To All Current Med Students Out There - Advices for Incoming MS1 Students?

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hewmanoid

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Hello, Everyone!
I'm going to start medical school this coming fall, and as much as I'm super excited about the new chapter in my life, I'm also anxious how it's going to turn out for me (Hopefully, I'm not the only one with these worries?:oops:).

Anyway, whatever lies in my future path, I want to make the best of my 4 years in med school and be prepared for them. So I want to ask all current med students on SDN if you have any insightful advices on both the academic and non-academic aspects of med school, especially the pre-clinical years. I'm sure other incoming MS1 students as well as I would appreciate your tips!
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hewmanoid said:
Hello, Everyone!
I'm going to start medical school this coming fall, and as much as I'm super excited about the new chapter in my life, I'm also anxious how it's going to turn out for me (Hopefully, I'm not the only one with these worries?:oops:).

Anyway, whatever lies in my future path, I want to make the best of my 4 years in med school and be prepared for them. So I want to ask all current med students on SDN if you have any insightful advices on both the academic and non-academic aspects of med school, especially the pre-clinical years. I'm sure other incoming MS1 students as well as I would appreciate your tips!
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Treat it like prison -- during orientation just pick out the toughest, scariest looking hombre in the class and beat the crap out of him. Nobody will *&^% with you after that.

No, seriously -- just show up ready to work hard and log a lot of hours until you come up with a study plan to allows you to effectively learn all the material. Repetition is key. Try pre-reading for each lecture, review each lecture's notes again after lecture each day, use the weekends to review the week's material (it's the only days that no new material is covered in a lecture, so it's a good time to catch up and get organized), and start studying for exams a week or so early, as you will want to try to get through all the key concepts. The key difference between med school and what you've seen before is the volume. The concepts aren't that hard. The amount of material you are responsible for is staggering, and the devil is in the details -- understanding things generally and broadly won't work in med school as it may have in undergrad. Be flexible and try lots of approaches. Try studying alone and in groups. Try using flashcards, highliters, take margin notes. Be an active, not a passive learner. Keep tweaking things until you find something that works well for you. And bear in mind that what works for others probably won't work for you -- you have to figure out what works best.

Med school is challenging and a lot of work, but can also be a blast, if you have the right attitude about it. Don't look at it as a means to an end, or a hurdle you are rushing through to get to residency. Don't bail on anything labeled "optional". Get outside of your comfort zone. Even if you know you aren't going into specialty Y, look at it as an opportunity to get a good experience that nobody else on the planet gets. When an attending asks a bunch of med students "who would like to try X" be the one to jump at the opportunity.

You'll be fine.
 
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It is four years of your life. So do not put your life on hold. Live your life, be a normal person, work hard, but have some fun, be involved in relationships, love, laugh, and live.
 
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Law2Doc said:
Don't bail on anything labeled "optional".

You'll be fine.
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Although I think this is true to an extent, you also shouldn't be afraid to stop attending live lectures if that's what works best for you. Don't spend 3-4 hours a day sitting in a lecture hall out of a sense of obligation. I only went to lecture for the first 4 weeks of M1 - since then I've only gone to lectures when they are required (which is rare - usually only the first day of class, or if a patient is coming in). If double-speeding the internet recording and studying on your own from the coursepack/book/etc. is a better use of your time, do it.

Then again, if you learn well from attending class in person...go for it.
 
My advice would be to trust yourself when it comes to your life and your study habits. All around you, you will see people studying differently, and living their lives differently than you are...and you shouldn't allow that to intimidate you into jumping in with the crowd.

Listen to other people's advice when it comes to med school, but make the choices on your own. Figure out how much YOU need to study, whether YOU benefit from lectures, and how much YOU can handle outside of medical school. You'll be much happier if you do.
 
Law2Doc said:
Treat it like prison -- during orientation just pick out the toughest, scariest looking hombre in the class and beat the crap out of him. Nobody will *&^% with you after that.
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1034033573_CAndreaquizsamir.jpg


And do they allow conjugal visits in these prisons?

:smuggrin:
 
Law2Doc said:
Treat it like prison -- during orientation just pick out the toughest, scariest looking hombre in the class and beat the crap out of him. Nobody will *&^% with you after that.

No, seriously -- just show up ready to work hard and log a lot of hours until you come up with a study plan to allows you to effectively learn all the material. Repetition is key. Try pre-reading for each lecture, review each lecture's notes again after lecture each day, use the weekends to review the week's material (it's the only days that no new material is covered in a lecture, so it's a good time to catch up and get organized), and start studying for exams a week or so early, as you will want to try to get through all the key concepts. The key difference between med school and what you've seen before is the volume. The concepts aren't that hard. The amount of material you are responsible for is staggering, and the devil is in the details -- understanding things generally and broadly won't work in med school as it may have in undergrad. Be flexible and try lots of approaches. Try studying alone and in groups. Try using flashcards, highliters, take margin notes. Be an active, not a passive learner. Keep tweaking things until you find something that works well for you. And bear in mind that what works for others probably won't work for you -- you have to figure out what works best.

Med school is challenging and a lot of work, but can also be a blast, if you have the right attitude about it. Don't look at it as a means to an end, or a hurdle you are rushing through to get to residency. Don't bail on anything labeled "optional". Get outside of your comfort zone. Even if you know you aren't going into specialty Y, look at it as an opportunity to get a good experience that nobody else on the planet gets. When an attending asks a bunch of med students "who would like to try X" be the one to jump at the opportunity.

You'll be fine.
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L2D, is there an excitable premed, aka painfully enthusiastic medical student, still lurking within you!?

I say... if it's optional... you may want to consider what you've neglected in your life: exercise, dating, sleep.
 
Also never listen to your classmates when they tell you how much they have/haven't studied, how much they do/don't know about a subject, or what kind of grades they get. Do what you need to do.

People like attention and are willing to exaggerate for it.
 
I'd say one thing -- ask your upper classmates how they study. I'm amazed at how differently I take on exams and the like than I used. No labs or HW in med school, just exams!

Most importantly, have an great summer and don't do any pre-reading or anything like that -- unless they say it's mandatory, it's probably pretty low yield.

Also, don't worry about school either, so far it's been more fun than I expected -- most of the stuff is pretty interesting and my classmates and instructors have been amazing.
 
The first two years of med school have actually been really fun. Once you get past the initial shock and awe of how much you are expected to learn/remember, it is a really awesome experience. You will have breakdowns and thoughts of inadequacy, feeling like you failed, feeling like you don't know ANYTHING, questions of if this is what you really want to do, feeling like you are missing out on things people you know are doing, feeling like your relationships are strained, feeling like the world is moving forward while you are on pause, etc. etc. It is normal, it will pass, and you will succeed.

There will be people in your class you don't like. There will be people in your class you think are really great, that turn out you don't like. There will be people you will pre-judge when you meet them, and will come to really like them, and there will be someone you hit it off with from the beginning. You will make some really great friends in med school.

Don't be afraid of change. How you did it in undergrad probably won't work in med school; you will find a new way. If your new way doesn't work so well on the first test, try something else until you find what works. What works first year might not work second year, just adjust and adapt.

Don't put your life completely on hold. There are things you will miss because of your schedule, but don't let it ruin your life. When an event comes up and you have something going on at school, ask yourself which experience you are going to remember and go with it. People have families, get married, buy homes, attend weddings, go to the movies, etc. while balancing med school. It can be done!

And above all, don't listen to the haters or the people in your class that think the only way med school can be done is their way. You will find your way. People will brag by way of complaining about how much they study; IGNORE IT!!!;)

I know this was long, but thats my take on it
 
Law2Doc said:
When an attending asks a bunch of med students "who would like to try X" be the one to jump at the opportunity.
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...Unless that attending is using the euphemism for MDMA, in which case you should not jump at the opportunity. Ecstasy eats your spinal cord.
 
Mattabet said:
...Especially when that attending is using the euphemism for MDMA, in which case you should rapidly jump at the opportunity. Ecstasy fortifies your spinal cord.
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:eyebrow:
 
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hewmanoid said:
Hello, Everyone!
I'm going to start medical school this coming fall, and as much as I'm super excited about the new chapter in my life, I'm also anxious how it's going to turn out for me (Hopefully, I'm not the only one with these worries?:oops:).

Anyway, whatever lies in my future path, I want to make the best of my 4 years in med school and be prepared for them. So I want to ask all current med students on SDN if you have any insightful advices on both the academic and non-academic aspects of med school, especially the pre-clinical years. I'm sure other incoming MS1 students as well as I would appreciate your tips!
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Oh, I think everyone feels like you do the summer before they start med school. It's completely normal.

Along with some of the great advice other people already gave you, I suggest to take things one day at a time. It's easy to get freaked out by everything you have to do over the next block, the next year, for Step 1, for residency apps, etc. But first, you have to get through orientation week, then your first week of classes, then your second week of classes, and so on. Eventually, all those days add up and you realize that you have actually accomplished something over the long term. But always be on your guard, because it's easier to get caught up in other people's neuroticism than you might realize. At my point in med school (about to start my fourth year), I am watching some of my friends freak a little about residency apps, and sometimes it makes me freak a little bit too, even though I'm not even applying for a whole year still!

You'll be fine, really. You wouldn't be where you are if the adcomm didn't think you could do it. Congrats on getting in, and good luck.
 
I'm only half-way though but just know that MS1 is the worst and it gets better from there. I don't know if you got to meet any MS4s on your interview, but when I was applying I did. I was completely impressed by their knowledge and confidence. To me, they seemed like real doctors when I was just a wannabee applicant. It's a really life-changing process. Don't resist the change it will bring you, because resisting will only bring you heartache. Just go with it.
 
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When it comes to sheer volume, its all about efficiency...
- Details are important if you want to do very well on tests but if you try to start out learning every detail in a lecture/handout you will get bogged down and burn up all of your time. Big picture first (this was very hard for me to accept), then the details will come together much easier and faster when you make subsequent passes of the material.
- Do what works for your in terms of study methods, but be careful. I diagrammed everything in undergrad, but it ended up hurting me in med school because there was so much material and so much to diagram. I also found that it wasn't as necessary as I thought it was. I stopped excessive diagramming and started just memorizing the diagrams given in class - with a few exceptions.
- I've never been a "highlighter" but if it works for you... I tried highlighting for a while but I found myself highlighting whatever I didn't understand when reading it for the first time (which is everything) rather than taking a little extra time to process it and mentally visualize what is actually going on. This is probably because I never really practiced highlighting during my earlier studies. I have since gone an entire class without cracking open a highlighter and it didn't hurt me.
- I learned that getting sleep is more important than being there at 8am for a non-mandatory lecture. I have always had problems falling asleep before 12 but I fought this for half of the year and ended up being pretty out of it/groggy during lectures and studying afterwards. So seriously, as long as you can stay disciplined on your own, you can still honor without attending lectures.
-Figure out how you are going to organize things. Even a year later, the way you learned it cold the first time around is the way your brain will want to remember it- so its kind of a commitment. What not to do at the end of a block: take all of your handouts, notes and diagrams and throw them in a box like I did at first. It really sucks if you want to go back and refresh something in your head but it takes 10 painful minutes to find it. I wish I had at least kept this material in binders and shelfed it (I didn't want to buy more binders).
- I eventually made the switch to keeping everything on my computer at home and I don't plan on going back. Starting on day 1 of a block, I keep all of my powerpoints in a single folder (number 01, 02....etc so they stay in chronological order) for easy reference. Then I combine all of the handouts (pdf's, doc's) for a given test into one PDF. Being able to CTRL+F the reading for easier reference is a big advantage over hardcopy (If you're going to read entirely on your computer I would recommend switching the background to black and the text to light gray to avoid headaches). Anything that is mentioned in class capture or in the handouts that seems signficiant I write in the notes box under the appropriate slide. When its time to crunch for a test, everything I have is in one place and I just memorize the slides and the notes I have written under them. I might do one last big read through of all of the handouts a day or so before a test.
-Repetition. This doesn't mean going over every detail multiple times. It means getting through the material AS A WHOLE multiple times, in a timely manner. Sure, pick up details the first go around, but don't let it slow you down.

I'm not here to brag about my grades but I feel that I have found what works for me. Don't just follow someone's advice (including mine!) because it works for them. That said, most of what I learned was from passive and subtle observation of those who were doing well (eg they didn't tell me). Also, different classes can call for different study techniques. For all I know, my method could be totally worthless in classes next year. Hopefully this helps someone start off a little less confused than I was.
 
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dienekes88 said:
L2D, is there an excitable premed, aka painfully enthusiastic medical student, still lurking within you!?

I say... if it's optional... you may want to consider what you've neglected in your life: exercise, dating, sleep.
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My point is, throughout med school people are going to offer optional sessions (I'm not talking about normal lecture and the choice of studying on your own here) on this and that topic, procedure. Most of these are of huge benefit, but tend to be poorly attended (particularly by the folks who would benefit the most). Folks say, it's optional, I'd rather sleep, exercise, whatever -- I think it's sort of a premed attitude that seeps over -- the younger crowd is too focused on what they need to do for the grades, and not enough focused on what they need to do to get "educated" (these two things unfortunately don't always align, and people realize too late that the grades in the first two years barely matter -- it's the learning and experiences that carry you further). They end up missing some of the best opportunities/learning and really should be trying to milk as much advantage as you can out of school. This is something you are already paying for -- may as well take advantage of it.
 
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Thanks for sharing these advices. They provide great insight!

I would love to hear more!
 
For the preclinical years, what worked best for me was approaching the material conceptually. Don't look at it as something you have to memorize, look at it as something you can tie together and understand. Once your mind starts bundling concepts together and you can apply the principles, the amount of information you actually have to sit down and memorize shrinks dramatically because you can reason everything else out.
 
trustd1 said:
Thanks for sharing these advices. They provide great insight!

I would love to hear more!
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For the OP, and anyone else not making a joke at his/her expense-- there is no such word as "advices". The plural of advice is advice. If you really talk or write like this, my best advice is to invest in a grammar text. Sorry, but it had to be said (misuse of this word is rampant on SDN).
 
Consider your long-term goals and study diligently to achieve them. I know several docs who wish they could go back and get better grades/test scores. That would have opened up doors of opportunities for them. Instead, they did a bit too much partying and their scores did not make them competitive. As a result, they never really enjoyed their careers.

For some, exceptional grades come easily. Others have to work extra hard to achieve them.
 
Law2Doc said:
My point is, throughout med school people are going to offer optional sessions (I'm not talking about normal lecture and the choice of studying on your own here) on this and that topic, procedure. Most of these are of huge benefit, but tend to be poorly attended (particularly by the folks who would benefit the most). Folks say, it's optional, I'd rather sleep, exercise, whatever -- I think it's sort of a premed attitude that seeps over -- the younger crowd is too focused on what they need to do for the grades, and not enough focused on what they need to do to get "educated" (these two things unfortunately don't always align, and people realize too late that the grades in the first two years barely matter -- it's the learning and experiences that carry you further). They end up missing some of the best opportunities/learning and really should be trying to milk as much advantage as you can out of school. This is something you are already paying for -- may as well take advantage of it.
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I like your take on it, but I think it's more complicated. It's not a drive for grades (there are no preclinical grades at my school...), but a desire to avoid overextending. Clearly, you have a better grasp of it, because you're further along in your medical education, so feel free to throw down.

Between first year and the first few weeks of research, I've found that medicine can and will eat your life up if you let it. Part of letting medicine take away your life is committing your leisure time, i.e. time committed to decompressing, to it. There's so much fascinating material out there that you can fill up 8 lifetimes and not even come close to knowing a small fraction of all the cool stuff let alone the boring material that's definitely necessary. As a result, trying to get in all the extras is a sisyphusean task.

I'm a very average and simple-minded kinda guy. I race my bike, and I enjoy quieter nights drinking beers with a few friends. Add too much to the mix, and I'll just get confused. There's so much in what they're throwing at you (and then in studying for Boards) that you don't need the extra stuff to become pretty well educated. Maybe I'm being naive. I guess you'll let me know.

If it's something that isn't burdensome or stressful, then it's definitely a great idea to check out cool stuff about colposcopy :)meanie:) or minimally invasive surgery :)thumbup:). I've taken advantage of the fact that some pretty cool stuff happens around these parts, but I never for a second thought, "it's my duty to... scrub on this liver implantation/learn about percutaneous interventions/learn venipuncture, because I forked over $X-ty thousand." If you're tired and overwhelmed with school, then waking up at 4AM to fly to North Carolina for a lung procurement might not be a good idea, because the cost/benefit just doesn't work out.

Nobody's going to give you your life back.
 
mdjkim said:
Consider your long-term goals and study diligently to achieve them. I know several docs who wish they could go back and get better grades/test scores. That would have opened up doors of opportunities for them. Instead, they did a bit too much partying and their scores did not make them competitive. As a result, they never really enjoyed their careers.

For some, exceptional grades come easily. Others have to work extra hard to achieve them.
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Some of the recent grads have been talking about it from the opposite side too. They thought they worked too hard for grades that didn't matter and wished they had spent more time relaxing, partying, etc.

Won't there always be a retrospective "coulda, shoulda, woulda" attitude?
 
zuiikin said:
I'd say one thing -- ask your upper classmates how they study. I'm amazed at how differently I take on exams and the like than I used. No labs or HW in med school, just exams!

Most importantly, have an great summer and don't do any pre-reading or anything like that -- unless they say it's mandatory, it's probably pretty low yield.

Also, don't worry about school either, so far it's been more fun than I expected -- most of the stuff is pretty interesting and my classmates and instructors have been amazing.[/QUOTE

I second asking upperclassmen, also BRS books can be your friend ;)
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Law2Doc said:
For the OP, and anyone else not making a joke at his/her expense-- there is no such word as "advices". The plural of advice is advice. If you really talk or write like this, my best advice is to invest in a grammar text. Sorry, but it had to be said (misuse of this word is rampant on SDN).
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Thanks for pointing that out, Law2Doc. However, despite my grammatical incompetency, I have been quite successful in my past classes and standardized exams. So, I really don't think my future medical school life is to be doomed because of this (Well, at least I hope not :)). But, YES, I do agree that investing in a grammar book is a great idea (not just for me, but for everyone on the SDN) just to keep us in check every now and then.


By the way, thanks for all your helpful "advice";)! Now I feel less uncertain about what lies ahead of me....
 
Thanks to everyone posting advice here. Bookmarking this thread for reference when I'm an overwhelmed M1 myself in a couple months.
 
hewmanoid said:
Thanks for pointing that out, Law2Doc. However, despite my grammatical incompetency, I have been quite successful in my past classes and standardized exams. So, I really don't think my future medical school life is to be doomed because of this (Well, at least I hope not :))....
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That you slipped by up until now doesn't mean that it will never be an issue. Like it or not, people will judge you based on how you speak and communicate. Moreso the further along any education path you progress. So if you are going to become a professional, you need to always work to correct the defects in your education. I'm not slamming you, I'm just saying if you don't know that "advices" is not a word, there are probably a host of other mistakes you have been making, and someday, somebody important to your career is going to take notice. Fix these errors before they matter, NEVER take the attitude "well, I got this far, so I don't think it's that important".
 
dienekes88 said:
I like your take on it, but I think it's more complicated. It's not a drive for grades (there are no preclinical grades at my school...), but a desire to avoid overextending. Clearly, you have a better grasp of it, because you're further along in your medical education, so feel free to throw down....

If it's something that isn't burdensome or stressful, then it's definitely a great idea to check out cool stuff about colposcopy :)meanie:) or minimally invasive surgery :)thumbup:). I've taken advantage of the fact that some pretty cool stuff happens around these parts, but I never for a second thought, "it's my duty to... scrub on this liver implantation/learn about percutaneous interventions/learn venipuncture, because I forked over $X-ty thousand." If you're tired and overwhelmed with school, then waking up at 4AM to fly to North Carolina for a lung procurement might not be a good idea, because the cost/benefit just doesn't work out.

Nobody's going to give you your life back.
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I hear you, but I think that in retrospect, you very well may look back on the some of the things you bailed on and be annoyed with yourself about the amazing FREE experiences you let slip away. On this path you have the opportunity to do some things that nobody else on the planet get to do. Take advantage of those things. Getting honors instead of high pass is well and nice, but it's not going to make a darn bit of difference in your residency path, and that lung procurement is what you will remember (and maybe talk about in your interview and PS down the road). That kind of experience is what's worth all the money you are paying. While nobody is going to give you your life back, nobody is going to give you many more chances to get some of these experiences either.

I would suggest that most of the people who take advantage of these experiences still have a life, just one made up of cool experiences and learning, rather than a few extra hours of sleep or the gym. You should milk everything cool out of med school you can. It's possible to get through med school with a very tepid, bland and uninspiring 4 years of relatively painless, uninteresting education, or you can extend yourself and do and learn some amazing stuff. Sure, if you take the latter road, you will have less time to sleep, drink, work out, bike ride. But when you look back you aren't going to remember the sleeping, drinking or gym, you are going to remember the cool stuff.
 
xanthomondo said:
Also never listen to your classmates when they tell you how much they have/haven't studied, how much they do/don't know about a subject, or what kind of grades they get. Do what you need to do.

People like attention and are willing to exaggerate for it.
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Agreed. I posted this before, but here's how I approached M1/M2:

Don't worry about what other people are doing. If it's working for you, keep doing it. There were a few times I got nervous about my study habits, because I wasn't going to class or re-writing my notes or preparing for Step 1 as an M1, etc. If it works for you, then DO IT. Once I realized that my study habits were great for me, I relaxed a lot. I got the grades I was comfortable with, and I didn't study more than I had to.

Basically, my technique was to read the notes, highlight only the information that was new to me, annotate the margins as little as possible but enough to reinforce critical learning points, read the textbook as needed to clarify a difficult point, and then re-read all my notes, repeatedly. (Endlessly) That was pretty much it. I would study in a place with minimal distractions (definitely not at home), no laptop to waste my time, listen to my iPod, and take breaks when I wasn't being productive. If you're zoning out, go surf the net, call a friend, read a magazine, play pool in the student lounge, etc. There's no point in staring at a book if you're not remembering a darn thing.

You'll have study days that are completely unproductive. That'll happen. I would just cut my losses and go home (this was not too common, mind you).
 
Oh, and get to know attendings. I've been meeting with different surgeons to pick their brains and get the inside scoop. Thus far, they've all been very accomodating in meeting with me, and it's been really helpful. Our new chair of surgery contacted the med student surgery interest group, and he asked if he could meet with the group. Quite a few people showed up (probably 50), and it was really helpful. I strongly suggest that you meet with and talk to these people.

Also, you can listen to a thousand pre-meds on SDN bicker about what's important, or you can listen to 2-3 residency program directors talk, and you'll find out what's really true. ;) such as, "Does the prestige of your med school matter?" thus far, the answer has been "Not nearly as much as SDN thinks."
 
Law2Doc said:
That kind of experience is what's worth all the money you are paying. While nobody is going to give you your life back, nobody is going to give you many more chances to get some of these experiences either.
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Touche, sir. I do rate my experience scrubbing on a liver implantation and assisting (probably actually closer to sabotaging) with the preparation of the liver on the backtable as irreplaceable.

Law2Doc said:
I would suggest that most of the people who take advantage of these experiences still have a life, just one made up of cool experiences and learning, rather than a few extra hours of sleep or the gym. You should milk everything cool out of med school you can. It's possible to get through med school with a very tepid, bland and uninspiring 4 years of relatively painless, uninteresting education, or you can extend yourself and do and learn some amazing stuff. Sure, if you take the latter road, you will have less time to sleep, drink, work out, bike ride. But when you look back you aren't going to remember the sleeping, drinking or gym, you are going to remember the cool stuff.
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I think this is where we diverge.

As an elite endurance athlete, I've become pretty adept at pacing myself, and this medical marathon requires good pacing. That's why I mentioned earlier that it's impossible to get everything in. Working at a sustainable rate will almost always be slower than the excitement/interest-fueled rate. I guess I have a very biased sample, but I saw a lot of my classmates approach "burnout" (self-described) during first year(!) trying to do every interest group, shadow, presentations, free-clinic, etc.

Extending yourself is one thing. Overextending is something else entirely. I agree that there is a lot of cool stuff out there and that everyone should get out there to try it. However, I'm advocating a conservative approach to this. You don't go from running 30 miles a week to 70 miles a week in a couple months. (Well, I did, and I have the osteoarthritis to show for it.) If you want to do it, then do it, but do it sustainably. My thought is that sometimes that requires recharging the batteries by going up to the roof of your building and having a couple beers and calling it an early night.

You have to be free to make the choice of committing yourself to slavery.

When I look back at first year, I'll remember a general sense of calm (with the minor exception of the exam I nearly failed). True, you can buy it in the form of anxiolytic drugs, but that's not the point of this! :laugh: I'll remember being away at a race every weekend in March and April. I'll remember flying to Colorado for the National Championships a week before my final set of exams...

There are things in medicine that you'll never have the opportunity to try again. However, there are also things in life that you'll never be able to have again.
 
Law2Doc said:
I hear you, but I think that in retrospect, you very well may look back on the some of the things you bailed on and be annoyed with yourself about the amazing FREE experiences you let slip away.
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This part is hard to argue against. You're right. I already regret not doing a few things. However, I think there are two ways to handle regret:

1) to beat yourself up and really regret it

2) understand that you did everything you could given the circumstances and the information available... use the experience to inform future decisions

There will always be regret. The people who live without regret freak me out. Seriously.
 
dienekes88 said:
...

I think this is where we diverge.

As an elite endurance athlete, I've become pretty adept at pacing myself, and this medical marathon requires good pacing. That's why I mentioned earlier that it's impossible to get everything in. Working at a sustainable rate will almost always be slower than the excitement/interest-fueled rate. I guess I have a very biased sample, but I saw a lot of my classmates approach "burnout" (self-described) during first year(!) trying to do every interest group, shadow, presentations, free-clinic, etc.

Extending yourself is one thing. Overextending is something else entirely. I agree that there is a lot of cool stuff out there and that everyone should get out there to try it. However, I'm advocating a conservative approach to this. You don't go from running 30 miles a week to 70 miles a week in a couple months. (Well, I did, and I have the osteoarthritis to show for it.) If you want to do it, then do it, but do it sustainably. My thought is that sometimes that requires recharging the batteries by going up to the roof of your building and having a couple beers and calling it an early night.

You have to be free to make the choice of committing yourself to slavery.

When I look back at first year, I'll remember a general sense of calm (with the minor exception of the exam I nearly failed). True, you can buy it in the form of anxiolytic drugs, but that's not the point of this! :laugh: I'll remember being away at a race every weekend in March and April. I'll remember flying to Colorado for the National Championships a week before my final set of exams...

There are things in medicine that you'll never have the opportunity to try again. However, there are also things in life that you'll never be able to have again.
Click to expand...

Alright, but when you look around your classroom, how many people are using the time they free up from avoiding these optional things to train for something as memorable as a national championship, spending time with a new child, or the like? We are talking about mere few percent of your class. If that's you, great. But for the other 95% of my class, who will be using the time to sleep, hit the gym, play WOW, or watch Lost, I think my advice is spot on.
 
dienekes88 said:
This part is hard to argue against. You're right. I already regret not doing a few things. However, I think there are two ways to handle regret:

1) to beat yourself up and really regret it

2) understand that you did everything you could given the circumstances and the information available... use the experience to inform future decisions

There will always be regret. The people who live without regret freak me out. Seriously.
Click to expand...
lol just my 2 cents but i think its silly to live with regret.. learn from it and move on but dont let it take over to any significant degree.. lifes too short anyway
but i love your line:

You have to be free to make the choice of committing yourself to slavery.
 
thank for the advice guys.. im hoping to shoot for a balance between dienekes and law2doc but sometimes i just find myself wanting to say screw it to everything and abandon everything to hang out with my bf... i need to strike a balance between him and medical school somehow...
 
dienekes88 said:
This part is hard to argue against. You're right. I already regret not doing a few things. However, I think there are two ways to handle regret:

1) to beat yourself up and really regret it

2) understand that you did everything you could given the circumstances and the information available... use the experience to inform future decisions

There will always be regret. The people who live without regret freak me out. Seriously.
Click to expand...

Going forward, you can be two kinds of person. One that lets opportunities pass by and probably will live to regret it, or one who seizes opportunities when they present themselves, free of charge. You will be handed many cool and educational opportunities, free of charge, in med school (again, this is optional stuff and not the lectures). It only costs you time you would be spending doing something else. If you go in with the attitude that you are going to grab at least some of those opportunities, and that if you lose an hour at the gym or an hour of TV here or there, then so what, I think you end up with fewer regrets. Sure if you are doing something competitively that is important to you, that may be an opportunity that you will look back at as fondly, but very very very few of your classmates are going to be in that boat. And most of the people who pass on the optional things use the time to do frivolous things, or maybe to study a few more hours to try and turn their HP into Honors (which in the end matters far less than the educational opportunity you turned down).

Everybody makes choices now and then because they are the easier path -- there's a bit of slacker in everybody. I'm just suggestion that if you approach things with a more gung ho attitude, you will get a lot more out of it. Much of med school is a "what you make of it" program. Anyone can hole up in the library most of each day the first two years and do fine. But if you do that, you don't come away with the valuable experience you could.
 
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ar2388 said:
thank for the advice guys.. im hoping to shoot for a balance between dienekes and law2doc but sometimes i just find myself wanting to say screw it to everything and abandon everything to hang out with my bf... i need to strike a balance between him and medical school somehow...
Click to expand...

The life -work(school) balance is an eternal struggle in this profession. Just think long and hard before you turn down some of the optional things that sound like they could be eye opening or helpful. Just because they say it's "only for folks who are interested" doesn't mean it won't be one of the more valuable things you are offered to do. Be prepared to go outside of your comfort zone now and then. Don't make med school into 4 years of keeping your head down, trying to squeak through with no extra effort, because you absolutely can, and most of the people who do that miss out on some of the best parts.
 
Law2Doc said:
Alright, but when you look around your classroom, how many people are using the time they free up from avoiding these optional things to train for something as memorable as a national championship, spending time with a new child, or the like? We are talking about mere few percent of your class. If that's you, great. But for the other 95% of my class, who will be using the time to sleep, hit the gym, play WOW, or watch Lost, I think my advice is spot on.
Click to expand...

Possible. I'm not entirely sure. I don't really pay attention to what they're doing. I agree that doing something useless that also wastes energy would be terrible, e.g. playing WOW 'til 4AM. I hope there aren't too many people doing that.

If it's sleeping, though, sometimes that's important to make sure you're still gung-ho about this medicine thing next month... and the next month... and so on, because burnout is far worse than missing out. It's a cost-benefit analysis, and everyone has to find their own dynamic equilibrium. For some... it could mean taking every opportunity. For others, it might require making tough choices about opportunities.

Fundamentally, I agree with what you're saying... but in moderation.
 
Law2Doc said:
Just think long and hard before you turn down some of the optional things that sound like they could be eye opening or helpful.
Click to expand...

Yes. Unfortunately, it sometimes takes a lot of thinking to decide that you have to take care of yourself.

ar2388 said:
thank for the advice guys.. im hoping to shoot for a balance between dienekes and law2doc but sometimes i just find myself wanting to say screw it to everything and abandon everything to hang out with my bf... i need to strike a balance between him and medical school somehow...
Click to expand...

Just to be sure. I'm not saying do the bare minimum. Just pace yourself intelligently.

ar2388 said:
lol just my 2 cents but i think its silly to live with regret.. learn from it and move on but dont let it take over to any significant degree.. lifes too short anyway
but i love your line:

You have to be free to make the choice of committing yourself to slavery.
Click to expand...

zOMG. You freak me out. :) I think to move on completely is to free yourself of culpability. There has to be personal responsibility.

To be honest, I adapted it from a friend who chose the ministry over medicine. He might've been quoting a book that I can't remember. I should've footnoted! O NOES.
 
It was surprising to me during M1 how many of my classmates seemed to be incredibly impressed with the fact that they were medical students. My advice is remember who you are (which is a lot more than "medical student"), keep your sense of humor, and cultivate a sense of humility about your own abilities and a sense of gratitude about the opportunity which is being given to you.

Good luck to you.
 
TheProwler said:
I've logged a few hours on Call of Duty 4 over the years...
Click to expand...

Same here, just not in med school. Used to play CS 1.6 semi-competitively and figured I'd call it quits when I started getting chain-banned from CoD4 servers. :laugh:
 
Also more advice:

The school will view you as a giant piggy bank with a giant dollar sign on your forehead. They will try to milk you for all you're worth.

Government money FTW
 
xanthomondo said:
Also more advice:

The school will view you as a giant piggy bank with a giant dollar sign on your forehead. They will try to milk you for all you're worth.

Government money FTW
Click to expand...
So true! Mind you I have not started a day of med school yet and won't for another 2 months almost... But a few weeks ago, my school called me for a donation! Needless to say, I politely told the lady that I had yet to even attend one day of class and would soon be giving them over 100K in tuition alone, so I won't be donating anything to anyone at the school for quite some time.
 
Law2Doc said:
That you slipped by up until now doesn't mean that it will never be an issue. Like it or not, people will judge you based on how you speak and communicate. Moreso the further along any education path you progress. So if you are going to become a professional, you need to always work to correct the defects in your education. I'm not slamming you, I'm just saying if you don't know that "advices" is not a word, there are probably a host of other mistakes you have been making, and someday, somebody important to your career is going to take notice. Fix these errors before they matter, NEVER take the attitude "well, I got this far, so I don't think it's that important".
Click to expand...

I appreciate your concern, Law2Doc. However, it's rather presumptuous of you to make a conclusion about any part of my life outside the SDN. The language I use on the SDN is obviously different from the one I use in my academic/professional life (I thought I could let myself loose a little on the SDN, couldn't I?). Furthermore, contrary to your belief, I do strive to improve myself in any way I can and embrace any kind of constructive criticism (Otherwise, I wouldn't be where I am today ;).) So, what you said earlier, I believe, was really unsubstantiated. If had noticed a small grammatical mistake in one of your threads, I still wouldn't have concluded that you overlook your own mistakes in life and have "defects" in your education. I'm sure other SDN members would've thought in the same way.

I believe the job of a moderator is to foster a supportive and constructive discussing environment, not to initiate an uncessary joke targeted towards an SDN member or to make rash assumptions about other members. If you really believe there is "rampant" misuse of words, you should discuss with other SDN moderators about institutionalizing some kind of a strigent grammar policy on all the future threads on the SDN. I personally would have no problem with following such policy, and it'll be probably more effective than trying to correct all the members one by one.

That being said, I do admit "advices" doesn't make me look particularly intelligent, but believe it or not, it is not in my vocabulary list outside the SDN. I would say it's a slip-up I would allow myself only on the SDN or other similar places. But, thanks for voicing your concern. Peace out. :)
 
Last edited:
hewmanoid said:
... The language I use on the SDN is obviously different from the one I use in my academic/professional life ...

That being said, I do admit "advices" doesn't make me look particularly intelligent, t believe it or not, it is not inbu my vocabulary list outside the SDN. ...
Click to expand...

There is nothing "obviously" about it. This is a pre-professional board and you are writing posts to future peers. I didn't mean to come down hard on you in particular, but this "advices" term is used so often on SDN (not just by you) that it's pretty clear many people (esp people for whom english is not their first language, and perhaps you -- since I still don't think your usage was "obviously" different from how you normally write, with nothing to compare it to) don't know it's not a word. And you were already being goofed on earlier in the thread by several others, so I thought it time to clarify the grammar, lest more people end up mis-learning things here. SDN is a resource for many and it's not just medical advice folks can pick up here -- bad grammar sometimes gets snared too. Sorry if you regarded my post as hostility. Best to clean up the grammar in ALL CONTEXTS (especially when writing to fellow future colleagues), and definitely grow a thicker skin if you are going down this path.
 
Law2Doc said:
The life -work(school) balance is an eternal struggle in this profession. Just think long and hard before you turn down some of the optional things that sound like they could be eye opening or helpful. Just because they say it's "only for folks who are interested" doesn't mean it won't be one of the more valuable things you are offered to do. Be prepared to go outside of your comfort zone now and then. Don't make med school into 4 years of keeping your head down, trying to squeak through with no extra effort, because you absolutely can, and most of the people who do that miss out on some of the best parts.
Click to expand...
I agree with this. One of the best things I did when I started med school was to join the Surgery Interest Group, even though I don't plan to go into surgery. But when they held suturing workshops where the surgery residents taught us to suture on cadavers or hamhocks, I went and learned some suturing skills. It helped make my surgery rotation a better experience because the surgeons let me suture more, which is a lot more fun than holding a retractor. Plus one attending wrote on my eval that I sutured as well as an intern, which isn't really true but it was still a nice compliment to get.

One thing I regret not doing during my first or second year is that I didn't take an A elective in emergency medicine at Metro that includes flying on the life flight helicopter. But the reason I didn't do it was because I didn't find out about it until the end of my second year when it was too late. The students in the class behind me who did it said it was awesome though. Hopefully I'll still get a chance to go on the helicopter at least once when I take EM in a few months. Or maybe I'll see if I can talk the registrar into letting me take the A elective in my fourth or fifth year. :cool:
 
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