Mental maps were first described by Tony Buzan as a revolutionary way of creating notes that improved retention and recall by using ‘both sides of the brain’ (he calls them mind maps). I cannot vouch for the latter claim, but agree that using mental maps helps with retention and recall.

Mental maps have a central topic, from which headings radiate outward. Originally, they were supposed to incorporate images, and have limited text. I have done the opposite, but retained the original idea of a central idea with radiating ideas.

Over the last several years, I have compiled a set of mental maps in Community Medicine. The notes are loosely based on a standard textbook, and I have taken the liberty to modify and update content as I deemed fit. The biggest advantage of the maps is their compactness- one can easily review a large topic in a matter of minutes. This makes it suitable for use by faculty, too!

My students are familiar with the notes, since I exclusively use them to take classes. I have been approached by some students to share the notes, and I have decided to publicly share the content for anyone to download.

Due to the very nature of the content, and the presentation format, I do not expect all students to either like them, or find them useful. However, I am certain that a small subset of students will benefit from them. These notes/maps are for them.

All content on this blog is covered by a Creative Commons Non-Commercial License that allows anyone to share content, but not use it for commercial purposes. The notes will be covered by the same licence, and I request that you do not put a price on them.

I will post maps in a topic-wise manner. However, if so desired, I might create a single document once all notes have been updated and posted here. Since some of the notes are outdated, I will post them after updation. This process will take considerable time, and I request patience.

The first of the maps describes the why and how of the notes:

Please see the following map to understand how to read them:

I will post the maps as black and white images (first map above)- unless I receive several requests to post them in colour (second map above).

Please feel free to post comments and suggestions to provide feedback, as well as to help improve the content. If you find the content useful, feel free to like and share.