If hypothetically you had a year to study before medical school alone, what would you do?

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PaprikaLeapt

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I sort of imagine trying to learn all of SketchyMedical's content alone might be a good option. Are there more efficient uses of a year alone studying?

The 'year' is is a bit arbitrary. I guess I mean something more like "greater than a few months" in general

Let's say you had to study medical school content and you couldn't go vacation or do anything else.

I've already had my big long vacation.
 
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I would enjoy my life, go on a vacation, binge watch my best TV shows, cook my favorite foods, spend time with my family, etc... There's no point in pre-studying a year before medical school. You will realize sooner or later that learned information decay in a matter of days and you will eventually have to relearn everything that you have learned before. When in medical school, you will be stressed to a degree you've never reached before, you will feel lonely sometimes, and you will want to do many things, hang out with people have fun and relieve some stress, but won't find the time because school and studying will be your full time job.
 
Go tour Asia, Europe. Try to win enough in Vegas to pay down tuition. Seriously, you're going to get more than your fill of study!
 
I wouldn’t use it to study. I would use the time to play, to travel, to visit family/friends.
TBH, a lot of what you “study” the first two years have little to do with what you’ll do clinically.
Full disclosure: I did not do well my basic science years.
 
finish zanki
do some research and travel

I would take it easy tho, enjoy yourself, do what ever recharges you. Because once the train starts, its hard to get off of it. The second part of it is , part of medical school is learning how to absorb and ungodly amount of information quickly. You wont have extra time to study for shelves / board exams etc, so its good practice.
 
PaprikaLeapt said:
I sort of imagine trying to learn all of SketchyMedical's content alone might be a good option. Are there more efficient uses of a year alone studying?

The 'year' is is a bit arbitrary. I guess I mean something more like "greater than a few months" in general
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It's true. But I've already had my vacation.
 
DrStephenStrange said:
I would enjoy my life, go on a vacation, binge watch my best TV shows, cook my favorite foods, spend time with my family, etc... There's no point in pre-studying a year before medical school. You will realize sooner or later that learned information decay in a matter of days and you will eventually have to relearn everything that you have learned before. When in medical school, you will be stressed to a degree you've never reached before, you will feel lonely sometimes, and you will want to do many things, hang out with people have fun and relieve some stress, but won't find the time because school and studying will be your full time job.
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Thanks, Bone Wizard. I guess information just decays within a few days
 
libertyyne said:
finish zanki
do some research and travel

I would take it easy tho, enjoy yourself, do what ever recharges you. Because once the train starts, its hard to get off of it. The second part of it is , part of medical school is learning how to absorb and ungodly amount of information quickly. You wont have extra time to study for shelves / board exams etc, so its good practice.
Click to expand...

This is Zanki? ? It is a collection of study materials that is on anki? I can't believe this forum converts the reddit link into an entire copy of the whole article without me pasting anything aside from the URL
 
PaprikaLeapt said:
KK, I will just play only and not do any studying ever for a bit. Thanks.
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Ignore it if you want to, but you have several successful M3 students telling you that it would be a waste of time. Do a quick search on this topic and you'll see dozens of threads full of similar advice.

I know you feel like you should be doing something to get a leg up on starting med school, but prestudying just isn't a worthwhile use of your time. The best thing you can do for yourself is to have some fun this year and come into school fully recharged with year full of great memories to think about during the next 3 years.
 
Why would you want to study when you don't need to? There's more to life than your medical career.
Many people like traveling but it overwhelms my introverted self; personally I would work on life skills (cooking, fitness, finances, etc), pick up some jobs to make money, and enjoy my hobbies (art & gardening) and friends/family.
 
samac said:
NOTHING :beat:
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Shocked with how often these threads pop up on here.

+1 for the user who said go to vegas and win money to pay down tuition. That is the only answer. But for real, OP don't study. It's a waste. Do something you enjoy. Travel, go meet other cultures, experience things with friends and family that you won't get to do for the next 7 years. Go to vegas and put everything on LSU to win it all. Anything but study
 
Travel, and learn as much as you can about business. Financial illiteracy is a huge problem, especially among physicians..if you could get a solid foundation before salary, youd be ahead of the game.
 
Seriously don't study, it's a wast of time. Just enjoy your free time, spend time with friends and family, etc. I actually "got healthy" before coming to med school, started working out and lost a bunch of weight, so that was kinda cool to do lol
 
i would MAYBE study your first block, whatever that is. I was studying for the MCAT while I was waitlisted, and some of the biochem I studied helped me during our first block. Anything after first block is useless.
 
studentdocftw said:
Travel, and learn as much as you can about business. Financial illiteracy is a huge problem, especially among physicians..if you could get a solid foundation before salary, youd be ahead of the game.
Click to expand...

Aside from starting one's practice, what are the most common specific situations where a doctor's financial illiteracy bites him?
 
holdthemayo said:
Ignore it if you want to, but you have several successful M3 students telling you that it would be a waste of time. Do a quick search on this topic and you'll see dozens of threads full of similar advice.

I know you feel like you should be doing something to get a leg up on starting med school, but prestudying just isn't a worthwhile use of your time. The best thing you can do for yourself is to have some fun this year and come into school fully recharged with year full of great memories to think about during the next 3 years.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I'll just go play like people are advising. It's not snide -I mean it literally again.
 
I'd study how to stretch my budget to accommodate as much travel and fun as possible. My one regret from before starting med school was that I didn't quit my job sooner and get out of the country. The only other actually beneficial thing you could do would be full time research for a few months and get a publication or two if possible. That stuff gets to stay on your resume and counts when applying to residency. Only catch is that these positions can be hard to find as a premed. I highly, highly doubt that pre-studying will be as effective or useful as you think it will be, especially if you are studying a year in advance. It's hard enough to retain information for a couple weeks before an exam.
 
If you’re not a good adult yet, become one. Get in shape, learn to cook, clean, meal prep, budget and manage time. Figure out if you have weaknesses in your study or social skills. Weak social skills? Join toastmasters, or go out and start having awkward conversations with strangers...you’ll be doing that a lot in Med school.

Make sure your car and your self are in good working order. See the dentist, eye doctor, mechanic, etc and get everything maintenanced. Stuff will break while you’re studying for exams, and you may end up stuck trying to figure out what you’re going to drive until you have a break in your schedule to deal with it.

If you have any hint of emotional issues, see a therapist NOW. Fix your relationships if necessary. You won’t have time to deal with crushing depression or a failed relationship a year from now. Learn/practice self care now, and make it routine.
 
PaprikaLeapt said:
Thanks, I'll just go play like people are advising. It's not snide -I mean it literally again.
Click to expand...

You made it too easy. Most people start gunning before they even get into med school.

I took time to make some money while having fun, saved some then travel. Went to like 12 countries (short stays) in 3 months stretch.

Plenty of time and opportunities to study.

Good luck.
 
PaprikaLeapt said:
I sort of imagine trying to learn all of SketchyMedical's content alone might be a good option. Are there more efficient uses of a year alone studying?

The 'year' is is a bit arbitrary. I guess I mean something more like "greater than a few months" in general

Let's say you had to study medical school content and you couldn't go vacation or do anything else.

I've already had my big long vacation.
Click to expand...
I would study Spanish. At least 6 hours/day of lessons an immersion. Its going to come up a lot in clinicals.

If stuck at home I would do Rosetta stone, all 5 levels, and skype Spanish lessons

If in a better financial position I would go to a Spanish speaking country and go to a Spanish language school. There are a lot of them.

You are very unlikely to retain a significant percentage of medical factoids is you prestudy, and even if you do no one cares about your preclinical grades. You can boost a high pass to an honors by being better with Spanish language patients on clinicals, and you can learn and retain a language if you immerse yourself for 6 or more months.
 
Perrotfish said:
I would study Spanish. At least 6 hours/day of lessons an immersion. Its going to come up a lot in clinicals.

If stuck at home I would do Rosetta stone, all 5 levels, and skype Spanish lessons

If in a better financial position I would go to a Spanish speaking country and go to a Spanish language school. There are a lot of them.

You are very unlikely to retain a significant percentage of medical factoids is you prestudy, and even if you do no one cares about your preclinical grades. You can boost a high pass to an honors by being better with Spanish language patients on clinicals, and you can learn and retain a language if you immerse yourself for 6 or more months.
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Thanks! I wonder if there are any good immersion programs within America or if it is foolish to think of this because the people in it would be so much worse at Spanish than in a Spanish speaking country. Anyone have any thoughts on this who has tried this?
 
pagingdoctormom said:
If you’re not a good adult yet, become one. Get in shape, learn to cook, clean, meal prep, budget and manage time. Figure out if you have weaknesses in your study or social skills. Weak social skills? Join toastmasters, or go out and start having awkward conversations with strangers...you’ll be doing that a lot in Med school.

Make sure your car and your self are in good working order. See the dentist, eye doctor, mechanic, etc and get everything maintenanced. Stuff will break while you’re studying for exams, and you may end up stuck trying to figure out what you’re going to drive until you have a break in your schedule to deal with it.

If you have any hint of emotional issues, see a therapist NOW. Fix your relationships if necessary. You won’t have time to deal with crushing depression or a failed relationship a year from now. Learn/practice self care now, and make it routine.
Click to expand...
Thanks
 
scoopdaboop said:
i would MAYBE study your first block, whatever that is. I was studying for the MCAT while I was waitlisted, and some of the biochem I studied helped me during our first block. Anything after first block is useless.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll look into what other classes aside from biochem are in first block
 
PaprikaLeapt said:
Thanks! I wonder if there are any good immersion programs within America or if it is foolish to think of this because the people in it would be so much worse at Spanish than in a Spanish speaking country. Anyone have any thoughts on this who has tried this?
Click to expand...
This is actually how I spent the 4 months before I started medical school. I chose the study abroad option, using www.ecelaspanish.com in Peru, Argentina, and Chile. It was 10 years ago but they did a great job then. There are similar language schools in pretty much every Spanish speaking country if you would prefer to see somewhere else.

There are apparently similar schools in some parts of the US, in addition to online options. They're more expensive, though, and also living in a Spanish speaking country does do a lot to reinforce the Spanish lessons. Trying to navigate Santiago using public transportation was pretty strong motivation to pay attention in class.
 
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Anyone who suggests doing Anki before medical school doesn’t understand how Anki works. It would be a monumental waste of time to try and learn thousands of random factoids without any frame of reference. Anki is an immensely powerful tool for reinforcing knowledge and information that you’ve learned and memorizing facts that support information you conceptually understand, but would otherwise serve only to burn you out more spectacularly than a neutron star.
 
Do you have a job? If not get a job (or two) and either save money or make money and then spend it on something you enjoy (i.e. traveling). Work/save enough and quit a month before school to just chill while still paying your bills.

I'd rather have $5 than a month of time to pre-studying knowledge in my brain.
 
bananafish94 said:
Anyone who suggests doing Anki before medical school doesn’t understand how Anki works. It would be a monumental waste of time to try and learn thousands of random factoids without any frame of reference. Anki is an immensely powerful tool for reinforcing knowledge and information that you’ve learned and memorizing facts that support information you conceptually understand, but would otherwise serve only to burn you out more spectacularly than a neutron star.
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Not true at all. You dont need any more "frame of reference" than boards and beyond and pathoma.

I hope you are not suggesting that you actually need to listen to PhDs in order to understand medicine.

I also do not understand the suggestion that you would burnout if you prestudied for a few months before school. Would you advise someone to do a 3 year residency over a 4 year residency purely because of the ostensibly increased risk of burnout?
 
bananafish94 said:
Anyone who suggests doing Anki before medical school doesn’t understand how Anki works. It would be a monumental waste of time to try and learn thousands of random factoids without any frame of reference. Anki is an immensely powerful tool for reinforcing knowledge and information that you’ve learned and memorizing facts that support information you conceptually understand, but would otherwise serve only to burn you out more spectacularly than a neutron star.
Click to expand...

I disagree. Anki can be used to hammer those factoids with or without a frame of reference. Of course, having a frame of reference, whether before, during (Amboss), or after you pound those cards in the form of lecture and/or boards resources is superior to using it purely on its own. The only people that don't need this context in any form are probably geniuses, in which case, they wouldn't even need Anki to remember everything.

To further clarify, by doing Anki before school starts, you're learning all the pieces of the puzzle. Being in school will teach you how to put those pieces together. It's that simple.

My point is, it's really up to you how you want to use Anki. At the end of the day, you have to make sure that you understand the material, whether you start before school even starts or if you need to watch lectures before unsuspending the corresponding material. Practice questions help with the understanding part.

Using Anki a certain way may be efficient for one person while it may be suboptimal for another. Just make sure you don't skip your reviews. That's the wrong way to use Anki.

With all that I've said, I think it's just better to wait until school starts. Waiting until you have access to that context in the form of lectures/BnB is better.
 
7331poas said:
Not true at all. You dont need any more "frame of reference" than boards and beyond and pathoma.

I hope you are not suggesting that you actually need to listen to PhDs in order to understand medicine.

I also do not understand the suggestion that you would burnout if you prestudied for a few months before school. Would you advise someone to do a 3 year residency over a 4 year residency purely because of the ostensibly increased risk of burnout?
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You’re correct that those resources will of course teach the material very well but you had not said anything about that, only doing Anki. Now you’re going to independently learning the whole pre-clinical curriculum via board review resources and doing tens of thousands of Anki cards before medical school starts. That’s ridiculous. And the OP asked about doing this for a full year - I don’t think doing Anki cards for a few months before M1 would significantly increase burnout, I just think it would be an ungodly waste of time. I do think that making a full-throttle attempt to learn everything a year in advance would absolutely contribute to burnout and anyone considering that would be better served by simply starting medical school instead - the first two years and more than enough time to learn everything you need to know.
 
PaprikaLeapt said:
I sort of imagine trying to learn all of SketchyMedical's content alone might be a good option. Are there more efficient uses of a year alone studying?

The 'year' is is a bit arbitrary. I guess I mean something more like "greater than a few months" in general

Let's say you had to study medical school content and you couldn't go vacation or do anything else.

I've already had my big long vacation.
Click to expand...

Go to a long second vacation.. Do not touch any of the books/sdn forms either.
 
bananafish94 said:
You’re correct that those resources will of course teach the material very well but you had not said anything about that, only doing Anki. Now you’re going to independently learning the whole pre-clinical curriculum via board review resources and doing tens of thousands of Anki cards before medical school starts. That’s ridiculous. And the OP asked about doing this for a full year - I don’t think doing Anki cards for a few months before M1 would significantly increase burnout, I just think it would be an ungodly waste of time. I do think that making a full-throttle attempt to learn everything a year in advance would absolutely contribute to burnout and anyone considering that would be better served by simply starting medical school instead - the first two years and more than enough time to learn everything you need to know.
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No one is suggesting to try and learn everything in 1 year. But you could certainly finish zanki principles + lolnotacop in a whole year. Then you could chill while in school and get research publications.

You can choose not to prestudy, but in my mind there is zero question that prestudying is the best way to watch into a competitive field. No one is claiming that you cannot match into a competitive field without prestudying. But if you were to prestudy and complete zanki + lolnotacop before dedicated, it is impossible to score less than a 250 on step 1.
 
7331poas said:
No one is suggesting to try and learn everything in 1 year. But you could certainly finish zanki principles + lolnotacop in a whole year. Then you could chill while in school and get research publications.

You can choose not to prestudy, but in my mind there is zero question that prestudying is the best way to watch into a competitive field. No one is claiming that you cannot match into a competitive field without prestudying. But if you were to prestudy and complete zanki + lolnotacop before dedicated, it is impossible to score less than a 250 on step 1.
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christ the bolded part is just not even remotely true. Stop putting pie in the sky ideas into peoples heads. not everyone is guranteed a certain score based on amount of work, and you're likely to forget a lot of the tiny things by the time you get into school and to dedicated anyway. I mean come on have you even taken step? Nobody just 'chills in school and gets pubs'.
 
Chibucks15 said:
christ the bolded part is just not even remotely true. Stop putting pie in the sky ideas into peoples heads. not everyone is guranteed a certain score based on amount of work, and you're likely to forget a lot of the tiny things by the time you get into school and to dedicated anyway. I mean come on have you even taken step? Nobody just 'chills in school and gets pubs'.
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absolutely. Every single upper year who completed zanki at my program scored over 250 (around half were above 260).

I personally do chill in med school. I prestudied and was already done with the preclinical with about 2.5 blocks still to go. At that point you sit back and do your reviews. Plenty of time for ECs.
 
I would study Microbiology. It's probably one of the most "independent" standing things you'll learn in medicine that has an impact on virtually every system.

If you can spew out "Catalase -, Coagulase +" "Indole +" "PYR +"...

They're just a bunch of facts that you can memorize prior to school and fill in the pieces as you go along.

Also, Anatomy.

Everything else you'll really wanna learn within the confines of the medical curriculum.
 
7331poas said:
absolutely. Every single upper year who completed zanki at my program scored over 250 (around half were above 260).

I personally do chill in med school. I prestudied and was already done with the preclinical with about 2.5 blocks still to go. At that point you sit back and do your reviews. Plenty of time for ECs.
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Anecdotal evidence is in no way sufficient to make a claim like that. Knowing zanki also, and seeing the havoc it wreaks on my classmates sanity, your definition of chill is much different than mine...
 
7331poas said:
But if you were to prestudy and complete zanki + lolnotacop before dedicated, it is impossible to score less than a 250 on step 1.
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This is just sensational. I just have to set the record straight here. Finishing Zanki is 100% not enough to reach 250+. You must do UWorld +/- other qbanks. I don't know that it's even possible to reach 240. Even with qbanks, there's no guarantee that you'll break 250.
@FindersFee5
 
If your med school doesn’t have like a foundations block or something and you don’t have a strong science background, reviewing the basics of biochem would be helpful. Otherwise you do not need to prestudy. And you shouldn’t. You will literally be learning this stuff for 4 years. I did a postbacc/smp that included a lot of the stuff we are learning in first year. After the first module, everyone was pretty much on even footing. Taking anatomy has let me chill slightly, but the people who didn’t are doing just fine, since we spend a ridiculous amount of time in the lab.

I had about 3 months between my postbacc and the start of med school. Spending what realistically would have been my last opportunity to just chill and enjoy my family with zero distractions doing zanki and **** is something I’m very glad I did not do.
 
thefleetfooted said:
This is just sensational. I just have to set the record straight here. Finishing Zanki is 100% not enough to reach 250+. You must do UWorld +/- other qbanks. I don't know that it's even possible to reach 240. Even with qbanks, there's no guarantee that you'll break 250.
@FindersFee5
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Yeah I think it was implied that during dedicated you do uworld + the typical NBME schedule.
 
7331poas said:
Yeah I think it was implied that during dedicated you do uworld + the typical NBME schedule.
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No, it wasn't implied. To someone (like a premed reading a thread like this) that doesn't know what dedicated is, your statement could be misleading, causing them to think "oh all I need to do is finish Zanki and I'll get a 250!" Having a solid knowledge base is just one part of good prep. The other part is test taking skill, which you develop by hitting qbanks. I'm sure you understand this already.
 
OP a lot of SDN is just not reality. Everyone has a 270 step 1, 528 mcat and 42 first author pubs finished zanki 4x before dedicated and if you havent been doing 4000 cards of zanki a day good luck getting above a 240 according to some people on here. No one and i mean no one should be studying BEFORE medical school. the site is saturated with uber genius gunners you know how it is. Just take all these people telling you to prestudy with a grain of salt its ridiculous
 
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