Advice for non-traditional medical students?

[tryingoutthisdream]

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Hey, guys!

I have taken three years off and will be starting my first year of medical school this July (undergrad was in biochemistry). Though I am excited, I am nervous about the fact I have not been in an academic setting in a while- is there anything I can do to "prepare" before the semester starts? I have read over some material to review, but I am not sure how effective that is. Has anyone just gone in cold turkey, if you did, how difficult was it to get back your rhythm? If you did prepare, what was most useful that you have done? It is difficult to prepare for the unknown, but if there is anything I can do that has has been proven to make the transition back into school easier, I am up for it. Thanks!

 

[Lucky Day]

Hola. I'm pretty nontraditional. I would recommend you enjoy any time off you can get. Do anything that you've been wanting to do that's within your capabilities. Go in with a clear, rejuvenated mind and steady yourself for the grind.

I felt similar to you going in, but there really isn't any preparation that you can do at this point. Your best preparations are the qualities, activities and experiences that got you into medical school. The rest will work itself out. Just as a side note, I have yet to meet anyone in my class who wasn't capable and determined enough to handle the responsibilities. You'll be fine.

Oh, you could familiarize yourself with Anki. Anki is life. There are some non-medical decks that might be good initial exposure to how it works.

 

[Goro]

Hey, guys!

I have taken three years off and will be starting my first year of medical school this July (undergrad was in biochemistry). Though I am excited, I am nervous about the fact I have not been in an academic setting in a while- is there anything I can do to "prepare" before the semester starts? I have read over some material to review, but I am not sure how effective that is. Has anyone just gone in cold turkey, if you did, how difficult was it to get back your rhythm? If you did prepare, what was most useful that you have done? It is difficult to prepare for the unknown, but if there is anything I can do that has has been proven to make the transition back into school easier, I am up for it. Thanks!

Read this:

Goro’s guide to success in medical school (2018 ed.)

For those of you who have been accepted and are preparing at this point for matriculation and orientation, congrats! Good luck! You’ve earned it. You did it! You WILL be doctors!!! :thumbup::love::luck::hardy::highfive::soexcited::clap::=|:-)::woot::claps::banana::biglove: So pull up a...

forums.studentdoctor.net

 

[Cranjis McBasketball]

Hey, guys!

I have taken three years off and will be starting my first year of medical school this July (undergrad was in biochemistry). Though I am excited, I am nervous about the fact I have not been in an academic setting in a while- is there anything I can do to "prepare" before the semester starts? I have read over some material to review, but I am not sure how effective that is. Has anyone just gone in cold turkey, if you did, how difficult was it to get back your rhythm? If you did prepare, what was most useful that you have done? It is difficult to prepare for the unknown, but if there is anything I can do that has has been proven to make the transition back into school easier, I am up for it. Thanks!

Just enjoy your time. I didn't major in a life science, took basically only the required pre-reqs, had a 3 year gap in between graduating and starting med school and I'm consistently right around the average of the class. You'll be fine.

 

[doyouhaveaflag]

I took nine years off and did very well in med school. I think taking time off actually helped prevent me from getting burned out like I saw a lot of classmates struggle with. Most people don’t study the same way for med school as they did for undergrad. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. Do NOT waste any time trying to prepare.

 

[alexlex143]

I went back in cold turkey after about 4 years of little to no academic work. I didn't have time to do any "prep" beforehand since I was working pretty much until school started and then relocating took up quite a lot of time.

It was certainly challenging but my school hit us incredibly hard from the get go, which I actually think was beneficial in retrospect. You are forced to get it together and fast. Being an older student, the biggest problem for me was adapting my old study methods, which were not working at all (you really can't hand write EVERYTHING). After bombing a couple of the smaller exams, I was able to figure it out. Been going uphill ever since.

Don't get too comfortable with any one method because it won't always work for every subject, imo. Just be prepared to try different ways of learning. That took me some getting used to but it's fine now.

GL

 

[M&L]

Read this:

Goro’s guide to success in medical school (2018 ed.)

For those of you who have been accepted and are preparing at this point for matriculation and orientation, congrats! Good luck! You’ve earned it. You did it! You WILL be doctors!!! :thumbup::love::luck::hardy::highfive::soexcited::clap::=|:-)::woot::claps::banana::biglove: So pull up a...

forums.studentdoctor.net

wow... this is EXACTLY what i need right now. I was wondering how i can succeed in medical school, and i had a lot of concerns. This pretty much covered them for me.
I know it is not necessary, but i decided to study ahead with boards and beyond before school starts.

 

[mrbreakfast]

Nothing is worth doing; everyone gets blasted, traditional student or not. Just stay focused and keep the goal in sight and you'll do fine.

 

[Raney Schauer]

I went back in cold turkey

The phrase "cold turkey" is for when you quit things, specifically drugs of abuse.

 

[Ho0v-man]

The phrase "cold turkey" is for when you quit things, specifically drugs of abuse.

Can’t wait to cold turkey med school .

OP, I’m a nontrad. This is a second career for me. Life got in the way quite a few times for me. I was out of undergrad 3.5 years prior to starting. It definitely sucked at first. Everyone seemed so fresh on stuff I could barely remember existing. I thought I was going to fail every single test first semester (I guess it never really went away, but it got better). I just finished second year and I guess I did pretty well overall.