am i the only one STRUGGLING?

[bubbleyum]

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so far it's been 4 weeks of class with two exams (most recently gross anatomy.) now i feel like i've been putting in a lot of hours studying, because i'm not the type to go bar hopping anyways. the last 2 weeks i think i've been sleeping about 4-5 hours a day and stressed out. and i am not doing well on my exams at all!

what is wrong with me? it seems like my school is full of these people that went to all the drinking parties during orientation week, then just read over some stuff, and aces their exams. and here on sdn i see posts like, "i aced my first exams and i don't think med school is bad at all" etc etc.

i didn't think i was stupid, but now i am scared i am going to be one of those people that study hard and barely pass to get their md.(don't even want to think about failing out...) i knew med school would be a lot of hard work, but i thought as long as i put in the long hours i would do ok. i thought people who didn't do well on their exams are those who just didn't study enough.

does everybody else know something that i don't know? is everybody who tells me that they "just looked over the lecture handouts and only missed two questions on the exam" lying? or am i just really helpless... i am discouraged and can't even enjoy this labor day weekend. 🙁 any advice or stories of encouragement? study tips?

 

[Syranope2]

Ok, first a couple of deep breaths. In and out.

Now on to the more important stuff. You are now attending medical school. You've gotten in. You've made it through high school and college and MCATS and applications and you've gotten in. Medical schools aren't stupid, they know what they're doing when they select people to attend. You deserve to be where you are, regardless of how you're feeling right now.

No, you're not hopeless. No, you're not stupid. You're adjusting to a brand new school, likely a brand new city, and a lot of brand new information. It takes getting used to. Believe it or not, in a couple of months, you will have found your groove, you'll know what kind of studying works for you and you'll know what you have to do to pass (or honors or whatever it is you're aiming for). Look at your first year, or at least the first part of it, as an experiment for you to determine how you best learn. If you can figure that out, you'll be golden for the next three semesters of preclinicals. It sounds like what you're doing right now isn't working for you, so try out some other stuff. If you go to class, try not going, or vice versa. Ask your friends what works for them and then try it out.

But one of the most important things I learned out of first year was not to trust everything your colleagues say about their study time and test performance. Med students are notorious for spending hours and hours studying and then claiming that they just looked over a few lectures. Everybody wants to look smart effortlessly. Focus on YOU and what you need to do to be successful.

You'll make it through. The beginning is always the toughest. Once you find your groove, it will become almost routine. 🙂

 

[lilnoelle]

I think lots of us are struggling. Anyone who says they "just looked at the notes a few times" and got a good grade on the test is most likely lying. I'm also an M1 so don't have a whole lot of believable advice to give... but if I could advise anything, I'd say stop stressing out about it. Still do everything you can to do well, but time spent stressing or worrying is time wasted. I'm guessing how we do at first isn't gonna be representative of how we do overall, so its all right for us to be happy with just barely passing. I took my first exam this Friday and got two points above a D (a 76%).... and am just as happy as can be. I'm "satisfactory" and thats just fine.... for now. I'm currently working on trying to figure out what works best for me as far as studying goes and once I figure that out, I'll probably do better on my tests. Also... note that quite a few of those that have expressed the ease of school aren't currently in anatomy (I'm not either) so thats gonna make a big difference in the difficulty of their program.

 

[EC3]

get more sleep and stop worrying so much and learn to accept whatever grade you get. if you're this bad now, when 2nd year comes, you're gonna end up going psychotic.

 

[-Goose-]

Another M1 here... One thing I would stress to you is to make sure that you are getting enough sleep, excercise, etc. I don't know about you, but my mind cannot handle more than 4 or so hours of continuous studying. Past that, I experience serious diminishing returns.
For the first two weeks of school, I was constantly stressed and sleep deprived and it was counterproductive. Focus on you (not those around you), take care of yourself, work hard, and you will be fine.

 

[micromed]

I agree with you can't trust anyone in med school when they say I went out every weekend and studied the night before and honored the exam. The most iportant thing I learned last year (I am a second year now) is that you have to find out what works for you and don't be afraid to change it if it is not working. If study groups work, do it. If studying in Starbucks helps, then do it. I learn at a steady pace, so I try to do a little studying everyday, instead of doing it all the or two before. Most importantly, eat right, excercise, and stop worrying. Everyone has doubts at one point in time in med school. Try to relax and stop worrying about what others are doing 🙂

 

[bubbleyum]

well i am not going psycho or anything, i am just very depressed after my gross anatomy exam results. i tried to sleep it off last night, but then driving around today running my errands the thought of it all was just hanging over my head like a dark cloud.

seeing other people posting here about waltzing through their first exams is not helping either, but of course i am just jealous (good for your guys!)

i feel like i spent so many hours memorizing which nerve innervates which muscle, and which part of which bone it attaches to... and then i see the exam questions that are like, "a rock climber comes in complaining about not being able to use their arms well and blah blah blah, which nerve should you be checking for damage?" and i'm like, "huh? i'm sure you use ALL the muscles in your upper body to rockclimb." and my mind goes blank.

 

[Mr. Freeze]

i feel like i spent so many hours memorizing which nerve innervates which muscle, and which part of which bone it attaches to... and then i see the exam questions that are like, "a rock climber comes in complaining about not being able to use their arms well and blah blah blah, which nerve should you be checking for damage?" and i'm like, "huh? i'm sure you use ALL the muscles in your upper body to rockclimb." and my mind goes blank.

Shameless plug for Chung's BRS Gross Anatomy; all his questions are like that...He teaches at OUCOM, therefore all our exams are the same style...

Besides that, don't listen to all those ****ers. Do your thing.

 

[bubbleyum]

Shameless plug for Chung's BRS Gross Anatomy; all his questions are like that...He teaches at OUCOM, therefore all our exams are the same style...

Besides that, don't listen to all those ****ers. Do your thing.

yeah? i thought those type of books were only good for board review and didn't go into enough depth for 1st year courses. but i'll take your word for it and get it from amazon.com now, thanks.

 

[SoCuteMD]

Just wanted to say hang in there. I struggled in the beginning, but by the end of 1st year I was one of the stronger students in my class 🙂. Now I gotta find that same motivation for this year!

 

[BlinkyCat]

.

 

[Mr. Freeze]

It is very concise, so if you find yourself needing to be prodded along by the author, it may not be for you. You almost need an atlas to go along with it. But, if clinical application of anatomy knowledge is what you need/desire/get tested over, it has that in spades...

 

[medicomel]

to the OP, i feel exactly the same way. i've been really sleep-deprived these past couple of weeks, and i'm taking my first exam on monday. after that, it's day in day out of 3 hrs of biochem lectures, coupled with physio and embryo, and clinical medicine courses that have eaten up to 4 hrs a day on some days. we have a physio test next week, and although i've gone to all the classes and analyzed the notes, i really can't recall the reading i've done. in other words, i feel like i'm putting in a lot of time just to keep up with a couple of classes. to be fair, we're being tested on 19 lectures in biochem, which is double the normal amount. they've changed the curriculum a little this year, so we're getting front-loaded with biochem. point is, it's 12:30am on a saturday night, and i just put the biochem down and picked up the physio. i miss beer, dammit. and i miss feeling like i'm on top of things. i didn't think medical school was going to be like eating cake and ice cream, but seriously. 🙁

 

[psipsina]

Most importantly you need to be sleeping more. Studies have shown that you need 6 hours to consolidate new information, if you get less than that you will struggle to learn new things the next day . . and since you should be learning new things every day this year, you should definitley be sleeping at least 6 hours per night.

I also second the plug for BRS Gross Anatomy, the practice questions really make you think about the mass of stuff you are memorizing and teaches you how to approach clinical problems with your new knowledge, which will help you test better and is how you need to be thinking to be a doc anyway (which is why they test you like this in the firstplace). Also when you study a muscle, learn its origin and insertion and then relate that to its movement and then learn the innervation so you can say to yourself, if I knockout nerve X I would lose function of muscle Y which would cause Z symptoms in a patient.

Anyway I'm only an M1 but I've been doing pretty well when pimped (we don't test until the end of september) and with the BRS questions and my schools cutouts, so I think I finally found my groove and this is what I do. I study the lecture notes like crazy and only read my BRS and textbook when I need clarification. Then for the nerves and muscles I make tables of info that I study like crazy with my atlases around me and my bone box when necessary. Then I practice output by quizing myself with the charts (cover up everything but one column) and by doing practice questions in BRS and the cutouts from old exams.

Finally, don't listen to the hype of anyone who claims to be brilliant without effort, either they are making it up or they are rare genius . . for us mere mortals (the honest ones) we are working our tails off. Just make sure you do what you need to so you stay sane while you work your tail off (sleep, food, excersize)

 

[funshine]

bubbleyum, sorry to hear about the anatomy exam...just try to put it out of your mind and replace the disappointment with productivity. you're definitely not alone; I haven't even taken my first test yet (just quizzes so far) and I'm sooo overwhelmed by anatomy, it's easy to procrastinate b/c I don't even know where to begin. I have not found my "system" for studying most efficiently either. People mention all these notes they're taking, charts they're making, BRS they're reading, and I'm just struggling to remember the names of all the forearm muscles/arteries/nerves still....yeah, it's great to do practice problems that really make you think, but if you don't have the anatomy memorized yet, there's really no point. Anyway, good luck with everyting and definitely don't EVER feel like you're the only one struggling!! My entire class studies pretty hard...some of them party pretty hard too (well, compared to me), but at all other times, we're found in the library.

 

[Saqqqq]

Hiya, Don't feel so down yet friend. It has only been a few weeks, some people adapt quicker then others. You are just finding your feet.

My tip for exam revision is QUALITY, not QUANTITY. Focus your revision not on the subject material but on the exam material! Know which fformat the exam is going to be in, and then spend a lot of time reading through the syllabus only (and not the biggest text book yyou can find) then follow up with lots of practice questions of the format your exam is in.

Thus the quality of your study will helpyou during your exam and your more likely to ACE it!

Hope that helps, dont know if it is useful! 😱 😱

 

[njbmd]

so far it's been 4 weeks of class with two exams (most recently gross anatomy.) now i feel like i've been putting in a lot of hours studying, because i'm not the type to go bar hopping anyways. the last 2 weeks i think i've been sleeping about 4-5 hours a day and stressed out. and i am not doing well on my exams at all!

what is wrong with me? it seems like my school is full of these people that went to all the drinking parties during orientation week, then just read over some stuff, and aces their exams. and here on sdn i see posts like, "i aced my first exams and i don't think med school is bad at all" etc etc.

i didn't think i was stupid, but now i am scared i am going to be one of those people that study hard and barely pass to get their md.(don't even want to think about failing out...) i knew med school would be a lot of hard work, but i thought as long as i put in the long hours i would do ok. i thought people who didn't do well on their exams are those who just didn't study enough.

does everybody else know something that i don't know? is everybody who tells me that they "just looked over the lecture handouts and only missed two questions on the exam" lying? or am i just really helpless... i am discouraged and can't even enjoy this labor day weekend. 🙁 any advice or stories of encouragement? study tips?

Hi there,
First, you are not a pre-med anymore so stop comparing yourself to others in your class. It's your career and YOU have to do what you need to do to pursue it. If this takes longer, and seems harder than what the rest of folks are saying, so be it. It's your career.

Second, adjusting to medical school takes longer for some folks than others. I found the pace demanding throughout my first two years so I met the demands and did well. At times, I found certain classes a struggle but I struggled through. I didn't care that others boasted not studying or partying all weekend, I was in the Gross Anatomy lab slugging away or studying my other courese material. In the end, I got the grades and none of those other boasters were with me at the AOA (Alpha Omega Alpha) induction ceremoney. In short, do what you have to do and ingnore what others say they are doing. What anyone else in your class is doing or saying does not affect your career unless they are preventing you from getting your studies completed.

Professional school is about doing what you have to do to get the material mastered. You are paying loads of dollars in tuition for your coursework so make sure that you are getting your money's worth. Ten years from now, it's not going to matter whether you struggled or partied your way through medical school but rather, that you got through successfully and did your best. Keep studying and turn a deaf ear to the boasters.

Another strategy for dealing with the boasters: Smile and say good for you! You are so fortunate to be so smart. Do you have any helpful study tips for me?? (My guess is that they don't or won't). Keep smiling and then feel sorry for them as you go about your work and get it done. Above all, do not let anyone make you feel inferior.

njbmd🙂

 

[piu]

I think its about knowing what to study. Why don't u try marking out points highlited by lecturers and studying them first and perfectly and then moving on the the rest of the nitty gritty. As a first year u would have no idea whats considered 'relevent clinically' and the best way to figure out whats important is to focus on what the lecturers place emphasis on.

 

[QofQuimica]

so far it's been 4 weeks of class with two exams (most recently gross anatomy.) now i feel like i've been putting in a lot of hours studying, because i'm not the type to go bar hopping anyways. the last 2 weeks i think i've been sleeping about 4-5 hours a day and stressed out. and i am not doing well on my exams at all!

what is wrong with me? it seems like my school is full of these people that went to all the drinking parties during orientation week, then just read over some stuff, and aces their exams. and here on sdn i see posts like, "i aced my first exams and i don't think med school is bad at all" etc etc.

i didn't think i was stupid, but now i am scared i am going to be one of those people that study hard and barely pass to get their md.(don't even want to think about failing out...) i knew med school would be a lot of hard work, but i thought as long as i put in the long hours i would do ok. i thought people who didn't do well on their exams are those who just didn't study enough.

does everybody else know something that i don't know? is everybody who tells me that they "just looked over the lecture handouts and only missed two questions on the exam" lying? or am i just really helpless... i am discouraged and can't even enjoy this labor day weekend. 🙁 any advice or stories of encouragement? study tips?

I think that everyone struggles with medical school. I know that it hasn't been easy for me so far, either. I am not a particularly good memorizer like a lot of medical students are. What helps me is to use mnemonics. You can actually buy books that teach you to do tricks like to imagine a room with items placed around the room in a specific order. As you go from item to item, you associate it with something that you need to remember in a particular order. Then you associate the next item with the next thing, and so on. This works great for things like biochemical pathways where everything is in a specific order. I also find that it helps me to try to understand where things fit in within the larger context. If I just memorize a biochemical pathway, I'll forget it in a couple of weeks, but if I relate it to things I know (i.e., work out the chemistry that happens at each step), I have a much easier time remembering what is going on in each pathway.

The other thing that I would say to you is that you do have some kind of academic skills that you've developed, or you wouldn't be at this point. Try to consciously use those skills. In my case, I'm a conceptual learner, and I'm also a hands-on learner. I don't get as much out of sitting through lectures, especially if I haven't done the reading first, but other people use that as their primary form of learning and are very successful. You have to figure out what kind of learner you are. Like others have said, keep experimenting until you find a system that works for you. And most of all, don't give up. Every day that you show up and try your best is another day closer to your ultimate goal of being a doctor. 🙂

 

[Mr. Freeze]

Go do whatever it was that you did for fun before med school.
Or even undergrad.
Exercise.
Have a beer.
Sleep.


You can vary the order if you want...

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Shameless plug for Chung's BRS Gross Anatomy; all his questions are like that...He teaches at OUCOM, therefore all our exams are the same style...

Besides that, don't listen to all those ****ers. Do your thing.

Joining your shameless plug. Doing his questions in BRS will make you feel prepared for those clinically oriented questions you get on your exam. I will add, though, that sometimes the book is not the best learning format for me. I start with class and with Moore and then move to Chung later.

My other big advice, and something I'm really working on is to set up a schedule for studying and for doing things you enjoy. Technically, you could always study more, but it'd make for a pretty miserable two years to spend all your time in class or studying. The people who do the bar thing have an easy out because they already have a structured activity that they enjoy that gets them away from their books.

Okay, the summary is that you are smart, you will pass, and you will find a way to have some fun, too. It might just take some time to figure things out.

 

[dilated]

Joining your shameless plug. Doing his questions in BRS will make you feel prepared for those clinically oriented questions you get on your exam. I will add, though, that sometimes the book is not the best learning format for me. I start with class and with Moore and then move to Chung later.

Are the BRS questions broken down by areas? Like, it's not going to be doing me much good studying for thorax if I have to go through 100 questions to find 10 that might be about it.

 

[LuckyBambooGirl]

Bubbleyum, It gets better, I promise! Maybe not easier, but not better! I started off first year with stress and lack of sleep and feeling like med school was a train that ran me over. Now I'm a second year and my average is comfortably in the B range. It took me a long time to find my groove--more than half of first year--but I finally found it. The best advice I have is to find a way to relax and not stress so much. When you study, really study, do not worry. Instead, really focus on learning the material. If you do this, you will eventually find that you do not need to spend so much time studying. Your brain will train itself to become better and better at retaining information. It might take awhile, but it worked for me! Also, like the other posters said, make time for sleep and fun and exercise. You need a balanced life to refresh your mind and body and do well in med school!

 

[SoCuteMD]

Are the BRS questions broken down by areas? Like, it's not going to be doing me much good studying for thorax if I have to go through 100 questions to find 10 that might be about it.

Yes. There are end-of-chapter questions in BRS on each topic. They aligned perfectly with the anatomy course at my school, at least.

 

[YouDontKnowJack]

forget about anatomy. it's low yield anyway. and if you wanna be a surgeon, there will be plenty of time to review it in the next 7 years.

BRS anatomy is more than enough for class. although it's one of the more beefier BRS books, it's cut all the crap out of textbooks. So borrow the Netter CD atlas, and follow along with BRS anatomy.

anatomy is just a bunch of ****, and so are most of the other 1st year courses

 

[erin682]

Hey Bubbleyum, you're at mcg right? The first several anatomy tests kicked my but at mcg too. I think thats pretty typical. Some people rock them right off but you would be suprised if you asked the 2nd years how many of them ended up getting tutoring after bombing the first test or 2. Luckily anatomy lasts all semester so you absolutely have time to make it up. It just takes a little time to get used to the way you need to study for med school. At first you'll think you'll never have time to do it all but then you'll start to learn what to study and how to study most efficiently.

Just keeping plugging away and be patient with yourself. Oh and take advantage of tutoring; I did it and it definately helped. Also try and talk with some of the 2nd years. They are just a door over from you guys and have been where you are just a year ago and are usually really great about encouragement and support. Good luck!

 

[xanthines]

MS2 here. Are you close to failing? Your message only says that you're not doing well. What does that mean? Unless you're totally gunning for Derm, Rads, Surg etc then don't worry about it too much. You need to save up your sanity for Step1 and 3rd year (which are the main, although not the only [for you sticklers out there!] determinants of where you will do residency). Besides, I've heard (from both SDN and my MS3 friends) that there's actually not that much anatomy on Step1 anyway.

You're still adjusting to med school. As time goes on, the work will probably be harder/plenitful but you'll be able to adjust to it. It won't seem so bad.

I barely passed anatomy, by the way.

-X

so far it's been 4 weeks of class with two exams (most recently gross anatomy.) now i feel like i've been putting in a lot of hours studying, because i'm not the type to go bar hopping anyways. the last 2 weeks i think i've been sleeping about 4-5 hours a day and stressed out. and i am not doing well on my exams at all!

what is wrong with me? it seems like my school is full of these people that went to all the drinking parties during orientation week, then just read over some stuff, and aces their exams. and here on sdn i see posts like, "i aced my first exams and i don't think med school is bad at all" etc etc.

i didn't think i was stupid, but now i am scared i am going to be one of those people that study hard and barely pass to get their md.(don't even want to think about failing out...) i knew med school would be a lot of hard work, but i thought as long as i put in the long hours i would do ok. i thought people who didn't do well on their exams are those who just didn't study enough.

does everybody else know something that i don't know? is everybody who tells me that they "just looked over the lecture handouts and only missed two questions on the exam" lying? or am i just really helpless... i am discouraged and can't even enjoy this labor day weekend. 🙁 any advice or stories of encouragement? study tips?

 

[Law2Doc]

Unless you're totally gunning for Derm, Rads, Surg etc then don't worry about it too much. You need to save up your sanity for Step1 and 3rd year (which are the main, although not the only [for you sticklers out there!] determinants of where you will do residency).

Even if this test is indicative of how you will do in this course, which I don't think is a given, actually a low passing grade in a first year class or two will not close the door to you for rads or surgery. First year grades just don't count that much, so you are not relegated to noncompetitive options just yet. Just try to right the boat and not make a habit of it.

 

[bubbleyum]

thanks for the many posts of advice and commiserating 😳

and my apologies to blinkycat or anybody who is doing really well so far, i didn't mean to imply that you were drowning your brain in alcohol and getting undeserved grades. (i know those posts were not meant to brag about high grades, they were put up to address your own anxieties about what to expect for the upcoming exam trends.) i actually really don't care how well other people do and how little time they put in to get their good grades, our school is not graded on a curve or anything. i was just feeling frustrated that i was not doing well myself, even though i feel like i am studying all day (and most of the night). i don't expect to be at the top of my class, or even do equally the same as the other "effortlessly smart" people. but i just feel like i should not be doing so much worse! so i feel like what i was doing for myself, must not be working.

i'll take everybody's tips into account and try different strategies and do better.

 

[MDMAMA]

Bubbleyum, go talk with your advisor. He or she may have some good hints about things that would help you in your particular program. Try studying with a couple of people. They are able to help you identify things you don't know that you need to focus on. First year is hard for most people because you
have to get the feel for how tests and assessments are constructed in your program. Hang in there. It will get better.

 

[ttac]

I'm not one to ask for advice on how to get into a ultra-competitive residency... however, I'm an ER resident that was my 1st choice out of 15 interviews, so I guess I did ok.

Anyway, I think that just having taken one test, n=1 is not statistically significant. You may have just had a bad day.

Also, is STRUGGLING = only getting 89%... (i.e not honoring), because let me tell you, the people in my class that honored everything really worked their butts off. OTOH, if struggling means barely passing, realize that some MS1's are really surprised by the amount of studying they need to do.

Finally, you just might need to learn how to study, and how different lecturers ask questions (what they are prone to ask, what is important to study, etc)

best of luck
ttac

 

[ShyRem]

bubbleyum, you also need to realize that some of those folks that say they're "surprised by how easy it is" haven't hit anatomy yet. Hang in there.

 

[Church]

Bubbles... I checked on WebCT, and they haven't even finished GRADING our first anatomy test yet...

Buck up and relax amiga! 🙂

For the record, I didn't do well on the written part either. But now, it's time to evaluate what worked and what didn't in terms of studying for the written. After the fact, I have noticed that a majority of Lause's test questions came more or less straight from the Moore's blue boxes. Guess what I'm going to study for the second exam! 😀

One of the MS2's came by our table whilst some of us were cramming for the afternoon session of the practical. She allowed as how she failed the first test and still honored Anatomy.

And last but not least, remember what the advice sheet said about perspective: The Internal Medicine rotation alone is worth more credit than the whole first YEAR. 👍

 

[girlofdestiny]

but what about talking to people at school and seeing if they have any suggestions?

I was in a similar position to yours last year and I tried to handle the whole thing on my own, which ultimately led to me taking an LOA.

See if you school has any sort of tutoring/academic help you can use AND/or psych support services. With the psych stuff, sometimes it's just nice to have someone else to talk to who isnt a fellow student.

Just a thought.