First year here . . . anything I should be doing?

[87138]

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Hi everyone. Besides the obvious "kick ass in your classes" part, is there anything I should be doing as an M1 who is a month into first year? I'm currently in an anatomy/embryology/histology block. Someone bought a copy of FA for me, would that come in handy at all or should I just ignore it until second year?

Any input would be great. I'm interested in a specialty or two that are known for high board scores, but even if I choose something less competitive I still want to do my best.

 

[Lamborghini1315]

Hi everyone. Besides the obvious "kick ass in your classes" part, is there anything I should be doing as an M1 who is a month into first year? I'm currently in an anatomy/embryology/histology block. Someone bought a copy of FA for me, would that come in handy at all or should I just ignore it until second year?

Any input would be great. I'm interested in a specialty or two that are known for high board scores, but even if I choose something less competitive I still want to do my best.

Don't bother about boards at this point, take care of business..by that i mean don't fail classes or don't lose your confidence. Enjoy the med school experience..things will get pretty darn serious by 2nd year and then start equipping for your board study. At this point, first aid is useless and has no importance in your studying time. I suggest you get a good biochem text...i personally like lipincott biochem, a fabulous text and helps reinforce a lot of material you will learn through med school.

 

[UditNarayan]

also, if you take the NBME shelf exams during 1st yr (and/or 2nd year), that could be a good opportunity to use one of the review sources (listed at the back of first aid). my school makes us take shelf exams as our course finals during the 1st yr and as much as it sucked to have to study for a standardized exam at the end of each class, it gave me a chance to revisit the course material through a review source. if your school doesnt make you take shelf exams, don't sweat it either. For most students (yes there are outliers too) how well they learned 1st and 2nd yr material roughly correlates with how well it comes back to you when you need it during step 1 time. learn things well if possible...its quite possible to do well in med school and learn things poorly - by that i mean simply memorizing the answers versus attempting to integrate information. this is just my opinion...good luck!

 

[Lamborghini1315]

also, if you take the NBME shelf exams during 1st yr (and/or 2nd year), that could be a good opportunity to use one of the review sources (listed at the back of first aid). my school makes us take shelf exams as our course finals during the 1st yr and as much as it sucked to have to study for a standardized exam at the end of each class, it gave me a chance to revisit the course material through a review source. if your school doesnt make you take shelf exams, don't sweat it either. For most students (yes there are outliers too) how well they learned 1st and 2nd yr material roughly correlates with how well it comes back to you when you need it during step 1 time. learn things well if possible...its quite possible to do well in med school and learn things poorly - by that i mean simply memorizing the answers versus attempting to integrate information. this is just my opinion...good luck!

Yes, don't memorize your class material for the sake of an A...understand what you are reading and see how that fits into the overall picture, for instance when you learn which enzyme plays a role in some pathological process, knowing rate limiting steps of some imp mechanisms etc. At the end of the day don't take shortcuts...i am absolutely against reviewing material in med school and learning what's only pertinent to the upcoming exam. Just remember everything will be imp on the boards..and you better know everything you been exposed to in med school and i exaggerate haha.

 

[FutureInternist]

I actually like the idea of annotating your FA w/ first year notes. Then during the summer b/w M1 & M2 you have everything you need to review in one place (although I would only review physiology)

 

[Terpskins99]

I actually like the idea of annotating your FA w/ first year notes. Then during the summer b/w M1 & M2 you have everything you need to review in one place (although I would only review physiology)

I also like this idea, though I didn't do it myself. You want to be careful not to go overboard, because there is a lot of material (e.g. most of anatomy/histology) you are required to learn for med school that is highly unlikely to show up on boards.

 

[FutureInternist]

If you are REALLY gung-ho, you can do what I did and buy 2 copies of the same edition, annotate one with 1st year stuff only, review that during M1/M2 & as you finish one topic in 2nd year you can see what 1st year notes concerning that topic are worthy of getting annotated into the 2nd copy of the book. Then you have ONE book w/ some 1st year notes, lots of 2nd year notes & eventually UW answer explanations.

You'll be surprised at how much stuff you write down in 1st year that just becomes common knowledge by your 2nd year so don't be daunted by the seemingly insurmountable volume of material 😀

 

[Terpskins99]

If you are REALLY gung-ho, you can do what I did and buy 2 copies of the same edition, annotate one with 1st year stuff only, review that during M1/M2 & as you finish one topic in 2nd year you can see what 1st year notes concerning that topic are worthy of getting annotated into the 2nd copy of the book. Then you have ONE book w/ some 1st year notes, lots of 2nd year notes & eventually UW answer explanations.

You'll be surprised at how much stuff you write down in 1st year that just becomes common knowledge by your 2nd year so don't be daunted by the seemingly insurmountable volume of material 😀

Umm, I don't recommend this.

The single most important thing you need to keep in mind while preparing for boards (and all of medical school, really) is being efficient with your time.

 

[LadyWolverine]

Umm, just make sure you get Lippincott biochem and read it cover-to-cover.

That will more than prepare you for the boards, and you can highlight/flag the important diagrams and clinical correlates.

 

[MSKalltheway]

Umm, just make sure you get Lippincott biochem and read it cover-to-cover.

That will more than prepare you for the boards, and you can highlight/flag the important diagrams and clinical correlates.

Ditto.

This is actually the only thing from 1st year classes I think would be useful and the highest yield for boards if anything, especially in our curriculum. There really wasnt enough anatomy, straight physiology, or neuroanatomy that wasnt in First Aid that would warrant getting a copy now and annotating it during the year. Getting to know where you can go party during this year is probably higher yield.

Using 1st year solely to get used to med school is probably the best thing for now. Doing well this year will be the best set up for next year. FWIW, my Step 1 was probably slightly >85% 2nd year material. Most things from 1st year were integrated into 2nd year path, pharm and ID anyways.