MD Incoming MS1 - advice!

[boojabooja]

If you could go back in time and tell your past incoming MS1 self something, what would it be? Thanks in advance


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[whatisthisstuff]

Focus on understanding the material. You want to be able to teach it to someone else. Will pay such dividends in the long run

Enjoy your life, especially 1st year which is not bad at all (though it might not necessarily feel that way at the time). Experience different things, make friends, have fun.

Just stay consistent. Build good habits for studying, not cramming, etc.

 

[Chemstudent]

Use firecracker from day one if you're going to use it


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[Saxappeal1]

Have more of a life. I spent too much time studying and not enough time on myself, and it bit me in the ass. Now as a 3rd year I spend 12-14 hours a day at the hospital and 4-5 hours a day studying. I had a lot more free time in M1-M2, and I should have used it better.

 

[Lya]

Invaluable advice to incoming med student

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1) Shadow early for networking and narrowing down the specialties of interest

2) Research early

3) You only get what you put in, so don't expect more until you do more

 

[Datypicalpremed]

If your school has a P/F curriculum for the pre-clinical years, USE IT. And to the maximum effect. If your school has a passing score of 70, then you're better off getting in the 75-80 range rather than the 95-100 range (the extra 5 points as a safety net). It's all about building the strong foundation at this point and managing your priorities. Every unit you intentionally get above the 75 mark is a unit of effort that could have been spent on something more useful.

This includes getting a leg up on FA/pathoma/the usual step 1 gunner material. To making early connections and shadowing in fields you might be interested in. To starting research. To actually having a life outside of medical school (which with every batch of new MS1s, seems to get less and less...). Whatever gets you off.

 

[BeachBaby]

You might figure out the best way to study until Spring. Keep trying different approaches until you find something that works.

Repeat, repeat, repeat the info. Pass first before thinking about anything else.

 

[Domperidone]

Breathe.
Relax.

 

[Username555]

Focus on learning the material the right way and not taking shortcuts to be done as quickly as possible. Do practice questions to make sure you understand and you aren't just blindly going thru the material.

 

[To be MD]

If your school has a P/F curriculum for the pre-clinical years, USE IT. And to the maximum effect. If your school has a passing score of 70, then you're better off getting in the 75-80 range rather than the 95-100 range (the extra 5 points as a safety net). It's all about building the strong foundation at this point and managing your priorities. Every unit you intentionally get above the 75 mark is a unit of effort that could have been spent on something more useful.

This includes getting a leg up on FA/pathoma/the usual step 1 gunner material. To making early connections and shadowing in fields you might be interested in. To starting research. To actually having a life outside of medical school (which with every batch of new MS1s, seems to get less and less...). Whatever gets you off.

Don't you also have to balance class rank with getting a leg up on step, etc.?

How important comparatively are class rank, step scores, research, and good letters (I imagine being friendly with professors, etc., is a good way to do this and another time investment)?

 

[Lya]

Don't you also have to balance class rank with getting a leg up on step, etc.?

How important comparatively are class rank, step scores, research, and good letters (I imagine being friendly with professors, etc., is a good way to do this and another time investment)?

It likely depends on which specialty you are interested in. For example, some specialties don't care about research, while others heavily do.

But as far as I know in general, class rank is the least important among those 4 you mentioned. Sure, things like AOA are still important, but even if you don't have AOA, it is not the end of the world. But it can be the end of the world in terms of the quality of residency you eventually match into if you don't have step scores/research/good letters in certain specialties.

 

[neoevolution]

Don't you also have to balance class rank with getting a leg up on step, etc.?

How important comparatively are class rank, step scores, research, and good letters (I imagine being friendly with professors, etc., is a good way to do this and another time investment)?

Look at Charting Outcomes and the Program Director's Survey, they tell you average stats for those who match, and what things PDs care about in each field.

 

[Tenk]

Take out as little money as possible. I am tired of paying off all these loans. You could have easily eaten ramen noodles for four years but no, you had to eat chipotle.

Also, don't sleep with anyone in your class. Not worth it.

 

[Goro]

Take out as little money as possible. I am tired of paying off all these loans. You could have easily eaten ramen noodles for four years but no, you had to eat chipotle.

Also, don't sleep with anyone in your class. Not worth it.

And you know this from experience?

 

[Tabiyou]

****post on SDN more.

 

[Tenk]

And you know this from experience?

Unfortunately

 

[Med student 18]

study smarter and not harder aka less.
keep a normal routine in terms of sleep, health and social life.
don't obsess over outcomes.
enjoy the process.
use technology to learn, reference books are often way too much and there are much more concise resources that do exactly the same (thank you lecturio, i wish i got to know you sooner).
Studying for an exam and in general are two different things and each one has their own study method.
use spaced repetition!
relax.
breath.

 

[Goro]

Unfortunately

A student in my graduate program was engaged to a post-doc, until she dumped him for a stud working down the hall in another lab.

He ended up moving to a different lab in another building, and it delayed his degree by about a year or two.

I drew the moral quickly that it's best not to fish in the same pond.

 

[Tenk]

A student in my graduate program was engaged to a post-doc, until she dumped him for a stud working down the hall in another lab.

He ended up moving to a different lab in another building, and it delayed his degree by about a year or two.

I drew the moral quickly that it's best not to fish in the same pond.

I've fished many times in the same pond and eventually caught my wife! Worked out... I think....

 

[Goro]

I've fished many times in the same pond and eventually caught my wife! Worked out... I think....

 

[Vain Brother]

as someone with average stats coming into med school who was at the top of his/her class after the first couple of years, the best advice i can give you is to figure out a study strategy that is efficient and can be repeated theme after theme. try to limit the number of resources you use. if your exams are faculty-written, do your best to know what they emphasize on their slides and find a SINGLE outside resource (ideally the recommended textbook) to use. for second year exams made up of old board questions, forget lecture and use first aid/pathoma/UWorld. i also recommend using a textbook like robbins for second year but plenty of people get by without it

 

[Medin2017]

as someone with average stats coming into med school who was at the top of his/her class after the first couple of years, the best advice i can give you is to figure out a study strategy that is efficient and can be repeated theme after theme. try to limit the number of resources you use. if your exams are faculty-written, do your best to know what they emphasize on their slides and find a SINGLE outside resource (ideally the recommended textbook) to use. for second year exams made up of old board questions, forget lecture and use first aid/pathoma/UWorld. i also recommend using a textbook like robbins for second year but plenty of people get by without it

Do you think you were not putting in much effort in undergrad or do you think it was mostly study strategy change? What changed?

 

[Vain Brother]

Do you think you were not putting in much effort in undergrad or do you think it was mostly study strategy change? What changed?

both. i got smarter and started to care about what i was learning

 

[Vain Brother]

the other major thing is time management. don't go to lectures if you don't have to. (most schools record them these days.) don't go to "clinical correlate" sessions if it's not going to be on the test. i promise you you will forget anything you learned in that hour or two and you'll just have to relearn it in a year anyway. don't study in groups unless you absolutely can't study any other way. make enough time in your day to learn what you need to learn, WELL.

this is assuming you are a self-motivated person. if you feel like you need to go to lecture or you won't concentrate, fine. but being present in lecture is probably the least efficient way to learn things, IMO

 

[FellowPaisan]

Learn about many fields you like early on. Don't put all your eggs in one basket like I did.

 

[Redpancreas]

If you could go back in time and tell your past incoming MS1 self something, what would it be? Thanks in advance


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1. The difference between good mental health and poor mental health can be the difference between AOA and failing years. It's the wildcard in medical school.
2. Use your strengths to your advantage and only listen to conventional wisdom of SDN or the consensus of your school. Individual opinions are useless. There is no #1 way to study throughout M1-2. Your strategy will continue to change over your entire life so perfecting it is a waste of time. Also, creating schedules may help but you will always underachieve on your goal for the day.
3. Years 1&2 performance is the greatest irony in that performance in these matters the least on paper, but the most in terms of your boards, wards, and shelfs.
4. Best time for research is Ms1 Summer.
5. USMLE Step 1 is incredibly important, but it's only a cut-off score that gets you in the door.
6. The most successful students in medical school (boards/wards) are often the most social. Don't be a lone-gunner unless that was your personality before medical school and you were happy as such.
7. Don't gun for a field until you get your Step score back. Not just because it may change what you want, but because it's a waste of time. Doing your best in Y1/2 will set you up to dive into any field and the shaping yourself for a competitive field starts near the end of third year with electives/aways/letters/etc.
8. Develop relationships with clinical faculty, not administrators/PhDs. The latter have no control over your evaluations/LORs. Great LORs can make a huge difference.
9. Don't put your heart into any leadership roles/medical school initiatives. Even the nicest people join them or get involved just to get leadership points and try to minimize their time doing stuff.
10. After medical school is over, you won't see 90%+ of your class again. Be shameless and strive for what you want.

 

[acarolina]

1. The difference between good mental health and poor mental health can be the difference between AOA and failing years. It's the wildcard in medical school.
2. Use your strengths to your advantage and only listen to conventional wisdom of SDN or the consensus of your school. Individual opinions are useless. There is no #1 way to study throughout M1-2. Your strategy will continue to change over your entire life so perfecting it is a waste of time. Also, creating schedules may help but you will always underachieve on your goal for the day.
3. Years 1&2 performance is the greatest irony in that performance in these matters the least on paper, but the most in terms of your boards, wards, and shelfs.
4. Best time for research is Ms1 Summer.
5. USMLE Step 1 is incredibly important, but it's only a cut-off score that gets you in the door.
6. The most successful students in medical school (boards/wards) are often the most social. Don't be a lone-gunner unless that was your personality before medical school and you were happy as such.
7. Don't gun for a field until you get your Step score back. Not just because it may change what you want, but because it's a waste of time. Doing your best in Y1/2 will set you up to dive into any field and the shaping yourself for a competitive field starts near the end of third year with electives/aways/letters/etc.
8. Develop relationships with clinical faculty, not administrators/PhDs. The latter have no control over your evaluations/LORs. Great LORs can make a huge difference.
9. Don't put your heart into any leadership roles/medical school initiatives. Even the nicest people join them or get involved just to get leadership points and try to minimize their time doing stuff.
10. After medical school is over, you won't see 90%+ of your class again. Be shameless and strive for what you want.

1. How would you recommend maintaining a good mental health? Other than regular exercise, eating well, and sleeping? In your experience, what was able to keep you refreshed and motivated?
4. and 7. Knowing 7., how do you decide what type of research do you during M1 summer?
9. Would any extracurricular then be time that could be better spent somewhere else (other than joining interest groups, volunteering if you want to)?

Thanks for all of your advice!

 

[Redpancreas]

1. How would you recommend maintaining a good mental health? Other than regular exercise, eating well, and sleeping? In your experience, what was able to keep you refreshed and motivated?
4. and 7. Knowing 7., how do you decide what type of research do you during M1 summer?
9. Would any extracurricular then be time that could be better spent somewhere else (other than joining interest groups, volunteering if you want to)?

In general, the hardest part for me during first or second year personally some days was getting out of bed. The way I do it is pick something simple like 10 push-ups or brushing my teeth. It makes me feel accomplished and once I'm up, things get easier. Otherwise my bed was a bottomless I'd fall into and would never leave. Avoid caffeine late at night and maintain good sleep, it's all stuff your parents have taught you in other words.

You don't need to know what research but persistence is far more important than strategizing. The only interest group that residency directors like is AOA. Everything else it just there for your own personality and maybe to help showcase your personality on interviews.