Feeling overwhelmed

[fldoctorgirl]

Hey friends.

I am feeling super overwhelmed with classes currently— I know it’s the beginning and “everyone feels this way at first”, but I’m finding it hard to find motivation to study because I just get so overwhelmed that I can’t even look at the material.

We finished our first class last Friday so I felt relieved and happy that it was over and I passed (final grade pending curve but I passed without it), but now since being back I feel completely overwhelmed again and don’t even know how to get through all of this material. I literally have no idea how to study for anatomy, and I took it/did well in it in undergrad. I feel like studying is taking me way too much time, and this worked fine for the first course because there wasn’t really anything else to focus on, but now things are building up— we have our first OS competency on Friday, and I have no idea how to prepare for that either.

When I get overwhelmed it makes me want to just drop everything and run home (my homesickness has gotten better but I’m still struggling). Just wondering if anyone had any tips about anything, whether it be study tips or just general words of advice. I feel like I am just counting down the days until preclinical ends...I feel like the next two years are just going to be miserable. Is that how it’s going to be now, always waiting for the next thing to be better?

Also wanted to say thanks for all of the help and advice I have gotten on here since school started. I know I have posted a lot of gloomy things, so thanks to everyone who reached out with advice and kind thoughts.

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[katiemaude]

It sounds like you need a way to make studying fun, or at least tolerable. Have you made any insta-buds at school yet? If not never fear- lots of people are still looking for more friends. Go where ever it is that your classmates study. At my school the health professions library was most popular. Find a study group or some friends to sit next to while you study separately. Take coffee and meal breaks together. Go outside and lie in the grass and talk to your family back home as a reward for studying for a couple hours. Whatever it takes to motivate you. Pre-clinical years are most definitely a grind so you have to find ways to enjoy yourself when you're not studying. I thought of it like a full time + job (more like 10-12 hours a day instead of 8 hours). I got it done and then I was DONE. I did what I wanted. This works once you figure out how many hours/reviews of the material you need to do well. In the beginning I was studying insane amounts until I hit my stride. It gets a lot more fun after that. You get better at balancing.

 

[676188]

Have you been to the student center your school offers for study resources and/or counseling? You might need someone to just pour your heart out to and have a good cry (like you would do at home), and someone to help you develop a plan going forward.

 

[ortnakas]

Hi, me from 4 years ago! I don’t have specific advice for your curriculum, but here is the strategy that helped me break free from the hopeless panic/frantic studying vicious cycle:

Break things into manageable chunks. Learning “everything” is too overwhelming, and makes curling up in a fetal position more appealing than studying when studying feels impossible.

BUT, for the next hour, you can work on studying (random example) back muscles. Make a chart for yourself for attachment, origin, function, etc, so you can start quizzing yourself.

When that hour’s up, use the next hour for the visual side of whatever anatomy you just studied. Use the atlas of your choice, flash cards, online software if your school uses it, whatever floats your boat.

After that, take a 15 minute break. Drink a coffee, go outside, doesn’t matter.

Rinse and repeat.

Studying for 12+ hours straight and trying to learn “everything” won’t work, but you can study for 12+ manageable one-hour chunks with small achievable goals.

Breaks are important. Sleep is important. You’re going to get less of both than you did as a premed, but don’t give them up entirely. You can caffeinate your way through tired. But can’t learn effectively when you’re exhausted.

Hang in there.

 

[sab3156]

It will not get better, unfortunately. You are at KCU, which has a notoriously overloaded curriculum full of fluff. They are basically throwing everything they can at you because they don't really understand what is important for boards, and they also will leave out a lot of stuff that is important. This leads to a very stressful curriculum. This will become even more apparent to you (if you are keeping up with Step 1 material) during the end of year 1 and onward. Don't feel bad about feeling stressed, because that is a lot of people.

What you should do is not worry too much about your preclinical grades. I was very high rank for a while until I realized 1) I am burning out and 2) I am not learning material I need to be learning (being set up poorly for boards) and 3) I am unable to do research. So I bought the qbanks, and began focusing on Step 1. Get going with zanki or firecracker as soon as possible and take it a bit easier with pressuring yourself in classes, because at the end of the day, no one cares about your grades, especially your grades at a DO school (we don't have AOA honors like MD schools do). If it is better for your mental health, just pass your classes and make sure you are learning the board relevant material of the block you are in. I am much happier than I was at the end of first semester when I was still caring about my useless preclinical grades. It may not work for you, but my experience so far is that it is fine, and though I cannot say I am acing all my classes since starting this strategy, I am far more confident for boards. Your mental health is important.

As for anatomy, go to the tutoring sessions in anatomy lab, even if it is not your group. Just go to as many as you have time for. And do the questions in the Gray's Anatomy question textbook.

For OS competencies, spend several hours with a few classmates together and go through all of the stuff. OS blows, but unfortunately you need to pass these competencies.

 

[djtallahassee]

Don't know much about your specific curriculum but here are some resources that I am giving me time for personal wellness.

Anki:For Anatomy, there are a couple of good decks. I'm using one called Dope. Using Zanki for other stuff and feel like schools been manageable so far.

Other resources like B&B have really helped me save time while hitting the big concepts. I then look at class slides to make sure I didn't miss anything. Going to start forcing myself to read Costanzo and watch Pathoma each week too.

Overall I study probably ~7-8 hrs a day including class time (or lack that I dont go to) with Anki management on the weekends. That is pretty much equivalent to a full time job so I think it seems reasonable. A lot of classmates that aren't using other resources are going to every class and then studying all evening.

Another thing that helped for wellness was finding some study buddies. We have a small class so it wasn't too hard, but even just Anking with people is better than Anking alone.

 

[Angus Avagadro]

Talk to office of student affairs. Many schools have tutors and mentors in the OMS2 class. In my experience, getting some guidance and recommendations early on makes each step moving forward easier. Also, studying for boards has some merit, you need to study for classes first. This is what the boards are about. Remember you are in school to be an excellent physician. A high board score doesn't guarantee a university residency. Run yourvown race. Best wishes and good luck!

 

[Espressso]

You need to step away from the notion that this all so unbearable and overwhelming. Honestly, it is. We all know it. And thinking about how overwhelming it is, typically doesn't help. Rather, it'll worsen any anxiety and often make you freeze in your tracks.

The awesome poster above who mentioned chunking, that's the best advice you'll get. This is way too much work to look at it as one big pile of to-do's. You have to break everything up into small chunks and pieces and work on one at a time, make small goals, and cross things off. Don't compare yourself to others, just focus on your little chunks of work. And one thing will build on another and another and then you'll have the entire upper limb for anatomy solidified before the exam. You got this!

And most importantly... Carve out a little time each day for yourself. Cooking healthy meals, working out and staying regular with an exercise regimen will keep you sane. Those two things alone can save you. Most students who are always freaking out and on verge of collapse at my school don't eat healthy, and sure don't spend 30-60 min at the gym each day. Find a routine, and stick with it. Lastly, sleep. You have to figure out how much sleep you need to operate at a high level. And if your answer is less than 6. Your answer is most likely wrong. For me, I need 7. If I get 7 I'm golden. Find your perfect amount and get that each night. It'll help you perform so much better during the weeks.

 

[Espressso]

I would also recommend downloading a mindfulness app like Calm, Headspace, or my favorite, Oak. Do 3-5 minutes of breathing exercises once a day in the AM will help. Especially before exams if you get pre-exam nerves.

 

[Goro]

Hey friends.

I am feeling super overwhelmed with classes currently— I know it’s the beginning and “everyone feels this way at first”, but I’m finding it hard to find motivation to study because I just get so overwhelmed that I can’t even look at the material.

We finished our first class last Friday so I felt relieved and happy that it was over and I passed (final grade pending curve but I passed without it), but now since being back I feel completely overwhelmed again and don’t even know how to get through all of this material. I literally have no idea how to study for anatomy, and I took it/did well in it in undergrad. I feel like studying is taking me way too much time, and this worked fine for the first course because there wasn’t really anything else to focus on, but now things are building up— we have our first OS competency on Friday, and I have no idea how to prepare for that either.

When I get overwhelmed it makes me want to just drop everything and run home (my homesickness has gotten better but I’m still struggling). Just wondering if anyone had any tips about anything, whether it be study tips or just general words of advice. I feel like I am just counting down the days until preclinical ends...I feel like the next two years are just going to be miserable. Is that how it’s going to be now, always waiting for the next thing to be better?

Also wanted to say thanks for all of the help and advice I have gotten on here since school started. I know I have posted a lot of gloomy things, so thanks to everyone who reached out with advice and kind thoughts.

Right on time, as a matter of fact

Seek out your school's learning or education center for help with time mgt.

Start by looking at things from the Big Picture perspective...then work downwards into the details.

You can't know everything, nor should you try to.

Study with your friends.

Find time to exercise.

Talk to OMSII's to find out the best resources and means to study particular subjects

Your Faculty are there to help you; go see them for help with them for help with the material (except those dinguses who teach their research. burn them at the stake instead).

For Anatomy, try this: TeachMeAnatomy

 

[NOBO]

Welcome to medical school, princess.

 

[Hippocrates II]

I don't know if it provides you any solace, but I am 100% in the same boat. I comfortably passed biochem, but this week already has me feeling behind, stressed, and wondering how to study.

For OS, look over the OSCE and just memorize the motions listed. I was nervous about it but I sat down and looked it over tonight, it's not too bad (and my mind is 1000% absent in lab). If you forget the treatment during the test, just seductively rub the patient's back and whisper sweet nothings in their ear. You're about 75% likely to be right just doing that.

I think kcu just does an exceptional job of loading up a great deal of bull**** on our schedules to make it more stressful than it needs to be. You aren't alone, even if 80% of our class is great at pretending they're doing fine.

 

[PorkChopsOG]

Go to anatomy tutoring in the lab. if your tutor sucks, try to find a group that is good. honestly learning it down in the lab helps a ton with the upstairs exams. Learn the blue boxes in moores. It's not too hard to make flashcards of them, do them every day. Finally, once you've 'studied' all of the material, do the grays questions. Anyones you get wrong, make flashcards of and just learn the material. Yeah its overwhelming but you have many weeks to learn this stuff. Spend lots of time in the lab with the atlas opened, quizzing yourself, quizzing others.

 

[BorntobeDO?]

Break it apart, use a timer and force yourself to start making passes. It never feels like you get enough done, but you really will. I always wanted another pass, even on stuff I did good on, so that feeling is normal. I suggest 25 min blocks at first with a strict 5 minute break in which you do something relaxing that won't turn into a hour long activity on accident.

 

[jcve34]

Set a timer to see how much you actually study. If you stop to look at your phone stop the timer. Get up to go to the bathroom stop the timer.

Have a goal. In 8-10 hours of true studying (with a timer) you can have a goal of what you want accomplished.

Quiz. Quiz. Quiz. For anatomy. The complete anatomy app was my go to for anatomy. I would rip apart Olingers Atlas (digital copy) and relabel everything from memory as best as I could. I would do every Greys Anatomy Review question. Sometimes twice.

For the practical I would go to 2-3 different tutoring groups and go in on my own. That was overkill but I definitely knew my stuff by the time the practical roled around.

It’s not going to get easier but you are going to get better. Stay the course.