Confused... ( New, and need help ).

[Shaden]

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Hi
I am Shaden I am a new member here ..

I am starting my first year of med school in two months. I don't know if the questions I have are already been answered somewhere in this forum but I tried to research and couldn't find a thing..

So, I am taking next year.. Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Histology, Embryology, Genetics... and some non. medical classes.

I am starting to freak out already.. I am thinking how am I going to study all of this at once.. and how am I going to manage my time ?!!



And you have to know that my classes every day will be from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. every day with only one hour break which is the lunch break ..

My questions are:

- do you have any advice in how to manage the time .. ?!!

- what is the best time to study ... ?

- do you have any advices in how to master my subjects .. ?!!

- what is the best way to study each and every one of those subjects... ?!!!

thanks a lot ... and if you have any more academics advice in anything else I would love to hear... and if my question already been answered could you please direct me to that thread..

Thanks again ..



P.S. Sorry for my poor English " not my first language " 😳

 

[deleted77919]

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[Shaden]

First, figure out how you will be tested. Consult upper class men. Are the tests based on a large course note set, or from a textbook, or from lecture? If the material comes straight from the note set consider skipping class to study the note set most of the day. 8-4pm is a very long day, I had similar days at my medical school, and honestly, my performance increased quite a bit when I stopped wasting time in class and just started studying the material I needed to know. This method will only work if you are motivated, and doesn't work for everyone, but it is something you should consider.

Second, if you take your first exam and don't do well then you have to change up your study methods. Too many people blindly stick with what they have been doing and expect different results next time. Usually doesn't work so well.

Best bet is going to be to talk to as many upperclassmen at your school as you can find. They have been in your exact position and can offer much better advice on curriculum specific questions than the general SDN audience.

Thank you very much for answering some of my questions. I'll put everything you said in mind.

Any other advices ?!! 🙂

 

[psipsina]

A good thing to do is to try and pay attention to the times during the day when you are most & least alert. For instance I get crazy spacey around 3:30 pm so instead of trying to study then I go to the gym. I'm most focused after 8am to about 2pm and then after 6pm to about midnight so I make sure those are the times I'm sitting down with my books. Its different for everyone but its essential to figure out your own natural rhythm and go with the flow.

I agree that if you can get away without going to class at your particular school its best. Your upperclassmen will be able to tell you if there is any mandatory attendance policies etc. But if you spend that 8 hours in the library studying instead of spaced out in a lecture hall (which is pretty inevitable after 8 hours of lecture) you'll be that much further ahead of the game.

 

[Law2Doc]

I agree that if you can get away without going to class at your particular school its best.

I would argue that there is no such thing as "best", only what is best for you. Med school is about figuring out what works for you, not what works well for the class as a whole, or for some other person who seems to have a lot more free time. I know several people who stopped going to class and because of their inability to get up early of their own volition and to spend equivalent time in the books ended up seeing their grades tank. Other people I know got more out of the lack of structure, and saw their grades rise. All I know is that, from what I observed, a large chunk of the folks with the top grades attended classes regularly, while a large chunk of the folks who ended up having to repeat things didn't. It really depends on you and what works for you. I think blanket statements like "not attending class is best" simply doesn't hold water. You have to qualify it, "for me personally" or, "is something you might want to try" or it's simply going to be false, and a really bad idea, for lots of people. You can get a lot out of class attendance, not so much because it is the most efficient way to study but because it keeps you focused. You hopefully aren't answering the phone or trying to study with the TV on, or playing video games when you are in class, as many do while studying at home, and you are getting something out of it. And more importantly, you are getting something out of it starting at 8am, hours before you otherwise might be hitting the books if left to your own devices. So know yourself. If you are the kind of person who is going to get up at 7am regardless of whether you have to show up to class or are hitting the books, then sure, give self study a try. If you find you are sleeping in to 11 because you have nothing to be late for, followed by a leisurely breakfast, a workout, and then maybe lunch... then don't.

 

[mdgator]

As far as going to class goes: some people get a lot out of lecture, others don't. Personally, I get almost nothing from listening to a lecture. Unfortunately, my school has a mandatory attendance policy. I try to zone out and study review books during lecture, because it saves me a few hours of studying each day. My advice would be, go to class from the start. If you find that you are retaining a decent amount of the material from the lecture, or if you find that having listened to the lecture makes studying exponentially easier later, then keep going to class. However, if you find that you are struggling to keep up and/or you feel like you don't get anything out of going to lecture, then try to spend that time studying on your own for a couple of weeks, and see how that works out. Truthfully, there will probably be some classes that you absolutely want to go to because test material comes straight from the lectures, and there will be others that your time would be better spent in the library.

 

[mdgator]

My advice to everyone who will be starting med school in the days/weeks to come:
1. It is most likely going to be a major change from undergrad. You're going to have to study much harder than ever before. Start off by overstudying. Work 10 hours per day. Try to ace the first exams. If it turns out that you studied way more than necessary, then you can ease off a bit until you find the right balance.
2. As I already mentioned, you will likely find yourself studying 6, 8, or 10 hours per day, maybe even more. You need to find ways to maintain your sanity, from the start. There are a number of ways to do so. For me, it's studying with friends.
Can I cover as much material per hour if I study with friends, compared to studying alone? No. Being around people you like means that there are distractions. But, for me, this is exactly the point. I could study 8 hours per day, locked in my room, or at the library....alone, isolated. Or, I can put in ten hours per day with 3 or 4 close friends and have a few good laughs, while covering the same amount of material.
By the time the test rolls around, I've been studying the material for hours each day, for 3 or 4 weeks straight. If you study that much, you can't fail. In fact, if your a good student, you'll most likely do very well. So, you can look back at the 150 hours you spent studying for that first anatomy test, and realize that you've said a grand total of ten words to an actual human being in that four weeks...or you can look back at those four weeks and remember some really funny times, a few days where you all just zoned out and had a great conversation about something completely unrelated to medicine for two hours, and a couple of times when you all decided to knock of early on a Friday night to grab a decent dinner and catch a movie.
Basically, what I'm trying to say is, study hard, but make friends, have a life, and don't study yourself crazy. Some people can't study around other people. But I'm pretty sure I'd go completely nuts if I isolated myself for all of the time that goes into studying.
*Disclaimer: I do make sure that I give myself a few hours of completely distraction-free studying when I feel that I need it. I try to cover all of the material from the previous week at least once each weekend, uninterrupted.

 

[Shaden]

Thank you guys, I do now get the whole picture...

 

[PeaceKeeper]

Hi
I am Shaden I am a new member here ..

I am starting my first year of med school in two months. I don't know if the questions I have are already been answered somewhere in this forum but I tried to research and couldn't find a thing..

So, I am taking next year.. Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Histology, Embryology, Genetics... and some non. medical classes.

I am starting to freak out already.. I am thinking how am I going to study all of this at once.. and how am I going to manage my time ?!!



And you have to know that my classes every day will be from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. every day with only one hour break which is the lunch break ..

My questions are:

- do you have any advice in how to manage the time .. ?!!

- what is the best time to study ... ?

- do you have any advices in how to master my subjects .. ?!!

- what is the best way to study each and every one of those subjects... ?!!!

thanks a lot ... and if you have any more academics advice in anything else I would love to hear... and if my question already been answered could you please direct me to that thread..

Thanks again ..



P.S. Sorry for my poor English " not my first language " 😳

Don't worry, you'll do fine.

Best way to manage time is to prioritize and do whatever you need to do first.

As far as studying, you are going to have to figure that out for yourself. People can only tell you what works for them but it may not work for you.

 

[Uegis]

To pass tests, study the lecture materials.

To pass step one, study First Aid.

Simple as that.

 

[The Angriest Bird]

1. No matter how bad you want to "ace" your classes, passing is 1st priority by far. You may think you are a person who would never fail. I was like you. I barely failed many classes.

2. The trick is to skip lectures. You may think I'm crazy. You will get this eventually. Most lectures in med school aren't that great all, because the stuff they teach can't really be "taught." You can only learn them isolating yourself and studying.

3. The Gold Standard for acing any materials is simply 3 steps: Deconstruct, Burn-the-Disk, and rehersal

Deconstruct
Most likely your school will give something called a "syllabus." Do whatever you can to deconstruct it. That means eliminating the "useless" words and extract important things that you need to memorize. Highlight works for many people. Flash cards are also very popular. Design your own system. It may take you some time to find out the best way, just be patient.

Burn-the-Disk
Disk = your brain. This part has absolutely no trick: sit down and memorize it. Never compare yourself to others because our genes are different. Some people are naturally-born memorizers.

Rehersal
You absolutely want to finish studying all materials at least once 3 days prior to exam. Use the last 3 days to refresh your memory.

Extra-trick: short-term memory abuse
Warning: it does not work for everyone and may be counter-productive. Basically, stay up all night before exam and memorize everything again. If it works for you, it's almost magic. If it doesn't, stop doing it.

4. Study EVERYDAY. Try to make as few "break days" as possible.

5. 70% of 1st year stress comes from lifestyle transition. You may be in a new city, living with a new significant other, leaving from a significant other, etc. Adjust quickly. That's all I can say.

6. Med school should be easy to pass. But making into top quartile is not that easy. Making into top 10% is perhaps impossible for some people no matter how hard they try. Do some residency research, because 90% of the time you really don't have to do that well in first two years.

7. If your professors told you "focus on the big picture, don't worry about the details," FOR THE LOVE OF MIGHT JESUS, DON'T BELIEVE IT. This community has reached the consensus that this is the biggest lie ever told in med school. Medicine is all about memorizing the trivia.

8. Anatomy is NOT the hardest class in med school. Trust me. So don't let it intimidate you.

9. Be aware of jerks. They are more prevalent than you think. If you think you have the personality of being easily pissed by someone, it's okay to keep a distance from your classmates. Not everyone in med school is that "social." And it's okay to be fairly isolated from the rest of world. It's just normal.

10. If you have any problems, post on this forum. And if you think "this is the end of the world," more than likely it's not. Unless you cheat in an exam and get caught with solid evidence.