Anyone else have the pre-M1 jitters?

[Dragonfly411]

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Well, I start med school orientation next week. I know I should be excited, and I am but only underneath my layer of apprehension. I'm usually very confident about experiencing new things, but with med school, all I hear is how hard it is and how people always feel behind (and I hate that feeling... I somehow managed to do pretty well with my time management skills during the last few years of college so I wasn't behind that much......I dread revisiting that feeling, though, in med school). Others say med school "sucks" and they feel like dropping out. On top of that, I will have to get used to a new city, roommate, bus schedule, and study schedule, since I have been out of school for a year (although I was planning to study the First Aid USMLE Step 1 book a little bit before school begins).

So, I was just wondering, is there anyone else who also has the pre-M1 jitters and can empathize with me?

And do any current medical students have something positive or constructive to say about the first year of medical school? Some people say they're "overwhelmed" by the volume of information that they must learn, but sometimes, they follow this comment with how med school "rocks." I'm assuming they say this because no matter how hard school is, they're keeping their overall goal in mind, i.e., they are training to serve sick people in the future......? Also, does anyone enjoy the challenge of med school? Or is it just simply "overwhelming" in general?

 

[myodana]

i'm SO with you... and to add to that, i've been out of school for 5 years (with the exception of a couple of post-bacc classes). any advice would be appreciated!

 

[ms. a]

My advice is to stay on top of things. Front-load your studying early on in the block, so that you don't come up to exams with a ton of stuff to learn for the first time. This is what I do. I don't let myself get a day behind on my studying. This makes exam time pretty low stress for me. My husband always comments that I seem the least stressed during the exams. I've already learned the stuff a couple of times by then, and come exams, I'm just reminding myself of the stupid details that they might ask.

I might add, this strategy works even with a family. I have a husband and 2.5 year old daughter. Keeping up with things means putting a lot of other things, like watching TV, on the back burner until breaks (although I still work out every day). It just requires organization and forward planning.

 

[Realest]

So nervous! I'm usually laid back about school, but I think I've been building myself up for med school for the past two years, just waiting and envisioning myself there and now that it's finally here I really don't want to mess it up. I'm trying to just focus on the things I can control right now to minimize worrying - like packing, planning a schedule, getting housing straightened out, figuring out how to NOT make a fool of myself...

I think we'll be fine, Afterall, we're all in the same boat.

 

[DocMizzle]

I just went through orientation this week and have my whitecoat ceremony this afternoon. I'm also a little nervous, but after talking to second year students and looking through the syllabi, I am getting increasingly confident that I will be fine. My plan is to hit the ground running to avoid getting behind, which I have heard is very much possible as long as time is budgeted well.

I have also heard that it is crucial to have a social life outside of studying. I plan on treating it like a job. Up until exam week, I plan on spending 8-5 everyday studying and attending lectures while spending 6-8 hours on the weekend reviewing the previous week's lectures. This will allow time to go out on weekends and time to relax and do other things in the evenings, including shadowing and volunteering in a free clinic. Of course, during exam weeks, I will probably have to spend fulll days studying. The take home message is that, with time management, the first 2 years are actually very enjoyable as long as a balanced life is maintained, or so I've heard from my elders.

 

[Realest]

I plan on treating it like a job. Up until exam week, I plan on spending 8-5 everyday studying and attending lectures while spending 6-8 hours on the weekend reviewing the previous week's lectures. This will allow time to go out on weekends and time to relax and do other things in the evenings, including shadowing and volunteering in a free clinic.

I think this is great. I've heard a lot of students talk about medical school like they're still in undergrad and will be partying every night. It's disappointing to hear because even though we may not need to remember everything we learn these first two years, it is still equivalent to the training that goes into any job and I feel we should take that responsibility seriously. It doesn't mean we shouldn't have a social life, but it does mean that blowing off your books until two days before the exam probably isn't going to cut it. Treating this leg of our education as our job puts us in the right frame of mind to attack the material that will be handed to us. In any case, I do understand the point of view that these are the last two years we can "relax" before things really get rough, I'm just throwing in my 2 cents.

 

[DOCTORSAIB]

Med school hits different people in different ways. This is b/c people come from different academic backgrounds (MS, MPH, PhD's vs. BA/BS), different study habits, and different genetics (some people are just plain smart).

The most important thing is to figure out HOW to study. For the 1st exam go all out and see what grade that gets you. If you end up barely passing or doing mediocre then figure out what you did wrong and correct it. Usually you'll see that its not the QUANTITY of time you spent studying that was lacking but rather the QUALITY. Another issue is forcing yourself to study when you're tired (for most of us that around 2pm-5pm). Between 2pm-5pm, take a nap, go shopping, talk on the phone, watch TV, etc. Figure out the times of the day when you're most alert (7am-noon, 6pm-9pm, midnight-?? for most people), and do your hardcore studying during those times.

My last piece of advice is try to skip class as much as possible, especially if you're at a school with a note scribe service. When you're sleeping 8 hours/night, your whole attitude towards med school changes and your stress level will automatically decrease since you're well rested. You wake up when you want and sleep when you want. This is really hard to accept for some people. They think if they skip class they'll miss out on the important points during lecture and eventually screw up their grades. That's a myth in med school. People who skip and use their time wisely get some of the best grades.

In conclusion, med school is really not that bad. I'm well rested, energetic, and look forward to kicking ass 2nd year...and I'm not the only one who feels this way..🙂 Hope that helps. G'luck!

 

[Blake]

In conclusion, med school is really not that bad. I'm well rested, energetic, and look forward to kicking ass 2nd year...and I'm not the only one who feels this way..🙂 Hope that helps. G'luck!

It boils down to this in my opinion 🙂

 

[heeter]

Thus Quoth Bluto-

"My advice to you is to start drinking heavily."

 

[fielight]

it really is not as bad as you might think... the fact is, you get used to anything; it'll look like a lot of work, but once you are required to do it yourself, you notice that the studying is pretty manageable most of the time. and it's not 24/7 hardcore studying either. most people figure out that they can relax the week right after an exam (those days, i put in maybe 2-3 hrs of studying, the rest of the time it's tv or internet), and then cram during the week of upcoming exams. besides, keeping things in perspective, med school isn't hard right away... the school does give you some time to ease into it (so enjoy those first few weeks, because it's really the middle and end portions of 1st year that feel endless). staying home is a good option (depending on how you work), because you'll find that you get much more free time; if i had to get up at 6am every morning, fight morning traffic/parking, sit through 4+ hours of boring lectures, then have to come home and put 3-4 hours more of studying, i don't think i would be very relaxed (or sane) after a year. and lastly, most people come into med school thinking they'll fail out, so you're not alone (either that, or they think they'll be aoa)... the reality is, it's pretty hard to fail if you actually put in some time to study; after all, averaging 70% in a class is not that difficult.

 

[patsfan2]

I/

 

[bigbonesmagee]

I just went through orientation this week and have my whitecoat ceremony this afternoon. I'm also a little nervous, but after talking to second year students and looking through the syllabi, I am getting increasingly confident that I will be fine. My plan is to hit the ground running to avoid getting behind, which I have heard is very much possible as long as time is budgeted well.

I have also heard that it is crucial to have a social life outside of studying. I plan on treating it like a job. Up until exam week, I plan on spending 8-5 everyday studying and attending lectures while spending 6-8 hours on the weekend reviewing the previous week's lectures. This will allow time to go out on weekends and time to relax and do other things in the evenings, including shadowing and volunteering in a free clinic. Of course, during exam weeks, I will probably have to spend fulll days studying. The take home message is that, with time management, the first 2 years are actually very enjoyable as long as a balanced life is maintained, or so I've heard from my elders.

Tell you one thing for sure is that 8-5 plus 6 hours on the weekend is definitely not going to cut it. I just don't think it's realistic. It's pretty tough to get out of lecture at 2 or 3 o'clock and get 3 or 4 hours of good studying done right away. I suppose if you're very dilligent it could work out.

Besides the first few months of feeling out time most people that I knew - myself included would not and could not go out every weekend. After a while you will find yourself easing back and studying more and staying in more on weekends because it is less hard to maintain than trying to go bar/club hopping every weekend. I used to be a huge partier, and I partied pretty hard first year especially the first couple months, but later those parties mainly came those couple days after a big exam - trust me I know very well how easy and how quickly you can get behind when you slack for just a couple days. Certainly you must socialize and you have to eat together and go to the gym together etc, but going out all time (read once/twice every week) gets pretty wearing. Point is no matter smart you are I have not met a person who got by on 8-5 until exam week time. Medical school doesn't have to be everything, but if you're not willing to make it your most important focus it's tough to do well - if you just want to pass forget everything I've said.