adjustment to medical school?

[slick27]

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It seems like I am studying much more than my classmates to make up for my poor memory ability. Does it get better?

 

[DrYoda]

😕 Are you asking if med school gets easier than undergrad? I assure you it gets harder (mostly a large amount of material in a short time hard, it's not really that conceptually hard).

You can however work on improving your study habits and efficiency.

 

[TreeOfSouls]

I'm not sure how far along you are in undergrad, but study skills including memory do improve for most people (brain plasticity- yay!) so that it seems to get "easier". Also, you spend the first couple of years learning fundamentals, so for a lot of people most of what they're learning is totally new and it takes longer for that kind of information to get firmly placed into long term memory. Once that happens (through repetition mainly- you start to see the same type of concepts over and over again), then you can learn new- related- information much faster. It has to do with whether your brain has good associations for the information, which is based on categorization and familiarity.

Medical school, from what I hear, will involve learning a ton of material in a very short time. So, you may want to start working on learning ways to memorize... there are "tricks" you can use and I'd recommend doing a little research into that so that you can start practicing now and building those skills. Otherwise, sounds like medical school could be overwhelming.

 

[thesauce]

It seems like I am studying much more than my classmates to make up for my poor memory ability. Does it get better?

I would just concentrate on doing well in your classes. Your grades are a much stronger barometer of your abilities in comparison to your peers than some perceived ratio of grade to effort. Honestly, you don't really know how hard your classmates are studying.

 

[klmnop]

It seems like I am studying much more than my classmates to make up for my poor memory ability. Does it get better?

this is a good thing. yes memorization is vital, but memorization is a learned and developed skill. with good study habits you will train your memory and it will soon be as good as your peers. moreover, because you have had to work harder you will be better prepared for med school and will likely work harder and perform better. this is a blessing in disguise. its the kids that don't have to work hard in order to succeed that never reach their potential. you on the other hand are reaching it and continuing to expand this. good luck.

 

[tncekm]

It seems like I am studying much more than my classmates to make up for my poor memory ability. Does it get better?

I hear 2nd year is more memorization than first. Just tough it out! You're almost there 👍

 

[thesauce]

😕 Are you asking if med school gets easier than undergrad? I assure you it gets harder (mostly a large amount of material in a short time hard, it's not really that conceptually hard).

You can however work on improving your study habits and efficiency.

I thought undergrad was harder.

 

[QuizzicalApe]

If you find yourself having a hard time because you say to yourself, "Who cares about art history, it won't be useful in my career", then medical school might get easier in that respect.

 

[drizzt3117]

I thought undergrad was harder.

Definitely agree. At least in the preclinicals, I've never been in a situation where I've been taking a test and been like W T F. This happened on every single exam in ug haha (engineer at a notoriously difficult school.

 

[thesauce]

Definitely agree. At least in the preclinicals, I've never been in a situation where I've been taking a test and been like W T F. This happened on every single exam in ug haha (engineer at a notoriously difficult school.

Haha. Also an engineer.

 

[MilkmanAl]

I think that's an experience only people on the physics/engineering side of things would understand. I'm working a hell of a lot more in med school than I did in undergrad, but the difficulty level of a sophomore physics class blows med school school away. As always, it's the volume here that's the killer.

As for the studying amount, it's certainly something to consider. I've always been curious how people who constantly killed themselves to keep a high GPA in undergrad transitioned to med school where there's literally four times as much material flying at you. You do get quite a lot better at studying very quickly out of necessity, but there are only so many hours in a day. If it takes you 3 nights of lost sleep to do decently on an undergrad bio exam, you might want to seriously consider doing something else with your life.

 

[ThaliaNox]

I actually know a couple people in med school who have reached their time threshold, as far as studying goes. They did really well in undergrad, but did so by studying literally all the time. Then hits med school, where the amount of work goes up, and they smacked a wall as far as time goes because they simply ran out of time in the day. They are doing a bit better now for a couple reasons. One: they learned more efficient ways to study, and two: they had to learn to be satisfied with passing cleanly, but being below the mean of the class. They still study nearly all the time. I'd have a hard time staying sane if I put as much time into school as they do.

 

[MilkmanAl]

👍 That's pretty much what I was saying. If college drains you, chances are quite high that you will absolutely miserable during the first two years of med school and won't have particularly great results to show for it.

 

[FloatOn]

Correct me if I'm wrong med students, but in med school they throw a huge-ass binder of material at you and then you just take a test on it. You repeat this over and over and over and over again. This cycle probably becomes numbing pretty quickly so you don't even have to think about what you have to do with the next huge-ass binder.

What I find annoying about the work in college is everything that's not in test form: group projects, papers, quizzes, homework problems whether it's on paper or online, readings in preparation for group discussion, data analysis, etc.

So OP, maybe it's less of your poor memory than just having to do all of these other little things on the side besides the exams.

 

[whoknows2012]

Not bad float on...Most of what you said is true in that after the 3rd or 4th time you are required to ingest then spit out ridiculous amounts of information it becomes A)easier and B) you become numb to it. We have already been tested over 20 times in my first yr, with 2 more coming up tomorrow so if you don't get used to it I'd say you might struggle big time. On the other hand I don't know anyone that hasn't gotten used to it by now.

 

[carbear02]

I thought undergrad was harder.

for you guys who thought ugrad was harder, where did ya'll go to school?

 

[drizzt3117]

for you guys who thought ugrad was harder, where did ya'll go to school?

MIT, course 10

 

[tncekm]

I think that's an experience only people on the physics/engineering side of things would understand.

Conceptually challenging major can either be horrible, or a god-send. If you just "get it", they're great because there is very little to memorize. If you don't, well, you're going to feel a bit "crazy" repeating the same thing over and over again trying to make sense of stuff.

 

[ZeusonRoids]

I have a fairly bad memory too. and I am destracted by everything. It makes being in medical school that much harder. Trust me!!! If you are having a difficult time in undergrad chances are you won't get into medical school...sad but true.

 

[thesauce]

Correct me if I'm wrong med students, but in med school they throw a huge-ass binder of material at you and then you just take a test on it. You repeat this over and over and over and over again. This cycle probably becomes numbing pretty quickly so you don't even have to think about what you have to do with the next huge-ass binder.

What I find annoying about the work in college is everything that's not in test form: group projects, papers, quizzes, homework problems whether it's on paper or online, readings in preparation for group discussion, data analysis, etc.

So OP, maybe it's less of your poor memory than just having to do all of these other little things on the side besides the exams.

We had all those in medical school, too.

 

[thesauce]

for you guys who thought ugrad was harder, where did ya'll go to school?

Middle of the road state school with a strong Chemical Engineering program. Med school at a middle of the road state school as well.

 

[thesauce]

Conceptually challenging major can either be horrible, or a god-send. If you just "get it", they're great because there is very little to memorize. If you don't, well, you're going to feel a bit "crazy" repeating the same thing over and over again trying to make sense of stuff.

Even if you understand engineering, it's no god-send. We turned in 10+ page assignments every other day for each class.

 

[ThaliaNox]

Here's another affirmation of the fact that you'll still have nonsense to do outside of tests in med school. Little papers, clinics, small groups on ethics and health policy, practice questions graded and not graded, big group meetings where they scare you about matching, the boards or class averages, other group meetings about avoiding depression or study habits, yet more small groups about planning your career and picking specialties, etc.

 

[indianjatt]

I think that's an experience only people on the physics/engineering side of things would understand. I'm working a hell of a lot more in med school than I did in undergrad, but the difficulty level of a sophomore physics class blows med school school away. As always, it's the volume here that's the killer.

As for the studying amount, it's certainly something to consider. I've always been curious how people who constantly killed themselves to keep a high GPA in undergrad transitioned to med school where there's literally four times as much material flying at you. You do get quite a lot better at studying very quickly out of necessity, but there are only so many hours in a day. If it takes you 3 nights of lost sleep to do decently on an undergrad bio exam, you might want to seriously consider doing something else with your life.

Sorry for budging in, but what's decent on a Bio exam. 😛 In my AP Biology class we use the same book UC Berkeley Bio 1A students use, so the book remains the same, but our grade gets curved on an AP scale (questions are made by the maker of the book so they are rather difficult compared to the AP exam). For example, we have 50 MC questions which make up 90 points of our score (MC x 1.8) and two essays which make up 60 points of our score (Essay Points x 3), with a 95 + being a 100% on the test, or 5/5.

I have gotten all 5's with the exception of one 3 (photosythesis + cellular respiration 😕). Even though I get an average of about 60-70%, is that too low to consider going to medical school? I know it seems low, but since my main motivation in that class was basically to get an A, I didn't put in a lot of effort since I knew getting 90/150 was fairly easy. I literally just studied the day before by using a workbook and didn't read the book (I know, things have to change in college.)

I'm just worried that when you mean if you're studying a lot for your Biology test to get an A (90/100), it isn't meant for you. The reason I'm worried is that I bet in college the Bio tests will get harder and I may possibly have to study that long (Read the chapter before lecture, skim the book, and study a few days before?)... sigh

 

[dw2158]

Sorry for budging in, but what's decent on a Bio exam. 😛 In my AP Biology class we use the same book UC Berkeley Bio 1A students use, so the book remains the same, but our grade gets curved on an AP scale (questions are made by the maker of the book so they are rather difficult compared to the AP exam). For example, we have 50 MC questions which make up 90 points of our score (MC x 1.8) and two essays which make up 60 points of our score (Essay Points x 3), with a 95 + being a 100% on the test, or 5/5.

I have gotten all 5's with the exception of one 3 (photosythesis + cellular respiration 😕). Even though I get an average of about 60-70%, is that too low to consider going to medical school? I know it seems low, but since my main motivation in that class was basically to get an A, I didn't put in a lot of effort since I knew getting 90/150 is fairly easy. I literally just studied the day before by using a workbook and didn't read the book (I know, things have to change in college.)

I'm just worried that when you mean if you're studying a lot for your Biology test to get an A (90/100), it isn't meant for you. The reason I'm worried is that I bet in college the Bio tests will get harder and I may possibly have to study that long... sigh

oooookay, take a deep breath. Milkman was referring to college biology exams. your strong AP background can only help you here-- it is a huge waste of your time to get worked up about whether the college biology tests "will get harder" before you've even graduated from high school. honestly, there's no sense in thinking about this. you'll do your best once you start college, and reassess after your first semester or two if you need to.

 

[MilkmanAl]

I'd get a few years into college before worrying about whether med school is a viable option or not. Basically, I'm just saying that, in general, the amount of work you need to put in to make yourself a qualified med school applicant and the thought you give to pursuing other careers should have a fairly close correlation, for your own sake.

 

[JokerMD]

Sorry for budging in

WTF 😕

 

[indianjatt]

WTF 😕

You don't like that expression, huh?

But on a more serious note, I inserted that phrase because I'm a high school student and I didn't want to interrupt the med students and what not. ALthough it seemed imperative I did interrupt because the amount of studying may be how much I may need in college and I needed the comforting (and honest) advice of "you'll be fine."

 

[Alvarez13]

Haha. Also an engineer.

Sweet. I was biomed/mechanical at a fairly difficult school, so I hope it comes in handy. I graduated with a 3.5 GPA and it was considered "high honors" lol. I think 3.35 at Georgia Tech is considered Magna Cum Laude there (that'd suck to apply to med school from there).

 

[Alvarez13]

Yes it was a 3.35 and there were several departments that hadn't graduated anyone Magna Cum Laude in years. Yes it did suck apply from there. It sucked even more the second time around.

Undergrad engineering was SO much worse than med school. Here you're at least pretty much guarenteeed to graduate. There every passing grade was a minor miracle. I remember one class where I studied pretty much around the clock and got a 12/100.

Lol! Sorry to hear that man. A pain I've felt all to well. Hopefully you'll be able to develop some pretty sweet medical devices and retire before you hit attending status.

 

[vickpick]

hah!

 

[thesauce]

Sweet. I was biomed/mechanical at a fairly difficult school, so I hope it comes in handy. I graduated with a 3.5 GPA and it was considered "high honors" lol. I think 3.35 at Georgia Tech is considered Magna Cum Laude there (that'd suck to apply to med school from there).

I had a good friend graduate GT with a 3.3. He then went to MCG and honored every single course, scored 257 on step 1, 272 on step 2, and matched radonc. I can't even imagine what they put people through at that school.

 

[FloatOn]

We had all those in medical school, too.

Here's another affirmation of the fact that you'll still have nonsense to do outside of tests in med school. Little papers, clinics, small groups on ethics and health policy, practice questions graded and not graded, big group meetings where they scare you about matching, the boards or class averages, other group meetings about avoiding depression or study habits, yet more small groups about planning your career and picking specialties, etc.

Ugh.

 

[iheartmpls]

Correct me if I'm wrong med students, but in med school they throw a huge-ass binder of material at you and then you just take a test on it. You repeat this over and over and over and over again. This cycle probably becomes numbing pretty quickly so you don't even have to think about what you have to do with the next huge-ass binder.

What I find annoying about the work in college is everything that's not in test form: group projects, papers, quizzes, homework problems whether it's on paper or online, readings in preparation for group discussion, data analysis, etc.

So OP, maybe it's less of your poor memory than just having to do all of these other little things on the side besides the exams.

FALSE! You still have labs, papers, quizzes, readings and tons of group work in medical school. Medical school isn't hard simply because it's a lot of studying, it's hard because you have to find time to study in addition to getting everything else done. I'd like to also add that most med students are also volunteering and involved in student organizations. It's the same for physicians, many volunteer, teach, do research, or are involved in organizations in addition to their practice. If you don't enjoy doing these things now, take a good hard look at whether or not this is the right career for you.

For the OP, like a lot of things, studying takes practice. The more you do it the better you will get at it and the less time and effort it will take. Good luck!