calling all MS-1's

[stoic]

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What's up all you first year dudes and dudettes,

I'm wondering if studying in med school has become less painful than studying in undergrad. Right now it feels like pulling teeth to head to the library at night... Does this feeling fade once you get into the thick of med school? Or am I just in for the most miserable 2 years of my life (assuming of course that I can get in)

Thanks

 

[Buster Douglas]

The best way for me to describe it would be... The feeling you get during finals week... 2 years straight. However you approach your studies during finals week is probably how you will approach your studies in med school (from what i can tell so far anyway).

 

[ramsestiger]

Dude, medical school is NOT as difficult as it's cracked up to be. Sometimes, I don't study for an entire week and catch up the following week without too much trouble.

Everyone has a learning style. If you have one that worked in undergrad, it will probably work here, too (except you will have to work harder). I'm not the "study ahead and learn early" type of guy, so I pulled an all-nighter before the first biochem test in order to code all of the information. That type of learning worked for me in undergrad and it has worked for me at KCOM so far. Just do your own thing, and make sure you play ultimate frisbee in med school when you're there... it's a BLAST.

Honestly, medical school DOES NOT mean your social life will end. It really doesn't. I would even venture to say that medical school is more fun than undergrad, because you don't have to worry about all of the peripheral stuff that comes with being pre-med.

 

[Pitt Panther]

I agree with the posts above. It's not the level of difficulty in medical school that is new to us. It's the time that we have in order to understand the material at a high level.

I think that the biggest thing you can do now to prepare for medical school is to get disciplined with regards to your studies (if your not already), learn how to triage your studies (recognize areas where you're in need of more help compared to others and seek it), and realize that your time is valuable. Don't waste it.

Some advice that was given to me...
Teach and learn from each other, those who you sit next to in class will be the collegues you consult with in the future.

Good luck in the app process!

PCOM Class of '07 Rocks!

 

[DD214_DOC]

Studying for finals is easy. You've been doing this stuff for an entire semester and, assuming you have kept up, a final is nothing more than a rehash of everything you've already done. Piece of cake.

Don't know why people freak over finals.

 

[Buster Douglas]

Don't know why people freak over finals.

I agree.

BUT, imagine condensing a full college semester's worth of material in 4 weeks and being tested on detail. It's do-able, but I can guarantee weekends will definitely no longer start on thursdays.

 

[jon62781]

Are you insane???????

Studying in Medical School is Hellacious..... Like someone said, it is the feeling of finals week for 2 years, minus the beer and partying on Friday Nite. Basically, you are thrown to the wolves and then the wolves call the bears and the bears fly in their buddies the lions and tigers.... then you can start....

 

[DrMom]

good luck on that histo test today, Jon

 

[luckystar]

I actually think studying for classes in med school is a little easier than in college. I just would rather study for one kind of thing, rather than scatter my attention across six different subjects, like I had to do in college. By subjects, I mean things like Humanities and Liberal Arts classes. Not that I didn't enjoy those, but I prefer concentrating on the sciences, which I find infinitely more interesting. I had some pretty horrible expectations of med school before I started, so I guess since it's not quite as tortuous as I thought, I'm still sane. Also, I've noticed that the exams so far have been really straightforward and very well written. They're not trying to trick us on the minute details that some of my undergraduate professors were all too happy to pick us to death on. The teachers here have been really good at emphasizing the relevant parts (of course, EVERYTHING is relevant in anatomy 🙄 ) and I love the clinical correlation tidbits that we get. Feeds the fire of motivation, I guess 🙂

One more thing...I think we're fortunate to get OMM along with our basic sciences. Just hearing and seeing the anatomy one more time is very helpful, on top of the stuff we get in anatomy class/lab. Plus, it feels sooo nice....😍

 

[LukeWhite]

Though we've yet to take our first major test here at AZCOM, the studying required doesn't seem all that bad. I'm FAR less stressed than I was in undergrad.

A lot of that is the high-wire act of getting into med school that you have to deal with in undergrad. A bad test or two can put a serious dent in one's med school ambitions. Combined with material that's MUCH more difficult (organic chem? physics? bah.) it makes for some pretty serious stress.

Sure, it's 2-3 hours a night, nearly every night now, but there's very little risk of failure and equally little risk of not scoring a residency. Lots of work, very little stress.

I suppose it's probably worse for those hoping to get into a competitive residency. One more notch in the primary care column!

 

[muonwhiz]

"Very little risk of failure and equally little risk of not getting a residency.." and you haven't even taken one test in medical school yet? You are really cocky, I'll give you that much. Let's see if you feel that way in January. Or do you just intend to crap on your classmates who may (unlike you of course) have the misfortune to fail a test or two?

 

[Idiopathic]

I agree with the statement...our class performs very well (>80 mean usually) and we get the job done, essentially. This stuff isnt hard (well, Pharm is...and Neuroanatomy was) but it is VERY time-consuming, and that is the biggest adjustment. Anyone who isnt putting in the 5-7 hours daily probably isnt 'getting it'.

 

[DrQuinn]

5-7 hours a day? Do you read in braille?

I thought medical school was DIFFERENT that undergrad... not necessarily tougher. I think I was more stressed out durign tests in undergrad...

in medical school, you take so many damn tests that it is less about what to study, but more about what they are going to ask you (which if you are good you can begin to figure out by the end of your first semester). The hardest part of medical school is the first year... very tough, lots of information... I think its hard juts because you needt o learn the system (and to prioritize).

Second year rolled around and I partied more then than I did in college. The classes were interesting (unless hung over) anyways. Third year is like a 60 hour a week job, and fuorth yera is a damned vacation.

Now INTERNSHIP is where it gets interesting!

Q, DO

 

[Idiopathic]

Originally posted by QuinnNSU
5-7 hours a day? Do you read in braille?

Well, I could take this one of two ways, but I will break it down for you. There are people at my school (myself included) that are actually interested in learning some of the concepts presented, and there are people that are interested in passing tests. If you are a learner then you probably need more than 10 hours a week studying. Some people can do it without much time, and to them, I say kudos. While I am not an idiot, by any stretch, I do have some OCD-qualities that cause me to look up every condition, and get stuck on points that make no sense until I figure them out. Keep in mind, this is YEAR TWO fo rme...in year one I screwed off and crammed for every test, and although I did very well, it hurt in the long run, because now my micro and phys and anatomy knowledge is weaker than it should be. So, while the first year is much more difficult (and actually, the second semester of year one, at OSU, is the most difficult) the second year is more comprehensive with much more material.

 

[LukeWhite]

Muon,

I'm basing my comments on failure and residency on pretty objective stuff. The number of med students who fail out of school is miniscule, and the number of grads who try and fail to obtain a residency is smaller still.

So I'm not quite sure where the cockiness comes in. While occasional sub-passing scores on tests are probably pretty common, and I'm sure I'll have at least my fair share, any sort of broad-based failure is rare.

Unless of course, you as a fellow AZCOMmer are suggesting that the risk of failure, and, barring that, not scoring a residency, is exceptionally high for AZCOM students? I've heard from some in your class that your class is awfully bright. I'm sure we're not quite so Jonas-Salks-of-the-Osteopathic-World clever, but I'll stand by my general statement that for any given person in any given class of any given school, the risk of not becoming a practicing physician is pretty low.

 

[daveyboy]

After a couple quizes I'd say that MS1 is hard, but not the melodrama I thought it would be as a pre-med. I think the toughest part is figuring out what is going to be asked. My rule of thumb is this: "If it seems irrelevant to real life and makes my head hurt, it will be on the test".

That being said, I find it pretty comical that there are people on this thread arguing over whose perception of difficulty is more legitimate. I have to wonder if there is any point to telling somebody that they find med school too hard/easy, aside from penis envy/waving. If you find it easy and low stress, then bully for you. If you are having a hard time, then bully for you for hanging tough. You do well either way.

 

[Idiopathic]

Originally posted by lukealfredwhite
I'll stand by my general statement that for any given person in any given class of any given school, the risk of not becoming a practicing physician is pretty low.

Ah, to live the dream...I can just see little Johnny now

"Mommy, when I grow up, I want to be mediocre!"

 

[stoic]

If everyone was a gunner, there would still be a bell curve in the distribution of scores. The standard deviation *might* be lower, but then again maybe not. Consider a senario where the people who get by w.o studying now went crazy and studied 5-7 hours a day. That might be enough to shift the curve upward and keep the sd pretty much the same as it is now. Then what? It would start a vicous cycle and everyone would work harder and harder until their brains were exploding.

As for being a good physcians, most of the docs I know saw it's residency that matters, not pre-clinical grades.

BTW, thanks everyone for the replies.

 

[LukeWhite]

Idiopathic,

That's the sort of attitude that makes for all this bad blood.

Obviously it takes more skill to be a neurosurgeon than a family practitioner, or even to get into a highly competitive FP residency than one that struggles every year to fill enough slots to keep running.

That doesn't mean, however, that the less competitive specialties and residencies breed mediocre doctors. As far as accomplishing good goes, I'll put my money on the Carribean grad who squeaks into a rural FP residency and spends his or her career practicing what some would call mediocre medicine eighty hours a week in an underserved area over the Harvard-trained dermatologist-to-the-stars with Fridays off and a vacation home in Vail.

There's a place for both, but the competitiveness of a specialty or residency is not a measure of the value its physicians have to the world. Seems to me that point is lost on a lot of med students, which is at least one reason there's such a high (and for the most part totally unnecessary) level of stress and unhappiness in med school.

I've got no problem with the people who study six hours a night, every night, to get into a competitive specialty or even just to become more broadly competent. But what we do isn't so terribly important that it should occlude every other aspect of life, which is what happens when students become convinced that anything less than 95th percentile is mediocrity. Devote all the time you want to medicine, but don't look too harshly on those who spend those extra few hours being happy.

 

[Teufelhunden]

5-7 hours a day? That's just ridiculous. I probably studied abouy 15 hours/wk on an average week during my MS-II year; double that pre-exam week.

Granted, during my 1st year I studied more than that (not much more), but that was only because I hadn't learned how to study efficiently yet. Once you figure out what's 'high-yield' and what's not, you can hit 'coast.'

Not to mention, a large percentage of what you learn during 1st and 2nd year is total crap you'll never use...how many practicing docs can tell you the cord levels innervating every muscle in the human body? You think your FP can draw out the Cori cycle, or knows all the rate-limiting steps of glycolysis?

I could really go off on a rant here, but it's 2:44am....time for sleep.

 

[futuredo32]

I am studying at least 6 hours a night and I'm struggling. I've heard that at most schools, the first semester is the hardest. I hope that's true. One of the professors said it is like drinking from a fire hydrant. I'm choking on the water!🙁

 

[sophiejane]

Thank you for your honesty.

You just keep plugging away and you will do fine. Even more important, your success will be even sweeter because it was hard-won.

There is nothing more distasteful or immature IMHO than people bragging about how LITTLE they study in medical school. God help their future patients.

 

[Teufelhunden]

Originally posted by sophiejane
There is nothing more distasteful or immature IMHO than people bragging about how LITTLE they study in medical school. God help their future patients.

Well, first of all I wasn't 'bragging.' I thought the OP wanted some honest feedback from those of us that have been through the first 2 years.

And as far as your "God help their future patients" remark...are you insinuating that I'm not as capable as my colleagues who studied 5 hours per day? Funny how I still seemed to do well on boards, and am functioning quite well now on rotations.

What gives you the right to criticize peoples' study habits anyway? Different people learn differently.

Anyway, no matter what your learning style...best of luck to all.

 

[sophiejane]

....so, when you said that studying 5-7 hours per day was "just ridiculous", what exactly did you mean by that? Seems to me you were pretty blatantly criticizing others' study habits, and in fact were calling them "ridiculous."

Did I misunderstand you?

Glad you did so well on boards and are doing so well on the wards. I hope you can remain humble as you meet with so much success.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Teufelhunden]

Originally posted by sophiejane
....so, when you said that studying 5-7 hours per day was "just ridiculous", what exactly did you mean by that? Seems to me you were pretty blatantly criticizing others' study habits, and in fact were calling them "ridiculous."

Did I misunderstand you?

Yes. Here's how this all started:

Originally posted by Idiopathic
Anyone who isnt putting in the 5-7 hours daily probably isnt 'getting it'.

What is "just ridiculous" is the above statement. I'm sorry Idiopathic had to study 5-7 hours a day to "get it." Most of us "got it" with far less.

 

[sophiejane]

My apologies for misunderstanding your "ridiculous" reference.

Also, I may not have been clear on this, but I was directing the comment to a larger audience than just you, although you apparently identified with it to some degree, or enough to think that it was directed solely at you. I have seen a number of posts on this board and the allopathic board in which medical students congratulate themselves for studying less than some of their classmates, or they tell pre-meds how "easy" medical school is and brag about how much partying they did. I just find that kind of petty and silly, that's all.

The fact is, most people aren't willing to admit how much they actually have to study. If you and your classmates were successful with only 15 hours a week of studying, that is wonderful. But I would be willing to bet that many of them put in more time than that. Unless your school was a particularly easy one, which I doubt.

What is most important is that we support one another and have respect for one another's diferences, since we will be colleauges and partners in the future. I apologize if I seemed disrespectful of anyone's particular learning style, as that was not my intention.

Again, best of luck.

sj

 

[Teufelhunden]

Originally posted by sophiejane
If you and your classmates were successful with only 15 hours a week of studying, that is wonderful. But I would be willing to bet that many of them put in more time than that.
sj

Fifteen hours per week was my MS-II average. I studied a lot more during my first year (damned anatomy!)

Plus, I'm a crammer by nature. Weeks and weeks of reading here and there, then the week before a test I study like mad. Sure, there have been days I've put in 8 hrs straight, but that wasn't an everyday occurance.

Anyway, I should be studying right now instead of posting on this damned forum...if my computer would magically block me from SDN I'd probably become a much better doctor!

 

[gwyn779]

I don't think people have to study 5-7 hrs/ day to "get it." Personally, I admire people who can do that, because I never could. It's not that I wasn't interested in learning, beacause I was and still am, but I just can't sit and study that much. I have trouble making it through 2 hours on any given day and most it was less than that, if at all.

No matter what people say, the 1st 2 years of med school are NOT about understanding the material, they're about how many stupid details you can remember for the exam. It really bugs me. That's not the way medicine is practiced. I think it's a much more valuable skill to be able to say, ok, I don't know this detail, but I know where to look it up in 5 sec. I would love to be taking exams that were really hard questions that we could use reference materials for, but since boards aren't set up that way, med school won't be either.

 

[Idiopathic]

Do you think there is a reason why med. students forget 90% of what they learn in the first two years? One side would say that it is because they dont need it, in their respective field(s). Another would argue that they never really learned it anyway. So, when I learn something, I can rest assured that I know it.

Oh, and Teufel, people ask what the problem is with medicine these days, here it is:

"Once you figure out what's 'high-yield' and what's not, you can hit 'coast.'"

Don't you think that carries over into life? So, now one can miss 8-10% of diagnoses, because they fall outside the normal range of what is 'high-yield', and that will be okay...why should anyone expect better?

So, for all of you who are OCD, ADD, compulsive and intelligent, you will probably make the most knowledgeable doctors (note: this has nothing to do with people skills-that can be a problem). Balance that with concern and caring, and you have the makings of a superb physician. Put as much time and effort into this stuff as you would hope your doctor put in every day of his/her education. Thanks.

(changing the world...one med student at a time)

 

[LukeWhite]

There seems to be a pretty pervasive attitude among med students that it's somehow disrespectful, slovenly, or even "cocky," to argue that med school can be relatively stress-free and even pleasant.

The formula goes like this: "I studied every waking hour, but I still don't know any of the stuff and I'm bound to fail." While that may be the case for some students (and they certainly deserve every ounce of help we can give them), it's not the case for most. Stress is self-created, and it <i>is</i> possible to get through school and become a fantastic physician without constant studying.

Humility isn't constantly predicting doom and destruction for oneself while citing outlandish study times, but that's what all this spirals towards. People feel as if they have to agree that med school is hellacious, that they're not understanding enough, and that the next disaster is just around the corner or else risk the charge that they're arrogant, or aren't taking their studies seriously, or are doing nothing but coasting.

This thread's been a perfect distillation of all that. I don't think anyone's "bragged" about how few hours they study, or even that the number of hours they study is "few," yet claiming to study any number of hours below some invisible line is automatically both few and bragging.

There's a tenuous correlation at best between how many hours someone studies and the grades they end up getting, a thinner link still between the hours they study and the quality of their practice as a physician. I don't think anyone has a problem with the people who devote the greater bulk of their waking hours to studying; I'm not surprised, though, that those who do are so quick to judge those who admit to studying less on the basis of a single number. The only way the vicious cycle of med school misery ends is to stop the snarkiness towards those who claim a lesser level of work.

 

[Idiopathic]

The scary thing is that grades do NOT correlate with study time, for the most part. I just get tired of hearing phrases like "2.0 = D.O." or "You know what they call the guy who graduated last in his class at med school?", etc, etc. People complain about how "medicine isnt their life" or "I dont want to be a neuroanatomist, so its okay if I dont learn it." I am driven to learn as much as I can, to be the best that I can, and, in a way, to get the best scores that I can...I realize that good grades correlate with being a good doctor about as much as bad grades correlate with being a bad doctor (close to zero) but when I am busting my ass trying to learn all that I can about peripheral vasculitises at midnight on a friday, it isnt because I want an A on a test, either.

 

[LukeWhite]

Idiopathic,

There are people who surely study more than you do. Couldn't you survive with one less hour of sleep a night? It'd be tough, but you almost certainly could. There are also people who learn the material far better than you do in much less time, and who could, if they only applied themselves, learn it better still.

It's awfully dangerous to use yourself as the yardstick of what constitutes the proper amount of studying. Schools don't like to turn out bad doctors, and for the most part their minimum passing grades are meant to ensure that those who would make good doctors pass, and those who wouldn't don't.

It's fantastic that your priorities are centered so squarely on the aspect of medicine involving raw knowledge (though I imagine studying 5-7 hours a night doesn't leave you much time for community service, which DOES have a direct impact on how competent one is as a physician). But patients, I'm assured by doctors, care far less about how much you know; they judge your worth as a physician by the interest you take in them. That's a skill requiring a far different type of studying than what one does for histology or physiology.

Lots of roads to the same path. I don't think anyone's judging you for the time you invest studying. It might be wise to be just as cautious in judging the dedication of those whose answer to a simple question happens to be a few hours less than your own.

 

[Idiopathic]

You also must understand that part of the drive comes from the fear that when it is time to know something, I will not know it...this is certainly not arrogance on my part, but it is a concern that I see too many people who care ONLY about passing, and moving on to the next level. To me, learning and studying is analogous to stopping to smell the roses, at least as far as medical school goes. I have a family and a life, and I probably spend 25-28 hours a week studying, more during test weeks. And what gets me is not that people study less, of course I know many who do, but these are not people devoting time and attention to the community and they are also not the best with people. Amount of time studying does not inversely relate to quality of human interaction, either, eh?

As upset as you all get for hearing someone talk about how much time it realy takes, others get just as upset when hearing people argue that "we will never use this stuff". To me, that was what undergrad was for...stuff I will never use. You never know what you will need out of all this material, and since we are already here...

Also, Mr. White, bear with me here...you have been through exactly one month of medical school. Even I have more experience than you, and I am just telling you how I feel. Almost 1/4 of the current class where I go to school performed below passing on their first anatomy and histology exams...I will be curious to hear how your first round goes.

 

[LukeWhite]

So far as I can tell, 25-28 hours of studying per week averages out to four hours a day of studying at most. Even factoring in extra time during tests, it would be a stretch to say that works out to the 5-7 hours per night average you've claimed. Someone who claims to study 3 hours a night averages 21 hours. While you've been pretty explicit in judging that as too little time, are you quite sure your extra 4-7 hours per week is the difference between a barely competent physician and an excellent one?

My point is not to suggest that you're overestimating your study time; I'm sure it's exactly as you say. Rather, it's that you seem to have an AWFULLY specific idea of what a med student needs to do to understand the material, and an equally specific idea of the type of doctor that slightly studying produces. We could quibble over the details, but the point is that details are just that: they're arbitrary little things that make for a very poor quality metric.

Again, it's dangerous to use oneself as the yardstick for what's advisable. Everyone obviously does what they think is best; if they didn't think it best, they wouldn't do it. I simply see no point in casting stones at those who study less or differently. It certainly won't make you a better physician (you could be spending that time studying!). While arguing that it's necessary to spend X number of hours studying to have mastery of the material might have some limited use in terms of giving people an idea of how others approach school, it's totally useless when wielded as some sort of absolute.

Hopefully we can all agree that med students should spend as much time as they need to understand the material and to retain the important elements. The thread's been useful in getting some ideas on how much time people think that takes. But there are no minimums or absolutes; trying to set them is futile, and with all due respect, awfully presumptuous.

 

[Idiopathic]

I think you need to re-read my posts. I said that if you only study 2-3 hours a day, you probably arent 'getting it', and I stand by that. There is just too much material that you have never been exposed to before, to learn all from lecture and re-reading lecture notes. What I tell the students that I tutor is: if you dont have to stop and look something up on every page you read, then you arent really studying. I am really not criticizing anyone, I just believe this, that studying as much as you are in class is required anbsolutely, plus more sometimes.

(and I study abpout 40 hours a week on test week, so if you want to crunch the numbers and tell me what that averages out to, please do🙂)

 

[ItsGavinC]

Originally posted by Teufelhunden

Anyway, I should be studying right now instead of posting on this damned forum...if my computer would magically block me from SDN I'd probably become a much better doctor!

Amen. If only it could. I think we're all with you on that point.

Who cares about studying. We're REALLY interested in how many hours of posting to SDN you did each week during MS1.

 

[LukeWhite]

Upon rereading your post:

Originally posted by Idiopathic
]Anyone who isnt putting in the 5-7 hours daily probably isnt 'getting it'.

That 5-7 seems awfully unambiguous to me. Though if you're changing your conclusion to "2-3 hours per night isn't enough", we're at least getting closer to what you consider appropriate: Less than three? Too little! More than seven? Unnecessary! The qualifiers start piling on.

That's an awfully fine scalpel you're cutting with there.

As far as quality of physicians go, I'd be far less worried about a physician who studied three hours as opposed to seven in MSI/II than I would a physician whose certainty consistently exceeded his precision. Not scientific, not safe. Caution and circumspection is necessary in practice, and it might be well worth practicing now. To each their own; laying down constantly-shifting arbitraries with utter certainty won't do much good for anyone and is one of the prime reasons med students get such a reputation for general unpleasantness--their knowledge is quickly outpaced by their self-assurance.

 

[stomper627]

Well....
I obviously didnt get it as I didnt put in 5-7 hours a day.....and we had a test every monday in MSII year.....
BUT, since I didnt get it....I dont know how I ended up passing the boards, passing all my classes, and am doing well in my rotations.
I guess I dont get it....could you please help me out?....Cause I maybe did 1-2 hours a day during the week and 4-6 each sat and sun (prior to board studying)...then went to movies or to the bar.
Now others I know who did study all day every day(at least 7hrs/day)....not sure how they did get it....considering they didnt pass the boards.....but then again....I dont get it.
My only guess is that sometimes people need to fullfill the fact that they "NEED" to study....and that if they enjoy themselves they are not medical students.
Me, I have a girlfriend, lift weights everyday, run, nap, watch tv, drink sometimes, enjoy life, because medical school is not my lfe...and it will be over soon.....but then again....I dont get it.
stomper

 

[Idiopathic]

Yes, thats fine...let the snide comments flow. What's good for the goose is not necessarily good for the gander, and perhaps I was a little too absolute with my statement. HOWEVER, all I know is my personal sphere. I know what works for those around me, I know the people who truly grasp this stuff seem to put a hell of a lot more time into it, thats all. I certainly wasnt implying that it couldnt be done or isnt done, but that if you forget it all, whats the point? I see that Stomper has decided to employ some very sharp sarcasm (and witty), and I am okay with that. Let me close with this: I study quite a bit, and I still find that some importan points, I am just not getting unless I keep at it. Mind you, these are not all high-yield, condensed into list form, 100% likely to be tested material, but sometimes the most interesting stuff never shows up on a test. And you know what else? There are people who will graduate from every one of our medical schools that I wouldnt trust to be in the same hospital as me, if I were a patient. I take this seriously. Is 5-7 hours a day realistic? Not likely. Like I said, I study about 28 hours a week (average) but I take a day off here and there (I, too, have a life), so I am certainly not laying myself down as the yardstick, and the phrase "probably aren't 'getting it'" is subjective enough that I am not emplying my powers of 'absolute certainty', eh, Mr. White? Maybe it is just that I enjoy this. I enjoy my family first and foremost, but I enjoy medical school also, and I treat it like a 50+ hour a week job. During undergrad I worked 50 hour weeks and went to school and hated every minute of it. Now, I actually have more time with my family, and I enjoy school more, so I dont mind the time. I wish all of you well, and I can see that you all are not taking things to seriously.

And remember, to become a doctor, you only have to make 70's on a bunch of multiple-choice tests.

 

[stomper627]

Originally posted by Idiopathic
What's good for the goose is not necessarily good for the gander.

Exactly what most of us are trying to tell you.....glad to see you finally got it.
Glad to see you dont mind the witty sarcasm either....big lesson to learn before rotations (youll get plenty of it)....As far as learning stuff....its important....but MOST of the stuff that youll learn during your preclinical years isnt important in the clinical setting. I mean is it really necessary to know all the steps of glycolysis? Or the TCA cycle? You mean if I needed too, I couldnt reference a book? Someone on this board stated that they viewed the first 2 years of med school as an extended board prep course....I will totally agree with that....but add one thing....its also where you gain knowledge for pimp questions for your rotations....otherwise most of it is not that important....and if it is....you can look it up. I think med school is a "right of passage". Much like hazing.
stomper

 

[jon62781]

Originally posted by stomper627
I think med school is a "right of passage". Much like hazing.

I can see that you have had some personal experiences that have jaded you a little, stomper...I am glad to see that you 'get it' and that you didnt have to put in very much time (imagine how much napping you would have missed!) to achieve your dream...or is it a dream? Maybe its just a job for you, and thats okay. I am glad your rotations are going well, I hope that you become the best doctor you can be.

As far as learning the steps of glycolysis, most of you should have had that down BEFORE medical school...what I am referring to are illnesses, conditions, diseases, clinical knowledge that you actually have time to learn, while you arent doing scutwork. Stomper, since you are already past this stage, and did so well 'passing the boards' and 'passing your classes', this probably doesnt apply to you.

 

[stomper627]

jon,
Actually I thoroughly enjoyed the "hazing" that existed during fraternity life....made a game out of it....much like wrestling practice, football practice, baseball, when you had coaches riding your butt and screaming in your face....
Anyway....yes I am learning much more now that Im out on rotations....its the clinical aspect. The stuff you cant get really get from books. The things that are in books....are just that....and I can look them up.
As far as my napping goes....I was just trying to explain that medical school should be PART of your life....NOT the WHOLE thing.
Case in point....Lecom has mandatory attendence with 30-40 hours of lecture a week usually done at 5pm....if one is to study 5-7 hrs a day....that gives you no time for your life. How do you grocery shop, do laundry, hit the dry cleaners, etc???? Cant do everything during your 1 hr lunch break. When do you eat dinner?
Your right....this is just a job. But it is one that Ive always wanted to do....so is it a dream of mine...you bet.
Med school wasnt so easy for me....I did struggle. But I knew that as long as I did ok....and passed, I would get through the preclinical years. I also knew that you get MOST of your knowledge about being a physician during your clinical years....how did I know this....my father....a physician.
This is his advice.....something he learned watching fellow colleagues.....
"Dont take this stuff too seriously....because if you focus in on medicine only....one day youll wake up and EVERYTHING else in you life that you care about will be gone. You will only have your job."
peace,
stomper

 

[Idiopathic]

Well, I am sure it will change your response, but it was not jon who posted the above...it was merely jon who forgot to log himself out (and I who forgot to check). I understand that classes take up more time at some other schools (we have LOTS of independent study time with fewer class hours), and I just worry about the level of some of the people coming out who are 'fuzzy' on important points, because they arent 'high-yield' or because they 'werent on the test'. That is the ultimate point behind my argument. Peace to you all, and sorry for making anyone think negatively about jon.

 

[stomper627]

Sorry I got you (name) wrong....
I can understand your point about those that only care about whats on the test....but I can assure you that there are quite a lot of students who did really well acedemically and really took the time to understand and learn the material....that are struggling on rotations. This is medicine...not the preclinical years!!!!
Personally Id rather have a doctor that might not know everything, but knows where to find the info, will refer when s/he cant figure it out, can relate to me (if I wasnt a doctor), and is physically fit. That is number 1 in my book. Im sure Ill get some nasty replies over the physically fit (Im not talking Marathon runners, or professional bodybuilders)...Im much more likely to listen to someone who can take care of themselves, represent themselves and the profession in a respectful way.
stomper

 

[sophiejane]

As a patient, I personally would find it really hard to trust an overweight doctor who smokes who is telling me to lose weight and/or stop smoking. Kind of like a priest who is a sexual offender giving me tips on how to get to heaven.

We all have different body types, but we can all work to improve our health and be a good example for our patients.

Don't even get me started on overweight children. It makes me too mad to even talk about it. That's for another thread.......

 

[ramsestiger]

Just FYI, since my last post on this thread, I failed a histo exam AND an anatomy exam. I guess I'm not as smart as I thought I was just a short while ago. Just to be safe, I intend to start studying at least 4 hours/night from here on out. I guess we all learn our lessons differently, and I've learned many of mine the "hard way."

Doing really well on a few tests with minimal studying doesn't mean that high yield techniques are always effective - at least that's what I've recently learned. You can't go wrong with studying too much or "over-preparing" for anything...

 

[Idiopathic]

I dont consider this a validation of my point...but most of you MS-1s will find that it takes a considerable amount of time studying to do well in anatomy and histology. I wish you all well and I am sure that everyone will recover and do nicely.