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Started by treeclimbingmonkey
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Don’t pre-study.
I second this.
However, there are some things that you can do to get ready. Use this time to start building good habits. Get a good sleep schedule. Establish a workout routine. Get in the habit of meditating if you think that'll be your thing. Get familiar with anki and other study resources that you think you may use.
Outside of that, prioritize spending time with your loved ones. It only gets harder to spend true quality time with them after school starts.
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deleted1079620
Study meal prepping instead.
Meal prepping and getting in a great 30min a day workout plan or something will make your future self far more efficient and efffextive during those study sessions
After a decade on SDN this question STILL comes up. I guess its the one constant. Go for it OP, buy Cecils and power through it or youre already behind. Let the gunner games begin.
Robbins.
And not Baby Robbins either, you're an adult now.
And not Baby Robbins either, you're an adult now.
Spanish.
Learn Anki during early summer (settings, etc.). Start with Anking on day 1 of class. Some may say it's overkill w/ step 1 being p/f but the material is still the same. Do Anki everyday and your future self will thank you
I would like to disagree here. It's almost impossible to do Anki without the bare basics of medicine under your belt. If you start too early, all you do is rote memorization. I would say if Anki is your jam, start it in the second semester.
Research skill like Python or R
I feel like you responded with this in a similar thread a year ago, and I liked it and quoted with a "ditto" like I am now.
ditto, very useful if you want to do your own stats and be independent when it comes to doing some types of research.
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This. Especially if your med school is in SoCal, but really anywhere it comes in handy. I'm jealous of the people that have taken time to get good at it, and it is useful when you are a MS3/4 on rotations.
Enjoy now while you can. You will have plenty of studies to do when you start.
Don't waste your time pressuring. Enjoy life
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Pre-studying is a literal waste of time and energy. Enjoy your time before school starts.
What others have said—optimize your schedule so you start school refreshed and energetic. Learn to be efficient in shopping and meal prep. Take a course in Spanish for Medicine if you can. And enjoy your friends and family!
Meditation.
Weird. Prestudy threads don't usually pop up until at least March. I guess climate change really is affecting everything.
Enjoy your life. Travel. Take up some hobbies that you might enjoy and help you destress during the limited free time you will have during medical school.
The first week of med school our dean told us: Undergrad is a drinking fountain. These next two years will be like drinking from a fire hydrant.
While that may be a bit of an exaggeration, it's somewhat accurate. While that may seem a reason to pre-study, you can also look at it as there is so much information, you just don't have the tools to put it in the proper framework to learn it until you start.
Would it hurt to look over something like first aid? Of course not. If medical school didactic material interests you, then think of it as your 'hobby' for the next year or so. But I wouldn't go into this next year expecting to get any sort of head start.
Enjoy what you have now. Once you start medical school you're on a professional continuum of learner to attending. You're in your last year of professional 'innocence' so to speak with your acceptance, so go make the most of that before it runs out. I don't mean that to sound bleak, but you get what I mean.
While that may be a bit of an exaggeration, it's somewhat accurate. While that may seem a reason to pre-study, you can also look at it as there is so much information, you just don't have the tools to put it in the proper framework to learn it until you start.
Would it hurt to look over something like first aid? Of course not. If medical school didactic material interests you, then think of it as your 'hobby' for the next year or so. But I wouldn't go into this next year expecting to get any sort of head start.
Enjoy what you have now. Once you start medical school you're on a professional continuum of learner to attending. You're in your last year of professional 'innocence' so to speak with your acceptance, so go make the most of that before it runs out. I don't mean that to sound bleak, but you get what I mean.
That's great! Make sure you find a good studio that will let you do some painting. Check out any events or online publications that showcase student art. Some schools will encourage students to showcase their art for fundraising purposes (student run free clinic) every year.
That said it is really hard to learn to meditate and "do NOTHING."
Meditating is a good habit to get into. Odds are you will have more academic stress this fall than you have ever had before. It'll be a good way to deal with that new burden. Exercise also helps.
Otherwise, take a massive victory lap. Enjoy the afterglow of the acceptance. See your friends and family a whole lot. Do your favorite hobbies a whole lot. Don't pick up a single book that isn't for leisure reading.
Otherwise, take a massive victory lap. Enjoy the afterglow of the acceptance. See your friends and family a whole lot. Do your favorite hobbies a whole lot. Don't pick up a single book that isn't for leisure reading.
any studying you do will likely have a minor impact but will majorly take away from the time that you can enjoy yourself/be free before you sign yourself over to a very long/exhausting commitment.
focus on you. Live your life. Indulge. Make (reasonable) regrets.
focus on you. Live your life. Indulge. Make (reasonable) regrets.
If you have any concerns about your own mental or physical health, try and get that checked out/diagnosed/treated/managed before starting school. Especially true if you think you have underlying anxiety, depression, or ADHD.
School may exacerbate health issues and it can be a difficult to get help when you have time constraints and stress.
School may exacerbate health issues and it can be a difficult to get help when you have time constraints and stress.
Knowing Spanish has been useful on every rotation I've done so far (had to get certified ofc). It also looks great on residency applications, and it's just awesome and useful
D
deleted1079620
What sort of certification did you get? I have an inordinate amount of free time at the end of 3rd year and during 4th year, so I’d like to look into this more. My very little Spanish background is 6 hours of undergrad Spanish.
I more mean unsuspend cards that deal with the topics covered in lectures each day - starting from day 1. Not just haphazardly unlocking cards about unrelated things that haven't been covered.
I’m gonna be the contrarian.
I have told people not to pre study when I was a little more active on this forum. But seeing as medical school is a teach yourself, choose your own adventure type of learning anyway, AND it sounds like you feel content and don’t have anything else you want to add to your life then yeah whatever, download your school’s syllabus or get a sense of the course outline, and download a huge pre-made Anki deck and start chipping away.
By the time school starts, you’ll have matured a lot of cards and you will always be ahead. Your time is your greatest capital so perhaps a future version of yourself will thank you. Don’t prestudy comes from a good place, and I really believed it at one point.
But not anymore.
I have told people not to pre study when I was a little more active on this forum. But seeing as medical school is a teach yourself, choose your own adventure type of learning anyway, AND it sounds like you feel content and don’t have anything else you want to add to your life then yeah whatever, download your school’s syllabus or get a sense of the course outline, and download a huge pre-made Anki deck and start chipping away.
By the time school starts, you’ll have matured a lot of cards and you will always be ahead. Your time is your greatest capital so perhaps a future version of yourself will thank you. Don’t prestudy comes from a good place, and I really believed it at one point.
But not anymore.
One of the most important things you can do is "develop good study habits". You got into medical school, so you're smart. Smart people in college often find that they can just drift through the first 3 weeks of a semester, and then start studying the material. Do not make that mistake in medical school. You start studying on day one.
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This really may be the longest most stress free break you get until you retire. Think long and hard before wasting it studying.
My example for not pre studying has always been this: when you’re in dedicated step 1 time, you’re probably at your preclinical knowledge peak, you know the material and how to study it, and you’ll usually cram again for 3-6 weeks prior to the test. Even during this peak period, after a bit you will realize you have already forgotten some things you had just re studied a few weeks ago. Happens to everyone and usually means you’ve peaked and time to take your exam.
Now, if you’re still going to forget some things you studied only a few weeks earlier when you’re at your peak, how much are you going to remember of what you study now when school starts? This is why nobody ever comes back and says pre studying was great and helped them succeed.
Whatever med school factoid you learn now you will either re learn 5x by December, or forget it entirely. Either way, it’s a total waste to learn it now.
Do literally anything else.
My example for not pre studying has always been this: when you’re in dedicated step 1 time, you’re probably at your preclinical knowledge peak, you know the material and how to study it, and you’ll usually cram again for 3-6 weeks prior to the test. Even during this peak period, after a bit you will realize you have already forgotten some things you had just re studied a few weeks ago. Happens to everyone and usually means you’ve peaked and time to take your exam.
Now, if you’re still going to forget some things you studied only a few weeks earlier when you’re at your peak, how much are you going to remember of what you study now when school starts? This is why nobody ever comes back and says pre studying was great and helped them succeed.
Whatever med school factoid you learn now you will either re learn 5x by December, or forget it entirely. Either way, it’s a total waste to learn it now.
Do literally anything else.
How proficient do you recommend we be in Python/R before we matriculate? I have a few months on my hands and I’m interested in a competitive specialty that’s going to require me to churn out some pubs in med school.
I got the book "Learning Statistics with R" out from the library and went through it casually over like 5 months when I had downtime at work. It gave me everything I needed to know to work with R (and a far stronger understanding of stats), and most things you'd need to do if you don't know how to do it will be easily googable with that working knowledge.
comfortable with all the data science packages and able to read and understand stack overflow
