if i could go back i'd tell myself to not even try to honors at all. Pass. immediately start with boards and beyond pathoma, FA, sketchy along with the block we're in. I'd tell myself to enjoy my hobbies more
Thanks for the responose! I am definitely starting anki, FA and sketchy immediatelyif i could go back i'd tell myself to not even try to honors at all. Pass. immediately start with boards and beyond pathoma, FA, sketchy along with the block we're in. I'd tell myself to enjoy my hobbies more
I’m a textbook fiend...I’ve still got my 4+ inch thick hard copy of the 7th edition in my bookshelf at work...and yes, I still reference it, along with Cecil’s....get the one recommended by the school....I guarantee you, Putthoff will read the appropriate chapter at least 3 if not 4 times while teaching it....and he’s not going to want to hear any nonsense about it being to hard, detailed, whatever...very old school, no BS kinda guy....do the work to earn the grade without whining and you’ll do fine....
Wow, you have a “heart of stone”If I could turn back time
If I could find a way
I'd take back those words that hurt you
And you'd stay
I don't know why I did the things I did
I don't know why I said the things I said
Love's like a knife it can cut deep inside
Words are like weapons, they wound sometimes
I didn't really mean to hurt you
I didn't want to see you go
I know I made you cry, but baby
If I could turn back time
If I could find a way
I'd take back those words that hurt you
And you'd stay
If I could reach the stars
I'd give 'em all to you
Then you'd love me, love me, like you used to do
If I could turn back time
3. I wish I had never done Firecracker. It was a complete waste of my time. Instead, I wish I had done USMLE-Rx after every class and made flashcards regarding those facts or the Bro's cards.
I have also regret purchasing firecracker. Most useless study aid I’ve attempted using in my 4 years of medical school.
I gotta ask since I've been fire cracking since mid MS1. Is it that the material isn't relevant? Or was it just hard (or low yield) to do the cards on a daily basis while doing other things?
If I could go back, I'd tell myself to bust @$$ for the duration of first year instead of being satisfied with coasting. My stamina and study techniques were nowhere near where I needed them to be when our curriculum kicked into high gear during MS2. Also, made a pretty major mistake the day before I took Level 1 and I ended up scoring 100 points lower than I had been on practice exams. I ended up matching my #1, so it all worked out, but definitely caused me a lot more stress than was necessary.
As someone whose been through his classes more recently (at KCU), this was absolutely NOT my experience except the bolded. He doesn't really lecture at all anymore, just one "outlined" lecture that skims what's in the covered chapters along with some tips about what to focus on. He does the actual teaching during the case study/PBL-like sessions and if you actually read before those he does a pretty great job explaining how to differentiate between similar presentations. Most of my classmates absolutely hated him at the end of first year/start of second year, but most of the people I talked to later said he actually did a great job teaching (even with the ridiculous amount of independent learning that goes into Robbins). He also didn't take questions from picture captions unless he specifically addressed them in a Q&A session (although one of the other pathology profs did).
To the KCU people, if you're bad at learning from a textbook you better learn to adjust fast, as second year pathology can be very swim or sink if you don't have a plan from the start.
If I could go back, I'd tell myself to bust @$$ for the duration of first year instead of being satisfied with coasting. My stamina and study techniques were nowhere near where I needed them to be when our curriculum kicked into high gear during MS2. Also, made a pretty major mistake the day before I took Level 1 and I ended up scoring 100 points lower than I had been on practice exams. I ended up matching my #1, so it all worked out, but definitely caused me a lot more stress than was necessary.
As someone whose been through his classes more recently (at KCU), this was absolutely NOT my experience except the bolded. He doesn't really lecture at all anymore, just one "outlined" lecture that skims what's in the covered chapters along with some tips about what to focus on. He does the actual teaching during the case study/PBL-like sessions and if you actually read before those he does a pretty great job explaining how to differentiate between similar presentations. Most of my classmates absolutely hated him at the end of first year/start of second year, but most of the people I talked to later said he actually did a great job teaching (even with the ridiculous amount of independent learning that goes into Robbins). He also didn't take questions from picture captions unless he specifically addressed them in a Q&A session (although one of the other pathology profs did).
To the KCU people, if you're bad at learning from a textbook you better learn to adjust fast, as second year pathology can be very swim or sink if you don't have a plan from the start.
Has a lot of low yield material. The new High Yield feature is fake because it tests you on all the subtopics that are within high yield topics. The trust is there are high yield things within everything. For example WPW is rarely tested, but when it does, you should know class 1a treats it. Also many of the questions and answers are convoluted.I gotta ask since I've been fire cracking since mid MS1. Is it that the material isn't relevant? Or was it just hard (or low yield) to do the cards on a daily basis while doing other things?
Yeah we need to make a sticky post on how firecracker SUCKS. I got conned into it to but quickly abandoned ship.Has a lot of low yield material. The new High Yield feature is fake because it tests you on all the subtopics that are within high yield topics. The trust is there are high yield things within everything. For example WPW is rarely tested, but when it does, you should know class 1a treats it. Also many of the questions and answers are convoluted.
I do the daily case study, just for kicks and to get my mind thinking about something else for a minute. The review cards are such a waste. Just study FA if you’re gonna play that game.Yeah we need to make a sticky post on how firecracker SUCKS. I got conned into it to but quickly abandoned ship.
Sometimes they’ll do like 75% incentive bonuses. If you get a friend to pass that commission back to you, you can end up getting 2 years for like $50. That’s what I did.As someone who was going to buy FC, this is good info.
Do you attribute that to the school, or the students? Kind of scary to hear that someone can do so well in class and do that poorly on the assessments. You're at KCU, right? Everyone always espouses the "brutal" and "board-focused" curriculum there, but your comment is a little scary.
Thanks for the response! I definitely have the dedication. I'm a non-trad, spent time in the military and time is flying by. Don't really have an option to fail at this point (unless I never want to have a family life, haha). Funny, I always say that if I could to undergrad again, I would do some form of astronomy/astrophysics. Unfortunately, I didn't realize how interested I was in it until way late in undergrad. Best of luck in your career!If I had the opportunity to start college again, I would pursue a different degree. I would completely avoid medicine. I don't hate it but I can't see myself repeating MS1 and applications. The sunk cost fallacy is a real bitch bro. I would do something like astronomy/astrophysics (my personal interest). MS1 drains the life from you and from what I hear, MS2 is even worse... To the OP that is coming in right now, mentally prepare yourself for the fact that you are basically re entering high school. You have your smart kids who either live in the library/in their books, or are just naturally born to regurgitate. They will be the reason the average is so high and there are much more of them than there were in high school. You'll have your jocks and type A personalities that will just piss you off if your not one of them. You'll have your normal down to earth people that will either become your friends or your enemies (because you are a jock/type A). Then you have your lower preforming students who are probably the ones you should thank for normalizing the class average. The reason why I equate it to high school is because, your basically doing another 4 years of school, another round of competitive applications at the end (residency), and having to compete like hell for what you want. BTW what you want to do as a specialty will likely change either because you realize that its a pipe dream that requires you to be perfect (step 240<) and/or because you realize that there are just better options out there. You need some serious dedication so you better have it.
Out of curiosity, why take Step 1 instead of Step 2? EM tends to place more emphasis on Step 2.Topping it all off, I'm taking Step 1. I'm done with rotations and off until my TRI starts at the end of June. I'm finishing USMLERx now, fixing to start my first pass of UWorld.
It's actually not "board focused" at all. In fact, whenever these issues are brought up to the Dean, he says: "We don't teach for the boards, we teach to make outstanding physicians."
Unfortunately its a situation outside of grades and MCAT that have pushed me into a DO school.I'd go back and take college more seriously so I wouldn't have to go to DO school.
Unfortunately its a situation outside of grades and MCAT that have pushed me into a DO school.
Luckily for me (I will get shamed for this), primary care is one of my career interests. I know this will most likely change, but at least for now, I have some comfort haha.That's unfortunate. DO school sucks and puts you in a considerable hole from the get go. Just do your best to score well on boards so you can rise above the ~40% of your classmates who will get stuck going into primary care against their wishes.
If I had the opportunity to start college again, I would pursue a different degree. I would completely avoid medicine. I don't hate it but I can't see myself repeating MS1 and applications. The sunk cost fallacy is a real bitch bro. I would do something like astronomy/astrophysics (my personal interest). MS1 drains the life from you and from what I hear, MS2 is even worse... To the OP that is coming in right now, mentally prepare yourself for the fact that you are basically re entering high school. You have your smart kids who either live in the library/in their books, or are just naturally born to regurgitate. They will be the reason the average is so high and there are much more of them than there were in high school. You'll have your jocks and type A personalities that will just piss you off if your not one of them. You'll have your normal down to earth people that will either become your friends or your enemies (because you are a jock/type A). Then you have your lower preforming students who are probably the ones you should thank for normalizing the class average. The reason why I equate it to high school is because, your basically doing another 4 years of school, another round of competitive applications at the end (residency), and having to compete like hell for what you want. BTW what you want to do as a specialty will likely change either because you realize that its a pipe dream that requires you to be perfect (step 240<) and/or because you realize that there are just better options out there. You need some serious dedication so you better have it.
This is completely true. I have never disliked a cohort of people so entirely as my medical school class as a whole. Everything about the process feels like High School--except studying for the science classes. The pre-clinical classes are the only redeeming quality to me. But even then, it takes a lot of discipline to study for 10 hours a day and sometimes more (not always, but there are periods of time that extend for weeks at a time where you are just getting your ass kicked with a pointless amount of work). The process would be so much better to me if my school literally just taught to the boards. Instead, we get bogged down with insanely detailed anatomy and molecular processes because some no-name PhD doesn't know anything outside of that. SO--if you an extremely obsessive person, you may enjoy it all. It is better than a lot of things I guess. I for one would do this over time and again in comparison to working fast-food. NOTHING is worse than fast-food lol
The exponential rise in #doctorlife, #medstudent, #scrubs postings I've seen on facebook and IG from my class over the years has correlated quite strongly with my feelings towards most of them.
Whenever I get out of the medical school bubble and see other friends, old aquaintances, etc. its clear what the average medical student is really like - a lot of insecurity, overcompensating tendencies, and mental/personality issues. There's probably 5% of people I genuinely like in my class, about 40% I can't stand, and another 50% whose existence I'm totally indifferent to.
It's actually not "board focused" at all. In fact, whenever these issues are brought up to the Dean, he says: "We don't teach for the boards, we teach to make outstanding physicians."
You, my friend, also took my exact thoughts and plastered them into electrons. Its amazing how unaware they all are. I could write a book about personality disorder using only those present in my class and have years of material lol
We have kids in my class that LITERALLY take the time to dress into their white coat and scrubs or full formal attire just to snap a few pictures after an exam and brag about finishing a class or add in a little hand-made poster to fight against some asinine social issue that they don't fully understand. Of course, don't forget the stethoscope. The vanity is enough to drive one mad.
Out of curiosity, why take Step 1 instead of Step 2? EM tends to place more emphasis on Step 2.
I’m sorry to be a party pooper, but the backbiting in this thread is pretty pathetic. I worry much more about my classmates who are loathsome, complaining constantly about everyone, and clearly on the verge of a nervous breakdown than I do about any kid playing dress-up so they can brag on instagram.
My advice for the newcomer, don’t walk around with a chip on your shoulder like these jaded folks, it only hurts you.
This is completely true. I have never disliked a cohort of people so entirely as my medical school class as a whole. Everything about the process feels like High School--except studying for the science classes. The pre-clinical classes are the only redeeming quality to me. But even then, it takes a lot of discipline to study for 10 hours a day and sometimes more (not always, but there are periods of time that extend for weeks at a time where you are just getting your ass kicked with a pointless amount of work). The process would be so much better to me if my school literally just taught to the boards. Instead, we get bogged down with insanely detailed anatomy and molecular processes because some no-name PhD doesn't know anything outside of that. SO--if you an extremely obsessive person, you may enjoy it all. It is better than a lot of things I guess. I for one would do this over time and again in comparison to working fast-food. NOTHING is worse than fast-food lol
I'm just ranting now--but THE worst type of people in med school are the born to regurgitate ones. Its amazing to me how many there are. The system rewards uncreative, unquestioning, automatons. Luckily, those of us that don't fit all the little cliques of medical school can turn to SDN for solace.
Astrophysics would be cool. But do you really think you could handle that amount of math? I know I couldn't.
Former military and I can say that it is indeed true. Do your job, don't be an idiot, and life is good.I heard someone say once that the best way to get through tough military training is to go unnoticed. If you can get to the end of training without the instructors knowing your name then it means you did it right. Medical school is the same way - get in and get out without making much of a fuss and your life will be much better for it.
Oh yeah. I also wouldn’t bother actually getting good at HVLA. I wasted that time only to realize that i can’t use HVLA on comlex-pe...another thing I would do is never take any OMM lecture seriously, ever. From day 1. No amount of studies from 1970 with 10 participants will convince me that cranial sutures move.
This is one thing I’ve never quite got on sdn. So people like to take selfies or whatever. Who cares? I like most of my classmates. They’re some pretty exceptional people. We’re all pretty collaborative too and no gunning to my knowledge. They’re probably the best part of my school.I’m sorry to be a party pooper, but the backbiting in this thread is pretty pathetic. I worry much more about my classmates who are loathsome, complaining constantly about everyone, and clearly on the verge of a nervous breakdown than I do about any kid playing dress-up so they can brag on instagram.
My advice for the newcomer, don’t walk around with a chip on your shoulder like these jaded folks, it only hurts you.
Lmaoo what is wrong with DO schools?I'd go back and take college more seriously so I wouldn't have to go to DO school.
Lmaoo what is wrong with DO schools?
Lmaoo what is wrong with DO schools?
Is it really nonsense? Aren’t there people who have their problems fixed by getting treated with OMM or from chiropractors? I’m genuinely asking lolyou have to learn about antiscience nonsense from gullible people and pretend like it's real when the professors ask you for 4 years. It's not fun
This is one thing I’ve never quite got on sdn. So people like to take selfies or whatever. Who cares? I like most of my classmates. They’re some pretty exceptional people. We’re all pretty collaborative too and no gunning to my knowledge. They’re probably the best part of my school.
Is it really nonsense? Aren’t there people who have their problems fixed by getting treated with OMM or from chiropractors? I’m genuinely asking lol
Is it really nonsense? Aren’t there people who have their problems fixed by getting treated with OMM or from chiropractors? I’m genuinely asking lol
Oh lord no! But plenty of my classmates do. Im about 10 years too old for that.This dude #selfies.
I’m pretty anti- OMM bc its such a time sink, and a lot of it is stuff im probably never going to use. That being said, getting a manipulation from someone that did an OMM residency trained physician is straight up next level wonderful. I was super skeptical but those guys are legit. They teach everything on the curriculum but theyll just tell you what actually works and stuff they never bother with.Is it really nonsense? Aren’t there people who have their problems fixed by getting treated with OMM or from chiropractors? I’m genuinely asking lol