"Catching up syndrome"

[KUNRD07]

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I've recently been thinking about the following topic and was hoping some current MD/PhD students could give their thoughts and experiences with it...

"Catching up syndrome" - Figure that the half-life of the knowledge base that you built up during the first two years of medical school is about 3 months. Figure that the gap betwen the second and third year of medical school - during which time you're doing your research - is typically four years (range: three to eight years) .... Bottom line: most M.D./Ph.D. students feel at a bit of a disadvantage clinically on resuming the third year of medical school.

Thanks!

 

[gbwillner]

I've recently been thinking about the following topic and was hoping some current MD/PhD students could give their thoughts and experiences with it...

"Catching up syndrome" - Figure that the half-life of the knowledge base that you built up during the first two years of medical school is about 3 months. Figure that the gap betwen the second and third year of medical school - during which time you're doing your research - is typically four years (range: three to eight years) .... Bottom line: most M.D./Ph.D. students feel at a bit of a disadvantage clinically on resuming the third year of medical school.

Thanks!

Haha... yes, this is very true. I'm getting ready to head back into clinics and I find that i remember little about patient care. I couldn't remember what SOAP stood for, and I've been putting off doing a required clinical mentorship because I don't want to kill any patients just yet. All the information is still in my head somewhere, but its not easily accessible and must be jarred loose (hopefully not by force). I hear medical terms, and I think, "waitaminute- I know what that is....um..." Everything is familiar, but not useful, which seems worse than never having learned it in the first place.

But from what I hear, once you get back everything comes back rather quickly. You are also more mature than the other medical students, and the clinics seem easier than they perhaps should. Or so I hear.

 

[kapMD/PhD]

Hey -
I'm just starting the grad portion, but if you still have time I'll make a suggestion. Some of my fellow MD/PhDers and I have formed a reading group. we are slowly going through the essentials of cecils and plan to work our way through the peds and surgery texts at least. We also volunteer on a regular basis at a university student run free clinic for the underserved of our area. I also am planning to finish my defense in may and still have the same month that the other m2 students have to reveiw for the Step1 - i plan on doing the same review for the Step that i did the first time - i feel like these things together will help me to stay connected to the medical realm and at least up to speed with the other M3s if not ahead of the game! Good luck!

 

[gbwillner]

Hey -
I'm just starting the grad portion, but if you still have time I'll make a suggestion. .... I also am planning to finish my defense in may ....

??? Just started and you're already graduating? No wonder why you'll remember everything!!!

Try it 5 years later! In all honesty, when I started I planned to do what you're saying. It just never turns out that way. Experiments take priority, and you end up working 80 hrs/wk in lab. There is no time to practice medicine when there are papers you should be reading in your spare time.