Asking for a favour from my Mentor

[FutureDoctorX-men]

Hi everyone,

I hope that everyone is doing well! I just have a question regarding asking my Medical School mentor for a favour. Please keep in mind that this might be a little long!
So here's the background:
My med school mentor is currently a fourth year medical student and he will be graduating this May. I am super duper proud of him and his achievements and I really look up to him as a role model and as a big brother. I've known him for two years now and we first met during my freshman year of college through a community mentorship program.
Now, I am a sophomore in college and I plan on pursuing a medical profession. However, I also plan on taking a 1-2 years of Gap year (most likely 2years) in order to help improve my CV, continue my volunteering, shadowing and also start working in order to help save up money before I apply to Med school. I plan on applying on a hospital as a technician of some sort, I'm not picky and I can take on any profession given to me.

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So, since I do pan on taking 2 years of Gap year, this is where my favour for my mentor comes into play.
Since he will be graduating this May, I would really like to ask him if he still has any of his old Notes and possibly Books that he used when he was in his 1st and 2nd year of Medical school, maybe also 3rd, if he took any which I highly doubt.
The only problem is that I don't know how to approach asking this question...

Should I just ask him straight up and also ask him if he can give me some of his notes and books.
OR
Should I ask him about his note and books and then offer to pay for them? ​

I kinda feel a little awkward being in this situation and I really don't want to offend him in anyway shape or form since I highly respect him!

Note: I also plan on getting him a graduation present for his accomplishments! Do you guys have any suggestions as what I should get him? My budget is pretty much below $100 since I'm still a student and I don't have a job right now...

• I've thought about getting him a pen, but he might lose it...
• I've though about getting him a personalized mug but I don't know what I should put on it...
  • Anything clever that you can think of? He is planning on pursuing Emergency Medicine!
• I've also though about getting him a gift card but that doesn't sound memorable at all and I really want to show my appreciation for his help!

ps: If you are wondering why I wanted to ask for his notes and books so badly, it's because I wanted to be able to read some of the informations that will be presented to me in advance and also to be able to study while I am in my gap year trying to improve my CV.
I simply can't lose my momentum of studying just because I took two years of Gap years.

Please help!! Any advice???

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[aalamruad]

1) You don't need his notes or books. You're pretty far away from med school, and you can just get books from upperclassmen wherever you end up at med school for free. And you should just take your own notes, not only because it'll help you learn the material better than reading someone else's, but also because the notes he took might not be high-yield for your school's classes.

2) DON'T PRE-STUDY FOR MED SCHOOL.

3) For the gift, anything but a gift card. Write a little note with whatever gift you get him, too.

4) Relax a little bit

 

[cactusman]

1) You don't need his notes or books. You're pretty far away from med school, and you can just get books from upperclassmen wherever you end up at med school for free. And you should just take your own notes, not only because it'll help you learn the material better than reading someone else's, but also because the notes he took might not be high-yield for your school's classes.

2) DON'T PRE-STUDY FOR MED SCHOOL.

3) For the gift, anything but a gift card. Write a little note with whatever gift you get him, too.

4) Relax a little bit

4) b. Write shorter SDN posts.

 

[FutureDoctorX-men]

1) You don't need his notes or books. You're pretty far away from med school, and you can just get books from upperclassmen wherever you end up at med school for free. And you should just take your own notes, not only because it'll help you learn the material better than reading someone else's, but also because the notes he took might not be high-yield for your school's classes.

2) DON'T PRE-STUDY FOR MED SCHOOL.

3) For the gift, anything but a gift card. Write a little note with whatever gift you get him, too.

4) Relax a little bit

Hi! Thank you for replying back and giving me some advice. I was just wondering why I shouldn't Pre-study for medical school? Is it bad to do that? Isn't that supposed to be a good thing that someone is taking initiative to do so?

 

[FutureDoctorX-men]

4) b. Write shorter SDN posts.

Lol, I have a problem with too much detail! My bad!

 

[PHgeek123]

you sound like such a bubbly person, I love it! Don't let anyone dull your shine!
that's all I have to say tho haha.

 

[FutureDoctorX-men]

you sound like such a bubbly person, I love it! Don't let anyone dull your shine!
that's all I have to say tho haha.

Awe!! Thank you very much! I've never received that compliment before!
I've always look up to people who can make the most out of situation through having fun so I guess it kinda rubbed off on me.
I think you just made my day!! Thank you again!!

 

[deleted781806]

I was just wondering why I shouldn't Pre-study for medical school?

The general advice against pre-studying for medical school is rooted in the fact that where you end up matriculating will probably have a different method of teaching that may emphasize different points, without having gone through the classes yourself you won't be able to know which bits of information are truly useful to learn and which pieces of information are just fluff within the readings/notes. The point can also be made that you are far enough out that it isn't likely that you will retain the information until you begin classes anyways, thus pre-studying would be a waste of time.

It's just better to focus on your current job, improving your extracurricular activities, and studying for the MCAT if you haven't taken it yet (you would probably need to take it closer to your application cycle anyways because they generally expire around three years post-exam).

As for gift advice: Novelty mugs are always a good way to go if the person enjoys coffee/tea, as long as they already don't have a staggeringly large collection of mugs haha

 

[FutureDoctorX-men]

The general advice against pre-studying for medical school is rooted in the fact that where you end up matriculating will probably have a different method of teaching that may emphasize different points, without having gone through the classes yourself you won't be able to know which bits of information are truly useful to learn and which pieces of information are just fluff within the readings/notes. The point can also be made that you are far enough out that it isn't likely that you will retain the information until you begin classes anyways, thus pre-studying would be a waste of time.

It's just better to focus on your current job, improving your extracurricular activities, and studying for the MCAT if you haven't taken it yet (you would probably need to take it closer to your application cycle anyways because they generally expire around three years post-exam).

As for gift advice: Novelty mugs are always a good way to go if the person enjoys coffee/tea, as long as they already don't have a staggeringly large collection of mugs haha

Ahh, I see your point now regarding pre-studying! And thank you very much for letting me know about the MCAT!
I still have yet to take it and I actually planned on taking in during my junior year of undergrad but I didn't know that the score that you receive can actually expire!! That would have been a close one...

As for the gift advice, thank you for your input! I don't think that my mentor has a lot of mug collection anyways.

 

[deleted781806]

I still have yet to take it

Then yeah, you should definitely focus your efforts on studying for the MCAT and knocking it out of the park, it's one of the big limiters on how far your application will be able to go once you decide it is time to apply. "Do it once and do it well." If I remember correctly, most schools only take exams from up to three years prior, particularly with the recent change in formatting, so it is in your best interest to take it within a year of applying (as most "traditional" students do during their junior year, and then apply the summer between junior and senior years of undergrad). Definitely take the exam early enough so that you have your score back before submitting an application though! It'll help you pick which schools you should aim for, and determine how competitive you might be.

 

[FutureDoctorX-men]

Then yeah, you should definitely focus your efforts on studying for the MCAT and knocking it out of the park, it's one of the big limiters on how far your application will be able to go once you decide it is time to apply. "Do it once and do it well." If I remember correctly, most schools only take exams from up to three years prior, particularly with the recent change in formatting, so it is in your best interest to take it within a year of applying (as most "traditional" students do during their junior year, and then apply the summer between junior and senior years of undergrad). Definitely take the exam early enough so that you have your score back before submitting an application though! It'll help you pick which schools you should aim for, and determine how competitive you might be.

You are completely right! I looked up some informations on the school that I would like to apply to regarding MCAT expiration and it states that they WILL NOT consider an MCAT if it is older than 3 years...
I still have a lot more to learn I guess and this would have been such a waste of money if I took it during my junior year and later find out that I can't use it...
Thank you again for mentioning it!

 

[libertyyne]

1. It is weird asking for books and notes considering those may be outdated by the time you get there. It is also kinda weird considering you may not even get into this medical school.
2. Dont pre-study. Get into medical school first, this is a harder task than the mentor may be explaining to you since a majority of applicants do not receive an acceptance.
3. Just buy your mentor what ever you think is appropriate. You know the mentor and his/her interests. Dont buy a gift card.