How is Osteopathic Med school going for you so far?

[Story8]

Compared to pre-med, how's your level of stress now that you're in med school? Do you have a 5-days a week class schedule, and what do you love/hate about it so far?

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[cliquesh]

I went to a top 50 college for undergrad and majored in biology. I didn't study until 3 days before an exam and I graduated with a 3.94 GPA. I'm in my second year of med school and it is pretty much the same as undergraduate. However, I start studying 5-7 days before the exam and my grades are the same as undergrad. It really isn't that big of a deal.

 

[Charlie0318]

It is undergraduate level of material with the volume of high school, meaning class from 9-4 or 5 most days. with an hour for lunch. Not the most complex material in the world, just a boat load of volume.

Just imagine undergrad, only 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.

 

[willen101383]

Ill be that guy:

I wake up at 10-1030. Watch lectures online for 4 hours straight. Lift. Review my notes on said lectures. Occasionally Ill mix it up and do some lectures at night etc/ sometimes a lab session will have to be attended.

I dont remember what classses were like in undergrad/I want a premed anyway...but med school is about on par with how classes were in grad school.

There is a lot of info to cover on a day to day basis...but I would say my average stress level is about a 3/10 on any given day.

 

[waspahh33]

Compared to pre-med, how's your level of stress now that you're in med school? Do you have a 5-days a week class schedule, and what do you love/hate about it so far?

This is a question I would
Love to have a lot of students answer-especially considering I'm a nontrad with a wife and two little kids.

 

[LEGO]

I agree that the material is a lot like undergrad - but at about 40 to 50 units worth each semester. You just have to memorize A LOT. As long as you can commit FULL-TIME to med school, you should be Ok. The people who didn't make it were the ones who thought they can still party every weekend, live like they're in undergrad, and just weren't there mentally. Commit and you'll succeed. It's a full time job and more.

 

[rawman]

1) I'm not the type to easily get stressed, so I'd say my stress levels are pretty similar to undergrad (low-moderate). However, being out of college for a year, it was kind of difficult initially transitioning to the medical school pace. I eventually got used to it.

However, I think it's also dependent on what your goals are. Personally, I just want to learn the material the best I can, yet make enough time for goofing off. It seems that some of my 'highly-stressed' classmates are the ones going for the more competitive residencies (ortho, derm, etc). I'm not, but at the same time I'm not struggling or anything.

2) Yup, 5 days/week. However our lectures are also posted online so people that learn better off-campus or would rather not be in lecture rarely attend class (unless there's OMM that day or a standardized patient encounter, each of which happen 1 day/week). Nothing I hate/love about it. Like everyone else said, it's a load of info that can quickly pile up if you slack off.

 

[MLT2MT2DO]

Seems like most in this thread find it fairly comparable to UG.

Here's another thread from the Osteopathic student forum where people say it is much more difficult http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=735227&highlight=school.
Guess it varies from person to person.

 

[vega07]

Would responses vary according to school? You're better off asking students from the schools you're interested in. I know UCLA's curriculum is super chill. I have friends who go there and study maybe 5-6 hours a week. Yes, a week.

If any Western student would like to chime in about their experiences, I'd love to hear it.

 

[drctother]

Would responses vary according to school? You're better off asking students from the schools you're interested in. I know UCLA's curriculum is super chill. I have friends who go there and study maybe 5-6 hours a week. Yes, a week.

If any Western student would like to chime in about their experiences, I'd love to hear it.

Ya....but as you said they go to UCLA. The standards are so high to get into a school like that. So students who get in are smart, no doubt. Students who struggled academically are not getting into UCLA where the GPA requirement is generally quite high. So I would assume that since material is fairly similar for all medical schools (allopathic and osteopathic) in regards to the sciences......students at "harder" schools to get into would have to study less.....

 

[willen101383]

Seems like most in this thread find it fairly comparable to UG.

Here's another thread from the Osteopathic student forum where people say it is much more difficult http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=735227&highlight=school.
Guess it varies from person to person.

Its WAY more "on the surface" info...while undergrad classes are less info...but it goes more in depth. Its also way easier to get behind if you skip a day.

For example: undergrad I do recall I was required to know each step in the TCA cycle. In med school I was required to know how much NADH/FADH/AMP you get and how things are regulated..and what clinical situations may affect that.

And have no fear your MT experience will be HUGE for you in some of the clinical sciency stuff...granted you worked for a little while. Its been such an enormous help to me.

 

[Dr Oops]

Med school is like a semester of college in about a week. Theres not alot of stress until you get to test time. How much you stress out about stuff is on the person. If you stressing out now in college, chances are you will stress out the same when your in med school.

Once your in it for a while you will get used to it.

 

[cliffhuxtableDO]

since most people agree that learning all of the material is impossible, and you just try to learn as much of it as you can, how do you divide up the material?

do you say "well i'll spend 2 hours on histo mwf, 2 hours on biochem mwf, 3 hours embryio tues/thurs...etc" and just try to learn as much as you can in each period of time for each subject, or is that one of the stupidest ideas you've ever heard? haha just curious how each person breaks down the way they attack the material.

 

[SFO-IST]

Med school is like a semester of college in about a week. Theres not alot of stress until you get to test time. How much you stress out about stuff is on the person. If you stressing out now in college, chances are you will stress out the same when your in med school.

Once your in it for a while you will get used to it.

I don't understand how this is possible. 90% of people probably spend at least 8 hours per day studying at college. I spent at least 10. Even if I did everything at 2x - even 4x, that's still not a semester's worth of information. Since nobody will increase their capacity to absorb and retain information 4x, that leaves either:

1) you cover more material with less detail
2) you only cover select aspects of the material in greater detail


I suspect that there will be a higher amount of conceptually more difficult information to learn, but to say that it's one semester's worth of material every week and not mention that a bunch of stuff that would be covered in that semester course are left out seems a little hyperbolical to me (with all due respect to my future fellow med students).

 

[MightyMoose]

I don't understand how this is possible. 90% of people probably spend at least 8 hours per day studying at college. I spent at least 10. Even if I did everything at 2x - even 4x, that's still not a semester's worth of information. Since nobody will increase their capacity to absorb and retain information 4x, that leaves either:

1) you cover more material with less detail
2) you only cover select aspects of the material in greater detail


I suspect that there will be a higher amount of conceptually more difficult information to learn, but to say that it's one semester's worth of material every week and not mention that a bunch of stuff that would be covered in that semester course are left out seems a little hyperbolical to me (with all due respect to my future fellow med students).

I could see it if he is referring to one class. For instance, immunology at most Med schools is just over a week. That's it. Anatomy avgs 8-10 weeks and is covered in much much greater detail than ug.

Also, I'm curious what you were doing for 10 hours a day studying in ug? I worked on average between 50-60 hrs/wk during ug while maintaining a full load and still found some time for R&R while maintaining mostly A's. If you really spent ten hours a day studying, you either mastered the hell out of your classes or you might consider looking for a new study method, because the transition to Med school might become very difficult for you. I'm being very serious here.

 

[cliquesh]

I don't understand how this is possible. 90% of people probably spend at least 8 hours per day studying at college.

hah, that is not true at all. Maybe if you are an engineering major or go to MIT or something.

 

[SFO-IST]

hah, that is not true at all. Maybe if you are an engineering major or go to MIT or something.

ha ha, OK I was an engineering major, so I guess that explains that.....

 

[MLT2MT2DO]

I could see it if he is referring to one class. For instance, immunology at most Med schools is just over a week. That's it. Anatomy avgs 8-10 weeks and is covered in much much greater detail than ug.

Also, I'm curious what you were doing for 10 hours a day studying in ug? I worked on average between 50-60 hrs/wk during ug while maintaining a full load and still found some time for R&R while maintaining mostly A's. If you really spent ten hours a day studying, you either mastered the hell out of your classes or you might consider looking for a new study method, because the transition to Med school might become very difficult for you. I'm being very serious here.

Seriously....I usually logged about 10ish hours a week, not a day.

 

[MLT2MT2DO]

Its WAY more "on the surface" info...while undergrad classes are less info...but it goes more in depth. Its also way easier to get behind if you skip a day.

For example: undergrad I do recall I was required to know each step in the TCA cycle. In med school I was required to know how much NADH/FADH/AMP you get and how things are regulated..and what clinical situations may affect that.

And have no fear your MT experience will be HUGE for you in some of the clinical sciency stuff...granted you worked for a little while. Its been such an enormous help to me.

Great to hear from a fellow MT. I will have worked as an MT for 11 years by the time I start school, so it is good to hear that with a career change I will be able to benefit from that.

If you don't mind me asking, how long were in the lab and are still happy you made the career change?

 

[willen101383]

Great to hear from a fellow MT. I will have worked as an MT for 11 years by the time I start school, so it is good to hear that with a career change I will be able to benefit from that.

If you don't mind me asking, how long were in the lab and are still happy you made the career change?

I was in the lab as an MT for almost 5 years. Phleb before that for 3. I am definitely happy i made the change. It got to the point where I always felt upset to see docs up on the floors (had phleb duties on occasion since we all know how reliable phlebs are). You know how the lab personell are treated...at the bottom of the barrel even though you have way more education than nursing/anyone in there with the exception of pharm Ds or docs. I just really got sick of constantly getting $hit on by the rest of the hospital.

Its the little things that help out. Knowing hematology/knowing cells/morph from doing diffs, knowing ref ranges and what tests are for. In biochem you have heard of a lot of the enzymes analytes already because of lab testing (ALT/AST/GGT/t/c Bili,etc). Its so nice to not have to remember so many names...but just remember where those names fit. It just sort of provides a "glue" that holds the rest of what you are learning together. You know random stuff that you ARENT taught that helps fill in the gaps in knowledge on exams. Not to mention the not being scared of touching patients/SPs or whatever. Totally thankful for my roots..and I will never forget those roots....they made me who I am. I never would have been in med school without first being a MT. Just knowing what each test entails/TAT of things...knowing you cant get stat Cx or ionized Ca needs to be sealed or that ^MCV means the nurse prob drew up some flush when drawing from the line 99% of the time and not that the pt has a macrocytic anemia.. etc is going to be a huge help for me on the wards and as a resident. Youll love it

 

[Black Adder]

I don't understand how this is possible. 90% of people probably spend at least 8 hours per day studying at college. I spent at least 10. Even if I did everything at 2x - even 4x, that's still not a semester's worth of information. Since nobody will increase their capacity to absorb and retain information 4x, that leaves either:

1) you cover more material with less detail
2) you only cover select aspects of the material in greater detail


I suspect that there will be a higher amount of conceptually more difficult information to learn, but to say that it's one semester's worth of material every week and not mention that a bunch of stuff that would be covered in that semester course are left out seems a little hyperbolical to me (with all due respect to my future fellow med students).

You cover more material with less detail in med school, but that's only because most of the stuff we learn first semester of med school is review from UG. For example, in UG biochem we spent maybe a week learning about the TCA cycle, in med school, we had a one hour lecture on it. But in UG, we had to memorize all the structures and the names of all the enzymes and how they were regulated. In med school, we only really needed to know the key steps, and the committed steps.

 

[Everglide]

In undergrad I spent maybe 18-24 hours of studying/cramming before an exam. Now I spend about 10-12 solid hours/day of studying the days leading into exams for a total of around 50-80 hours studying plus lecture. My grades are actually a lot better now than undergrad (currently in the upper quartile). Non-exam time is pretty awesome - I might put in 12 hours of work the entire week max which includes lecture at double speed.

IMO, if you spend 10-12 hours a day studying in undergrad, you absolutely need to change your study habits because you're going to drown in volume or at least want to kill yourself in med school. The classes are "a mile wide and an inch deep", less detail than undergrad but covered about 8x faster. We honestly haven't done anything that requires deep thinking a lot of it is just route memorization, however it gets messy when you have 200 different little seemingly random facts to learn in a day.

I'm only a first year - second year looks terrible in terms of volume of material and exams.

*osteopathic qualifier: omm is pretty cool. lol.

 

[TriagePreMed]

ha ha, OK I was an engineering major, so I guess that explains that.....

We went to the same school and I never met anyone that studied 10 hours daily. I'm not one to comment on how much you had to study as I didn't do much and wasn't hot on grades, but I did know people with good grades that were nowhere near those 10 hours, even engineers.

 

[angryazn88]

We went to the same school and I never met anyone that studied 10 hours daily. I'm not one to comment on how much you had to study as I didn't do much and wasn't hot on grades, but I did know people with good grades that were nowhere near those 10 hours, even engineers.

is it even possible to study 10hrs a day? back in ug i would sleep like 7 hrs a day, 4 hrs vball practice, eating 2 hrs, class for an average of 5 hrs, leaving about 6 hrs free for studying/having fun. i dont think ug was that difficult haha

 

[angryazn88]

Just curious, does anyone read up on the material before they attend the lecture and does it help at all. Or is it better to just attend lecture and then read on the material?

 

[willen101383]

Just curious, does anyone read up on the material before they attend the lecture and does it help at all. Or is it better to just attend lecture and then read on the material?

You know what helps the most? Not attending lectures period.

 

[Longshanks]

You know what helps the most? Not attending lectures period.

Yeah - I felt that way with grad school. Since most of our classes shared the med school's facilities we also had access to streaming, and it was a far more effective way of studying and also utilizing my time, especially if you can multitask or wanted to spend more time in ECs.

 

[angryazn88]

but some schools have mandatory attendance

 

[circulus vitios]

90% of people probably spend at least 8 hours per day studying at college.

They do?

 

[willen101383]

but some schools have mandatory attendance

Dont go to those schools then. But if you are "lecture goer" and super ambitious try to preread lectures. For certain things this may help you.....I was never this ambitious.

 

[willen101383]

Yeah - I felt that way with grad school. Since most of our classes shared the med school's facilities we also had access to streaming, and it was a far more effective way of studying and also utilizing my time, especially if you can multitask or wanted to spend more time in ECs.

I am a bit older then most members of my class (27)...and I feel like the straight out of college crowd treats class as more of a social hour which really annoys me. Not to mention waking up at 8am. Hell I am trying to sleep in while I still can.

For anatomy I probably could have benefitted more from going to class than biochem. For biochem its all gibberish unless you A. are a gunner like angryazn and want to preread ...B. start and stop lectures at your leisure and think about what is being said. If i went to lecture and took notes I would get nowhere.

I study by learning the material being covered that day in almost its entirety...so that for the next few weeks i can constantly reinforce material in my head. I have a biochem exam tomorrow and I studied about 3 hours today total because its already been learned. If i went to class it would be a horrible day for me.

Thats why online exists...so people with different learning styles can benefit!



Not to mention my head always seems to get clearer as the day goes on...so streaming enables me to spend the morning doing things like lifting and doing other mindless things I need to do.....and really concentrate at night if need be.

 

[angryazn88]

Dont go to those schools then. But if you are "lecture goer" and super ambitious try to preread lectures. For certain things this may help you.....I was never this ambitious.

Thanks, I'm not sure where I'm headed yet but I'm not sure how ambitious I'm going to be until I see how hard med school is lol

 

[willen101383]

Thanks, I'm not sure where I'm headed yet but I'm not sure how ambitious I'm going to be until I see how hard med school is lol

Harder than you think honestly. Not hard just the sheer volume of info to put together in your head for each exam. Everyone comes in with that attitude like "oh im going to study non stop and rock every class." Just wait. Id rather have a life and get B/B+s in my preclinicals than study nonstop for As...mainly because preclinicals dont even matter that much.

Youll be fine.

 

[StarStup]

Here's a good article that kind of sums everything up, it's called "Advice for New Medical Students"

http://boards.medscape.com/[email protected]@.29f9f561!comment=1&cat=All

 

[Longshanks]

I am a bit older then most members of my class (27)...and I feel like the straight out of college crowd treats class as more of a social hour which really annoys me. Not to mention waking up at 8am. Hell I am trying to sleep in while I still can.

For anatomy I probably could have benefitted more from going to class than biochem. For biochem its all gibberish unless you A. are a gunner like angryazn and want to preread ...B. start and stop lectures at your leisure and think about what is being said. If i went to lecture and took notes I would get nowhere.

I study by learning the material being covered that day in almost its entirety...so that for the next few weeks i can constantly reinforce material in my head. I have a biochem exam tomorrow and I studied about 3 hours today total because its already been learned. If i went to class it would be a horrible day for me.

Thats why online exists...so people with different learning styles can benefit!



Not to mention my head always seems to get clearer as the day goes on...so streaming enables me to spend the morning doing things like lifting and doing other mindless things I need to do.....and really concentrate at night if need be.

Yeah, totally feel ya. Without revealing my age until the cycle is over, let's say it'll be similar to you but a few years younger, so still around that average starting age, but definitely not fresh out of undergrad.

When we took biochem with the PharmD kids here, the constant pause and play of the stream was my method, ha.

Some lectures I find useful, but I know I usually lose my focus just sitting there if its not an active class or I don't retain as much of the lecture at 8am.

 

[angryazn88]

I am a bit older then most members of my class (27)...and I feel like the straight out of college crowd treats class as more of a social hour which really annoys me. Not to mention waking up at 8am. Hell I am trying to sleep in while I still can.

For anatomy I probably could have benefitted more from going to class than biochem. For biochem its all gibberish unless you A. are a gunner like angryazn and want to preread ...B. start and stop lectures at your leisure and think about what is being said. If i went to lecture and took notes I would get nowhere.

I study by learning the material being covered that day in almost its entirety...so that for the next few weeks i can constantly reinforce material in my head. I have a biochem exam tomorrow and I studied about 3 hours today total because its already been learned. If i went to class it would be a horrible day for me.

Thats why online exists...so people with different learning styles can benefit!



Not to mention my head always seems to get clearer as the day goes on...so streaming enables me to spend the morning doing things like lifting and doing other mindless things I need to do.....and really concentrate at night if need be.

thanks... i always realized i studied better and retained a lot more info when i studied at night rather than in the morning and afternoon... i must be nocturnal haha

 

[WatchForDaEF55]

I was in the lab as an MT for almost 5 years. Phleb before that for 3. I am definitely happy i made the change. It got to the point where I always felt upset to see docs up on the floors (had phleb duties on occasion since we all know how reliable phlebs are). You know how the lab personell are treated...at the bottom of the barrel even though you have way more education than nursing/anyone in there with the exception of pharm Ds or docs. I just really got sick of constantly getting $hit on by the rest of the hospital.

Its the little things that help out. Knowing hematology/knowing cells/morph from doing diffs, knowing ref ranges and what tests are for. In biochem you have heard of a lot of the enzymes analytes already because of lab testing (ALT/AST/GGT/t/c Bili,etc). Its so nice to not have to remember so many names...but just remember where those names fit. It just sort of provides a "glue" that holds the rest of what you are learning together. You know random stuff that you ARENT taught that helps fill in the gaps in knowledge on exams. Not to mention the not being scared of touching patients/SPs or whatever. Totally thankful for my roots..and I will never forget those roots....they made me who I am. I never would have been in med school without first being a MT. Just knowing what each test entails/TAT of things...knowing you cant get stat Cx or ionized Ca needs to be sealed or that ^MCV means the nurse prob drew up some flush when drawing from the line 99% of the time and not that the pt has a macrocytic anemia.. etc is going to be a huge help for me on the wards and as a resident. Youll love it

I know what you mean even though I'm a lab tech. At the lab I work at it's mostly MT's so I've learned quite a bit from them. I think it'll help that I know how to read results and understand what they mean over some other people.

Hah, on a side note, I HATE it when nurses call in for urine culture results a few hours after we recieve them!