does anyone else feel they are not learning that much in med school?

[murfettie]

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I learned all these pathways, and some physiology, and some anatomy..
well, it all leaks out of my brain within 5 days of a test.

This is bad, I think.

 

[OPPforlife]

haha first year med school is such bs. it should be made online.

 

[xanthomondo]

I learned all these pathways, and some physiology, and some anatomy..
well, it all leaks out of my brain within 5 days of a test.

This is bad, I think.

It always seemed like we weren't learning anything throughout med school. You'd be surprised to realize how much you're actually learning/remembering though. If you talk to some students who are years behind you you will feel like a genius

 

[Phyozo]

I learned all these pathways, and some physiology, and some anatomy..
well, it all leaks out of my brain within 5 days of a test.

This is bad, I think.

So basically you're saying that you're learning a ton of stuff but remembering nothing...that's pretty usual though you'll probably need to retain at least some of it when step1 rolls around...

 

[obgyny]

I learned all these pathways, and some physiology, and some anatomy..
well, it all leaks out of my brain within 5 days of a test.

This is bad, I think.

I always feel like this . As xanthomondo said, you'd be surprised by how much you're learning. I only realize it when I get to apply my knowledge, like in clinic seeing real patients (or even the simulations/standardized patients). It's an awesome feeling when things come together, you actually understand something, and even answer the doc's questions correctly. I'm still a lowly MS1, so I've got a ways to go. But it's nice to be reminded every once in a while that some of it is actually sticking.

 

[Bacchus]

You'll realize how much you have learned (and forgot) when it is time to study for Step I and all of those words in front of you are familiar but you don't know why.

 

[MilkmanAl]

M1 disappears after M1 for the most part, and the vast majority of the important points get taught again in M2. You'll probably start remembering things a bit better once they matter.

 

[obgyny]

M1 disappears after M1 for the most part, and the vast majority of the important points get taught again in M2. You'll probably start remembering things a bit better once they matter.

This is what I was hoping for too .

 

[hematopoiesis]

M1 disappears after M1 for the most part, and the vast majority of the important points get taught again in M2. You'll probably start remembering things a bit better once they matter.

qft

first year is surprisingly useless for a lot of clinical medicine except as a foundation on which to build the necessary knowledge--and therefore is still important.

You can't know how heart failure works until you know how the heart is supposed to work normally. Etc, etc.

 

[1Life]

This is completely normal. You learn concepts in med school in "multiple" passes by laying one foundation over another. MS2 makes much more sense and rotations are even better. You will have concepts revisited again and again and again until it all becomes meshed together and reviewed again. Make sure to do your best and learn what is in front of you and do well on exams. There is a reason you got accepted to med school. May be it might not seem clear to you but the adcoms thought so

 

[JackShephard MD]

qft

first year is surprisingly useless for a lot of clinical medicine except as a foundation on which to build the necessary knowledge--and therefore is still important.

You can't know how heart failure works until you know how the heart is supposed to work normally. Etc, etc.

👍

The first year builds the foundation. Not everyone had taken courses like physiology, anatomy, or biochem. A non-science major jumping in to 2nd year without those courses would be lost.

 

[pkwraith]

Learning physio and pathphysio in separate years sounds incredibly boring.

 

[Substance]

Medical school doesn't teach you much. It just gives you the go-ahead to work towards learning medicine so that you can practice in the future.

The best learning is the stuff you do yourself. Pick up some books and start preparing for step I.

 

[Rollo]

You'll realize how much you have learned (and forgot) when it is time to study for Step I and all of those words in front of you are familiar but you don't know why.

Bingo.

Step 1 study period is a pivotal moment in more ways than one. For instance, that is the moment when you realize how much you've learned in the first two years and paradoxically, how much you don't know about medicine. It's strange but in a way, it makes you realize that all those endless hours of burying your head in the books/powerpoint slides, when you would rather have buried your head in some alcohol, you were actually learning and retaining it somewhere in the deep recesses of your mind.

 

[pupster]

👍

The first year builds the foundation. Not everyone had taken courses like physiology, anatomy, or biochem. A non-science major jumping in to 2nd year without those courses would be lost.

Bah...I just crammed for the Boards. I think a lot of first year wasn't necessary. Heck...the first 2 years weren't really necessary. Honestly, knowing that the heart is a pump and knowing how pumps work really isn't critical to acing the shelfs. Everything I needed for the Boards was in First Aid and UW/Kaplan QB. I spent most of medical school skipping class, sleeping, and then cramming from Board review books or lecture syllabi (to pass the stupid exams). Oh...and also getting out an meeting girls 😳)!

 

[Phyozo]

Bah...I just crammed for the Boards. I think a lot of first year wasn't necessary. Heck...the first 2 years weren't really necessary. Honestly, knowing that the heart is a pump and knowing how pumps work really isn't critical to acing the shelfs. Everything I needed for the Boards was in First Aid and UW/Kaplan QB. I spent most of medical school skipping class, sleeping, and then cramming from Board review books or lecture syllabi (to pass the stupid exams). Oh...and also getting out an meeting girls 😳)!

👍

 

[Alvarez13]

This is completely normal. You learn concepts in med school in "multiple" passes by laying one foundation over another. MS2 makes much more sense and rotations are even better. You will have concepts revisited again and again and again until it all becomes meshed together and reviewed again. Make sure to do your best and learn what is in front of you and do well on exams. There is a reason you got accepted to med school. May be it might not seem clear to you but the adcoms thought so

The biggest drain of my time in medical school is moving avatars. Something in my brain tells me I have to watch them repeat 20 times before I can move on to the next post. 😱

Med school itself is #2.

 

[JackShephard MD]

Bah...I just crammed for the Boards. I think a lot of first year wasn't necessary. Heck...the first 2 years weren't really necessary. Honestly, knowing that the heart is a pump and knowing how pumps work really isn't critical to acing the shelfs. Everything I needed for the Boards was in First Aid and UW/Kaplan QB. I spent most of medical school skipping class, sleeping, and then cramming from Board review books or lecture syllabi (to pass the stupid exams). Oh...and also getting out an meeting girls 😳)!

I have a hard time believing an M1 with a non-science background could pick up First Aid, study a few months and then score well above the mean on Step 1. Also, some people are very intelligent and can do what you've done. There are many individuals that wouldn't be able to perform adequately in medical school with the plan you've outlined.

I do agree that physician training could be shortened (UG + MD + Residency = 11-15 years), but I also think there are some skills you learn even by cramming for exams or boards. Calling it unnecessary seems insincere.

 

[QuizzicalApe]

The general point of M1 is that it presses a lot of this knowledge against your brain and then the knowledge falls away. The imprint left behind is the group of general principles that may be important later. You've probably retained that even if you know for a fact that you've forgotten the details.

It lets you pick up related pathology more easily, and allows a more intuitive grasp of certain concepts since you already have some intuition as to how the basics work.

Sort of how you will never have to balance another chem equation, but you still have a good working grasp on particle diffusion/osmosis.

Try to remember it, if you forget no big deal. Just make sure to relearn it before Step 1 and after Step 1 if it is somthing actually important you'll look it up and retain it by using it.

 

[pupster]

I have a hard time believing an M1 with a non-science background could pick up First Aid, study a few months and then score well above the mean on Step 1. Also, some people are very intelligent and can do what you've done. There are many individuals that wouldn't be able to perform adequately in medical school with the plan you've outlined.

I do agree that physician training could be shortened (UG + MD + Residency = 11-15 years), but I also think there are some skills you learn even by cramming for exams or boards. Calling it unnecessary seems insincere.

Eh? I seriously think the board score is overrated. It should just go to a pass/fail system w/ no numerical score....but that's a different discussion.

What skills do you think are important to being a good doctor that you "learn even by cramming...?"

 

[JackShephard MD]

Eh? I seriously think the board score is overrated. It should just go to a pass/fail system w/ no numerical score....but that's a different discussion.

What skills do you think are important to being a good doctor that you "learn even by cramming...?"

By your estimations, I could take a construction worker off the street, put him in a 2 month Step 1 prep course and move him on to residency.

 

[KnuxNole]

Yes you can. He could be bright enough to get a 188, and make it to some type of residency 😀

The biggest thing is vocabulary, to get used to the medical terminology to understand what you are reading. Anything else, and it's all just memorizing facts, and using critical thinking skills, something that anyone can do, even people who didn't take one science class.

 

[armybound]

don't cram?

 

[tiedyeddog]

feel the learn

 

[pupster]

By your estimations, I could take a construction worker off the street, put him in a 2 month Step 1 prep course and move him on to residency.

I doubt a construction worker coulld cram? If he could, then I guess he's smart enough...

 

[SpecterGT260]

It always seemed like we weren't learning anything throughout med school. You'd be surprised to realize how much you're actually learning/remembering though. If you talk to some students who are years behind you you will feel like a genius

👍 this

I'm still IN first year and always feel like I cant remember anything. But then something will spark in an unrelated case or class and I sometimes surprise myself with what is all still in there

 

[mvenus929]

It always seemed like we weren't learning anything throughout med school. You'd be surprised to realize how much you're actually learning/remembering though.

You'll realize how much you have learned (and forgot) when it is time to study for Step I and all of those words in front of you are familiar but you don't know why.

👍👍

Step 1 studying really helped me link concepts together, but beyond a few subjects that weren't taught well in the first place, everything felt familiar. And now that I'm studying for my psych shelf, I'm surprised how much I remember from last year when I studied this.

 

[MilkmanAl]

I don't really see why you couldn't do the first two years online. That's basically what I did, anyway.

 

[johnmendes]

I don't really see why you couldn't do the first two years online. That's basically what I did, anyway.

Same here. Wikipedia is the bomb.

 

[KnuxNole]

Same here. Wikipedia is the bomb.

You don't even need Wiki.

Honestly, I don't think there was ANYTHING useful in professor's notes that could not have been found in Costanzo Physio, Goljan Path, etc.

 

[Alvarez13]

I don't really see why you couldn't do the first two years online. That's basically what I did, anyway.

👍