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Good move- more time to pre-study.
hahahahha i act lol'd
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
I am sorry. Maybe I can request another year-long deferral if this year of pre-studying isn't enoughHow can we effectively post-stalk you if you don't keep us apprised of your plans young man?!
I am sorry. Maybe I can request another year-long deferral if this year of pre-studying isn't enough
Not worth bumping.
I haven't read all of these pages, but I thought I would add/emphasize my advice...
It seems like most med students go in thinking that they will be in the "top" part of the class (10%, 25%, 50%). Not everyone is going to be in the top. It doesn't actually make you stupid - med school tests memorization in the first couple years, and little else. The fact is, the difference between people could be just a handful of questions... stop worrying about that now. You probably won't, but please try.
Just in general, try not to worry about things that you don't need to. Worry about passing, try to learn everything you can, and engage in extracurriculars that you actually enjoy. Choose just a couple activities (clubs, volunteering, research) that you want to do and stick with them. They should be encouraging and fun, not time-sucking and miserable. That's what classes are for!
...
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.
...
Med Students: anything you had wish you had known prior to starting med school? Any tops or tricks to help a newcomer? anything you had wished you had known?
Med Students: anything you had wish you had known prior to starting med school? Any tops or tricks to help a newcomer? anything you had wished you had known?
3. It's easier than you think to get swayed by what other people are doing in med school -- flash cards, review sheets, whatever. Screw all that. You find what's most efficient for YOU, and stick with it.
Here's a website that I found really helpful when thinking about unique or original ideas pertaining to med school or specialties.
www.uncommonstudentmd.com
No matter how much you shadowed or volunteered, the practice of medicine is not what you think it is. In today's world a minority of your time is spent "helping others" and a majority is spent doing COA paperwork so that you can get reimbursed for 50% of the work you do.
False on both accounts. Before posting a rant on an internet forum because you are upset at something, think about the purpose of this particular thread.
False on both accounts. Before posting a rant on an internet forum because you are upset at something, think about the purpose of this particular thread.
Upset that medicine consists of more paperwork than it does time spent seeing and helping patients? Upset because most practices end up getting reimbursed for 50% of the work they bill for? I'm not sure how this is counter to the purpose of the thread, because I honestly wish I had known this before I started medical school.
Data does not support your claims. I am sorry that you are having difficulties in whatever practice setting you're in. You may wish to consider a change of venue if possible. Are you still a medical student as your status states?
What data? Could you share? I'd genuinely love to see it.
Take my advice, I'm an MS1 and I pre-studied before school. It was a complete waste of time to say the least.
I took a year off between college and medical school and did research and organized my living arrangements and life to prep for med school. The hours upon hours I spent "pre-studying" were a complete waste of time. (This is hard to believe, but it's true).
Spend your time doing research (trying to get a pub or connection with a PI that will help you) and do things that you wont have time to do once school starts.
You will greatly miss the free time before medical school once your first block of classes are over.
I've been out of school for two years and I'm starting med school this fall. People have told me to buy biochemistry and physiology books...so is it really not necessary? How much review did they lecture once you started your classes? I am just concerned because I really don't want to start off behind everyone else.
everyone will have strengths and weaknesses. If your weakness is biochemistry, it will be someone elses strength and they will help you through it. Then, when you are taking anatomy (or whatever class you are strong in), you will return the favor. There is no need to prestudy. You'll be able to learn everything they want you to know when they give it to you, but there is no way you can study what they want you to know before they tell you.
There will be plenty of people in your boat with 2 years off, and many with even more.
Good insight. Thanks!
I've been out of school for two years and I'm starting med school this fall. People have told me to buy biochemistry and physiology books...so is it really not necessary? How much review did they lecture once you started your classes? I am just concerned because I really don't want to start off behind everyone else.
I'm looking through a copy of netter's atlas and I am wondering if we have to know every single name and structure in this entire thing? Do we have to know all of those names of every single nerve, muscle, bone, in the entire body and be able to identify and label them? That's pretty overwhelming if that's true.
I'm looking through a copy of netter's atlas and I am wondering if we have to know every single name and structure in this entire thing? Do we have to know all of those names of every single nerve, muscle, bone, in the entire body and be able to identify and label them? That's pretty overwhelming if that's true.
It's worse than that. Although labeling a netter image isn't too bad try doing it on a real cadaver. You can't just look at stuff and say this is this. You actually have to understand the relationships (eg. "this passes over that") in order to identify many things.
If that's true, why does everyone say its bad to prestudy? At least by prestudying we can learn the names and identify them on the body so when we actually have to do it in the lab it will be a little easier knowing where the general idea of stuff is.
I'm looking through a copy of netter's atlas and I am wondering if we have to know every single name and structure in this entire thing? Do we have to know all of those names of every single nerve, muscle, bone, in the entire body and be able to identify and label them? That's pretty overwhelming if that's true.
If that's true, why does everyone say its bad to prestudy? At least by prestudying we can learn the names and identify them on the body so when we actually have to do it in the lab it will be a little easier knowing where the general idea of stuff is.
This is what medical school is. It will get worse.
If that's true, why does everyone say its bad to prestudy? At least by prestudying we can learn the names and identify them on the body so when we actually have to do it in the lab it will be a little easier knowing where the general idea of stuff is.
Get drunk at class events where everyone else is sober
Drink from the faucet in Gross when no one else is looking.
Bring a fake family on family day and confuse everyone
I hope u daaaance
Just don't man ppl aren't telling u this advice to screw u over and give u a bad start to school. I don't care what ur background/any special situation u have if u got into school ull b fine. Stop questioning people who actually have experience with this stuff and have been in ur shoes.. and if you think we're full of it go ahead and prestudy but stop coming into this forum every year and asking for advice and then questioning it like we have something to gain by telling u to not study before school starts. This is not just directed at u but other pre-M1s in general that I've seen on this forum recently doing the same thing.
I think it's called Time Recording, it's an android app; lets you break it down by days, weeks, months, etc, add breaks, adjust timesWhat app did you use?
I think I read this thread about a hundred times before I actually started school. Now since I finished M1 year a little while back I can contribute something.
1. Don't pre-study. It's been said a thousand times in a thousand threads. Don't. Please. For the love of god. I know, you're excited, I was too. I know you are anxious and worried about it. I was too. Trust me and everyone else- you will be fine. If you are smart enough to get in you're smart enough to pass. Med school isn't about IQ it's about being committed and diligence.
2. Balance- This is the real #1 piece of advice. It was the first thing our asst. dean said at our orientation and I really took it to heart. Although I wasn't like some of you crazies here on SDN never going to parties in college and doing nothing but pre-med I definitely had my fair share of depriving myself at points during college. You can't do that in medical school. You are not a robot. Stop "sacrificing" your life for medical school. You'll be healthy, happy, and a better physician for it. Your patients will thank you in the long run. Do not be that kid who does nothing but study. During M1 I joined several different Intramural sports teams, volunteered, went on trips etc etc. Sure some blocks suck more than others but don't ever let medical school completely dominate your life. It takes a lot of willpower and effort to let go of the anxiety to be the best. You're already in! Trust the system- you will become a competent physician. You can't learn all of medicine during 1st semester, so don't try. You have the rest of your life to learn medicine. Make sure you make time to exercise, date, and make friends with your classmates.
3. Studying- Remember the transition from high school to college? When you put in the same effort for that chem 101 test and got a B or a C and realized it wasn't going to cut it? Yeah, that's kind of what medical school is like in terms of transition. You have to learn how to learn again, so to speak. It took me all of first year to nail down my preferred method. Experiment. See what works, what doesn't. I had the majority of my system 'figured out' by second semester, but kept playing with it just to be 'sure'. Listen to what works for other people (so you know what to try) but don't get freaked out if someone goes over there notes 8 times and reads all the chapters. Just figure out what works for you and do it.
-Some corollaries
4. Don't go to class- okay, so this kind of contradicts #3 above. But most of the time class is a huge waste of time. If it works for you then great, ignore the rest. This is why class is a waste of time= wake up, eat breakfast, get ready, run out the door = 45 mins of extra sleep time you could have. In class, it's about 5 minutes of the professor fussing with the powerpoint/recording system/ intro slides/ jokes. +5 more minutes of stupid ass questions (everyone is at least like 22 years old right? learn how to f***ing look up information on your own and not waste everyones time). That's ~10 mins on average of a typical lecture just wasted. Plus the lectures may spend more time on stuff you understand (say, how a nerve fires) and then completely gloss over some important clinically relevant point. 4 hours of lecture (~200 mins) ? That's only ~80mins on 2.5 speed. That means even with you pausing to jot down notes/ wiki something you are still saving probably an hour / hour and half of time to actually *gasp* learn the material.
- Anatomy: this was the course I was most freaked out for. I KNEW I was going to struggle in it. Part of it was just not knowing how to study, and the other was just that anatomy was hard for me. You literally just have to immerse yourself in it. Study everyday. Note relationships. HY anatomy was money for me (i like the organization better than BRS). But do the BRS questions - if I got 50%> of those right I knew I was in passing range for my quizzes/exams.
- Every course is a little different. Talk to your upperclassmen, they will be the most helpful for specific courses.
5. Exercise regularly - if you aren't on a routine now, start. Seriously, how can you tell your patients to eat healthy and exercise if you don't? Plus, I think that sweating after anatomy lab helps to get the smell off your skin (anecdotal i know). You'll have more energy, sleep better, and have more confidence. Just do it. It's worth it. You can take an hour out of your day to exercise.
6. Misc. - Learn how to cook good, healthy cheap meals. Make sure you budget your January rent in your fall budget because you probably won't get your 2nd dispersant until after 1/5 when the rents due. Don't be a douche. Help out your classmates as much as you can. Make friends, have fun!!! Try not to gossip to much. Oh and if you're single and lucky you'll probably hook up with one or more of your classmates at some point. Just don't make it a bigger deal than it is (this also goes back to 'don't gossip').
Starting medical school is a rough transition. No one really told me that before I started. For some of you your relationships are going to end, you're going to move across the country without knowing anyone for maybe the first time ever, etc etc. It's easy in the first few weeks to get depressed especially once you start feeling overwhelmed and stressed about school. I'm pretty sure 90% of my class felt the exact same way during 1st semester. You'll be fine, you'll make it through. I'm not saying it's easy, it's actually the toughest part (or was for me). Don't give up though.
In conclusion, I hope this helps!