Anyone else bored?

[goldenwest]

I'm in my 3rd week of medical school, and I'm super bored (thus the SDN perusing). I've got a good head on my shoulders, but I'm not as brilliant as I'm sure some of you are. However, I thought medical school was going to be really challenging and exciting. So far it's a lot of review from undergrad and people lecturing on things you learned from SDN years ago. Meanwhile, almost all my classmates are saying they are studying their butts off and pulling their hair out. I feel way ahead in anatomy from taking and TAing a tough human anatomy course in undergrad, and the rest of the stuff is just replication, transcription, translation, yadda yadda etc. The quizzes and anatomy lab evals we've had were super easy, and everyone has been telling me that you almost have to try to get held back a year. I'm starting to wonder if I'm learning everything I need to be learning. Am I in for a rude awakening? Am I alone?

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[LRAccord624]

No offense but if you're having such an easy time right now, why don't you just be thankful and go do some fun stuff instead of posting on SDN?

 

[Hoju]

Appreciate the calm before the storm.

 

[isoquin]

So your complaint is that, after teaching anatomy, your med school anatomy course is too easy. And this is a bad thing.

You must be new around here....

 

[goldenwest]

So your complaint is that, after teaching anatomy, your med school anatomy course is too easy. And this is a bad thing.

You must be new around here....

Well, yeah, it's a bad thing if I come out behind in the long run.

 

[OveractiveBrain]

Well, yeah, it's a bad thing if I come out behind in the long run.

"I took calculus 3 in high school, and my intro calc class in undergrad was too easy"

"I was a competitor in motocross, this motorcycle drivers licence exam is too easy"

"I'm a fitness instructor, this intro to aerobics course is too easy."

You've TAKEN anatomy before. You've TAed anatomy before. You think that somehow the content of anatomy would have changed to be more difficult? Or that, because you studied it (twice, this being your third time) that somehow your classmates would be up to par and NOT studying every little detail because they don't know what's important?

Promise you that you ARE in a for a rude awakening and will be thankful for the time you have.

 

[Postal]

I'm in my 3rd week of medical school, and I'm super bored (thus the SDN perusing). I've got a good head on my shoulders, but I'm not as brilliant as I'm sure some of you are. However, I thought medical school was going to be really challenging and exciting. So far it's a lot of review from undergrad and people lecturing on things you learned from SDN years ago. Meanwhile, almost all my classmates are saying they are studying their butts off and pulling their hair out. I feel way ahead in anatomy from taking and TAing a tough human anatomy course in undergrad, and the rest of the stuff is just replication, transcription, translation, yadda yadda etc. The quizzes and anatomy lab evals we've had were super easy, and everyone has been telling me that you almost have to try to get held back a year. I'm starting to wonder if I'm learning everything I need to be learning. Am I in for a rude awakening? Am I alone?

Since you're doing so well, I hope you're helping your struggling class mates

 

[goldenwest]

I am helping them, and I hope people realize that I'm merely trying to gauge whether I'm on par with other medical schools and if there are others having the same feelings as me. My school has below average step scores (as a class average), so I have concerns. There's a ton of people to ask questions to all around me, but none of them can give me good opinions on where my school is in relation to other ones.

 

[osumc2014]

I am helping them, and I hope people realize that I'm merely trying to gauge whether I'm on par with other medical schools and if there are others having the same feelings as me. My school has below average step scores (as a class average), so I have concerns. There's a ton of people to ask questions to all around me, but none of them can give me good opinions on where my school is in relation to other ones.

which school?

 

[goldenwest]

which school?

UTHSCSA. I can't find any solid data on their scores, but I heard both on SDN and in my interviews that their step 1 scores were lower than other Texas schools. That's not to say that no one does well. The highest score I've heard of came from my school, but I still want to find that balance between too comfortable and too anal.

 

[TexasMDtobe]

Sure Gen Concepts is mostly review, but you haven't even taken the first round of exams yet. With each module they will add greater volume and more detail - you won't be bored for long (and if you are, good for you but don't be a jerk about it).

At the end of your first year one of the deans will present the current and past match results with score information. Great match rates, lots of competitive specialty matches, etc. I don't recall the exact Step 1 average, but it seems irrelevant anyway. The score is an individual measure and UTHSCSA will get you where you want to be provided you put the effort in yourself when the time comes for review after MS2.

Worrying about the step when you're 3 weeks into MS1 is a waste of time. The stuff you'll learn this year won't even be directly tested on the Step (for the most part), it is just foundational to the real information in MS2 that will make up the majority of the test. Enjoy your free time while you still have it.

 

[Jolie South]

Kind of strange..
If you are bored because everything is so easy and you don't feel challenged, then be assured that the boredom isn't going to last long. You will soon be pulling your hair off you head.
Please share with us your experiences after 8-9 months.

Imma echo this sentiment.

 

[swamprat]

Yeah a lot of my classmates didn't think med school was "that bad" for the first like month or two then it got a lot worse.. more classes were added, more tests, stuff that not everyone has seen before in undergrad etc.

 

[swamprat]

Basically chill out .. and even if you are some genius and think its easy the amount of other bs you'll have to do like going to see patients and interview etc. will take up enough of your day where when you go home you won't be bored.

 

[apricotattack]

just give it time. the sh*tstorm will come.

 

[IlDestriero]

I spent most of medical school bored to death. Several of my friends did. We knew what we wanted to do, and what we needed to do to get there. I worked out daily and went out for dinner and drinks all the time, some toked up, whatever it takes. There's far more mind numbing boredom than not. The key is to become an efficiency expert and maximize your free time for other interests.
Everyone is different, find out what works for you. I actually retained material well if I went to lecture the first 2 years. Many of my classmates felt the opposite.

 

[goldenwest]

Sure Gen Concepts is mostly review, but you haven't even taken the first round of exams yet. With each module they will add greater volume and more detail - you won't be bored for long (and if you are, good for you but don't be a jerk about it).

At the end of your first year one of the deans will present the current and past match results with score information. Great match rates, lots of competitive specialty matches, etc. I don't recall the exact Step 1 average, but it seems irrelevant anyway. The score is an individual measure and UTHSCSA will get you where you want to be provided you put the effort in yourself when the time comes for review after MS2.

Worrying about the step when you're 3 weeks into MS1 is a waste of time. The stuff you'll learn this year won't even be directly tested on the Step (for the most part), it is just foundational to the real information in MS2 that will make up the majority of the test. Enjoy your free time while you still have it.

I spent most of medical school bored to death. Several of my friends did. We knew what we wanted to do, and what we needed to do to get there. I worked out daily and went out for dinner and drinks all the time, some toked up, whatever it takes. There's far more mind numbing boredom than not. The key is to become an efficiency expert and maximize your free time for other interests.
Everyone is different, find out what works for you. I actually retained material well if I went to lecture the first 2 years. Many of my classmates felt the opposite.

Thanks for these helpful replies.

 

[FunnyCurrent]

lol

 

[Dral]

If you're bored, pick up Goljan and start making some path correlations...may as well stay ahead as much as you can. At least learn some of the lingo and such....once pharm and path and new stuff kicks in it should get tougher.

http://www.amazon.com/Rapid-Review-Pathology-Edward-Goljan/dp/0323023932

I think I owe most of my step I score to that man.