1st year vs 2nd year

[rodmichael82]

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I know 1st year was some what tough. How is 2nd year compared to first year?
Do most people fail 1st year or 2nd year?

EDIT:- My school is basic sciences for 1st year and then System based for 2nd year.

Thanks!

 

[Mass Effect]

Depends on your school and curriculum. At some schools, second year is all systems based while first year is basic science classes. At other schools, the first two years are all systems based with one year having the "tougher" systems. It just depends on your school.

 

[rodmichael82]

Depends on your school and curriculum. At some schools, second year is all systems based while first year is basic science classes. At other schools, the first two years are all systems based with one year having the "tougher" systems. It just depends on your school.

My school is basic sciences for 1st year and then System based for 2nd year.

 

[Kaputt]

It depends on your school's curriculum, but generally 2nd year is more of the same...classes and tests. It's not until 3rd year that things get different.

So let me give you the reassurance you're fishing for: you'll do fine.

 

[nardini46]

1st year is busy
2nd year is busy x 1.5

IMHO 2nd year is much tougher than first but 1st year weeds out the weaker students.

 

[NickNaylor]

Lot more material in MS2, but to some extent you start having that feeling of "this is what I came here to learn," which I found to be a little motivating. You start learning knowledge that certainly won't make you a master clinician but give you the ability to start understanding "real medical jargon." Yes, it's more work, but where MS1 just felt like banging my head against the wall, MS2 is more like a constant level of only slightly uncomfortable pressure against the wall. There's still stress, but I found it to be much more manageable - primarily because I (and many of my classmates) became much more efficient at studying.

I found it to be significantly more enjoyable than MS1.

Sent from my Nexus 7

 

[Frank Nutter]

Most agree that second year is more challenging in terms of volume and type of material, but also more interesting and you will (hopefully) be a more efficient learner.

Overall you'll probably feel as challenged as you did first year, but will actually be doing much more difficult work.

I'd say an equal % failed first and second years.

 

[Kaustikos]

Lot more material in MS2, but to some extent you start having that feeling of "this is what I came here to learn," which I found to be a little motivating. You start learning knowledge that certainly won't make you a master clinician but give you the ability to start understanding "real medical jargon." Yes, it's more work, but where MS1 just felt like banging my head against the wall, MS2 is more like a constant level of only slightly uncomfortable pressure against the wall. There's still stress, but I found it to be much more manageable - primarily because I (and many of my classmates) became much more efficient at studying.

I found it to be significantly more enjoyable than MS1.

Sent from my Nexus 7

Yeah, agreed. My courses so far (Pharm, Path and Clinical Medicine) started out as a stressful nightmare and distaste for ****. But that was because the exams in Clinical Medicine were bull****. But after studying the **** on my own (Step-Up THANK YOU) I began to realize/see how awesome MS2 was. We also get to see/interview patients and do physical exams and it's remarkable how much different my thought process/knowledge has changed. I'm not saying I'm a master clinician, as you pretty much said, but I do find it more of an enjoyment now because I can put my thoughts together and make sense of what I'm learning.

MS1 I just learned how things worked...so if you asked me to ask what would happen if X happened to Y organ, I'd need some time/wouldn't know. But now... I feel more comfortable answering these questions. MS2 is better. Minus the fact that you're studying for boards... which is a huge stress.

I'll also add that how well your courses are in MS1 can have a major influence on MS2. My neuro class in MS1 was absolutely BRUTAL. I loved the course to death/loved learning it, but the exams were the most difficult exams I've ever taken. Fast forward to now - We take neuropath/neuroclin and I'm A LOT more comfortable with the material. You ask me about tumors/spinal cord issues/cranial nerve issues and I can essentially tell you what's up.

I'll also add that having a classmate/friend who has an interest in actually learning the material beyond what's required and asking why something is helps. My friend/roommate and I always have discussions after class about material and bounce ideas off each other. Last year we had email conversations that were 50 messages long between myself, the professor and him. Some people in the class are happy with just learning the material and regurgitating. I like learning it and discussing it. I want to hear other people's thoughts on the matter. Why is it X. Why isn't it Y syndrome?

 

[J ROD]

from what I gather 1st yr is worse than 2nd yr at my school.

We rank Pharm, Neuro, Physio, and Gross as our hardest classes.

Plus, 2nd yr you take classes that will actually help you. Path, Micro, Pharm......

Gross, Histo, and Biochem are less yield in my opinion.

 

[siliso]

I thought second year was easier, but I like diseases and drugs more than I like biochem and immunology. It didn't feel like more to me, but it did to a lot of people. YMMV

 

[Kaustikos]

from what I gather 1st yr is worse than 2nd yr at my school.

We rank Pharm, Neuro, Physio, and Gross as our hardest classes.

Plus, 2nd yr you take classes that will actually help you. Path, Micro, Pharm......

Gross, Histo, and Biochem are less yield in my opinion.

The only thing I took from Gross were nerves, vessels and chest/abdomen. Muscles are a thing of the past to me.

Histo made me MAYBE 20% more confident in looking at slides. But I still can't save me life when looking at them in Path.

Also, I'm guessing Pharm wasn't that difficult for you

 

[NickNaylor]

The only thing I took from Gross were nerves, vessels and chest/abdomen. Muscles are a thing of the past to me.

Histo made me MAYBE 20% more confident in looking at slides. But I still can't save me life when looking at them in Path.

Also, I'm guessing Pharm wasn't that difficult for you

I remember exactly zero from anatomy.

Sent from my Nexus 7

 

[John Lannister]

The only thing I took from Gross were nerves, vessels and chest/abdomen. Muscles are a thing of the past to me.

Histo made me MAYBE 20% more confident in looking at slides. But I still can't save me life when looking at them in Path.

Also, I'm guessing Pharm wasn't that difficult for you

Yeah, anatomy is very useful if you ignore 80% of what they teach and only learn what is clinically relevant.

 

[Kaustikos]

I remember exactly zero from anatomy.

Sent from my Nexus 7

Makes studying boards more fun, right?

Yeah, anatomy is very useful if you ignore 80% of what they teach and only learn what is clinically relevant.

Yup. One of the hardest classes that becomes vaguely relevant. I'm thankful because I have no interest in surgery or being an orthopod. Thanks, Anatomy.

 

[Armadillos]

I think second year is actually significantly easier than first year in the curriculums where you do stuff like anatomy, biochem, etc. first year then path/micro/pharm second year.

First year I was just like "what in the world are you talking about, I dont know what any of these words mean and when I look up the definitions I dont know what those words mean"

By second year I felt like I at least knew some physiological/medical vocabulary so I feel like I have to study things way less times than I did first year because I have knowledge to connect new things to. I study a lot less second year and have way more free time because of no anatomy lab.

I probably should be doing some board prep or something, but Im the type not to really get motivated until I feel the pressure so hoping my 5 weeks this summer will be enough.

 

[survivordo]

I found 1st year much worse. You have the adjustment of being a medical student and a lot of the material is fairly boring and just seems like undergrad on steroids. 2nd year you are starting to get into a groove and systems are actually interesting and pertinent to your future career. I also stopped going to class second year, this certainly could have had something to do with it!

Survivor DO

 

[Stellar Clouds]

You definitely get thrown more information during 2nd year, but:
1.) it's more interesting (typically)
2.) you are significantly better at studying at the beginning of 2nd year than you were at the beginning of 1st year

 

[notbobtrustme]

I'm hoping that MS2 is better because M1 stuff is just getting so boring right now. The only class that is interesting at all is physiology, which is also high yield for the boards and very revelant in the clinics (at least IMO). Everything else is super low yield or essentially useless for clinical practice.

 

[Kaustikos]

I'm hoping that MS2 is better because M1 stuff is just getting so boring right now. The only class that is interesting at all is physiology, which is also high yield for the boards and very revelant in the clinics (at least IMO). Everything else is super low yield or essentially useless for clinical practice.

....

Micro and Biochem are NOT low yield.

 

[NickNaylor]

....

Micro and Biochem are NOT low yield.

I would agree with you in that they are heavily tested on step 1, however we learned a LOT of nonsense in our biochem and micro classes that was so irrelevant that it was laughable. It just depends on what the professors decide to focus on; in my case, my experience was similar to notbob in that the material was very random, not really presented in context, and clinically relevant material was not exactly what I would call "emphasized."

 

[BlaseFaire]

Origins and insertions. Ha.

 

[bashir]

First year I was just like "what in the world are you talking about, I dont know what any of these words mean and when I look up the definitions I dont know what those words mean"

I just have to say, that's the best summary of first year I've ever heard (plus it made me laugh really hard).

 

[e30ftw]

my school was P/F and no mandatory attendance so the first part of MS2 was basically like MS1 just a little busier.. wake up at 10am everyday, take a week vacation after exam weeks, then start studying a couple weeks before exams gradually ratcheting up the studying as exam week drew near. No real responsibilities and lots of opportunities to go to the beach/mountains/etc.

starting in april when step 1 is looming MS2 became pretty damn miserable. the first 3/4 weren't bad though.

 

[BlaseFaire]

What did you do to manage class/ramp up for Step 1 studying? How does the MS1/MS2 mindset differ?

 

[NickNaylor]

What did you do to manage class/ramp up for Step 1 studying? How does the MS1/MS2 mindset differ?

I would say that I took MS2 more seriously in general. The material seems more relevant (even if some of it isn't), so it's a lot easier to put on your srs cap. As far as step 1 specifically, I tried to constantly do Kaplan questions on all of the material we had learned up to this point - both to get a feel for boards type questions (funny considering it was Kaplan) and perhaps start freshening up on the old material. That was pretty time consuming so I stopped that early on. The main thing I ended up doing was reading the entire section of FA for whatever organ system I was on. I used FA/Pathoma almost exclusively for my studying, so reading the entire section in FA was a great way to review the MS1 material. That way you really only have to relearn the killer stuff - micro, biochem, etc..

Everyone has a different strategy though.

Sent from my Nexus 7

 

[Kaustikos]

I would agree with you in that they are heavily tested on step 1, however we learned a LOT of nonsense in our biochem and micro classes that was so irrelevant that it was laughable. It just depends on what the professors decide to focus on; in my case, my experience was similar to notbob in that the material was very random, not really presented in context, and clinically relevant material was not exactly what I would call "emphasized."

Very true, then. Although it feels like the first aid still has a lot of material for micro...

 

[John Lannister]

Very true, then. Although it feels like the first aid still has a lot of material for micro...

We got killed in micro and biochem too. Dumb courses.

 

[corbis11]

I liked first year while I hate second year with a passion. 3rd year has been awesome (with the exception of psych)...however i've met plenty of people who loved second year because "everything started to come together and make sense" and hated 3rd year because the hours are long and you don't really know what you're doing and it's a humbling experience (imo)

 

[tiedyeddog]

I liked first year while I hate second year with a passion. 3rd year has been awesome (with the exception of psych)...however i've met plenty of people who loved second year because "everything started to come together and make sense" and hated 3rd year because the hours are long and you don't really know what you're doing and it's a humbling experience (imo)

I also hated most of second year... Not sure why but I can't wait for third year.

 

[NickNaylor]

I also hated most of second year... Not sure why but I can't wait for third year.

MS2 was great until step 1...

I has a major sad.

 

[Kaustikos]

MS2 was great until step 1...

I has a major sad.

Have you already taken Step 1?

I haven't exactly enjoyed second year. It seems that the more I try to learn material to understand/feel better about it, the worse I do on the clinical medicine courses...

and step 1...june 4th.

 

[NickNaylor]

Have you already taken Step 1?

I haven't exactly enjoyed second year. It seems that the more I try to learn material to understand/feel better about it, the worse I do on the clinical medicine courses...

and step 1...june 4th.

Nope, May 3rd. 17 days. 🙁

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