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For those of you who have been accepted and are preparing at this point for matriculation and orientation, congrats! Good luck! You’ve earned it. You did it! You WILL be doctors!!!
So pull up a chair and grab another cold one; I was asked by an SDNer about the big DOs and DON’Ts of being a med student. Here are my thoughts:
As you know, you have along hard road ahead of you, but you can do it! Many of are probably still wondering “what have I gotten myself into?”
Well, for starters, that cliché of “drinking from the fire hose” is true. Actually, it’s more like “drinking from a fire hose while running after the fire engine.” We’re going to throw everything at you, in a very short period of time. I had a friend who was a graduate of U WV, and he told me that medical school “took him to his intellectual limits.”
Here are some tips that I have gleaned from my successful students, and helpful SDNers. In no particular order:
[EDIT: the advice here is for the pre-clinical years. Yes, I actually have had to put a qualifier on that this year!]
Identify your optimal learning style. Not everyone learns best by sitting on their butts for 6-8 hours a day. More importantly, what worked in college might not work in med school. I have tons of students who have troubles in the first third of their first semester not only because the sheer overload of material clobbers them.
The key thing here is go to lectures if you're struggling; conversely, if you really get nothing from being at lectures, then by all means, do something else in that time period (unless you're at schools with required lecture attendance).
Studying in med school isn’t merely adding more studying hours, but studying in a way that is best attuned to your learning style. Some people have to hear things, and so they may do best in study groups teaching their friends, or listening to lectures on video playback.
Others are visual learners and do best by making tables charts figures, writing out pathways, etc.
Every one of my clinician colleagues has told me that repetition is the key to learning. And don’t worry about not learning everything at once, you’re not radio actors with live air time tomorrow afternoon. We realize it takes time to get your material down. Yes, given the nature of the beast, some cramming will be impossible to avoid, but be aware if you cram, you don’t retain. And it’s not enough to memorize, you have to apply what you’ve learned. So merely reading and re-reading your PPT files to try to memorize them like you're learning the lines from Othello and Titus Andronicus isn't going to work.
You have taken and done well enough on the MCAT to have been accepted. However, some of you still have challenges with standardized testing. If you have test taking anxiety, get help for it NOW.
Always try to get a good night's sleep before exams. This helps retention and test performance.
Most of you are where you are right now because you love learning about the human body. Don’t ever lose that.
I post this all the time here, but this is important enough to repeat: your schools will have special resources to help struggling students. One is a learning or education center, to help you with time mgt, learning styles, test taking anxieties, mind mapping, etc.
Med school is stressful. I like to point out that it has broken even healthy students. The other resource to use, and this is just as important, is the counseling or therapy center. Med school can be a soul crushing meat grinder, especially when you’re floundering. Don’t be afraid of losing face; don’t be afraid to seek out help. Don’t be a non-compliant patient. You’re going have plenty of these on your own!
Have or develop good coping skills in case family or relationship issues intrude. As a medical student you have to be somewhat selfish. This is especially pertinent for students who come from cultures where extended family is important. You can’t always run home if Uncle Joe gets sick.
In addition, it's best to have or develop a support group. Your fellow students are your family now. You can turn to them.
Yet another resource: Seek out your professors if you're struggling; they're there for you!
Always be able to look at the big picture. I have seen so many students get lost in the weeds trying to memorize every detail. You simply can’t do it. He who tries to learn everything will end up learning nothing. Use resources other than your PPT files, like Pathoma, Anki, Sketcy, etc. High scorers on Boards tend to use more of the external resources than just than their lecture notes.
Bone up on what you're weakest in. This is why practice tests are so helpful. Qbank, Testweapon, USMLE World, ComBank, ComSAE, whatever the resource, make sure use to them. We and others find that our best students take lots of practice questions, and the weakest students don’t. If you feel you know particular material, it's OK to spend less time with it, and better to work on your weakest areas. But identifying those holes in your knowledge base is extremely important.
If textbooks are required, buy them. [EDIT: as can be seen later in the thread, this is a controversial subject this year. Some people are outright offended by this suggestion.]
Board review books are exactly that; do NOT use them in place of a required text. We’ve found that our weakest students always try to make do with just review books. Avoid the mindset of of “if it’s not in FA, it’s not important”. This is just wrong.
[EDIT: some people may be interpreting this as "if you don't buy textbooks, you're a dab student" I hope that's not what they're thinking. If true, it would make me wonder who on Earth they made it past the VR and CARS sections of MCAT. I'm just pointing out what my weakest students seem to have in common].
Every one of my students who have taken Boards tell me that there’s stuff on Boards that is NOT covered in FA.
Review books are for review, and that’s it. And BTW, First Aid for USMLE I has lots of errors in it!
[EDIT: As you can read later on, for some people, FA generates near religious devotion. Go figure].
Study with your friends, unless they’re too distracting. Otherwise, seek out the people in your classes who really impress you, and ask them “how they do it?” Even if you get a single tip that help, that’s worth it.
What makes medical students fail? The most common reasons at my school are mental health issues, especially depression, or poor work ethic; less seen is an inability to separate outside life issues from med school (ie, poor coping skills), or repeated failure on Boards. A handful lost interest in Medicine, or never were fully committed to the path in the first place.
But to quote Queen Victoria, “We are not interested in the possibility of failure!”
And good luck to you all!
So pull up a chair and grab another cold one; I was asked by an SDNer about the big DOs and DON’Ts of being a med student. Here are my thoughts:
As you know, you have along hard road ahead of you, but you can do it! Many of are probably still wondering “what have I gotten myself into?”
Well, for starters, that cliché of “drinking from the fire hose” is true. Actually, it’s more like “drinking from a fire hose while running after the fire engine.” We’re going to throw everything at you, in a very short period of time. I had a friend who was a graduate of U WV, and he told me that medical school “took him to his intellectual limits.”
Here are some tips that I have gleaned from my successful students, and helpful SDNers. In no particular order:
[EDIT: the advice here is for the pre-clinical years. Yes, I actually have had to put a qualifier on that this year!]
Identify your optimal learning style. Not everyone learns best by sitting on their butts for 6-8 hours a day. More importantly, what worked in college might not work in med school. I have tons of students who have troubles in the first third of their first semester not only because the sheer overload of material clobbers them.
The key thing here is go to lectures if you're struggling; conversely, if you really get nothing from being at lectures, then by all means, do something else in that time period (unless you're at schools with required lecture attendance).
Studying in med school isn’t merely adding more studying hours, but studying in a way that is best attuned to your learning style. Some people have to hear things, and so they may do best in study groups teaching their friends, or listening to lectures on video playback.
Others are visual learners and do best by making tables charts figures, writing out pathways, etc.
Every one of my clinician colleagues has told me that repetition is the key to learning. And don’t worry about not learning everything at once, you’re not radio actors with live air time tomorrow afternoon. We realize it takes time to get your material down. Yes, given the nature of the beast, some cramming will be impossible to avoid, but be aware if you cram, you don’t retain. And it’s not enough to memorize, you have to apply what you’ve learned. So merely reading and re-reading your PPT files to try to memorize them like you're learning the lines from Othello and Titus Andronicus isn't going to work.
You have taken and done well enough on the MCAT to have been accepted. However, some of you still have challenges with standardized testing. If you have test taking anxiety, get help for it NOW.
Always try to get a good night's sleep before exams. This helps retention and test performance.
Most of you are where you are right now because you love learning about the human body. Don’t ever lose that.
I post this all the time here, but this is important enough to repeat: your schools will have special resources to help struggling students. One is a learning or education center, to help you with time mgt, learning styles, test taking anxieties, mind mapping, etc.
Med school is stressful. I like to point out that it has broken even healthy students. The other resource to use, and this is just as important, is the counseling or therapy center. Med school can be a soul crushing meat grinder, especially when you’re floundering. Don’t be afraid of losing face; don’t be afraid to seek out help. Don’t be a non-compliant patient. You’re going have plenty of these on your own!
Have or develop good coping skills in case family or relationship issues intrude. As a medical student you have to be somewhat selfish. This is especially pertinent for students who come from cultures where extended family is important. You can’t always run home if Uncle Joe gets sick.
In addition, it's best to have or develop a support group. Your fellow students are your family now. You can turn to them.
Yet another resource: Seek out your professors if you're struggling; they're there for you!
Always be able to look at the big picture. I have seen so many students get lost in the weeds trying to memorize every detail. You simply can’t do it. He who tries to learn everything will end up learning nothing. Use resources other than your PPT files, like Pathoma, Anki, Sketcy, etc. High scorers on Boards tend to use more of the external resources than just than their lecture notes.
Bone up on what you're weakest in. This is why practice tests are so helpful. Qbank, Testweapon, USMLE World, ComBank, ComSAE, whatever the resource, make sure use to them. We and others find that our best students take lots of practice questions, and the weakest students don’t. If you feel you know particular material, it's OK to spend less time with it, and better to work on your weakest areas. But identifying those holes in your knowledge base is extremely important.
If textbooks are required, buy them. [EDIT: as can be seen later in the thread, this is a controversial subject this year. Some people are outright offended by this suggestion.]
Board review books are exactly that; do NOT use them in place of a required text. We’ve found that our weakest students always try to make do with just review books. Avoid the mindset of of “if it’s not in FA, it’s not important”. This is just wrong.
[EDIT: some people may be interpreting this as "if you don't buy textbooks, you're a dab student" I hope that's not what they're thinking. If true, it would make me wonder who on Earth they made it past the VR and CARS sections of MCAT. I'm just pointing out what my weakest students seem to have in common].
Every one of my students who have taken Boards tell me that there’s stuff on Boards that is NOT covered in FA.
Review books are for review, and that’s it. And BTW, First Aid for USMLE I has lots of errors in it!
[EDIT: As you can read later on, for some people, FA generates near religious devotion. Go figure].
Study with your friends, unless they’re too distracting. Otherwise, seek out the people in your classes who really impress you, and ask them “how they do it?” Even if you get a single tip that help, that’s worth it.
What makes medical students fail? The most common reasons at my school are mental health issues, especially depression, or poor work ethic; less seen is an inability to separate outside life issues from med school (ie, poor coping skills), or repeated failure on Boards. A handful lost interest in Medicine, or never were fully committed to the path in the first place.
But to quote Queen Victoria, “We are not interested in the possibility of failure!”
And good luck to you all!
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