How to start off med school strongly?

[ILovetheOC]

So, my first week of classes is arriving soon, and I'd like to know how best I can develop good study habits during the first week. I know people have been saying not to buy books til you go to lectures, but how are you supposed to study those first couple of days having bought no books? Do most med students just sit in lectures and listen to what's going on cuz all of it is transcribed? I'm so lost. . .

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[exmike]

from my partial ms1 experience.

its true, dont buy all the books. in fact, many people will tell you that using board review books is good enough.

You should be able to survive a few days w/o books anyway. if anything you'll want to wait to talk to your ms2 students to see what they did.

Calm down for now and enjoy your orientation!

 

[Iffy premed]

the best way to start off strongly is to relax. Go to the orientation, have fun, get to know your classmates. You don't have to start studying till almost 1 wk later. The worst way to start off is to be a gunner, a neurotic bookworm. No one likes those, especially not in medschool. Otherwise you end up with no friends.

 

[bnichols0330]

I agree with the above advice to start off relaxed. I know it is exciting and everyone wants to start off really strong, but you must remember that the first semester is a VERY long road. It is kind of like a long distance race in a way. If you start out too strong you will be ahead (or at the front of the pack), but more than likely you will wear out. However, if you start out with a good effort and develop study habits that work FOR YOU you will be able to keep up with the pack and at the end of the semester when everyone else is burnt out and it is time for shelf exams you will still have the motivation to study. Just be careful and don't burn out too soon.

 

[Odaroloc]

Actually, not having the books the first few days would have been stressful for me. I would talk to the MS2's during orientation, they know what your first class is like and many of them will have books for sale for cheap. Keeping up with the reading made the first week more comfortable and I felt like I wasn't already falling behind. Just a thought

 

[fourthyearmed]

The most important thing during the first year is to make friends with your classmates. It's really hard to make it through med school without a couple of close friends to help you through especially if you're moving to a new city by yourself. It doesn't matter if you're #1 in the class if you're unhappy so take some time to hang out with people during your first few weeks.

 

[KyGrlDr2B]

I didn't study the first day or two. The rest of the first week I would look over our dissection manual each night before anatomy for the next day's dissection so I wouldn't be totally lost. I didn't start really studying until maybe the first weekend or the second week, I really can't remember. It's all repetition so just make sure you do a lot of reviewing and you are good to go.

 

[Wednesday]

Don't worry. What you do the very first week isn't going to determine what you do for the rest of the year. Spending some time making friends is a really good idea. One of your questions was about how med students study without books. Most of the time they will hand out either a very complete syllabus (they did this at my school) or the lecture slides which are often adequate for studying. Relax and have fun! It's really just more school (at least for the next couple of years).

 

[Mumpu]

Relax. Relax. Relax. Relax. Relax. The first two years are chill. You DO NOT need to study 10 hours a day to succeed and to do well on the boards. I was a lot less busy in the first two years than I was in college.

 

[Krony]

I'll offer a somewhat different opinion - personally I had a difficult time relaxing until I had put in some good study time. Perhaps I had a stronger need to address the "Can I do it?" question that some of us face at the beginning of med school. Like other posters have mentioned, don't isolate yourself from your peers especially right off the bat, but don't get behind right off the bat either. I guess what this means practically depends somewhat on the way your school works and your personality.

One general tip that I found helpful first year was to try to preview or even study lectures before the lecture is given. I wasn't able to do this as much as I would have liked, but found that I always got so much more from lecture when I did. In addition, setting aside a solid chunk of time on the weekend to review the week's lectures proves to be very helpful when it comes time to review for exams. It's hard to review 6 weeks worth of material in an evening or two if you've not reviewed along the way.

-Good luck

 

[efex101]

I have already started and the above posters are right! do not get any books yet. Most of the MS2's have ad nauseum told us to NOT get all the books. Check them out from your library and see which ones you like the best THEN buy the books. The reading assignments are about impossible to keep up with so there is reallly no point in getting worked up over that. I mostly study off the lecture handouts and if I need clarification then I go to the book. Someone said that you do not have to study a lot...I think that depends on the individual. Some folks get stuff really really fast but others (like myself) have to work at it hard. Just to learn the back muscles is taking me some good chunk of time...and there is not that many of them.

 

[drlexygoat]

Thanks for all the advice.... I start my first day of classes tomorrow and it's nice to have some pointers to go on!!!

 

[Legion560]

Thisis just to echo what everyone else said. Dont buy any of the huge textbooks unless you actually learn by reading huge textbooks. What most people did including myself was to check them out of the library for reference purposes. The biggest mistake most first years make is to sink money into books they will never read (by this I mean, only using 3 chapters out of a book that costs $100). Sink your money into highly rated review books and use them to supplement course notes.

As for class, go to class the first couple of weeks and see which professors are good and which ones are crap. Adjust your schedule based on this.

Most importantly (and I cant stress this enough): get into a routine. Wake up the same time every day and go to bed at the same time (even on the weekends). Try and follow the same structured schedule every day because this will automatically set things up for study habits. This might sound like a load of crap, but it helped me get through these last two years. Im not saying dont have friends or go to parties once in a while, but stick to your schedule as best as you can because it will bring some order into your life. First year is a rocky transition, second year is the same crap but more of it, third year-$h!t hits the fan and you start over again

Legion.

 

[aus1ander]

i started off conservative and read before lecture, watched the lecture, and read again. the first time through reading was usually just skimming, not in depth. the first week will be really tough getting use to the schedule and trying not to fall behind. i would start out with a conservative study schedule where do read ahead of class, watch the lecture, and then read again. this will work for the first few weeks, but then it can get challenging to read ahead of lecture. at the very least, it'll get you into the mindset of preparing for class and you'll soon have a better idea of what you need to do to learn the material.

as for textbooks, never buy a textbook because an upperclassman recommends it or because its "required reading". there's no such thing in most schools. check the book out first in the library and decide if its something you want to buy. you don't need much in the first week as books go because everything is really introductory in the first week anyway. you can buy the highly recommended review books from day one though-- brs physio, a good anatomy atlas, etc. test the waters first and then buy what you think you'll need. i made the mistake of buying books based on student recommendations and i ended up with way more books that i'd ever need. it just turns into a waste of money.

 

[azzarah]

Don't procrastinate and make sure you don't fall behind. For me, as long as I stay on top of things, I do fine.

 

[madtowngirl]

Better to start off strong and be able to go down a notch in intensity than start off less intense and have to kick into high gear midway through the semester.

 

[cocoabutter]

Just try not to fall behind! If you stay on top of things, everything will be fine. Also, find what works best for you. Different people study in different ways, so don't feel that you have to have the exact same study habits as others in your class. I stuck to this advice during my first year and everything went fine. Good luck!

 

[jlee9531]

im sure you big sib will definitely help you out in what books you need and giving you free books to save you some money as well.

 

[Stinger86]

Better to start off strong and be able to go down a notch in intensity than start off less intense and have to kick into high gear midway through the semester.

Amen. It's kinda like a garage sale... you can always lower the price when you're bargaining, but you can't raise it. Take advantage of now

 

[human_barcode]

hey,
everyone deals with medical school different. to make this advice even more useless, each medical school is different. figure out your own pace... that was my big mistake, i didnt figure that out until recently. i can tell you about myself... i realized that if i am relaxed all i need to do is go to classes and review the matterial. i read over the notes once. then the second time i try to summerize the key points. the third time i just look at my own notes. it has worked so far. some students do this every day. others set a goal to be caught up by saturday night... whatever works. just remember that what worked for someone might not work for you. good luck

 

[Buck Strong]

From my 2+ years of med school, here's my 2 cents. KNOW WHAT YOU WANT as soon as possible. For the first year, I was perfectly content with just passing everything, studying a few hours everynight, being in the middle of my class, I figured P=MD. I went out almost every weekend. Early in my second year, I realized that I'd be completely miserable going into primary care, and that I needed to really motivate myself and do better, get a good step 1 score, if i wanted a shot at some of the really competitive specialties that I started liking. Having a specific goal and knowing what it takes to get from point A to point B makes alot of the sacrifices more reasonable. Sure I rarely go out, am horrible at keeping in touch with my friends, and pretty much live in the hospital now, but heck, I'd be alot more miserable if I had to look at runny noses all day or manage CHF and HTN for the rest of my life. Sure, alot of people stress that you need to make friends, not be a gunner, and be relaxed...which works for some people, but If you have your heart set on being a neurosurgeon or a dermatologist, then do what you need to do. Keep in mind that these are my views. I know tons of people who have more balance than I do, and really want to go into medicine or FP. Ya just gotta do what works for you.

 

[BushBaby]

Thanks for all the advice.... I start my first day of classes tomorrow and it's nice to have some pointers to go on!!!

GOOD LUCK and don't forget to bring an apple for your professor.