware of and should work to avoid. To improve your listening skills, here are some behaviors you should try to avoid:

Overly criticizing the review lecturers. The appearance of the speakers and their manner of delivery are not reasons for you not to listen. Disregard all these and focus on the good points and the content.

Arguing mentally with the lecturers. Sometimes, you feel that you already know so much about the USMLE review topics, that you question the statements of the review speakers. Oftentimes, you miss some of the important points because you are busy mentally refuting every statement that the speakers make.

Prejudging the speakers. Rendering or forming a conclusion even before you have heard the speakers is prejudging them. You must remember that there is always something new to an issue or problem and that this is the perspective of the speakers. You must refrain from being overly opinionated and instead, try to appreciate the point of view of others. For all you know, there could be other ways of looking at an issue or problem which you have not thought of. Besides, no one can know everything about everything about the USMLE, and your USMLE review lectures are intended to expand your knowledge and improve your score.

Reacting emotionally. Even if you disagree with the speakers on some points, be objective. Listen to their message and evaluate the evidence that they present. Contain your negative reactions and look at the positive points of their lecture. Wait until the end of the lecture session and then, if there is an open forum, ask politely to be clarified on some points which you believe should be explained further. Politeness demands that you do not ask questions that would embarrass the lecturers. Neither should you ask questions to simply show that you know more about the topic than the lecturers do.

Causing distraction. You are there to listen and enrich your knowledge through your USMLE review lectures. Calling attention to yourself, being restless, yawning and making noise are inappropriate reactions. Good manners require that you conduct yourself politely in any communication situation.

You should strive to be a critical listener. Raise question to clarify a point and seek evidence to evaluate the ideas presented to you. It is not wrong to be critical as long as your purpose is to be clear and accurate about what you have heard. At the same time, avoid those behaviors and habits make may handicap your USMLE review lectures in medical school.