How to prepare for the grind of M1?

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drgoldenboy

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Hey med students,
I'm wondering if anyone has suggestions as to how I should prepare myself for M1? I've been on auto pilot at my job/chilling pretty hard since getting into med school about 5 months ago, and I'm worried that I'm not going to be able to quickly adjust to the rigor of med school. Obviously a great problem to have, but similar thing happened to me when I got into undergrad after applying ED and I got my butt kicked first semester. I'd like to start strong here.
Thanks and happy studies 🙂
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drgoldenboy said:
Hey med students,
I'm wondering if anyone has suggestions as to how I should prepare myself for M1? I've been on auto pilot at my job/chilling pretty hard since getting into med school about 5 months ago, and I'm worried that I'm not going to be able to quickly adjust to the rigor of med school. Obviously a great problem to have, but similar thing happened to me when I got into undergrad after applying ED and I got my butt kicked first semester. I'd like to start strong here.
Thanks and happy studies 🙂
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I watched Dragonball Z between the end of my work contract and the beginning of M1. All of it (edit: all of the abridged version). Then I watched all of Dragon ball super. And then I went on a sweet road trip. Then I watched all of the original Dragon Ball since I hadn't seen it since I was like 5. I also started distance running during those couple months. Then I started med school, and for like 2 weeks it felt weird to be studying after being out of school for a couple years, and then everything was just fine.

Chill. Have fun. Enjoy your life. That's how you should prepare for M1. Seriously though– you'll put yourself in the best position to succeed by making sure that you're mentally, physically and emotionally ready to go.
 
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agree, its absolutely not necessary to prestudy anything etc. It's best to have all of your life in order by the time school starts as scheduling appointments / doing car + license registration / setting up your new place how you like it, etc. all take time.
 
agreed w above stuff. Just learn how anki works but dont actually do anything. Lift weights, buy crypto, identify your priorities in your life now to know what you are willing to maintain and what you're willing to let go because med school inevitably will at some point trust me
 
Don’t prestudy like others say and learning ANKI is excellent advice. I would also say read and listen to podcasts. Read for leisure and not medicine stuff but read a lot to get in that habit. Also listen to podcasts of your choice but work on speeding them up so you are listening to them at 1.5-2x speed. That way you can watch lectures and supplement study items faster.
 
Learn how to use Anki is the extent to which I would prepare. Definitely don't study, you'll regret not taking time to fully be free and chill. I chilled super hard before school and the first couple weeks was a shock to get back into the swing of school, but you'll survive and figure it out.
 
drgoldenboy said:
I love dragon ball z...good idea thanks
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so long as it is the kai version; 100 episodes of the frieza fight where there is almost "10 min before planet namek explodes" got old fast. Cell saga was awesome and GT is very underrated as well!
To answer the OP's question, dont worry about it, you will adapt very fast, just relax now and enjoy yourself!
 
I listened to the Undifferentiated Medical Student podcast. I think it's a great way to learn about tons of different specialties in a structured way. It is more targeted towards students in years 3 and 4, but my sense is (as a current M1) that there's probably a lot more time for listening to podcasts before year 1 than during year 3.

Also as others have said, try to learn about Anki and watch some Anking videos but that's about it. I don't think pre-studying would have helped at all really.
 
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1. Dont pre-study

2. You dont have to pigeon hole yourself into anki, I haven't used it all year and I sure love being able to completely shut off studying when my friends are under the 1000 reviews per day iron fist. I'd say my "wellness" and "burnout" (get ready for the horrible mandatory sessions) are much better than lots of my friends who use anki for the reason of just constant stress. But again, this is person to person. Flashcards have never worked for me

3. Your study habits may have to change, but they may not. I'm doing what I did in undergrad and doing fine.

4. Get notability on an ipad/onenote on a tablet. I've used this all year and it's been so nice for studying.

5. Remember to set some limits for yourself during M1 or you'll wanna die from overwork. During non-exam weeks, I stopped working when classes ended and took weekends off. This resulted in 70-90 hour study weeks during exam week, but youll figure out what's best for you.
 
I also dont really use anki, at least not how its intended lol. I still did well on exams and im happy with my progress during dedicated, although I'm aiming for 23X not 250+ (completely immaterial to you). If it works for you, dope; if it doesn't, don't sweat it just figure out what does. Learning whether it does work for you or not sooner rather than later is great though.
 
ChymeofPassion said:
2. You dont have to pigeon hole yourself into anki, I haven't used it all year and I sure love being able to completely shut off studying when my friends are under the 1000 reviews per day iron fist. I'd say my "wellness" and "burnout" (get ready for the horrible mandatory sessions) are much better than lots of my friends who use anki for the reason of just constant stress. But again, this is person to person. Flashcards have never worked for me
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This “no anki or thousands of cards a day” thing is a false dichotomy. You don’t have to try to keep up the reviews after each block, especially with step being p/f. I only did 1,000 cards a day once, and it was because I decided to jump on the anki train a week before the exam and needed to catch up. The entire rest of preclerkship, I was doing maybe 300-400 cards per day total—including new and reviews. I was done with anki in less than an hour.

Also, I’m not going to derail the thread by bringing this up again, but I am going to mention it so op doesn’t get the wrong idea. Anki is not flashcards. That is how most people use anki, but you don’t have to use it that way. It’s just a spaced repetition program that is based on a flashcard model. However, you can customize it to be virtually any learning style you want. Questions, pictures, matching, having someone ask you a question out loud for you to answer.

So the premade flashcard decks might not work for everyone, but anki itself will work for everyone because it’s literally just an algorithm to space out your repetition based on how humans learn, and it has been validated in multiple studies.

Not saying this to argue with you, just clarifying for op that exploring anki and the different ways to use it is beneficial because it can save you a **** ton of time and make you very efficient.
 
Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
This “no anki or thousands of cards a day” thing is a false dichotomy. You don’t have to try to keep up the reviews after each block, especially with step being p/f. I only did 1,000 cards a day once, and it was because I decided to jump on the anki train a week before the exam and needed to catch up. The entire rest of preclerkship, I was doing maybe 300-400 cards per day total—including new and reviews. I was done with anki in less than an hour.

Also, I’m not going to derail the thread by bringing this up again, but I am going to mention it so op doesn’t get the wrong idea. Anki is not flashcards. That is how most people use anki, but you don’t have to use it that way. It’s just a spaced repetition program that is based on a flashcard model. However, you can customize it to be virtually any learning style you want. Questions, pictures, matching, having someone ask you a question out loud for you to answer.

So the premade flashcard decks might not work for everyone, but anki itself will work for everyone because it’s literally just an algorithm to space out your repetition based on how humans learn, and it has been validated in multiple studies.

Not saying this to argue with you, just clarifying for op that exploring anki and the different ways to use it is beneficial because it can save you a **** ton of time and make you very efficient.
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Just being hyperbolic because so many people I know complain about "omg I have 1000 anki reviews piled up". Although that's probably a result of their own work ethic.
 
If I could go back, I'd try and start med school in better physical shape. Good workouts are the only way I've found to decompress and help me concentrate, and it's a lot easier to keep up with it the better shape you are at the beginning. I second everyone else saying that pre-studying isn't worth it.
 
Fatalis said:
so long as it is the kai version; 100 episodes of the frieza fight where there is almost "10 min before planet namek explodes" got old fast. Cell saga was awesome and GT is very underrated as well!
To answer the OP's question, dont worry about it, you will adapt very fast, just relax now and enjoy yourself!
Click to expand...

I just can't watch DBZ without the Bruce Falconer music. Kai would have been ideal if it had it.
 
Make an investment. It can be in your physical health, emotional health, or financial stability by learning commodity trading. You have 3 months. You lack direction and perspective on what medical school even is yet so any attempt to get ahead with material will do more harm than good. ANKI isn't the answer to medical school. I think it pidgeonholes you into trying to make everything a flashcard. It great for learning insertions/origins of muscles or mechanisms/indications of drugs, but not so much about with less defined topics.
 
Man, i totally understand the whole "relax, get health mentally/physically, etc" before med school. But I have never taken a dedicated anatomy course and I have been thinking that it might not be such a terrible idea to just watch some videos on the basics? Any of you here not have any anatomy experience before med school? Do you think it would've been easier if you did do a small bit of prep beforehand?
 
DrVan Nostrand said:
Man, i totally understand the whole "relax, get health mentally/physically, etc" before med school. But I have never taken a dedicated anatomy course and I have been thinking that it might not be such a terrible idea to just watch some videos on the basics? Any of you here not have any anatomy experience before med school? Do you think it would've been easier if you did do a small bit of prep beforehand?
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Memorize and know cold what anterior, posterior, distal, proximal, pronation, supination, medial, lateral, superior and inferior means. I had never taken anatomy and once I knew these cold it helped with my reading comprehension.
 
DrVan Nostrand said:
Man, i totally understand the whole "relax, get health mentally/physically, etc" before med school. But I have never taken a dedicated anatomy course and I have been thinking that it might not be such a terrible idea to just watch some videos on the basics? Any of you here not have any anatomy experience before med school? Do you think it would've been easier if you did do a small bit of prep beforehand?
Click to expand...

No one is really saying you can’t look at anything at all before med school starts. What people are really saying is to relax and do other things, and if you end up having some free time then sure, go ahead and do some very light reading on the basics of anatomy terminology or something. The reason prestudying is pointless is you have no way of knowing what your school will emphasize. But the very basics like that are okay to look at.
 
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personally I think its all about getting your mentality right. focus on having routines for fitness, eating etc because once school starts it'll be hard to start trying to balance everything at once. I had a gap year job full time and told myself everyday that I would treat med school the same way. work hard 8/9-5 and then be done. that's not feasible for everyone depending on their curriculum and how they study but its what I convinced myself I would do because it seemed the most efficient. I agree with everyone on here pretty much saying not to pre-study. theres really no need. however, what I would a million times over recommend is to super thoroughly research all the ways that are available to study. use SDN, reddit etc to find out how ppl study, what resources they use etc. it could be helpful reaching out to upperclassmen at your school through SDN to see if they have any school specific advice. I super highly recommend this because I felt so bad seeing my peers the first couple weeks of classes struggling to find out how to study and just learning about anki/boards resources and they had no idea what to do. Obviously you wont know exactly if your plan will work out once classes start but at least in theory you know all the options available to you and how they work. That way once your in classes it will be easy for you to pivot and find what works best for you.
 
DrVan Nostrand said:
Man, i totally understand the whole "relax, get health mentally/physically, etc" before med school. But I have never taken a dedicated anatomy course and I have been thinking that it might not be such a terrible idea to just watch some videos on the basics? Any of you here not have any anatomy experience before med school? Do you think it would've been easier if you did do a small bit of prep beforehand?
Click to expand...
Yep I was in this exact position. I prestudied for the first block and a half of anatomy and it really didn’t help whatsoever. Especially if you are a P/F environment, your curriculum will teach you what you need to know when it is time.
 
drgoldenboy said:
Hey med students,
I'm wondering if anyone has suggestions as to how I should prepare myself for M1? I've been on auto pilot at my job/chilling pretty hard since getting into med school about 5 months ago, and I'm worried that I'm not going to be able to quickly adjust to the rigor of med school. Obviously a great problem to have, but similar thing happened to me when I got into undergrad after applying ED and I got my butt kicked first semester. I'd like to start strong here.
Thanks and happy studies 🙂
Click to expand...
I agree with everyone else about not worrying about content studying, but if you're worried about study skills, you should pick a non-medicine topic that you find fun and interesting (I suggest a language, especially spanish); then work through some common study methods with that topic. Figure out if Anki/flashcards, concept mapping, or writing your own notes works best for you. Are you a visual learner and need to see images/diagrams associated with concepts? Do you need to hear information or say/repeat it?

Nobody learns in only one modality, but different modalities work for different people for different types of info.

Worst case scenario, you've wasted a couple months learning part of a new topic that you're interested in. :shrug:
 
Melchizedek said:
I agree with everyone else about not worrying about content studying, but if you're worried about study skills, you should pick a non-medicine topic that you find fun and interesting (I suggest a language, especially spanish); then work through some common study methods with that topic. Figure out if Anki/flashcards, concept mapping, or writing your own notes works best for you. Are you a visual learner and need to see images/diagrams associated with concepts? Do you need to hear information or say/repeat it?

Nobody learns in only one modality, but different modalities work for different people for different types of info.

Worst case scenario, you've wasted a couple months learning part of a new topic that you're interested in. :shrug:
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Agree with this generally, but just wanted to point out that different styles of learning (i.e., visual versus auditory) has been pretty thoroughly debunked.
 
Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
Agree with this generally, but just wanted to point out that different styles of learning (i.e., visual versus auditory) has been pretty thoroughly debunked.
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seconded, thats why I put in the disclaimer that no one person learns using only one modality and only one. In my case it varied based on the type of info I was trying to learn. Biochem pathways? If I see the pathway and draw it out a couple times, it sticks. Neuro? had to use straight flashcards. Pathology, I needed to hear it out loud over and over with lectures.

What I'm getting at is for OP to learn/expose themselves to all those methods (with a low-risk topic) so they can figure out their own learning patterns and their own encoding process.
 
DrVan Nostrand said:
Man, i totally understand the whole "relax, get health mentally/physically, etc" before med school. But I have never taken a dedicated anatomy course and I have been thinking that it might not be such a terrible idea to just watch some videos on the basics? Any of you here not have any anatomy experience before med school? Do you think it would've been easier if you did do a small bit of prep beforehand?
Click to expand...

As someone who had no anatomy, histology, embryology, immunology, or microbiology background, I can say that you're still perfectly fine going in without doing any pre-studying. I picked up on anatomy just fine, and have been doing well on exams! Anatomy will take time, and you might find yourself grinding a little harder than your peers who've had exposure to human anatomy; however, you have just as much of a chance to kick some ass and kill your anatomy exams!! Best of luck 🙂
 
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JoaoMoutinho said:
You know, I get a little sad inside every time I see your picture and it's not Dr. Piccolo anymore.
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Even I used to read my posts in Piccolos voice.

You’re not the first to make that comment. I can’t let y’all down anymore. I’m bringing it back!

*changes avatar*

THIS IS AMAZING! I FEEL INCREDIBLE! YES! YES! YES! YES! I CAN WIN! I FEEL GREAT!

I CAN DO THIS!

YES! I’M HOME! I’M ALIVE! THIS IS ALL A MIRACLE! I’M AWAKE! I’M WIDE AWAKE!!!
 
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You need to gun hard. Get a boards and beyond subscription, get and AMBOSS and Rx Q bank, get pathoma, download anki and ANKING, get first aid. Read 2 pages of first aid, read 3 pages of pathoma, watch 2 board and beyond videos, activate at least 100 new anki cards everyday. Also do at least 25 questions from the q banks. Get a netters anatomy textbook and memorize at least 20 structures everyday and do anki to make sure you know it. Also get up at 5:00 am and workout for at least 1 hour. Start taking nootropics and vitamin supplements. Go to sleep at 9:30 pm everyday. Spend most of your day at a library and don’t hang out with friends. Keep this routine and never skip a day. Also get involved in research and make sure you have at least 2 publications before you begin M1. Begin shadowing and networking with the local program director of the specialty you want to match into at your school.
 
Echoing everyone else, but with a few years of perspective to look back on, don’t pre study. Did not pre study. Got my ass kicked on our first couple exams until I figured out how to study for med school. No amount of pre studying would have helped with that. Ended up second in my class, killer board scores, matched ortho at one of the top programs in the country. You don’t need to do anything now except get in a reasonable workout/diet routine and enjoy the last few stress free months of your life that you’ll pretty much ever have (except maybe after you match but even then you’ll be worried about living situation and stuff).

congrats on your acceptance. 5 years later I can tell you that’s still the hardest part of becoming a doctor.
 
drgoldenboy said:
Hey med students,
I'm wondering if anyone has suggestions as to how I should prepare myself for M1? I've been on auto pilot at my job/chilling pretty hard since getting into med school about 5 months ago, and I'm worried that I'm not going to be able to quickly adjust to the rigor of med school. Obviously a great problem to have, but similar thing happened to me when I got into undergrad after applying ED and I got my butt kicked first semester. I'd like to start strong here.
Thanks and happy studies 🙂
Click to expand...
Contact upper years about the courses, obtain any old exams released or online, ask about the professors and find out their personal preferences, find out how the courses are graded. That is the best way to approach year 1/2. Maybe no one agrees, but I went to both medical and law school and this is the best thing to do.
 
I suppose I’m in the minority here, but if I could do the months before med school over again, I would have wished someone told me to watch Sketchy Micro, Pixorize Biochem, and Pixorize Immunology before starting M1. But Step 1 going pass/fail means this is less pertinent for incoming classes I suppose.
 
Incoming med student as well.. I've seen a lot of "learn anki" and wondering what the best way is to learn it? I know Anking on youtube is always suggested but he has a ton of videos so is there a specific one to watch? Or another youtube video other than Anking that is helpful? Anki seems so confusing 🙄
 
hungryhungryhippo4 said:
Incoming med student as well.. I've seen a lot of "learn anki" and wondering what the best way is to learn it? I know Anking on youtube is always suggested but he has a ton of videos so is there a specific one to watch? Or another youtube video other than Anking that is helpful? Anki seems so confusing 🙄
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It’s not bad. Basically follow Anking’s settings at first until you figure out your own needs. The initial workflow will depend on your school but what I’ve found is that for a given week, I will identify relevant topics in Boards and a beyond, pathom, or sketchy, watch those videos, then unlock the cards based on the tags to start memorizing important info. You can also do this by searching for keywords. The trick is to keep up with it every day. I didn’t start using Anking till 5 months in and I wish I had started earlier.
 
I have been interested in joining my school's one month pre-matriculation program. There's a $1k stipend attached and I thought it would be a good way to get back in the swing of things after three gap years. Given all these responses, would you all advise against something like that too?

Note: I plan on leaving my current job around that same time and I am the type who loses their mind without something substantial to do everyday. I've already been doing a lot of the suggested things (I've been investing over the last year and taking time to clean up my personal finances, been seriously lifting and being active for 5+ years now, picked up new hobbies over the past year like reading a book a week, etc) so I feel like I'm going to have way too much free time on my hand once I leave my job. Doesn't help that all my friends are in corporate careers and would be working when I have my free time during the day lol.
 
CK1212 said:
I have been interested in joining my school's one month pre-matriculation program. There's a $1k stipend attached and I thought it would be a good way to get back in the swing of things after three gap years. Given all these responses, would you all advise against something like that too?

Note: I plan on leaving my current job around that same time and I am the type who loses their mind without something substantial to do everyday. I've already been doing a lot of the suggested things (I've been investing over the last year and taking time to clean up my personal finances, been seriously lifting and being active for 5+ years now, picked up new hobbies over the past year like reading a book a week, etc) so I feel like I'm going to have way too much free time on my hand once I leave my job. Doesn't help that all my friends are in corporate careers and would be working when I have my free time during the day lol.
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I think this is a bit different than self-guided pre-studying, that's more like starting school a month earlier. Do you know what they're planning to have you do? I would say definitely go for it especially since they're paying you XD
 
Wolvvs said:
I think this is a bit different than self-guided pre-studying, that's more like starting school a month earlier. Do you know what they're planning to have you do? I would say definitely go for it especially since they're paying you XD
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From the information provided, they advertise it as a four week exposure to the curriculum with additional seminars on topics ranging from cultural competence to personal health. Seems like a nice primer to help shake off the rust and keep me occupied. It is a large time commitment (told to anticipate eight hour days), but again, I hate having down time in my days so this is almost a pro to me haha
 
CK1212 said:
From the information provided, they advertise it as a four week exposure to the curriculum with additional seminars on topics ranging from cultural competence to personal health. Seems like a nice primer to help shake off the rust and keep me occupied. It is a large time commitment (told to anticipate eight hour days), but again, I hate having down time in my days so this is almost a pro to me haha
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I'd go for it. I'm a non-traditional student who worked for almost 7 years between graduating college and starting medical school, and I know the transition can be a bit tricky so I do think it's worth easing into it if you've got the opportunity. I was a consultant and my contract ended about a month before medical school started (despite my efforts to extend it)--that month was kind of painful, I was bored and felt like I was going nowhere. If the option for you was continue work vs that program, there could be an argument there, but since it sounds like the option is do nothing vs the program, I think you'd probably regret not doing it. Just my thoughts as an M1, maybe in a couple years I'll really be wanting a month off but not yet...

EDIT: Also I was going to say the reason so many people recommend using the time to learn Anki is because there really is a ton of information that you just need to memorize, and Anki seems to work for the majority of people. If there's another method that works better for you, that's great, but I do think most people should at least give Anki a go since the amount of memorization required is so high. And starting earlier means fewer cards per day and fewer reviews...
 
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