Do I need to pre-study before medical school starts?

[Ho0v-man]

And herein lies the answer for whether or not you should study before med school.

Does you life suck [no friends, no money to travel, don't drink, no gf] ---> then study, you have nothing better to do
Does your life not suck [friends, money, drink, gf] ---> then don't study, go enjoy your life

Personally, my life sucked before, during and likely it will continue to suck after medical school. So instead of sitting on my ass doing nothing, wallowing in my sorrow about no gf before medical school I should have grinded the **** out of bros (there was no zanki at that time) and taken step 1 after 1st year of medical school. But each his own, I've found studying a good way to pass the time, so to all premeds reading this; there was a lot of memeing about introspection when I was applying, not sure if there still is. But do some introspection and figure out whether or not you hate your life. I hated my life so much I would have preferred studying, and I continue to hate my life so much that I prefer studying to doing anything else.

All of you people with wonderful lives need to stop assuming everybody's life is as good as yours, my life sucks, and if your life sucks too I recommend you study. It's a good way to pass the time.

This sounds like a cry for help. U okay?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Sterling_Archer]

You could like, go to the gym or find a hobby. Take up running. Even video games or whatever. Studying because you have no hobbies, friends, SO, etc. sounds like an excuse to me.

And herein lies the answer for whether or not you should study before med school.

Does you life suck [no friends, no money to travel, don't drink, no gf] ---> then study, you have nothing better to do
Does your life not suck [friends, money, drink, gf] ---> then don't study, go enjoy your life

Personally, my life sucked before, during and likely it will continue to suck after medical school. So instead of sitting on my ass doing nothing, wallowing in my sorrow about no gf before medical school I should have grinded the **** out of bros (there was no zanki at that time) and taken step 1 after 1st year of medical school. But each his own, I've found studying a good way to pass the time, so to all premeds reading this; there was a lot of memeing about introspection when I was applying, not sure if there still is. But do some introspection and figure out whether or not you hate your life. I hated my life so much I would have preferred studying, and I continue to hate my life so much that I prefer studying to doing anything else.

All of you people with wonderful lives need to stop assuming everybody's life is as good as yours, my life sucks, and if your life sucks too I recommend you study. It's a good way to pass the time.

 

[7331poas]

Its not a strawman argument, it’s a joke lol. Look, if you want to tell your friends and others to mature Zanki before medical school starts, go for it. But I’m going to disagree 100%, and I think you’re in the minority with your viewpoint.

Maturing Zanki before medical school would mean you would have to start Zanki at least 1 year before applying to medical school. This means you’re either doing it during undergrad or during a gap year, both of which sound ridiculous. The material in Zanki is based off of Costanzo Physiology, Pathoma, and First Aid. This is not easy material at all. I cringe thinking about a premed using their free time to grind all of this before med school even starts, or they’re even accepted for that matter lmao.

Then, let’s say you’ve “matured Zanki before school starts”. Now what? You’re just going to keep up with reviews for 1.5-2 years until dedicated? Start UWorld from Day 1 of M1? Where does it end?

My argument is this: your time before medical school is best spent relaxing, traveling, having fun, playing video games, having a beer, and hanging out with good people. I would personally not advice slaving over a spacebar for 1+ year during the last truly free months of your life. There will be plenty of time to learn all of that material DURING MEDICAL SCHOOL and still crush Step 1.

If this still doesn’t convince you, Godspeed and best of luck

After you mature zanki, you are free to spend your preclinical years doing research and exploring pursuits. Since step 1 is going Pass fail, this is the ideal workflow since your competitiveness as an applicant will be predicated on your research output. Also, you could spend that princlinical time studying for clerkship. That way you dont look like an idiot walking onto the wards/you arent studying every single night trying to keep your head above water for the shelf exams.

 

[Sterling_Archer]

And during clerkship, start studying for your specialty boards. /s

 

[Sterling_Archer]

And I don't know what year of medical school you are in, but it is significantly easier to learn the material if you have the experiences to accompany the rote memorization. You learn best when you see patients with whatever pathophysiology you are learning about. You'll remember the ideal management plans better after actually managing that condition. Trying to learn all of clerkship a year ahead of time would likely be low yield IMO. And preceptor expectations of early 3rd years is generally not that high. Unless you are grossly incompetent, you will not look like an "idiot."

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

After you mature zanki, you are free to spend your preclinical years doing research and exploring pursuits. Since step 1 is going Pass fail, this is the ideal workflow since your competitiveness as an applicant will be predicated on your research output. Also, you could spend that princlinical time studying for clerkship. That way you dont look like an idiot walking onto the wards/you arent studying every single night trying to keep your head above water for the shelf exams.

Wat? You must be trolling.

 

[7331poas]

Wat? You must be trolling.

Perhaps others think being ahead is useless. I personally attribute most of my ability to preform will on exams to being 2 months ahead in the zanki deck compared to class. I also have spent entire weeks off just doing reviews and then transitioning to my research projects because I am ahead.

My point is that staying ahead in the curriculum is a huge boost to a student's quality of life. I would much rather be in the position I am in now versus binge watching a TV series before school started.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Perhaps others think being ahead is useless. I personally attribute most of my ability to preform will on exams to being 2 months ahead in the zanki deck compared to class. I also have spent entire weeks off just doing reviews and then transitioning to my research projects because I am ahead.

My point is that staying ahead in the curriculum is a huge boost to a student's quality of life. I would much rather be in the position I am in now versus binge watching a TV series before school started.

There’s a difference between saying to stay ahead and that someone should mature Zanki before med school starts. That’s insane. Especially when your reasoning is because step is going p/f (which we don’t know for sure and it probably isn’t at least anytime soon) and that research is going to be the only way to distinguish yourself. That’s just terrible advice.

 

[Sterling_Archer]

Additionally, in the long run, if step 1 is pass/fail, I could see specialties making their own exams to replace step 1 for the purposes of screening and ranking applicants. PDs need objective data to differentiate between applicants. Having 4 vs 7 publications isn't going to be the differentiating factor, especially if everyone and their mom is doing research.

 

[7331poas]

There’s a difference between saying to stay ahead and that someone should mature Zanki before med school starts. That’s insane. Especially when your reasoning is because step is going p/f (which we don’t know for sure and it probably isn’t at least anytime soon) and that research is going to be the only way to distinguish yourself. That’s just terrible advice.

Maturing zanki before school is just the extreme extension of "staying ahead". How far ahead is okay and when is it not okay? 1 week? 1 month? 1 year?

I say that it is always okay and, in fact, it is better than the alternative which is dicking around during your gap year and barely keeping your head above water during M2.

What year are you btw?

Additionally, in the long run, if step 1 is pass/fail, I could see specialties making their own exams to replace step 1 for the purposes of screening and ranking applicants. PDs need objective data to differentiate between applicants. Having 4 vs 7 publications isn't going to be the differentiating factor, especially if everyone and their mom is doing research.

Perhaps, but even then you would have more time set aside to study for these specialty specific exams.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Maturing zanki before school is just the extreme extension of "staying ahead". How far ahead is okay and when is it not okay? 1 week? 1 month? 1 year?

I say that it is always okay and, in fact, it is better than the alternative which is dicking around during your gap year and barely keeping your head above water during M2.

What year are you btw?



Perhaps, but even then you would have more time set aside to study for these specialty specific exams.

I’m a first year but you don’t have to be a fourth year to see that telling someone to start doing zanki one to two years before they start med school is ridiculous. In fact since I just started I know how absurd that would be.

 

[Sterling_Archer]

Maturing zanki before school is just the extreme extension of "staying ahead". How far ahead is okay and when is it not okay? 1 week? 1 month? 1 year?

I say that it is always okay and, in fact, it is better than the alternative which is dicking around during your gap year and barely keeping your head above water during M2.

What year are you btw?



Perhaps, but even then you would have more time set aside to study for these specialty specific exams.

Many students, including myself, have done well on step 1 without studying before dedicated. My score likely would not have changed much if I started studying 2 months early. This would likely hold true for specialty exams. Whether you need a longer study period to achieve your peak score or not is largely student dependent, but there is a point of diminishing returns.

 

[sallyhasanidea]

Many students, including myself, have done well on step 1 without studying before dedicated. My score likely would not have changed much if I started studying 2 months early. This would likely hold true for specialty exams. Whether you need a longer study period to achieve your peak score or not is largely student dependent, but there is a point of diminishing returns.

One thing you haven't kept in mind is that not everyone has a baseline level of intelligence that is as great as yours. Personally, I'm stupid, and my baseline level of information retention was wayyyy less than my classmates. I had classmates scoring 98's on exams based on lectures from only watching the lectures lol, there's no way I could ever do that. But finishing zanki early helped me stay on top of the game. I know there's no way in hell I would be able to study for step 1 entirely during dedicated, but I'm a bit more risk averse and preferred to have all of zanki matured + uworld finished before dedicated to take step 1 as soon as possible. It's really dependent on the person at hand, so to the premeds reading if you are a) a poor information retainer or b) risk averse, maturing zanki early may be a good strategy for you given it's a fool proof way to retain the information

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

One thing you haven't kept in mind is that not everyone has a baseline level of intelligence that is as great as yours. Personally, I'm stupid, and my baseline level of information retention was wayyyy less than my classmates. I had classmates scoring 98's on exams based on lectures from only watching the lectures lol, there's no way I could ever do that. But finishing zanki early helped me stay on top of the game. I know there's no way in hell I would be able to study for step 1 entirely during dedicated, but I'm a bit more risk averse and preferred to have all of zanki matured + uworld finished before dedicated to take step 1 as soon as possible. It's really dependent on the person at hand, so to the premeds reading if you are a) a poor information retainer or b) risk averse, maturing zanki early may be a good strategy for you given it's a fool proof way to retain the information

You’re not stupid if you got into med school. And did you finish zanki before med school started? Because that’s what is being suggested.

 

[Sterling_Archer]

One thing you haven't kept in mind is that not everyone has a baseline level of intelligence that is as great as yours. Personally, I'm stupid, and my baseline level of information retention was wayyyy less than my classmates. I had classmates scoring 98's on exams based on lectures from only watching the lectures lol, there's no way I could ever do that. But finishing zanki early helped me stay on top of the game. I know there's no way in hell I would be able to study for step 1 entirely during dedicated, but I'm a bit more risk averse and preferred to have all of zanki matured + uworld finished before dedicated to take step 1 as soon as possible. It's really dependent on the person at hand, so to the premeds reading if you are a) a poor information retainer or b) risk averse, maturing zanki early may be a good strategy for you given it's a fool proof way to retain the information

I am not innately more intelligent than the rest of my class. I scored well because I worked my a** off during dedicated. My lecture exams scores were slightly above average at best during preclinicals.

 

[sallyhasanidea]

You’re not stupid if you got into med school. And did you finish zanki before med school started? Because that’s what is being suggested.

No I didn't finish before med school started, I finished about 3 months before my school dedicated started. But if I had the option and if I were cognizant that that finishing zanki before medical school were possible, I would have finished it at the time. I'm posting so premeds know this is an option they can pursue.

I am not innately more intelligent than the rest of my class. I scored well because I worked my a** off during dedicated. My lecture exams scores were slightly above average at best during preclinicals.

I wouldn't be able to retain information as well as you even if I did work my ass off during dedicated, but again it's a stylistic choice. My previous post was designed to provide some alternative perspective for the 5th graders reading this thread right now.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

No I didn't finish before med school started, I finished about 3 months before my school dedicated started. But if I had the option and if I were cognizant that that finishing zanki before medical school were possible, I would have finished it at the time. I'm posting so premeds know this is an option they can pursue.



I wouldn't be able to retain information as well as you even if I did work my ass off during dedicated, but again it's a stylistic choice. My previous post was designed to provide some alternative perspective for the 5th graders reading this thread right now.

It’s not a good option. Why on earth would you start trying to do zanki before you even apply to med school? There are so many other things you should be doing.

 

[Cranjis McBasketball]

it is better than the alternative which is dicking around during your gap year and barely keeping your head above water during M2.

What about dicking around during gap year and also being just fine during med school?

 

[7331poas]

What about dicking around during gap year and also being just fine during med school?

The question isnt about "being fine". I agree that it is possible to do zanki late and still do fine. in fact, I would argue that a decent student could "do fine" by just skimming the lecture slides.

I am suggesting that maturing zanki early is the "ideal" for research output and clerkship preparedness.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

The question isnt about "being fine". I agree that it is possible to do zanki late and still do fine. in fact, I would argue that a decent student could "do fine" by just skimming the lecture slides.

I am suggesting that maturing zanki early is the "ideal" for research output and clerkship preparedness.

LOL. Starting Zanki day one of M1 is late now?

 

[7331poas]

LOL. Starting Zanki day one of M1 is late now?

My point is that starting zanki day 1 is okay with you. but starting it 1 week before orientation is probably wrong. and starting zanki 3 months before medical school is definitely wrong. When in reality no one in medical school pays attention to lecture. At my school less than 1/3rd even attend class. but for some reason students should be discouraged from doing zanki before medical school? It makes no sense to me.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

My point is that starting zanki day 1 is okay with you. but starting it 1 week before orientation is definitely wrong. When in reality no one in medical school pays attention to lecture. At my school less than 1/3rd even attend class. but for some reason students should be discouraged from doing zanki before medical school? It makes no sense to me.

I mean starting it 1 week before orientation is totally fine with me. People can do whatever they want. I watched some B&B videos already just to refresh myself on biochem and stuff. That's totally different than finishing Zanki prior to M1.

 

[Sterling_Archer]

You should also start studying for the MCAT during freshman year of high school so that you can do more research in undergrad and get into a prestigious medical school since that is what will carry the most weight if step 1 is pass/fail

 

[7331poas]

You should also start studying for the MCAT during freshman year of high school so that you can do more research in undergrad and get into a prestigious medical school since that is what will carry the most weight if step 1 is pass/fail

lmao. I actually agree with the premise minus the maturing zanki. The most important fact after step 1 goes pass/fail will be the medical school you attend.

 

[JoaoMoutinho]

So is the consensus that watching nearly all of Dragon Ball, DBZ, and Super in 2019 was a bad way to spend my time leading up to starting MS1?


I guess I did some research too, lol.