MS1 - Failed first test in Foundations course

[Mecidimes]

I'm a first-year medical student in Kentucky. Our class structure includes a Foundations course which I am currently taking, and it covers micro, immuno, pharm, and pathology, none of which I took in pre-med courses.

I am certainly paying the price for not taking those courses, because despite them not being official prereqs for our class (or for our MCAT), professors in this course have so far said they are pretty much assuming we have a background in these sciences. For the majority of students in my class, they are correct, but I am not one of them.

We have seven cumulative exams in this class, one for every Friday, and I flunked the first one with a 62.5 (class average was 82). Frankly, I don't know what more I could have done to improve since I'm just memorizing a bunch of disjointed info that doesn't make much sense to me. I especially didn't do well on the immunology sections.

I suppose I'd like to ask if anyone else has run into a similar issue in med school and how you got through it. I tried making flashcards, but ended up using up a lot of time making them and didn't learn much from them. Unlike previous courses so far in med school, I am approaching this course without any prior knowledge of the material. How do I build a foundational understanding of these fields, especially immunology?

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[Entadus]

Read How the Immune System Works ASAP. Follow that up with long hours of study. Without a framework of understanding, it will be exceedingly difficult to memorize all the details of immunology.

 

[Gambler 101]

I'm a first-year medical student in Kentucky. Our class structure includes a Foundations course which I am currently taking, and it covers micro, immuno, pharm, and pathology, none of which I took in pre-med courses.

I am certainly paying the price for not taking those courses, because despite them not being official prereqs for our class (or for our MCAT), professors in this course have so far said they are pretty much assuming we have a background in these sciences. For the majority of students in my class, they are correct, but I am not one of them.

We have seven cumulative exams in this class, one for every Friday, and I flunked the first one with a 62.5 (class average was 82). Frankly, I don't know what more I could have done to improve since I'm just memorizing a bunch of disjointed info that doesn't make much sense to me. I especially didn't do well on the immunology sections.

I suppose I'd like to ask if anyone else has run into a similar issue in med school and how you got through it. I tried making flashcards, but ended up using up a lot of time making them and didn't learn much from them. Unlike previous courses so far in med school, I am approaching this course without any prior knowledge of the material. How do I build a foundational understanding of these fields, especially immunology?

The above mentioned book is great. You can also look at first aid basic sciences which is textbook format for those with weak foundation in all of the above. Flash cards are ok but practice questions are better. You can check out USMLERx which will have some lower level practice questions

 

[deleted480308]

our school subscribed us to kaptest online so some of us found their videos pretty helpful to augment our lectures

 

[Goro]

Youtube videos on the subject matter might be more helpful than merely staring at PPT files. After looking through what my Immunology colleague has posted for our students, look up, for example, "Autoimmunity" or "Immunoglobulin" (warning: some of this material may make your brain leak out of your ears, but don't tell my colleague that!)

Have your friends pimp you

Take as many practice questions as you can (for example, google "Immunology practice or test or exam questions), in the areas you have trouble with

Your schools must have a learning or education center; seek them out STAT!

Of the disciplines where you're having trouble, go seek out your faculty and ask their help.

Always strive to find out what you don't know.

Also suggest removing the identifying info from your avatar. Right now the whole knows what med school you're at.

 

[Rumor13]

If you feel you are just "memorizing disjointed facts" that is where to begin. With no previous knowledge, your brain has no basic framework or big picture to put everything in context or enhance memory formation and recall of the subject matter. You're going about it like trying to build a 1,00,000 piece puzzle without doing the edges first. Learn the gist of the overall system via youtube, "for dummies" books, etc. then fill in the blanks you're expected to know. Even if you aren't tested on the big picture parts, without knowing them, you will never be able to adequately learn all the details.

Whenever you learn something new or come across something you are having trouble with, take 10-20 minutes, zoom out and see where it fits into the system or body as a whole to get some context. Then zoom back in to study. Things will start making much more sense.