The Anesthesia Record

I'm not sure how you took notes throughout your undergraduate years, but I did everything by hand.  That meant waking up early every Monday through Friday so I could make it to the library with enough time to print out that day's PowerPoint lectures.  This was less than ideal for a number of reasons.  First, using paper is expensive, detrimental to the environment, and freaking heavy.  I swear I developed kyphosis near the end of each semester thanks to the progressively increasing weight of my school bag.  Another problem was that, approximately 96% of the time, the documents had been altered in some way between the moment I clicked "print" and the start of class mere minutes later.  I therefore arrived to lecture with both an incomplete set of notes and a feeling of total and utter frustration.  The real kicker, though, was concluding each day with a cramped hand from trying - unsuccessfully, I might add - to scribble down the important points highlighted by my instructors.   No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get that hand of mine to write fast enough.

This time around, I decided to do things a bit differently.  I now take all of my notes on my computer and really couldn't be happier.  Okay, fine, ice cream would make me happier.  But my electronic note-taking program helps a lot.

I'm sure there are a multitude of programs available at a variety of price points to aid one's classroom performance.  I personally use Microsoft OneNote*, which came with the Microsoft Office 2007 package that I purchased with my Dell laptop.  It seems to have the best features of the programs available today (though I'm very, very biased).  It's organized in a way that is simple to use, which is key.  The virtual notebooks contain tabs which contain separate pages (just like if you were taking notes in a physical notebook).  I've created a notebook for each course and separate tabs for each lecture. I then import my PowerPoint slides directly into the program and each slide is shown as a separate page.  OneNote allows users to highlight any information (even imported words or pictures!), drag and drop added text, insert arrows and other shapes onto the page, and tag information.  Tagging, by the way, is great.  You can tag important slides or those you have questions about using a variety of available icons.  Later, when you are in class or studying for the test you can view only those pages that you've tagged, which enables you to focus on the most important information when studying or view all of your questions at once when meeting with your professor.  It's pretty great!  Below is a screen print of one of my class slides to illustrate some of the features I've mentioned:

For those of you with a Macbook, you might want to check out a program titled NoteBook (click here for more information).  My friend, Dave, uses it to take notes in class and has been pleased. (Though I do periodically catch him drooling as he checks out my One Note program.  Just sayin'.)  Of course, another option for those with either a Mac or a PC is to write directly in the "Notes" section of the PowerPoint slides themselves.  A number of my classmates utilize this method and it seems to work just fine for them.

Whatever the case, don't be afraid to embrace a new method of note-taking as a lot of new and interesting options may have surfaced since you were last in school. Your writing hand will thank you!  Though, if you do decide to using a new system for taking notes, I'd encourage you to familiarize yourself with the program and organize it as best you can before the start of school.  Oh, how I wish I'd taken my own advice!


*For some reason, Microsoft One Note has trouble importing Microsoft PowerPoint slides on computers running a 64 bit operating system.  (I know, you'd think that Microsoft could make two of it's OWN programs compatible with each other, but alas...)  I figured this problem out at around 11:00pm the night before my first class.  It was delightful.  Fortunately, I found a tool (developed by a Microsoft employee) to get around this little bug, and haven't had a problem with it since.  Click here for information and installation instructions.