Concerned about 2nd Year

[ella umbrella]

Hey guys,

Um, yeah, never done this before.

Anyway, I'm getting pretty worried about 2nd year. I didn't do too great 1st year... I scraped by with a few B's and some C's in classes I definitely shouldn't have gotten C's in [physiology, anatomy]. I'm not sure what the deal was, but I just struggled with medical school 1st year. I did great in undergrad, but I don't know what got to me 1st year... the competition, the amount of info, procrastination, living alone, strained relationships, everything. I just did not ever feel like, "Hey, that wasn't too bad."

And the scary part is, in retrospect, I still don't know what to change. I studied a lot, don't get me wrong. I'm no gunner, but I was definitely pulling 25 - 35 hrs/wk of studying before tests. I just don't want 2nd year to be a repeat of 1st year, but I know it gets tougher, and I know there is less time, and then the boards... seriously?! I want to do a little reviewing of old material before school starts... and for those of you who say, "No, chill, it's your last summer"--- seriously, I've already chilled, I'm done, over it --- this summer, I travelled, I had a job, I've laid around doing nada for a few weeks; it's over. I just want to know what 3rd years or other incoming 2nd years say I need to do or think I need to change. Any positive advice... anything. Like I said, I don't want to feel like I'm flailing all next year.

I don't think my sanity can handle it.

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[Flaxmoore]

Might a tutor do the trick? In my case, I actually studied less when I had a tutor and got better scores, just by knowing what and how to study.

 

[BillyWitchDoctr]

Might a tutor do the trick? In my case, I actually studied less when I had a tutor and got better scores, just by knowing what and how to study.

I'd agree...it's all in how you study, not necessarily how much time you spend doing it.

 

[OncoCaP]

Hey guys,

Um, yeah, never done this before.

Anyway, I'm getting pretty worried about 2nd year. I didn't do too great 1st year... I scraped by with a few B's and some C's in classes I definitely shouldn't have gotten C's in [physiology, anatomy]. I'm not sure what the deal was, but I just struggled with medical school 1st year. I did great in undergrad, but I don't know what got to me 1st year... the competition, the amount of info, procrastination, living alone, strained relationships, everything. I just did not ever feel like, "Hey, that wasn't too bad."

And the scary part is, in retrospect, I still don't know what to change. I studied a lot, don't get me wrong. I'm no gunner, but I was definitely pulling 25 - 35 hrs/wk of studying before tests. I just don't want 2nd year to be a repeat of 1st year, but I know it gets tougher, and I know there is less time, and then the boards... seriously?! I want to do a little reviewing of old material before school starts... and for those of you who say, "No, chill, it's your last summer"--- seriously, I've already chilled, I'm done, over it --- this summer, I travelled, I had a job, I've laid around doing nada for a few weeks; it's over. I just want to know what 3rd years or other incoming 2nd years say I need to do or think I need to change. Any positive advice... anything. Like I said, I don't want to feel like I'm flailing all next year.

I don't think my sanity can handle it.

You are passing, and so you have done several things right. Start by appreciating that. Yes, true, you did not meet your own expectations and things did not go as well as you hoped, but that's not unusual in medical school where expectations are set high and at some point the reality sets in that 90% of the class (that's pretty much most people) aren't going to be in the top 10% of the class like they were the other 95% of their academic life. It's a big adjustment for many people. Keep in mind that whatever sensible things you are doing to adjust and improve, pretty much everyone else is going to be doing also (which is good if the goal is to graduate as many competent physicians as possible). It really is a lot of work that you signed up for and it's for a worthwhile cause. Maybe you could work on some stress reduction like adding a little exercise and making a little time for things you enjoy. You really have something to work with and improve on. I'm not sure that there is something you can buy of four small payments of $9.99 that is going to make it all better. At tutor might help, but I'm not sure if it would in your case or not (if it was that simple, more people would probably hire them). You just improve gradually and learn to make the most of the challenge. I don't get the impression that the people who are doing well are just kicking back and having fun all the time; most med students I know put a lot of effort into this endeavor.

 

[Tiger26]

M2 year I had to study almost everyday like I did the week before tests M1 year. Yes, it sucked that I had to spend that much time, but my averages went up ~10 percent compared to M1 classes.

Also can't recommend enough Rapid Review path and the audio if you can find it. Check out the step 1 forums to read what people studied (this doesn't mean study right now though) to find out what worked for them for M2 year and boards studying.

M2 year is a lot, lot harder, but it's also a lot more interesting.

 

[vtucci]

To OP, my experience may make you feel better. I barely scraped by in first year (passed in neuro, anatomy and physio)-- I had very little interest in memorizing tons of information without any apparent clinical correlation and got my butt handed to me gradewise. I do better recalling information with a context.

Good news, 2nd year- path, micro/immuno, pharm- way more interesting, actually useful, taught by MDs for the most part. Sure the workload was cited by most of my class to be much harder but I found it way easier because I did not want to fall asleep while reading my textbooks this year. Result- 20 point grade increase from anatomy to pathology.

3rd year even better still- why I went to medical school.

 

[Flaxmoore]

To OP, my experience may make you feel better. I barely scraped by in first year (passed in neuro, anatomy and physio)-- I had very little interest in memorizing tons of information without any apparent clinical correlation and got my butt handed to me gradewise. I do better recalling information with a context.

Good news, 2nd year- path, micro/immuno, pharm- way more interesting, actually useful, taught by MDs for the most part. Sure the workload was cited by most of my class to be much harder but I found it way easier because I did not want to fall asleep while reading my textbooks this year. Result- 20 point grade increase from anatomy to pathology.

3rd year even better still- why I went to medical school.

I'm hoping 2nd year is similar for me. I kept falling into the "Why should I care?" mindset when studying, and it made it easy to slack off. If there is an identifiable use, though, it fits my learning style better. Trig and physics were like that for me in HS- learning from a book did nothing, while going out and doing something made it make sense.

 

[pdp2001]

i actually did better my ms2 year than ms1. i think it's because i actually tried to be an efficient studier than trying to learn every single thing. at my school, what i thought i needed to know was DEFINITELY never on any exam. so it might be that you're studying for the boards but missing what your prof's think are key educational points.

you're not stupid, so don't think that. you passed your classes, so i think you should be proud of that. take a look at what you're getting wrong on exams - is it that you focused on different areas than the test did, or that there were some things you didn't know as well as you thought, or maybe the format is just different than what you're used to. besides, nothing in med school is like the boards so take comfort in the fact that hard work really does pay off for the boards and i guarantee you'll do much better on that than you think.

 

[mikedc813]

Might a tutor do the trick? In my case, I actually studied less when I had a tutor and got better scores, just by knowing what and how to study.

Knowing how to study is so much different than just looking at your study materials for 40 hours. I'd get a tutor to help you focus in on what is important. I did better my second year even though there was more material. You still have plenty of time to turn it around.