How do I prepare for my first year ??

[scrubs41]

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OK I was lucky to get in, for the senior members here who has already started Med School, what advise can you give me as far as what to/not to bring to school in the first year ?. What's kind of things should I be shopping for ?.. stethoscope, books, materials etc... what mistakes can I avoid in my first year ?..

Any advise is greatly appreciated, you all have been very helpful. THANK YOU!.

scrubs

 

[Starflyr]

Biggest mistake that I made:

Spending money on stuff I thought I'd need before I talked with the 2nd year class. Books, stethoscope, oto/opthalmascope, etc. Leave that stuff. You'll get a booklist and specs on instruments when you need to buy them. Talk to the people ahead of you - I sure wish Id bought Moore's "Essential Clinical Anatomy" instead of Moore's Clinical Anatomy book, for example. The one exception I can think of is if you are allergic to latex - in that case, stock up on non-latex gloves (our bookstore doesnt carry non-latex...*grrrrrrr*). Other than that, find a place to live, and then chill out!

Star

 

[cchoukal]

I agree with the above; chill out and have a good time with the remaining freedom you have. This summer you may call your bookstore and get the reading list and see if you can save some money buying books online ahead of time (although the prices at my book store were comparable). Most students I know didn't buy every required text; many used board-review books as their primary texts. I've done some of each, and both strategies seem to work pretty well, oddly enough. The thing you will want is a great anatomy atlas. I'd recommend netter's.

Your school will probably have an instrument sale when the time comes, so I wouldn't buy anything now. If your school doesn't put something like this together, you can eventually go to allheart.com (no, I don't work for them) and get good prices on stethoscopes and opthalmo/otoscopes. Congratulations on your acceptance and try to relax.

 

[Gauss]

most things you will find that you don't even need to buy or there will be sales. Worry about your financial situation - budget, loans, etc.
Go get started on your hep b series and some other shots. Mistakes? You will make them, there is no way around it. Just don't feel that you shouldn't be making them - struggling is half the fun.

 

[edmadison]

I wouldn't stock up on gloves. Some schools give them to you for free!!!

Ed

 

[neutropeniaboy]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by scrubs41:
•OK I was lucky to get in, for the senior members here who has already started Med School, what advise can you give me as far as what to/not to bring to school in the first year ?. What's kind of things should I be shopping for ?.. stethoscope, books, materials etc... what mistakes can I avoid in my first year ?..

Any advise is greatly appreciated, you all have been very helpful. THANK YOU!.

scrubs•••••I honestly think that you should live up this summer and the summer after your first year. Since the beginning of your second year and the end of your fourth is essentially "one long year," you're not going to have many opportunities to go out and have a great lot of fun without responsibilities.

As far as buying books is concerned, I say wait until you get a list of "required" texts. Spend the first week or so checking those books out of the library to see if you like them. Half of them are crap and you'll never use them again after the first year. I suggest buying more of your second year books (I continue to use Robbins Pathology and my microbiology texts as a 4th year...), but that time will come.

Your school will probably have some sort of equipment sale during which the rep will try to sell you the top of the line everything; ignore it. Just buy a stethescope that has a bell and a diaphragm. Forget the blood pressure cuff. Forget the oto/ophthalmoscope.

As far as what others have said here:

* I ditto the "Baby Moore" comment.
* I disagree with anyone who uses board review books as their primary text. Don't cheat yourself out of greater knowledge even if it does mean harder and longer work. Board review books are just that -- review. You can't review what you haven't already learned.
* Most people buy Netter. I recommend Clemente.

First year is a big adjustment for most people, but don't worry about it. Just keep up with the work and learn the material the first time around (then you won't be struggling during the board review period).

Lastly, start learning more about the fields of medicine. You don't have to jump on to a research project, but become an educated consumer. Go to a few of your school's after school meetings for whatever specialty or see if you can latch on to a few docs every now and then.

Have fun!