Ask an Fourth Year Med student

[ThinkFast007]

SDN has done wonders for me as I progressed from college to med school and now onto a residency in a very competitive field (anesthesiology).

Time for me to give back. I wasnt always the 'brightest' but I did work my butt off and so got to where I'm at now. I know most of you premeds have millions of q's and are overzealous. IF you have any q's just ask away. I will try to answer the q's as best as I can, in a timely fashion.

P.S. I know that there's another med student on here doing the same type of thread....perhaps this will allow you to get a different perspective.
BTW...i'm a US Allo student

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[businessguy]

Would you do it again?

 

[yg1786]

when did you decide what speciality you want to go into?

 

[Rafa]

How difficult/easy is it to form friendships (and even dating relationships) with other students in med school compared to how it was in college? Does the shared rigor make it easier, more difficult, or more or less the same?

 

[indo]

Ask an Fourth Year Med student

Okay. Hey, will you run down to the lab and pick up Mr. Jackson's lab and drop off this cup of foggy urine? Also, could you give the guy in room 4 a rectal exam? He says he hasn't pooped in 13 days.

 

[jebus]

purple stuff, soda, or sunny d?

 

[jrci215]

what was your college major, and where did you go?

 

[MarzMD]

Is it true that if you dont use it, you lose it?

 

[NapeSpikes]

Is it true that if you dont use it, you lose it?

Is that a serious question?

 

[indo]

...like bags of sand

 

[DropkickMurphy]

 

[happydays]

SDN has done wonders for me as I progressed from college to med school and now onto a residency in a very competitive field (anesthesiology).

Time for me to give back. I wasnt always the 'brightest' but I did work my butt off and so got to where I'm at now. I know most of you premeds have millions of q's and are overzealous. IF you have any q's just ask away. I will try to answer the q's as best as I can, in a timely fashion.

P.S. I know that there's another med student on here doing the same type of thread....perhaps this will allow you to get a different perspective.
BTW...i'm a US Allo student

What did the people in the your class have to do to get into the toughest programs (derm, radonc, ENT, etc.)? What have you witnessed? Were there back-stabings, gauging-of-the-eyes, major ass-kissing sessions, or becoming of lab slaves?

 

[DropkickMurphy]

gauging-of-the-eyes

I believe that is part of the Ophtho match program if I'm not mistaken.....

 

[Medikit]

What's up dude

 

[jbing]

.

 

[DrHuang]

dude, you are graduating medical school, and you don't know the proper usage of "an" or "a". many will think i am a jerk for pointing it out, but i find it pretty inexcusable.

Funny. I didn't know they taught grammar in medical school.

 

[Scrub MD]

The school I am interested in has set rotations 3rd year (FP, psych, surg, IM, OBGYN, Peds) only doing electives 4th year. Is this pretty standard? I thought most people choose their specialty as a MS3 and got letters in their desired area by 3rd year.

 

[USArmyDoc]

dude, you are graduating medical school, and you don't know the proper usage of "an" or "a". many will think i am a jerk for pointing it out, but i find it pretty inexcusable.

 

[RxnMan]

dude, you are graduating medical school, and you don't know the proper usage of "an" or "a". many will think i am a jerk for pointing it out, but i find it pretty inexcusable.

Some posters like to tout their research, others, their grades and MCATs. Some have nothing to brag about, and feeling inadequate, bring up this sort of poorly timed and tasteless pseudo-elitism. ThinkFast007 has a valuable experience we all could benefit from and is offering it for free.

ThinkFast007: How do you get into those competitive residencies? I expect that you have to do sub-I's with the institutions you're interested in, get good LORs, grades, and USMLE I scores. Any other tips?

Why did you choose Anesthesiology? Why not other fields?

 

[ussdfiant]

The school I am interested in has set rotations 3rd year (FP, psych, surg, IM, OBGYN, Peds) only doing electives 4th year. Is this pretty standard? I thought most people choose their specialty as a MS3 and got letters in their desired area by 3rd yr.

That is pretty much the way 3rd year works. BTW, I am not the OP, but I am an MS 4.

 

[ThinkFast007]

Would you do it again?

asked myself this q several times this year.

My answer.......

Yes. Were there times during the process i would have said NO...absolutely!

Med school is NO joke. Ppl always todl me that you really ahve to go into medicine if you really want to..not just cuz of hte money, etc. THEY ARE RIGHT. you will see ppl fail out, transfer out, maybe even DIE out.

That's the case unfortunately when you have the smartest ppl in the whole US competing against each other. But generally i dont find another field as rewarding as medicine. I dont think there's another more noble field than medicine. Yes, the pay is great (esp if you go into something like anesthesiology)...but it's also about being able to have pts DEPEND ON YOU. it's a huge burden and well you have to have a personality to love to do it.

 

[ThinkFast007]

when did you decide what speciality you want to go into?

i always thought i woudl do surgery or Int med...it wasnt until late 2nd year or early 3rd year htat i decided to go into anesthesiology.

as a budding first year...just worry about passing. MED SCHOOL IS NO JOKE! this is HARD! but hey the rewards are amazing when you can look back as a 4th year and be like, wow i know sooooooooooooo much crap!

but make NO mistake. If you think that med school is a big party...ur in for a surprise.

Did i make the mistake. heck ya. I was a frat boy who party like crazy during my first and second years. my grades suffered and I would have Flunked out...but i got my stuff together.

 

[ThinkFast007]

purple stuff, soda, or sunny d?

henessey and coke

 

[ThinkFast007]

How difficult/easy is it to form friendships (and even dating relationships) with other students in med school compared to how it was in college? Does the shared rigor make it easier, more difficult, or more or less the same?

it's all about YOUR personality. I had a friggin ball during my first two years in med school...i went out ALL the time and had a awesome time, dated, etc. Later on it gets hard. Yes, you can always date your classmates...it's usually not advised...but in my med school alone there were 5 couples that ended up getting married. but if you are thinking of just screwing around, it's ill adviced. BUT THEN AGAIN, if you two can keep it on the DL...then no problems

I think the dating game is waht you make it to be. i mean if you are reallly desparate, dude all you have to do as a guy is tell the chick at the club you are a med student and well hey...it's the golden key into their heart and to their ___.

Friendships. Well that's sorta hard. Your friends in law, B School, and wahtever else are workign and have a heck of a lot more free time. they're out getting drunk,etc and you may be in the library on a friday studying. so...the two of you are on completely different hemispheres when it comes to ppl understanding each other. In terms of making friends in your class...well the first few months every one will be ULTRA nice to each ohter. Later on the 'gunnerism' (cut throatism,etc) may start. WATCH out for it!
People will be like, 'oh i dont study much' and then they end up getting all honors. IT'S BULLS#hIT. ladies/gents let me tell you this...NO ONE JUST WOKE UP and knew this stuff...you have to study! some of us must look at stuff just a few times...others (like me) must work at it for while. whatever they way you study , u definitely have to put int the time.

other thing. I did horrible in the beginning. igot my sh@t together later on and almost honored everything. So....dont let the fact that you fail a test or something get you discouraged. dont be discouraged..and DEFINITELY never commit suicide or something extreme like that. WORK YOUR BUTT of. GET HELP! use other resources. Seriously, i'm not the smartest person at some things...but i put in that time. i bought good review books (ask ppl ahead of you in yoru med school what books are good,etc). ask upper classmen what to study and how they passed. are there old exams/ sample exams to work on.

get a mentor/friend in the upperclass and really ask them how to do well.

 

[ThinkFast007]

what was your college major, and where did you go?

biology and philosophy


where i went....it's not an IVY league school....

 

[ThinkFast007]

Is it true that if you dont use it, you lose it?

use it like mad, then you dont have to worry about it.

 

[ThinkFast007]

What did the people in the your class have to do to get into the toughest programs (derm, radonc, ENT, etc.)? What have you witnessed? Were there back-stabings, gauging-of-the-eyes, major ass-kissing sessions, or becoming of lab slaves?

no way around it...they studied their as# off.

was there back stabings, etc. yes. did they kiss ass YES. did they do lab research to pad their CVs yes.

I'm going into a field that is VERY competitive field now. Did i do all of this. NOPE. why?

well first off, get a personality and be a likable person. Dude, i would go on interviews or when i was at the these away electives (aka 'audition' interviews), I really showed the programs that i could 1) work my butt off 2) get along w/ ppl.

These are the most important attributes. DO you need a great board score...yes...but will a decent one get you to where you want to be. of course! stuff like DERM is ultra competitive. you probably have to be all over the chairman ...but for the others stuff get good board scores, good letters of rec, be personable and you will be golden! other stuff that really helps you to get your foot into the door is being a US allo grad. believe me DOs, caribbean students, other IMGs have more difficulties, esp if you are trying to go to 'good' residencies.

 

[drmota]

when you say you went out ALL the time your first 2 years, how much do you really mean? was your school block schedule or were tests scheduled intermittently throughout the semester? how did that affect your opportunity to get down with the get down?
-dr. mota

 

[ThinkFast007]

dude, you are graduating medical school, and you don't know the proper usage of "an" or "a". many will think i am a jerk for pointing it out, but i find it pretty inexcusable.

A$$ wipe...see you gotta be careful of guys like this.

j/k
i was typing pretty fast and noticed that i did that when i checked SDN today. what can i say then OOPS.

 

[ThinkFast007]

when you say you went out ALL the time your first 2 years, how much do you really mean? was your school block schedule or were tests scheduled intermittently throughout the semester? how did that affect your opportunity to get down with the get down?
-dr. mota

we had tests every OTHER weekend. the 'free' weekends i would go out.

dude...if you want to get down...you can esp if you go somewhere that has dental, law, pharmacy,etc students.

not that i know about things like that, just what i heard of course

 

[21JumpStreet]

asked myself this q several times this year.

My answer.......

Yes. Were there times during the process i would have said NO...absolutely!

Med school is NO joke. Ppl always todl me that you really ahve to go into medicine if you really want to..not just cuz of hte money, etc. THEY ARE RIGHT. you will see ppl fail out, transfer out, maybe even DIE out.

That's the case unfortunately when you have the smartest ppl in the whole US competing against each other. But generally i dont find another field as rewarding as medicine. I dont think there's another more noble field than medicine. Yes, the pay is great (esp if you go into something like anesthesiology)...but it's also about being able to have pts DEPEND ON YOU. it's a huge burden and well you have to have a personality to love to do it.

We can't generalize and say that med students are the smartest in the United States. Your field does not define your intelligence. You can have higher intelligence than a med student and decide not to pursue college. You can have higher intelligence than a med student and pursue a non-scientific discipline because of your interests. Also, I've known a few people that have become med students because they were not able to handle the rigors of other careers. One woman for instance chose to go into medicine as her second choice. She wanted to be an engineer and could not complete the math and physics req's to enter any program in the physical sciences. But, she did well in the pre-med req's because they are not as difficult as the pre-req's for an engineering program.

 

[21JumpStreet]

I think the dating game is waht you make it to be. i mean if you are reallly desparate, dude all you have to do as a guy is tell the chick at the club you are a med student and well hey...it's the golden key into their heart and to their ___.

Not necessarily. Not all people are interested in docs. A lot of women are interested in cops. Cops refer to these women as badge bunnies. My cousin is a cop and gets hit on a lot by these badge bunnies.

But for either profession, it wouldn't matter if the personality sucks. People would pick up on it right away.

 

[UCDavisdude]

We can't generalize and say that med students are the smartest in the United States. Your field does not define your intelligence. You can have higher intelligence than a med student and decide not to pursue college. You can have higher intelligence than a med student and pursue a non-scientific discipline because of your interests. Also, I've known a few people that have become med students because they were not able to handle the rigors of other programs. One woman for instance chose to go into medicine as her second choice. She wanted to be an engineer and could not complete the math and physics req's to enter any program in the physical sciences. But, she did well in the pre-med req's because they are not as difficult as the pre-req's for an engineering program.

oh gosh, dont take things to the butt.

 

[Prozach]

We can't generalize and say that med students are the smartest in the United States. Your field does not define your intelligence. You can have higher intelligence than a med student and decide not to pursue college. You can have higher intelligence than a med student and pursue a non-scientific discipline because of your interests. Also, I've known a few people that have become med students because they were not able to handle the rigors of other careers. One woman for instance chose to go into medicine as her second choice. She wanted to be an engineer and could not complete the math and physics req's to enter any program in the physical sciences. But, she did well in the pre-med req's because they are not as difficult as the pre-req's for an engineering program.

Oh for christ's sake. What a stereotypical response *******.

 

[cayberr]

Not necessarily. Not all people are interested in docs. A lot of women are interested in cops. Cops refer to these women as badge bunnies. My cousin is a cop and gets hit on a lot by these badge bunnies.

Badge bunnies, how cute. That has such a positive connotation, reminds me of playboy bunnies. No cop for me, I want a fireman. With great personality of course.

 

[neovenom]

my question concerns living arrangements. i want to live by myself, but would you advise that? was it easier with a roommate, esp if it was a fellow med student?

 

[Syranope2]

my question concerns living arrangements. i want to live by myself, but would you advise that? was it easier with a roommate, esp if it was a fellow med student?

Advice from a second year med student - do what you want to do. i lived with a roommate (a girl in my med school class that i had never met really before we moved in) and it was fine. she was nice, not my best friend, but definitely not an enemy. like i said, it was fine, nothing special. i was worried that i would be anti-social and never meet anyone if i lived by myself. it turns out that's impossible. you are around these people all day every day. just because you live by yourself doesn't mean you'll be anti-social.

this year i live on my own and i love it. i can come and go when i please, decorate just how i like it, sing awful music at the top of my lungs, etc. and i'm not at all anti-social. it's nice to come home to a place that's all yours and be away from the med school hype once in a while. i'd say if you want to live on your own and you can afford it, go for it.

 

[21JumpStreet]

Oh for christ's sake. What a stereotypical response *******.

Well, I see that the truth hurts for some people. Get over yourself.

 

[happydays]

no way around it...they studied their as# off.

was there back stabings, etc. yes. did they kiss ass YES. did they do lab research to pad their CVs yes.

I'm going into a field that is VERY competitive field now. Did i do all of this. NOPE. why?

well first off, get a personality and be a likable person. Dude, i would go on interviews or when i was at the these away electives (aka 'audition' interviews), I really showed the programs that i could 1) work my butt off 2) get along w/ ppl.

These are the most important attributes. DO you need a great board score...yes...but will a decent one get you to where you want to be. of course! stuff like DERM is ultra competitive. you probably have to be all over the chairman ...but for the others stuff get good board scores, good letters of rec, be personable and you will be golden! other stuff that really helps you to get your foot into the door is being a US allo grad. believe me DOs, caribbean students, other IMGs have more difficulties, esp if you are trying to go to 'good' residencies.

Thank you very much!

 

[DropkickMurphy]

I want a fireman. With great personality of course.

Isn't that an oxymoron?



BTW That still makes you a badge bunny- we firefighters have badges too (at least on dress or station uniforms).

 

[Zymogen]

How important is your medical schools reputation.

ie does it affect your residency match all other factors aside?