Best resources for keeping my brain working

[deleted647690]

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I'll be taking two gap years, and during that time, I will most likely be working at the NIH. Luckily, the NIH seems to be a supportive, academic environment, and I think that my PI cares about learning. I don't like the idea of being out of school for two years. What are the best things for me to do to keep myself in the loop? I know that most people would not suggest pre-studying for med school, but I want to keep the information I've learned fresh. I'll probably be reading papers related to the research I'm doing, and I think I'm going to start reading books (for pleasure) more than I have in the past. I think I've gotten used to being involved with academics, and I enjoy being in that kind of environment.

I guess I could read my physiology textbook or something. But I don't see how that would be helpful since I'm not really working towards a goal.

 

[LizzyM]

If you are at the NIH, there should be opportunities to hear lunchtime lectures every day of the week. You might not want to attend every lecture but you should choose to attend some and be attentive, take notes, read material before or after to get a better grasp of the subject matter. This is a crucial part of continuing education for me and for most professionals. It can also open up new areas to you and expand your knowledge base.

 

[mcatjelly]

I also took two gap years and actually took a few courses through Coursera on random topics I found interesting, just to keep myself in the academic mindset since my job was very non-intellectual.

 

[Terry Toma]

Best resources for keeping my brain working

Reticular formation. Sorry...too much MCAT studying.

 

[Lucca]

Learn Go. Pretty steep learning curve but pretty fun once you get into it, if you like Chess you will probably like Go.

I'm still garbage lmao

 

[Sheiko]

FAES offers a number of courses at the NIH, try picking up some languages like Python, R etc. Also, being at the NIH means there's always interesting talks for you to attend, as LizzyM mentioned.