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Reading things on SDN tends to make me neurotic, but it has always been a good kick in the *** to remind me to stay on top of things.
Invaluable advice to incoming med student
- Thread starter Rose122
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Reading things on SDN tends to make me neurotic, but it has always been a good kick in the *** to remind me to stay on top of things.
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1st- thanks for all the advice!
2nd- Does the edition of the book really matter? The newest editions are all very expensive and the ones only 1 edition old are super cheap. Am I fine just buying the old edition? Thanks!
2nd- Does the edition of the book really matter? The newest editions are all very expensive and the ones only 1 edition old are super cheap. Am I fine just buying the old edition? Thanks!
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da8s0859q
Assuming you need/want to use textbooks, sure. Every now and again, something changed significantly from one edition to the next, but it should work out okay more often than not.
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So, I am set to start med school next fall (2011). I would like to get some prep going, and I know that everyone says to just have fun and whatnot, but let's disregard that for the moment.
What would be the most efficient use of my time to get prepped? Reading through some Big Robbins? Seriously, I'm a nerd, and am studying Spanish and Calculus on my own everyday just for fun, so please don't pull punches. Thanks
What would be the most efficient use of my time to get prepped? Reading through some Big Robbins? Seriously, I'm a nerd, and am studying Spanish and Calculus on my own everyday just for fun, so please don't pull punches. Thanks
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If you really want to disregard everything that has been said here about this topic... yes start with Big Robbins. But sure to come back next year and report what you learned.
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Haha, thanks. Let me also state that I am not pre-gunner material, but rather I acknowledge my own limitations, and would prefer to begin spending at least some of my time in the longitudinal learning of this material, so that I will be able to use it better to serve my patients in the future.
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Reading big Robbins (or pretty much any textbook) now will not help your future patients.
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Don't read big Robbins. You won't get anything out of it, because you won't have the foundation necessary to understand what you're reading.
If you really want to do some pre-reading, I would pick up one of the physical exam textbooks and start with that. My school uses Bates, but I prefer Mosby. Learn some physical exam techniques and start practicing them. You'll be able to worry less about that during the year and instead focus on the basic sciences.
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I actually like this idea.
Another thing you might want to try is reviewing stuff you have already covered (like biochem maybe). Going back over pentose phosphate pathway or TCA couldn't hurt.
See if you can get an iphone app that has muscle flashcards, start memorizing.
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da8s0859q
Oh? That means you should probably stick to your Spanish and calculus. At least you seem to enjoy those, and at least one of them might prove somewhat useful down the road. I don't mean this badly, but you just can't read through Big Robbins and have a good grasp on what's really important and what's not when you've never stepped foot in a med school lecture.
If you absolutely insist, seelee's muscle idea might be useful for your future gross anatomy classes/labs, but seeing as how thousands of M1s get through it just fine every year, there are wayyyy better uses of your time.
Best things to get prepped: make sure you have a handle on how you learn best because efficiency is a beautiful thing in med school. Get in shape and into a routine to stay there. Spend time with those you care about, because it's harder to do when there's a big-ass written and practical exam next Thursday.
Maybe not the answer you're looking for, but that's my $0.02.
well the impression that I've gotten is that the best use of your time is to just go ahead and bang your head against a wall repeatedly because it will be just about as useful and enjoyable as reading through textbooks before classes start only to discover you wasted your entire summer when you could have been doing something else.
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da8s0859q
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If you are actually desperate to get a leg up, the best thing you could do would be to see if your school has archived lecture videos/notes and the week before class starts to just give the first content lectures a once-over to help from being overwhelmed.
A better idea, though, is to just nap like a champ.
A better idea, though, is to just nap like a champ.
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da8s0859q
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Thanks for the info. I know it's going to be an insane rush when I get there, but that's precisely why, if I start in the shallow end, it won't be so crazy when I am thrown into the deep end. Know what I mean?
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In truth it's not going to matter. The best advice was to start memorizing muscles if you feel you need to wade in slowly. Everything else is a waste of time. Most of us were chomping at the bit to start school but once the onslaught happens it is all you can do to keep up regardless of what you tried to learn over the summer. Best thing you can do is enjoy your 2nd to last summer.
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da8s0859q
Hahah, way to jack my avatar. I made that thing in Photoshop years ago... would send you the .psd if I could find it.
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ill be an m1 this fall.....is it worth buying the first aid 2010 book? or should I wait til I'm an m2 to get the most recent edition
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da8s0859q
I used FA to go along with what I saw in lecture, and I thought it was worthwhile -- partially for the little memory "tricks", partially just to see the same information in a different way and help get an idea of what's a big deal as far as the NBME is concerned. It was worth buying, imo.
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You might consider asking a 3rd or 4th year for theirs. A lot of people will be selling books when you get there, and a heavily annotated version will be fine and maybe even preferable as a study guide. You'll want to get the most recent version when you prepare for the boards anyway, so save some money.
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(I have only completed MS1)
The best textbook I've come across in all of undergrad/med school: http://www.amazon.com/Human-Brain-Introduction-Functional-Anatomy/dp/0323041310/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1280034906&sr=1-1 This book is very** easy to read and is concise. I wish I had known about it in HS/undergrad.
You can also learn the rest of human anatomy too very easily since you have everything necessary to understand it (not really any basic medical prerequisites) although that may be a reason you would NOT enjoy learning it in your free time (it is boring but easy).
If you didn't take a medical terminology class in HS/undergrad then just go ahead and do a pass or two of that. It's like another language and very fun to learn.
Read Bates and practice however much you can.
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Seriously?
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Yeah pretty much. Many/most med schools teach it first semester right? I learned it second semester but it is not like what I learned in physio/biochem/genetics helped to learn 99% of the stuff in human anatomy. All I'm saying is he has what is necessary to tackle the subject.
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Sure. There's nothing in gross anatomy which is particularly difficult to understand. But "learning" involves absorbing, assimilating, and storing information. Gross anatomy has a huge amount of information, so it's kind of glib to say that it's very easy to learn.
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Why don't you spend your time reading instead of studying. I mean, there are plenty of books that have been recommended time and time again in the pre-allo forum (including House of God, Complications, etc). I personally like Every Patient Tells a Story. Those might give you some actual information that you can use on your future patients.
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I agree with everyone who has told you prestudying isn't realistic or very helpful. Among others, the main reason being that you don't know what level of detail you will actually need. If you get a book like Netters it will have massive amounts of detail that you don't need, and if you get a college A&P book it won't have anywhere near the level of detail you will need.
One thing that might work for anatomy would be to get a review book like BRS anatomy and an atlas (gilroy, netter, rohan), and use the review book to guide your atlas studying. Focus on things like the brachial plexus, cranial nerves, major arteries and their branches, major anastomoses, etc.
But, seriously, don't do this. CHOOSE LIFE!
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I am similarly nerdy but with more of a literary bent. I spent probably half of my summer pre-m1 at Barnes and Noble chilling, reading every book in the medical section that wasn't directly related to the practice of medicine. Stuff about common errors physicians make, rare diseases and how insurance handles them, Atul Gawande's books, physician finance, starting a practice, stuff about the match, stuff about nurse-doctor-patient relationships, stuff about modern embalming...
It's all things that are probably going to be more useful than going into medical school material at that point, and they definitely aren't going to be covered as part of the curriculum.
It's all things that are probably going to be more useful than going into medical school material at that point, and they definitely aren't going to be covered as part of the curriculum.
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Yes, already accepted to med. school. Thanks for the other tips, folks. Hopefully it is just understandable to you that when people are constantly telling you it's like the pancake movie of med school (if you haven't seen it, youtube it), it seems like a good idea to try and start early, albeit in much smaller doses, and not anything requiring more than an hour or two a day. That was all I was hoping to do.Have you been accepted or even applied yet?
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For the thousandth time, don't pre-study. It's totally worthless, and you'll feel like a real jackass several months into medical school, when you'd kill a loved one for a break from the stress. A break that doesn't come for many more months.
The best thing to do to prepare for medical school is to get your personal life in order.
Have any bad habits? Start breaking them now.
Don't exercise? Start figuring out a good exercise program and begin doing it.
Eat like crap? Learn to make easy and healthy meals.
Have any mental issues? Work on 'em.
But don't friggin' pre-study. Horrible use of what little freedom you have left. Horrible.
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Totally Agree. I'll add to the chorus of everyone advising to refrain from studying during the summer before starting. Trust me. There is no wading easily into med school, no way to get a productive head start. Once things begin, it feels like jumping in a pool and trying to tread water with hundred pound weights tied to you. Dipping your toes into the water first will not prepare you for that.
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da8s0859q
If I might chime in: we've been there, so of course we understand. And I know the pancake theory makes pre-studying a tempting idea, but there simply isn't much you can do that would be worth the time.
What IS worth the time, and would pay off with interest once you're in the midst of this:
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I say pre-study if you want. And honestly, I don't understand why everyone is so against it. Maybe they are just pissed off that they had it so hard and newbs are trying to take shortcuts. Or maybe it is just a social backlash type of thing against gunnerish behavior, but the truth is it is not gunnerish behavior- no one will ever give 2 sh*ts what your first year grades are, so prepping is just a way to make things less stressful and life less miserable...is that really so bad? I also reject the idea that you can't enjoy life at all if you happen to open a textbook for a few hours a week.
So I say go for it, though anatomy is probably the only thing you'll benefit from. Get a copy of Netter's Atlas and start learning some of the essentials...bony landmarks, muscles and attachments, cranial nerves, etc. Doing anatomy in undergrad helped me immensely first year and I can't imagine having to walk in and start from scratch. People were in there for hours asking the most ******ed questions, they were just clueless.
So I say go for it, though anatomy is probably the only thing you'll benefit from. Get a copy of Netter's Atlas and start learning some of the essentials...bony landmarks, muscles and attachments, cranial nerves, etc. Doing anatomy in undergrad helped me immensely first year and I can't imagine having to walk in and start from scratch. People were in there for hours asking the most ******ed questions, they were just clueless.
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Agreed. As for the OP:
The bottom line is that old adage, your mileage may vary. For many med students, pre-studying makes little to no sense, and is truly a waste of time. However, as little as those folks may understand it, there are people different from them, who don't wish to use their time in other ways, and would feel far more productive by doing some pre-studying. Yes, we are all different.
So, if you feel that pre-studying is going to calm your nerves coming in, then even if it has little direct effect on the material you cover, you can bet it will help. So do it. There have been good suggestions in this thread as to how to use your time - use it in one or a combination of ways.
And block out the naysayers. They'll apparently never understand that some people are going do things a little differently.
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Since we are using anatomy as the example class - for the med students on the discussion, how many hours a day would you say you devoted to the class? I looked at my schedule from last year and our lecture + lab time was ~16hrs per week. Add in self-study of ~ 2hrs a day, which I think is a conservative estimate, and you have 30hrs/week on anatomy. Anatomy lasted ~14wks for us - so a conservative estimate of the total time spent on anatomy would be around 420hrs, or 10.5 weeks of a full-time job.
THAT is why pre-studying is pointless. Even if you spend a full week of what may be your last free summer studying, you only take the pressure off for a 10th of the class. Awesome trade right there.
THAT is why pre-studying is pointless. Even if you spend a full week of what may be your last free summer studying, you only take the pressure off for a 10th of the class. Awesome trade right there.
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You must be a pleasant one at parties...
Jesus, talk about all the hyperbole in one post. No one is saying it's bad to prestudy. We're just saying it's pointless because you don't now what material you're gonna need to know during your classes or for boards. The first course is usually Anatomy, which is a low-yield subject for boards anyway, so why bother going through it in such detail when it's not necessarily going to guarantee you a better grade anyway? Why waste probably the only summer you're going to have that's completely free of stress for the rest of your life?
And good luck learning all of anatomy by reading Netter's, I'm sure that will be an adequate replacement for actual time spent in the lab
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I really appreciate the breadth of replies. I only plan to pre-study in moderation, and there is that chance that it is somewhat a placebo effect, but it's not like it can hurt if I am enjoying it in bite-sized doses.
I mean, shouldn't we enjoy this stuff if we're going into it?
I mean, shouldn't we enjoy this stuff if we're going into it?
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I really appreciate the breadth of replies. I only plan to pre-study in moderation, and there is that chance that it is somewhat a placebo effect, but it's not like it can hurt if I am enjoying it in bite-sized doses.
I mean, shouldn't we enjoy this stuff if we're going into it?
It CAN hurt if you're ignoring more important things in your life that need attention.
I doubt you're a perfect person. Becoming a physician is an incredibly demanding process that takes place over many years. Getting a jump on anatomy (as if you'd even be able to do that, which you wouldn't) isn't a drop in the proverbial bucket. What you need to do now is start the habits that will help you tackle this beast for the long term. Five years from now you won't give two ****s about anatomy pre-studying, but I can assure you that if you spend some quality time with yourself, with some honest self-reflection on how to improve how you approach life in general, you'll be far better served. It will help you throughout not only the course of your training, but life in general.
As they say, and I cringe as I type this because it's so played-out, but it's a marathon, not a sprint. If it were a sprint, then sure, pre-studying would make sense. It's anything but a sprint my friend. It's very, very, very long term.
Spend your time before classes begin taking an honest inventory of yourself and then develop an actionable plan to improve upon your shortcomings. Because I can assure you, once the starting gun is fired, your time for self-reflection shrinks to near nothing. The bad habits you have will carry over due to the demands and stress. And because of said demands and stress, those bad habits will become more pronounced.
Zen out before medical school starts. Zen out. Zen out. Zen out. Zen out.
Seriously, getting your **** together is the best preparation, bar none.
I speak from experience.
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Didn't get that impression...
But that's fine- there's a reason the majority would advise against it. Many believe the opportunity cost of spending time to get a head start is greater than any marginal benefit. I disagree.
If anyone wants to take the initiative they should go for it. Don't cancel that roadtrip with the hot twins you met last week or postpone your cruise to the Caribbean (never pass up Senor Frog's...), but if you have some down time it won't hurt; there's only so much "honest self-reflection" you can take.
It's more for a psychological boost than any significant gain in knowledge. You'll feel more familiar with the material going in than most of your classmates, and there's even a chance you'll feel less overwhelmed than some.
If you want to hit the ground running, here's what I think could work. Take it for what it's worth
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Asklepian- you say you enjoy anatomy. cool. probably won't last but once you start it won't really matter. For anatomy-
Get Netter's and/or Rohen, you'll be using them later anyways. Look up your class syllabus and figure out the areas they go over first. Don't make a fixed schedule, but whenever you feel like it pick up the book and learn 10 new structures.
If you have an iphone, download anatomy flashcard apps. And if you happen to jailbrake your phone (which of course you shouldn't) you can get Netter's and Moore's flashcards through installous. Clemente's and Rohen are also fine, but they're not cracked.
Before logging on to SDN and spending 20 minutes reading through the various arguments for/against studying, take 30 seconds and go through 4 or 5 flashcards. Right there you should get through the whole deck in a week if you're anything like the average SDN user.
Find some good anatomy websites and get familiar with their layout. bookmark them for later.
Take a practice usmle step 1 test and see how you score as a pretest, so you know what you'll need to improve on for the next two years. that one's a joke
Most importantly don't take any of this too seriously, and have a good time before it's too late
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Its july 27th. Its too late
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2011 was a typo I think, he's starting this year. So, yes, it is.
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He never said that was a typo, just acknowledged he's already been accepted. Some programs accept you early.
Since he said next fall (not this fall) and specifically clarified 2011, I thought it was pretty clear.
Regardless, he won't be the last incoming student wanting to look over the material before they start.
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You are officially more invested in this than he is...lol.
Look at his recent post history, he's going to nebraska class of 2014.
ETA - Sorry, that came off as kind of antagonistic, which wasn't my intention. I just think it's kind of funny how passionate we can be about these questions that repeatedly come up and that in the end make no difference. Because you're right, if someone wants to pre-study, that's their business, maybe the equation makes sense for them.
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Good move- more time to pre-study.Tac, you were actually correct.
I WAS in the Class of 2014, and for unrelated reasons requested and was approved for a deferral. I am now class of 2015
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da8s0859q
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. You should be studying.
Just kidding.
Enjoy your year or go out and make some money. Now would be a great time to get in on some research if you're interested.
Just kidding.
Enjoy your year or go out and make some money. Now would be a great time to get in on some research if you're interested.
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