How much time did you spend studying the summer after your M1 yr?

[IceDuchess]

Hello everyone, curious to know how many hours per day you all spent studying over the summer after your M1 year. Also, what did you specifically focus on (learning new material, review old material, etc)?

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[stickgirl390]

Zero hours

 

[sharkbyte]

None. That summer was one of the best of my life. Did research, got paid, had evenings and weekends off, hung out with friends, visited some new cities, worked out 4-5 times a week, went home too.

Pretty much everyone I know who did well on Step 1 did no studying then. There's really no need.

 

[TakotsuboOkazaki]

I started Zanki over that summer.

I would put in maybe 1 hour a day covering blocks from first-year.

I wouldn't say it made much of a difference in the end.

Just don't burn yourself out before second-year.

 

[ciestar]

Zero. Went on three vacations lol

 

[scorpion2020]

None. That summer was one of the best of my life. Did research, got paid, had evenings and weekends off, hung out with friends, visited some new cities, worked out 4-5 times a week, went home too.

Pretty much everyone I know who did well on Step 1 did no studying then. There's really no need.

How did you find paid research positions? I’m an incoming M1 so I would like do that too for next summer

 

[TakotsuboOkazaki]

How did you find paid research positions? I’m an incoming M1 so I would like do that too for next summer

I received pay for summer work via work-study. Your school's FA office should have information.

 

[sharkbyte]

How did you find paid research positions? I’m an incoming M1 so I would like do that too for next summer

I participated in my school's summer research program that paid us a stipend.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

We only get two weeks, so I will be studying zero hours.

 

[iforget2]

Kept up with my zanki reviews and made it a point to finish lolnotacop by the end of the summer. It really only took ~2 hours a day, and being in dedicated right now, I'm glad I was proactive in finishing new cards which helped spread out the number of new cards I had to do over M2.

 

[TakotsuboOkazaki]

Kept up with my zanki reviews and made it a point to finish lolnotacop by the end of the summer. It really only took ~2 hours a day, and being in dedicated right now, I'm glad I was proactive in finishing new cards which helped spread out the number of new cards I had to do over M2.

Sketchy micro + lolnotacop + add your own microscopy pic of each organism = never miss a question on micro ever

 

[Lanhaines Elsetion]

None, did paid research over the summer. It depends on the person, but I personally forgot things from the first half of 2nd year even with zanki that I had to re-learn in dedicated. Studying new material over the summer wouldn't have been very helpful for retention but it might have made classes slightly easier.

 

[ajc009]

Im currently in this position, im reviewing some of my old blocks ~1 hr a day. Working in some questions too every now and then. Also, reading some of the clinical stuff that is actually interesting to me. Summer gives you time to dive into more of the stuff you like.

 

[smh343]

Did some zanki and regretted it. Had a lot of fun otherwise, paid research, hanging out when not doing that.

 

[catnip12]

I go to a 1.5 year Systems based preclinical w/ USMLE Step1 after Core rotations. Furthermore, we get an entire summer off between M1 and M2. I just finished my M1 year so i am ~2 weeks into summer right now.

I have close friends who have been doing Zanki since Day 1 and for these guys they will keep up with their reviews and perhaps even learn new cards over the summer. Personally, I haven't used Flashcards in Med school but I want to familiarize myself with it since our next 2 blocks are pure rote memorization. Just really not in love with the idea of doing flashcards. Plus I am really not convinced on the yield of Step studying now with the way our curriculum is set up since we will be on the wards before taking it.

Plan for summer so far has been doing research and going through clinical cases w/ podcasts such as CPS, Curbsiders, EMCrit, IBCC, and others. I find this style of learning for me works best. I also plan on reviewing my notes especially from beginning of Med school and developing schema for how to think about clinical cases for the systems we have completed. Might even make Anki cards for Anatomy, and Embryology.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I go to a 1.5 year Systems based preclinical w/ USMLE Step1 after Core rotations. Furthermore, we get an entire summer off between M1 and M2. I just finished my M1 year so i am ~2 weeks into summer right now.

I have close friends who have been doing Zanki since Day 1 and for these guys they will keep up with their reviews and perhaps even learn new cards over the summer. Personally, I haven't used Flashcards in Med school but I want to familiarize myself with it since our next 2 blocks are pure rote memorization. Just really not in love with the idea of doing flashcards. Plus I am really not convinced on the yield of Step studying now with the way our curriculum is set up since we will be on the wards before taking it.

Plan for summer so far has been doing research and going through clinical cases w/ podcasts such as CPS, Curbsiders, EMCrit, IBCC, and others. I find this style of learning for me works best. I also plan on reviewing my notes especially from beginning of Med school and developing schema for how to think about clinical cases for the systems we have completed. Might even make Anki cards for Anatomy, and Embryology.

How the hell did you get that? We have a 1.5 year curriculum but no summer (we get 2 weeks). When do you start rotations?

Edit: now that I think about it, if it wasn’t usuhs we probably would have a full summer even with the 1.5 year preclerkship. We get a 6 week break between M1 and M2, but 4 weeks of it is mandatory military stuff.

 

[JibsGuy52]

0 hours. If you do 5 mins more than this, you are a fool.

 

[catnip12]

How the hell did you get that? We have a 1.5 year curriculum but no summer (we get 2 weeks). When do you start rotations?

Edit: now that I think about it, if it wasn’t usuhs we probably would have a full summer even with the 1.5 year preclerkship. We get a 6 week break between M1 and M2, but 4 weeks of it is mandatory military stuff.

Yeah I thought this was the norm but was surprised when I read about your school and others on this forum with hardly any break. My instate school is on a traditional curriculum and even then they have a summer semester. I wish i had an answer.

I will say (and this is not a flex or whatever) but we get A LOT thrown at us with Prework for almost everything including CBL, TBL, and small groups, actual lectures. Many times we also get post lecture "homework" that is all testable material, along side clinical stuff, weekly quizzes + in house exams and NBMEs every 4 weeks or so etc etc. Basically we get a ton of information shoved down our throats so I am not sure whether they are leaving out any content for us to have this break, or if we just get it all in one super large bolus during the school year to make time. But i have only attended one med school so I don't know.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Yeah I thought this was the norm but was surprised when I read about your school and others on this forum with hardly any break. My instate school is on a traditional curriculum and even then they have a summer semester. I wish i had an answer.

I will say (and this is not a flex or whatever) but we get A LOT thrown at us with Prework for almost everything including CBL, TBL, and small groups, actual lectures. Many times we also get post lecture "homework" that is all testable material, along side clinical stuff, weekly quizzes + in house exams and NBMEs every 4 weeks or so etc etc. Basically we get a ton of information shoved down our throats so I am not sure whether they are leaving out any content for us to have this break, or if we just get it all in one super large bolus during the school year to make time. But i have only attended one med school so I don't know.

That’s how are school is too. We have nbme exams and faculty exams every 3-4 weeks, plus small groups, tbl, etc. We only get a two week break but if it wasn’t the military, we’d have 6-8 weeks off. But it is so we have to do a bunch of military specific medicine stuff. So that’s why lol. Makes sense I guess.

 

[CyrusHabs7695]

in dedicated now and I can confirm there's no real need to study. I would recommend doing some Anki cards, but nothing overboard. Take the time to relax because the real grind hasn't started yet

 

[Domepiece]

0 hrs, 10/10 would recommend

 

[CJhooper123]

I'm studying b/w 2-3 hours/day. Mostly Zanki reviews and watching Sketchy micro/pharm. Definitely not the same pace as M1 though. Working out everyday, spending some time with the fam, and learning a few recipes.

The Covid situation has really disrupted my summer plans (e.g. research, traveling, seeing old friends). I figure doing a little Zanki every day helps me grow. Rather do something productive than not.