Exactly how much does 2nd year suck?

[bigneonglitter]

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I begin the dreaded year #2 on Monday. I've been hearing horror stories about how much it sucks since the beginning of last year. Is it really that bad? How much more studying does 2nd year require compared to 1st year? When is a good time to start studying for Boards?

 

[Arsenic]

I begin the dreaded year #2 on Monday. I've been hearing horror stories about how much it sucks since the beginning of last year. Is it really that bad? How much more studying does 2nd year require compared to 1st year? When is a good time to start studying for Boards?

i started 2nd year 2 weeks ago, already had a pulmonary phys midterm this week. 😱

i cant wait until 3rd year........

 

[loveumms]

Second year is all what you make of it.

Of course there is LOTS of studying and the volume of material is vast compared with first year but, its much more interesting (at least that is how I felt).

At my school we only had class from 8 to 12 so there was tons of "free" time which is rare in third year.

Enjoy second year because as soon as you start third year you won't get to see your classmates/friends as much ... especially since you will all have different schedules and call nights.

 

[fantasty]

So far, I agree with the others. But, it probably depends on your school, too. In our curriculum, I thought things got better each semester. 2nd year was definitely more challenging, but I also did better because I enjoyed the material a lot more.

 

[pillowhead]

I begin the dreaded year #2 on Monday. I've been hearing horror stories about how much it sucks since the beginning of last year. Is it really that bad? How much more studying does 2nd year require compared to 1st year? When is a good time to start studying for Boards?

Second year is so much better than first year. There's more to learn, but it's much more interesting and you don't have gross anatomy! You also aren't dealing with all the adjustment to medical school. You'll still have free time, but you must stay on top of things and not get too far behind.

Don't even think about studying for the boards until the year is over IMHO. Studying for your second year classes and doing well in them, esp. the big ones like path, pathophys, maybe micro, is the best boards prep you can do. I didn't crack open a board book until formal boards studying began over summer, and I did just fine.

 

[Blade28]

4th year > 3rd year > 2nd year > 1st year, in terms of enjoyment.

 

[YouDontKnowJack]

1st year is this much [------]
2nd year is this much [---------------------------]
it will seem like [-----------------------------------------------] if you have a bad memory.

 

[njbmd]

Second year is all what you make of it.

Of course there is LOTS of studying and the volume of material is vast compared with first year but, its much more interesting (at least that is how I felt).

At my school we only had class from 8 to 12 so there was tons of "free" time which is rare in third year.

Enjoy second year because as soon as you start third year you won't get to see your classmates/friends as much ... especially since you will all have different schedules and call nights.

Hi there,
The above is totally true. If you start off second year hating it, you are going to have a very bad year. If you start off strong, it will go by fast and will be a very interesting year.

You will have plenty of time (ad nauseum) to study for USMLE after you have mastered your second year coursework. Path, Pharm and Physio are the big three subjects for USMLE anyway so make sure that you master them well.

njbmd 🙂

 

[TheFlash]

2nd year is the year to buckle down. apparently the key to doing well when step I rolls around is rocking 2nd year and knowing the integrative concepts cold. that, and first aid.

 

[Entei]

I hated, HATED second year, but I'm probably in the minority. One of the things that really made me hate second year was that my school turned the curriculum on its head. It changed from mostly lectures in first year to lectures and small group in second year. This is all student dependent, but for me, lectures were a big 👍, but small groups were totally 😴, especially when your small group gets sidetracked on some discussion that goes nowhere and is completely irrelevant to anything you're currently studying. And, having gone straight to med school from college, I was really t-i-r-e-d of sitting on my butt in class all day.

But third year is much, much better. I learned more in this past month of third year than I did in the first two years put together.

 

[Gut Shot]

Second year was a mixed bag for me. On the plus side, it was nice to finally be learning some pathology and somewhat drawing things together. On the minus side, it often felt like I was memorizing endless laundry lists of symptoms, diseases, and drugs without much integration. Just as I was starting to grasp each organ system's pathology we got tested and moved on. Dammit! Rinse, lather and repeat.... always repeat.

 

[closertofine]

1st year is this much [------]
2nd year is this much [---------------------------]
it will seem like [-----------------------------------------------] if you have a bad memory.

I generally never curse, but *(#$...I'm so screwed...my memory is so bad I've already forgotten a lot of my classmates' names! 🙁 😱

 

[Chemguync]

...my memory is so bad I've already forgotten a lot of my classmates' names! 🙁 😱

Hey, you'll make a fine attending one day

 

[shiraz84]

Hey, you'll make a fine attending one day

 

[lola]

Second year is so much better than first year. There's more to learn, but it's much more interesting and you don't have gross anatomy! You also aren't dealing with all the adjustment to medical school. You'll still have free time, but you must stay on top of things and not get too far behind.

Don't even think about studying for the boards until the year is over IMHO. Studying for your second year classes and doing well in them, esp. the big ones like path, pathophys, maybe micro, is the best boards prep you can do. I didn't crack open a board book until formal boards studying began over summer, and I did just fine.

i feel the same way about 2nd year --- SO much better than 1st even though I did spend a lot more time in the library. i also agree that there is no need to study for step 1 until a month or so before the test. you will be rewarded on step 1 if you really learn path, pharm, pathophys and micro. so much of what is tested is understanding of concepts, which you get by thoroughly studying for your classes (not really by memorizing board review books).

 

[Krony]

Regarding boards study during second year - in general I agree that serious board studying before the year end isn't necessary. However, I did notice that sections I had read and annotated in review books along the way were exceedingly less painful to review when it came time for real boards studying. As an example, I read the FA pharm section over spring break during second year even though there was a substantial amount of material that we had not yet covered at this point in the year. At the time I remember it seemed like a bit of a waste of time especially since in some cases it was my first exposure to some of the drugs, but found that these sections I had looked at previously really flew by quickly during my days of serious review for boards. The FA biochem section, by contrast, took me a relative eternity to annotate/memorize since I had never spent any time in this section and when it came time for board review a lot of the details that ideally FA is designed to prompt you to remember were more than a bit hazy. I'm not suggesting that you spend the rest of your summer studying for boards, but I can say that the haze would have been less substantial had I worked through some sections like this closer to when I had the course and prior to the days and weeks just before Step 1.

 

[Stinger86]

4>2>3=1

Second year can be really nice if you're an efficient planner/studier. It's the last chance you'll get to have a real life for at least 12 months

 

[Hoya11]

4>2>3=1

Second year can be really nice if you're an efficient planner/studier. It's the last chance you'll get to have a real life for at least 12 months

man really?

1=3!? I just cant imagine that, 1 was sooo bad. I can work and interact, I just HATE studying. Maybe im just naive to how much the hospital sucks.

 

[OmahaMX80]

Advice given to me by a current third year at my school regarding studying for Step 1 during MS-2...

Buy First Aid now and use it throughout MS-2 as the material is covered in lecture. Write in the margins of it and basically use it to start gathering your material for Step 1 studying... but don't actually start studying for Step 1 until April/May. He told me the idea is that when it does come time to study for Step 1, you've already read FA once, you're familiar with it, and you've been putting additional notes from class in it all year long. He sincerely thinks this alone can save about a week's worth of studying. Take it for what it's worth but since we're all going to buy FA anyway (and the editions don't change a lot), I see no harm in buying it now and using it throughout the year.

 

[nutmegs]

I wouldn't do second year again if you paid me. Even a lot of money. I found the overwhelming amount of material to be very stressful even though I did just fine. I felt like I should be studying all the time, and had a hard time enjoying myself when I wasn't. Then I wouldn't study, and then I'd feel guilty.

The one part I liked was I stopped going to class. I'd sleep in, work out, and then go off to study for 6-8 hours. This helped my mental health tremendously. For me, the biggest thing was to get over feeling bad about not going to lectures. And having the boards hanging over your head certainly doesn't help.

In retrospect, it probably wasn't as bad as it felt at the time, but third year is so much nicer 🙂

 

[nerfherder]

I can understand the OP being worried about 2nd year sucking after finishing 1st year. I hated 1st year. I warned all my pre-med friends not to do medicine after 1st year.. 2nd year was much better b/c the material was much more relevant and interesting.