Invaluable advice to incoming med student

[Sportsmeddoc]

This is an engine block.
http://netdna.xplorecars.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Audi-R8-V10-engine.jpg

Well, it's really the whole engine.

Heck yea...THAT is an engine.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Sportsmeddoc]

and this is a model engine.

 

[Ost3oclast]

This is an engine block.
http://netdna.xplorecars.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Audi-R8-V10-engine.jpg

Well, it's really the whole engine.

Wow

 

[MDPhDJourney]

Great thread. Thanks all.

 

[evilbooyaa]

This is an engine block.
http://netdna.xplorecars.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Audi-R8-V10-engine.jpg

Well, it's really the whole engine.

..........

Thanks...?

I guess I wasn't clear. I am well aware that is an engine block. I meant, what car is he planning on putting that into?

 

[daenerysunburnt]

My Advice to any incoming M1:

.............GET OFF THIS SITE


The information in the SDN forums can be useful sometimes, but keep in mind that the major user base on this site are application-stage undergrads and M1s. Do not take advice from this user pool.

oh darn.

I made an account because I just got accepted, and I didn't use sdn for my undergrad. So i thought, maybe i'll use it for M-school and get ahead.

lol

 

[Epinephreus]

My Advice to any incoming M1:

.............GET OFF THIS SITE


The information in the SDN forums can be useful sometimes, but keep in mind that the major user base on this site are application-stage undergrads and M1s. Do not take advice from this user pool.

Ouch

 

[Kaustikos]

Not so subtle brag. What is that new block for?

Oh, that's not mine. The pic is from a site

 

[lgbtdoctor]

1. There are no shortcuts to learning the material.
2. The details are important, and anyone or anything that promises to simplify the material is not going to provide enough depth.
2.1 Having said that, it IS worthwhile to buy a board review book as a course supplement.
3. Learning objectives are your best friend. Know them, love them, hate them sometimes, but always spend lots of time with them. If your instructors don't provide learning objectives, ask for them.
4. Even if you made a perfect score on your MCAT verbal, you will need a medical dictionary. For pronunciation, if nothing else. My lab group actually had several discussions over the course of the semester as to the proper way to pronounce certain words. (Yeah, we're nerdier than most.)
5. If the dictionary lists a pronunciation that's completely different from the one commonly used by your instructors, don't be a dork. Use the local lingo. Just know in the back of your mind that there's another pronunciation, and don't display your ignorance by correcting people who use it.
6. The 2nd years will drive you nuts with their refusal to tell you exactly what books to buy. This is because there's no perfect text. There's just the required class text, and 20 other textbooks that are just as good. Which pictures do you like better?
7. Netter vs. Rohen. People tend to advocate vehemently for one or the other. Netter's a better learning tool overall, but Rohen is a better study tool for the practical. I found them both essential.
8. Get involved in stuff at your school. Don't just study all the time. At the very least, it'll give you something to talk about besides your classes.
10. Be nice. The world doesn't suddenly revolve around you just because you're going to be a doctor.
10.1 Never, EVER mistreat the staff at the school. They work there because they like it, not because it pays well.

That's all I can think of for now.

I wish I had read this list when I started school last fall. Two items stuck out to me worth repeating:

Be nice. The world doesn't suddenly revolve around you just because you're going to be a doctor......Never, EVER mistreat the staff at the school. They work there because they like it, not because it pays well.

There are alot of non-nice people in medical school. Some are really nasty. They got into medical school and they think they are "it".

well, they are not at all "it". They are pretty small people in how they will treat not just the school staff, but other medical students.

 

[lgbtdoctor]

My Advice to any incoming M1:

.............GET OFF THIS SITE


The information in the SDN forums can be useful sometimes, but keep in mind that the major user base on this site are application-stage undergrads and M1s. Do not take advice from this user pool.

pretty strong feelings.

Some of the SDN forums can be helpful. Some of the forums mirror what you see in medical school. I think SDN is very helpful to prepare people for medical school and what awaits them.

I lurk alot. SDN helped me and I have found that many of the active posters on SDN exist in my school in the form of other individuals: some nice people and some hateful. no ignore button for the people in school though

 

[Kaustikos]

pretty strong feelings.

Some of the SDN forums can be helpful. Some of the forums mirror what you see in medical school. I think SDN is very helpful to prepare people for medical school and what awaits them.

I lurk alot. SDN helped me and I have found that many of the active posters on SDN exist in my school in the form of other individuals: some nice people and some hateful. no ignore button for the people in school though

I've honestly only learned who to trust by reading their posts or talking to them privately. Some people give bad advice. Some people give good advice. You need to have some common sense in that regard. Or have patience. Don't listen to a first year unless they tell you about when to change from pre-med to MS1 (totes kidding). But I'd honestly weigh more attention to higher individuals. Winged Scapula, TheProwler, Law2Doc are some of the great examples. They've been there. They know what happens and give advice that's definitely sound/great.

But that's just me.

Also - confidential consults are great.

 

[RedPhys]

Bump, because incoming MS1 people like myself are always thinking of this type of thread

EDIT: Note the thread began in 2003, so some things may sound (or be) outdated

 

[Psai]

Bump, because incoming MS1 people like myself are always thinking of this type of thread

EDIT: Note the thread began in 2003, so some things may sound (or be) outdated

the differences between now and 2003 is probably around 50% more tuition
more facts to know in the first two years, crappy emrs and much less autonomy than before

 

[zeppelinpage4]

1) Start when you're absolutely ready to start med school. Don't rush the process and go into it if you don't feel ready to start the tough journey, or need more time for rest or personal growth.

2) You're going to be bombarded with advice from every direction on how to study. Some folks will be adamant that their advice or their way is what works, but that's not always true. Everyone learns differently, has difference goals and expectations. Listen and consider all of the advice you get, but know that you don't HAVE to follow all of it to do well or succeed. If some advice doesn't work for you, don't follow it. Do what works for you and have confidence in your study strategy, even if it's not what everyone else is doing.

3) Always hold on to yourself and those you love. Time to socialize or call home may be limited, but close friends and family are the reason I've made it this far.

4) Even if your school is pass/fail, learning the material well M1 and M2 can help big time on boards and potentially save you a lot of stress down the road.

5) Connect with your professors and physicians, find a good mentor or two.

6) Do your best to take care of yourself, mentally, emotionally, physically. It's easier said than done sometimes, but it is incredibly important for your life both personally and academically.

7) You are not your grades. Do the best you can with school, but never lose sight of yourself, whether you're top of the class or the bottom.

That's about all I have, it's probably obvious stuff, but I could have benefited from some of this advice.

 

[Kaustikos]

Don't do medicine?
Oh wait, no one listens. Uh, be prepared to be abused, beaten down and humiliated on a regular basis. Be ready for "unfair" and "abusive".
First two years are helpful, but you'll feel dumb as hell third year. And it doesn't help that apparently every person with an MD forgot how it was to be in your position.
Also, your career is determined by your grades.
Also, find friends outside of medicine and keep in touch.

 

[da8s0859q]

Counterpoint to the above: my experience wasn't nearly as harrowing as that sounds.

Med school blows by. Enjoy it as much as you can, and learn as much as you can.

One humble PGY3 opinion.

 

[Kaustikos]

Counterpoint to the above: my experience wasn't nearly as harrowing as that sounds.

Med school blows by. Enjoy it as much as you can, and learn as much as you can.

One humble PGY3 opinion.

Mine wasn't harrowing. I'm just using my experiences and those of others to prepare them.
If you want horrible, read my review of UofI in Champaign Urbana to see how horrible medical students can be treated. Truth be told, I wanted to punch every attending and residents for how they treated students there. Ive never seen a student cry in a hospital pre rounding. Never seen a student panicked because they were told so many lies. Never seen such condescension and abuse. It made me realize how good I had it at my home school. Which is why I say this.

Being pimped on where the arteries go to the duodenum (10 o clock and 2 o clock from their understanding) and being scolded for not knowing it... Come on.
Being told you were a failure of a student when you answered every pimp question right...
Which, BTW, hilariously they asked this student in the OR which artery they were looking at in a lap Whipple when even I knew it wasn't clear and him saying the "wrong answer" when he was just as right as anyone because it WASN'T the splenic artery but being called an idiot. Or asking what every component of the diaphragm involved (like, really?)
I wanted to leave the place two weeks in. My gf came to pick me up one night and she said it was like rescuing a hostage.
So, I'm biased, yes, but just saying it so people know how bad it can be.

God... I seriously felt so bad for those students. I have never felt so bad for a colleague until doing this rotation. If they don't develop PTSD after it.....

 

[Biofilm]

Bump...because things are about to get real in a few months.

 

[dr_stewpeas]

bump!

 

[Domepiece]

2. take out stock in starbucks coffee, since you will be making them rich every time you have exams !

Possibly the best advice ever written on SDN...

Stock price in December of 2003: $7.985
Current stock price: $58.44

Total appreciation: 731.87%
Annual appreciation: 54.2%