burn out from starting too early?

[oreosandsake]

the usual advice is, "start studying early!"

well, I did that. I have almost 3 months left until I take the test and I feel like i'm going to be "peaking" a lot sooner than that.

I feel like i'm going to end up forgetting as much as I retain. As of right now, I have to review material or do Q's every day to stay "in shape"

I took a two week break from studying for boards (a month ago) and when I came back to doing questions I had take a 5 -10% hit on the qbank. then i slowly started regaining ground on topics that I had already covered but forgotten explicit details about.
(was it bcr abl or cmyc? 14;18? 8;14? 19;22?)


anyone else ended up in this situation? I'm scared to lay low, but then I dont want to burn out either.

btw, I'm not gunning for one of "those SDN" scores.

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[Long Dong]

the usual advice is, "start studying early!"

well, I did that. I have almost 3 months left until I take the test and I feel like i'm going to be "peaking" a lot sooner than that.

I feel like i'm going to end up forgetting as much as I retain. As of right now, I have to review material or do Q's every day to stay "in shape"

I took a two week break from studying for boards (a month ago) and when I came back to doing questions I had take a 5 -10% hit on the qbank. then i slowly started regaining ground on topics that I had already covered but forgotten explicit details about.
(was it bcr abl or cmyc? 14;18? 8;14? 19;22?)


anyone else ended up in this situation? I'm scared to lay low, but then I dont want to burn out either.

btw, I'm not gunning for one of "those SDN" scores.

Just chill out take another week off or just a weekend and come back fresh. Or get laid, go to a strip club, get some porn whatever, but just take a brake and come back hit it harder then ever. Just remember the stuff you forgot comes back even easier/faster each time.

 

[78222]

Wow, 3 months? I've got 4 weeks

 

[LusuR]

The burnout phenomenon is a myth. It's a buzzword created to replace the phrase "I'd rather do something more enjoyable." People don't "burnout," they just decide to have some fun. We med students say "I'm burned out" to relieve the guilt we feel when we're not studying.

You can talk yourself into mentally feeling any way you want to feel. If somebody genuinely feels burnt out, it's because they have talked themselves into feeling burnt out--or feeling whatever they expect burnt out to feel like.

 

[SoCuteMD]

the usual advice is, "start studying early!"

well, I did that. I have almost 3 months left until I take the test and I feel like i'm going to be "peaking" a lot sooner than that.

I feel like i'm going to end up forgetting as much as I retain. As of right now, I have to review material or do Q's every day to stay "in shape"

I took a two week break from studying for boards (a month ago) and when I came back to doing questions I had take a 5 -10% hit on the qbank. then i slowly started regaining ground on topics that I had already covered but forgotten explicit details about.
(was it bcr abl or cmyc? 14;18? 8;14? 19;22?)


anyone else ended up in this situation? I'm scared to lay low, but then I dont want to burn out either.

btw, I'm not gunning for one of "those SDN" scores.

Are you currently taking 2nd year classes? Or are you just studying for the boards?

 

[DOCTORSAIB]

The burnout phenomenon is a myth. It's a buzzword created to replace the phrase "I'd rather do something more enjoyable." People don't "burnout," they just decide to have some fun. We med students say "I'm burned out" to relieve the guilt we feel when we're not studying.

You can talk yourself into mentally feeling any way you want to feel. If somebody genuinely feels burnt out, it's because they have talked themselves into feeling burnt out--or feeling whatever they expect burnt out to feel like.

EXACTLY!

I was writing this same exact thing a few hours ago but was interrupted so never got to finish...

OP, listen man (woman), this is the most important exam of your life. Your life will be infinetly easier should you perform well on Step 1. It's never a gaurantee of matching into your field of choice (kinda like having lots of money is not a gaurantee for happiness) but boy does it make things easier!

In about a year, you will be filling out your application for residency. If your Step 1 score is WELL ABOVE anyone's cutoff (including UCSF's Rads program ~240!) you have a sense of comfort knowing that the odds are on YOUR SIDE vs against you with a crappy Step 1 score. Not to mention you won't have to ever worry about taking Step 2 early and wondering if you'll have enough time on so-and-so rotation to pull off a respectable score.

Moral of story: Keep studying. Get this "burnout" concept out of your head. It doesn't exist. Period. Convince yourself that this is what you love to do and that you will do well AT ALL COSTS!

G'luck.

 

[hj0517]

Doctor Saib, I agree with you about the burnout issue. You also spoke about cut off marks for specialties, now I know this is not the subject of the thread but could you let me know of any other generally acknowledged kind of cut off marks for specialties?

I realise that the question I ask is not very specific but I'm generally after ball park figures - the system is very different in the UK and I'm just interested in the practical implications of varying step 1 scores.

Thanks

 

[DOCTORSAIB]

Doctor Saib, I agree with you about the burnout issue. You also spoke about cut off marks for specialties, now I know this is not the subject of the thread but could you let me know of any other generally acknowledged kind of cut off marks for specialties?

I realise that the question I ask is not very specific but I'm generally after ball park figures - the system is very different in the UK and I'm just interested in the practical implications of varying step 1 scores.

Thanks

It all depends man. Some moderately competitive specialties may have 220 as a cut-off.

Most competitive programs at 230. This is the number most commonly thrown around on SDN as well. Personally I think with a 230 you'll make it past almost all cut-off based on board scores.

240 is the highest I've ever heard and that's at UCSF Rads.

 

[Terpskins99]

The burnout phenomenon is a myth. It's a buzzword created to replace the phrase "I'd rather do something more enjoyable." People don't "burnout," they just decide to have some fun. We med students say "I'm burned out" to relieve the guilt we feel when we're not studying.

You can talk yourself into mentally feeling any way you want to feel. If somebody genuinely feels burnt out, it's because they have talked themselves into feeling burnt out--or feeling whatever they expect burnt out to feel like.

I'm going to respectfully disagree, because it happened to me. I started prep in early march and took boards in august. By the time july rolled around I felt like I was going to vomit every time I opened up first aid or sat through another block of 50 questions. I didn't want to go party or vacation or whatever. I just got damn tired of studying.

I still did relatively well on boards and wholeheartedly believe that studying too early is way better than studying too late. But I'm pretty sure I would have done much better had I taken the exam at least a month earlier.

 

[PeepshowJohnny]

I'm going to respectfully disagree, because it happened to me. I started prep in early march and took boards in august. By the time july rolled around I felt like I was going to vomit every time I opened up first aid or sat through another block of 50 questions. I didn't want to go party or vacation or whatever. I just got damn tired of studying.

I still did relatively well on boards and wholeheartedly believe that studying too early is way better than studying too late. But I'm pretty sure I would have done much better had I taken the exam at least a month earlier.

I have to agree as well. At some points in my studying when I over did it, I didn't want to study anymore. However, I didn't want to do ANYTHING. I didn't want to hang out with friends, I didn't want to do anything physical, I didn't want to surf the internet, didn't want to play videogames or watch TV. It's awful.

Nice Iron Man references btw

 

[Terpskins99]

I have to agree as well. At some points in my studying when I over did it, I didn't want to study anymore. However, I didn't want to do ANYTHING. I didn't want to hang out with friends, I didn't want to do anything physical, I didn't want to surf the internet, didn't want to play videogames or watch TV. It's awful.

Nice Iron Man references btw

Thanks! Nobody else seems to listen to Black Sabbath.

[YOUTUBE]http://youtube.com/watch?v=FMmHX3WENHY[/YOUTUBE]

 

[drss]

Its happening to me as well,i am sick of study now and have 3 months till exam and whenever i force myself to study(that this is/should be my 1st priorty bla bla,somehow to motivate myself) but i end up yawning and dreaming,would like to confess,i dont want to watch tv,go out or do my fav things like shopping,all time feels like usmle is haunting....i am being called now 'BORE person' which i dont even listen but even if i do not study i m with usmle
any remedie other than take exam soon
but seeing i am not alone is of some relief but terrible situation

anyways,

 

[bkflaneur]

I think you can absolutely burnout. I'm halfway there now. I don't know about others, but I can't study 12hrs a day for multiple days in a row. I can manage it for 2 days before a test. But for 3-6 weeks of constant study, I need breaks. This sucks.

 

[registered user]

This sucks.

Wiser words were never spoken.

 

[Lacuna]

Here are a few things I did to avoid burnout -- take breaks. Studying 12 hours straight is inhuman. Leave some blank space in your study schedule to relax or catch up. Also, change up your environment. I had a "rotation" between my apartment, the library and starbucks. When you get bored of one, go to another. A steady dose of caffeine is never a bad idea! Good luck.

 

[78222]

I definetely burned out studying for the MCATs. I started about 3 months early and by the time the exam rolled around I was so burned out that I just didn't care anymore. I think it ended up hurting my score, considering my score dropped considerably from what I was consistently making on practice tests.