Anybody here repeat first year?

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palmpalm

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Hey all,

I have to repeat my first year of meds (as many of you already know) and am looking for any advice I can get from those who have gone through this. Anyone? 🙂
 
Well...YOU already went through it; shouldn't you know what to expect?
 
Sacrifice, fight(study), focus on weakneses "burn midnight oil", ease the pressure, even if a cruel one says "its piece of cake":idea:
 
Like someone said before, analyze your weeknesses and strengths. Another maybe obvious thing, don't spend too much time memorizing as opposed to comprehending. The better you understand things, the easier the facts will come. It really can help to explain things out loud to yourself or a study partner.

What helped me a lot was to make my own study guides. I would try and condense all of the powerpoints and lecture notes to simple points or pathways. Keep it simple. Some lectures have tons of stuff, some had two main points. It was a way to make my own "high yeild" fact sheet. You already have the insight on what is the pertinent info, now you just need to train yourself on how to sort it out in a way that you can learn it for the exams.

Good luck and stay focused.
 
I think it all depends on WHY you're repeating the year. As the previous poster alluded to, right now, before school starts, is a great time to look at what held you back last year.

Was it emotional issues? Make sure you have the support you need (therapist, etc).

Was it time management? Talk with your family and friends in advance so they can help keep you on the straight and narrow.

Was it study habits? Talk to people at school to see if they have any advice. I also highly recommend "Study Without Stress: Mastering Medical Sciences" which you can get from Amazon, or even your school library. It has a lot of really great advice on setting up study schedules, how to organize information, etc.
 
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Don't worry about it all at sweetie, residency program directors don't really care how long it took you to finish med school, as long as you MURDER Step 1. Repeat the year and work HARD becuase if you fail any more classes, you will be expelled.

Best of luck. You should go to your Dean of Students or promotions committee on the first day, schedule a meeting with them, and ask if there are any personal tutors available. Make it look like you CARE about passing, and show them that you mean business and you're ready to work hard.

And get a tutor who has taken the classes at your school. Do you have any high scoring friends? Ask them for help if you don't have the money to pay a tutor. And collect all the old tests, they repeat questions year after year most of the time anyway.

Work hard sweet heart and you will get there. Don't listen to anyone else. If any rumors or drama or gossip that "oh he/she is the kid who failed" so what. Ignore it and find new friends. Work extra hard and pass all your classes and ironically, you'll probably be doing way better on Step 1 because you'll really learn 1st year material well, and likely do well 2nd year. In fact, many people take 5 years to finish med school. Not a big deal, you'll be a year wiser than everyone in your class. Hope this helps 🙂
 
Analyze what you did wrong. Focus on the class(es) that you failed in. Ingore the gossip about being the 'kid who failed'. Most people who've been through the meat grinder are more sympathetic than you think---especially since there are some that were on the border themselves. Finally, keep in mind your final goal: to be a doctor. Work hard and you will get there.
 
There is no need to ask for advice. You know what you need to do. There are no tips to make it easier, there is only hard work.

I would say good luck but you don't need it. You are either going to do it or not. It's your choice.
 
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