Is med school like studying for the MCAT 24/7?

[GBP12]

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Is it basically the same rigor and schedule like studying for the MCAT where it is an all day kind of thing 8-10 hours a day 7 days a week? Maybe a few breaks here and there?

Just non-stop info coming at you?

 

[mehc012]

No. Not even close.

 

[GBP12]

No. Not even close.

So much easier you say? Could you elaborate on what it is like comparatively?

 

[NicMouse64]

So much easier you say? Could you elaborate on what it is like comparatively?

The MCAT you have a date of impending doom, but it's not the same. Someone else sets the date of doom in medical school. The amount of material you need to learn for the MCAT is quite doable. With medical school there's too much. You can't learn it all in the period of time you are given.

 

[Homo sapien]

You go to class (or not, depending on school's attendance policy) and find a way to study that works for you. A way in which you LEARN the material, not just memorize for a test. once you figure that out, you adjust your life. You still have time for other things

 

[mehc012]

So much easier you say? Could you elaborate on what it is like comparatively?

Ask a simple question, get a simple answer.

And, simply put, the two aren't comparable. You could more closely compare Step study and MCAT prep than an entire 2yrs of medical school on one hand and a single test-focused study period on the other.

Besides, it largely depends on your medical school. At mine, we had no more than 8hrs/wk of required sessions on average, and only another 6 of optional stuff. Exams were once every few months or so (only 5 real sets of exams in 1.5yrs of preclinicals, though we took 5 exams each time). I had time to join a sports team, do extracurriculars, watch most of Netflix (only sort of joking there), and study the way I wanted to (reading textbooks that interested me) and still have a better, more robust social life than I've had at any prior educational level.
Hell, thinking back, high school was more hectic simply from the sheer volume of required busywork, the never-ending exams, and the only-sort-of-optional extracurriculars. College was definitely more work because it straight up had more required class hours and a LOT more homework, plus a lot more individualized curriculum without as many efficient learning resources out there or as much overlap in subjects.

There really isn't that much material in medical school, and it all builds on itself nicely and is something you're (hopefully) interested in. There are concrete answers, and less of the challenging "figure out this concept that your brain literally has never conceived of before" with more straightforward "this is how this works" or "you can't reason an answer out of this, so here's the research-based approach that we use, remember it."

That being said, a lot of it you really can intuit if you understand the underlying physiology well, which can help you cut down on the straight memorization if that doesn't work for you. And again, lots of streamlined resources.

 

[puahate]

The MCAT had critcal thinking aspect to it though.

 

[NicMouse64]

The MCAT had critcal thinking aspect to it though.

yeah probably why I did so well on the MCAt but suck at medical school lol.

 

[deleted407021]

Not really. Med school is more like studying for college courses but you're expected to understand and be tested on a semester's worth of material every 3 weeks or so. It's mostly a matter of volume and application.

 

[efle]

It's high volume, but you're given plenty of time to cover it. If you're efficient you can knock it out with just a few hours of studying per day and have TONS of free time. I've had more free time in M1-M2 than I ever did in college or high school.

 

[DameJulie]

I was told that first semester is the hardest because people treat it like studying for MCAT 24/7. But I think once you're in that mode, it gets easier (?).

Although I really cannot imagine if you study 24/7 MCAT-style for for pre-clinical years. Maybe more like 8-5 daily (like a full time job), then more during exam weeks.

 

[aldol16]

This will depend on your curriculum, as one-year pre-clin curriculums tend to be quite tough and time intensive because you basically make up for the condensed time by spending more time preparing outside of class. But even in 1.5 year curricula, you're not spending hours upon hours a day without breaks cramming information into your head. You'll have lecture for several hours a day and then have to prep for the next day and that might very well eat up 8 hours a day (sometimes more). But most of that time is spent learning stuff that you're interested in (presumably) and that you know will help you take care of patients in the future. It's an enjoyable kind of learning process rather than the often unpleasant topics we had to study for the MCAT.

Honestly, you get out of med school exactly what you put into it. You can have a lot of free time to do whatever you want in your pre-clin years if you do the bare minimum and you're in a pass/fail curriculum. The extra learning is for you and for doing well on boards and your future career.

 

[aldol16]

Not really. Med school is more like studying for college courses but you're expected to understand and be tested on a semester's worth of material every 3 weeks or so. It's mostly a matter of volume and application.

I feel like while you have more to know, you also have to know it less well. In the basic sciences, you get tested on depth rather than breadth. There are graduate (and even senior undergraduate) level seminars on incredibly small slices of the field, like the chemistry of iron. You can spend a whole semester or even year on such small topics, fully exploring all the possibilities. In med school, we spend maybe a single lecture on a topic that could be taught as a course unto itself. But we also aren't expected to know that topic in as much depth as as PhD doing research on that particular topic, for instance.

 

[907914]

I feel like while you have more to know, you also have to know it less well. In the basic sciences, you get tested on depth rather than breadth. There are graduate (and even senior undergraduate) level seminars on incredibly small slices of the field, like the chemistry of iron. You can spend a whole semester or even year on such small topics, fully exploring all the possibilities. In med school, we spend maybe a single lecture on a topic that could be taught as a course unto itself. But we also aren't expected to know that topic in as much depth as as PhD doing research on that particular topic, for instance.

I have heard that the people who are the most stressed and spend the most time in the books are the failure-to-adapt types who, despite likely still performing superbly, never adapt to this from undergrad. In undergrad you ARE expected to know every little detail, and many of the most stressed students in medical school are the ones who continue this approach. Even though you aren’t expected to know the amount of detail, the information is available to be learned so many students feel like they have to learn it because it is there to be learned.

This is just a sentiment I have gleaned from conversations with my MED student friends. Does this judgement seem to hold true?

 

[aldol16]

I have heard that the people who are the most stressed and spend the most time in the books are the failure-to-adapt types who, despite likely still performing superbly, never adapt to this from undergrad. In undergrad you ARE expected to know every little detail, and many of the most stressed students in medical school are the ones who continue this approach. Even though you aren’t expected to know the amount of detail, the information is available to be learned so many students feel like they have to learn it because it is there to be learned.

This is just a sentiment I have gleaned from conversations with my MED student friends. Does this judgement seem to hold true?

To an extent. You are expected to have a baseline level of knowledge. That baseline level isn't that high. Basically, recognize clinically-relevant constellations of symptoms (and how they're caused), diagnostic tests, and treatments. At the pre-clin stage, mostly the former two and the less so the latter. You still have to know what drugs are available but you learn dosing and actual management approaches on the wards.

Anything else you learn on top of that is for you. Yes, learning something in depth facilitates longer-term memory of the concept. But medicine is huge and physicians are expected to keep learning even in practice. So you have to accept that it's a lifelong process of learning and when you don't know something, you look it up. You certainly don't emerge from med school understanding every disease that could ever happen to man. You do come out with a good understanding of the most common things that can go wrong in every organ system and how to manage those things. Some people learn more, some less. Like I said, you get out of med school exactly what you put into it.

 

[Isoval]

The best analogy I can come up with:

Imagine an undergraduate class with two semesters (e.g. Gen Chem 1/2).
Now imagine taking both semesters simultaneously.
Now imagine doing both semesters simultaneously in four to six weeks.

This is about what medical school is like. It’s not hard in that the material is difficult to understand or that the questions are difficult to parse. There’s not really a time-crunch (or, really, there shouldn’t be) and there’s not really a sense of impending doom. The reason medical school is difficult is because you have so much minutiae thrown at you so fast and you need to a) get all of the information to a workable degree and b) keep that information from interfering with each other.

There’s arguably more information on a single medical school exam than on an entire section of the MCAT. However, the questions aren’t trying to throw you for a loop and you’re not supposed to have your back against the wall with regard to time. For a vast majority, you know it or you don’t.

 

[piii]

Med school is worse lol

 

[NicMouse64]

The nice thing about medical school is that it's literally the only thing you are expected to do. That's nice. 16-17 hours in a day, and most spend 5-8 hours per day on studying. The rest is yours to do as you please. I've cooked, gone to the gym, played videogames, and generally had a happy well balanced life in medical school. I also don't care to be in the top 10%. It really depends on what you want is my point.

 

[Neuro244]

I have heard that the people who are the most stressed and spend the most time in the books are the failure-to-adapt types who, despite likely still performing superbly, never adapt to this from undergrad. In undergrad you ARE expected to know every little detail, and many of the most stressed students in medical school are the ones who continue this approach. Even though you aren’t expected to know the amount of detail, the information is available to be learned so many students feel like they have to learn it because it is there to be learned.

This is just a sentiment I have gleaned from conversations with my MED student friends. Does this judgement seem to hold true?

I can definitely resonate it with that as I have that type of perfectionist personality wanting to know everything. Although I'm not in med school yet and am applying this year, I will be taking all of this wisdom and trying to apply it once I'm there.

 

[907914]

I can definitely resonate it with that as I have that type of perfectionist personality wanting to know everything. Although I'm not in med school yet and am applying this year, I will be taking all of this wisdom and trying to apply it once I'm there.

I’m just a premed who doesn’t know anything but hearsay. This is the approach I intend on however

 

[TheIllusionist]

Med school, if you can get in meritocratically, just is a glorified memorization and therefore discipline contest amongst all the students, barring the 1 or 2 per class with truly exceptional memories. MCAT has more thinking and is based on years and years of learning. It is an aptitude test. Many USMLE test takers that score well and sucked at the MCAT, SAT, ACT, GRE, etc. are poor standardized aptitude test takers. They do well for the first time because med school licensing exams are much less so aptitude tests. It is about rote learning a **** ton of info. Yeah concepts help but they are not the rate limiting step in the reaction set to success. I have seen kods that probably couldn't solve rather simple general physics 1 questions,even with tons of effort, or understand macroecon basic supply demand curves well, but destroy exams, including boards, based on shear will power. The conceptual nature of med school is highly overrated and just a feel good tactic for us to actually think we are doing something as intellectually rigorous as our basic science, tech, quant econ, or law colleagues (a lot of argumentation and implemented philosophy in law school is actually quite challenging and one is rewarded on exam for clever uses of case law for creative argumentation). Med school is about being a drone, who knows how to smile.

Now, the actual best doctors still tend to be naturally quite brilliant people. But that is another story. Med school isn't exactly a good predictor of which docs will invent revolutionary devices, treatments, or procedures. Mostly a measure of how long one can sit and cram info constantly for purposes of regurgitation.

 

[Peter Pan.]

This thread gives me hope that I will have a life during medical school.

 

[Neuro244]

How many chapters worth of material is on each exam if one of you guys had to ballpark?

 

[efle]

How many chapters worth of material is on each exam if one of you guys had to ballpark?

It's about one semester of undergrad content per month I'd say. Like my undergrad intro to neuro class covered mostly the same material as our neuro unit, but in a few weeks instead of a few months

 

[OraclePL]

It really depends on the med school. Ours allowed us to podcast from home; I was still putting in 6-8 hour days (usually 4-6 hours of lecture, 1-2 hours of lab/discussion groups). Added in about 2-3 hours of studying most days. I memorize well so I probably studied slightly less than other people in the class. The podcasting from home led to a better quality of life for me personally.

A med school with less lecture time would translate to more free time; if you're required to be in class 8 hours a day it's going to be a different story.

It also depends on how efficiently you study. I studied inefficiently for the first 6 months which led to giving up most weekends. Eventually I figured it out.

It's just a very different comparison to cramming/reviewing/studying for a singular exam like the MCAT. Just think of your busiest semesters - maybe one in which you overloaded - and double the number of classes you took. It's not theoretically hard - you're not taking an advanced physics course - but there's just a lot of information to learn, condense into your preferred study format, and review. It's a very different style.

Once you get into med school, the vast majority succeed at figuring it out.

 

[Neuro244]

It's about one semester of undergrad content per month I'd say. Like my undergrad intro to neuro class covered mostly the same material as our neuro unit, but in a few weeks instead of a few months

Damn and I always struggled with just taking two science classes at once in the semester I don’t know how I’m going to be able to keep up with that pace!

 

[907914]

Damn and I always struggled with just taking two science classes at once in the semester I don’t know how I’m going to be able to keep up with that pace!

Take a summer class at your Uni and, based on what has been said here, that sounds like it should be at about 3/4 med school pace?

 

[efle]

Damn and I always struggled with just taking two science classes at once in the semester I don’t know how I’m going to be able to keep up with that pace!

You're gonna study...a lot. Going somewhere pass/fail if possible helps a lot

 

[Neuro244]

Take a summer class at your Uni and, based on what has been said here, that sounds like it should be at about 3/4 med school pace?

I actually took a microbiology class at a community college in the summer about two or three years ago which was I believe 12 weeks instead of 16 weeks and I was drowning.

 

[907914]

I actually took a microbiology class at a community college in the summer about two or three years ago which was I believe 12 weeks instead of 16 weeks and I was drowning.

That actually isn't as condensed as I was imagining for a summer class - my school does two summer blocks where the classes are compressed from 11 weeks to 4.

 

[Neuro244]

You're gonna study...a lot. Going somewhere pass/fail if possible helps a lot

Yeah I’m definitely planning on doing that. I studied for about 1200-1300 hours for the MCAT for eight months and I ended up bombing it. I was tired the day of and my stamina still wasn’t on point. I should’ve had it voided but I didn’t. I’m currently studying for the second time.

 

[Neuro244]

That actually isn't as condensed as I was imagining for a summer class - my school does two summer blocks where the classes are compressed from 11 weeks to 4.

Well I took it at that community college in particular because I didn’t want to be the normal condensed rate which was I believe eight weeks instead of 16 because I would’ve struggled with that.

 

[907914]

Well I took it at that community college in particular because I didn’t want to be the normal condensed rate which was I believe eight weeks instead of 16 because I would’ve struggled with that.

Sounds like a P/F medical school will benefit you highly.

 

[Neuro244]

Sounds like a P/F medical school will benefit you highly.

I wouldn’t have it any other way lol.

 

[efle]

Yeah I’m definitely planning on doing that. I studied for about 1200-1300 hours for the MCAT for eight months and I ended up bombing it. I was tired the day of and my stamina still wasn’t on point. I should’ve had it voided but I didn’t. I’m currently studying for the second time.

I dont mean to be a jerk here, but if 1000+ hours of MCAT prep wasnt enough, preclinical med schools is gonna be a long, constant struggle. Hopefully you're right and it was just a bad day and you'll kill a retake soon!

 

[Neuro244]

I dont mean to be a jerk here, but if 1000+ hours of MCAT prep wasnt enough, preclinical med schools is gonna be a long, constant struggle. Hopefully you're right and it was just a bad day and you'll kill a retake soon!

What I’ve learned over my many years is that efficiency and quality is king over quantity. Also you have to consider that the MCAT is more of a critical thinking test then it is a content test. My goal right now is to score a 508 but even if I get a 505 I’ll be really happy. I’m being quite realistic unlike most people who try to take the exam. I have been quite humbled by it the first time to put it very nicely.

 

[Goro]

Is it basically the same rigor and schedule like studying for the MCAT where it is an all day kind of thing 8-10 hours a day 7 days a week? Maybe a few breaks here and there?

Just non-stop info coming at you?

No.

 

[On_The_Way_Up]

If medical school is an 8-5 with time off on the weekends with some light studying then I'm straight. Definitely looking for a school that doesn't require lectures and is pass/fail. I never cared for lectures in undergrad.

 

[907914]

If medical school is an 8-5 with time off on the weekends with some light studying then I'm straight. Definitely looking for a school that doesn't require lectures and is pass/fail. I never cared for lectures in undergrad.

I mean, if you wanna do it 8-5...If they have a day with no mandatory stuff (which is fairly often), most of my MD student friends will do like 10 - 1 then 2 - 5 then 7 - 10 then rest repeat. Lots of time for sleep, gym, research, fortnite, family time, whatever. It isn't all sunshines and daisies, but it is really subject dependent, I hear. Some subjects may require like less than 20 hours a week, whereas others will be like 60+ hours a week.

 

[WedgeDawg]

Not even a little bit

 

[On_The_Way_Up]

I mean, if you wanna do it 8-5...If they have a day with no mandatory stuff (which is fairly often), most of my MD student friends will do like 10 - 1 then 2 - 5 then 7 - 10 then rest repeat. Lots of time for sleep, gym, research, fortnite, family time, whatever. It isn't all sunshines and daisies, but it is really subject dependent, I hear. Some subjects may require like less than 20 hours a week, whereas others will be like 60+ hours a week.

I like to get up early and start getting things done that way I have free time in the evenings.

 

[deleted967981]

I like to get up early and start getting things done that way I have free time in the evenings.

Can you elaborate on your schedule a bit? I’m a nontrad with kids, and a morning person. The idea of getting up around 5:00 and putting in a few hours of studying before family obligations and required school stuff starts sounds ideal to me.

Edit: sorry, just noticed that you’re looking for schools, not already in school! If anyone else can help, I’m all ears.

 

[On_The_Way_Up]

Can you elaborate on your schedule a bit? I’m a nontrad with kids, and a morning person. The idea of getting up around 5:00 and putting in a few hours of studying before family obligations and required school stuff starts sounds ideal to me.

Edit: sorry, just noticed that you’re looking for schools, not already in school! If anyone else can help, I’m all ears.

Yeah like you said I'm not a med student. Applying the 2019-2020 cycle. It depends on your school. If they don't require lectures you will have more time for self-study and this will enable you to have more free time.

Congrats on your acceptance!

 

[907914]

5:00 and putting in a few hours of studying before family obligations and required school stuff starts sounds ideal to me

Not a med student, but for what it is worth, this is what I do while camping this summer. Wake up at 5 O'Clock to work on secondary essays while my family sleeps until 8 or so. I can't imagine that NOT working during med school?

 

[PA_dud3]

So, like, at what point during medical school do you actually start learning about disease states and treatments?

 

[tekkenman11]

No I have plenty of free time despite how much we have to learn and all of the mandatory clinical stuff.

 

[Medic741]

So, like, at what point during medical school do you actually start learning about disease states and treatments?

For most school's that starts in your second year -- they'll call this a "traditional curriculum" with "systems" in your second year. Med school is also nothing like studying for the MCAT.
-it's infinitely more interesting
-you don't have required lectures so your time is your own and you can study as much/little as you want to each day.

Also, it's wonderful to be able to let every irrelevant thing that you learned in orgo and most of physics leave your brain forever.

I think there were only ~5 times between first and second year that I wasn't asleep by 11pm due to studying. Travelled probably 1-2 weekends/month to do nonacademic things and it worked out. You figure out how to be an efficient learner, at least I found that I had more free time than I knew what to do with and was able to fill that with hobbies and really interesting research.

3rd year is supposed to be the worst in terms of scheduling d/t rotations. But in 4th year a lot of schools give you a TON of vacation time. We get 8 weeks and I fully intend to schedule a pediatrics rotation in Colorado during the ski season and Outpatient Family Medicine in Salt Lake City in the Spring and you get the picture.

It is what you make of it.

 

[907914]

pediatrics rotation in Colorado during the ski season and Outpatient Family Medicine in Salt Lake City in the Spring

If you do away/elective rotations like this, does the school pay for travel/moving expenses? I would assume not for a nontrad with a family, but for the individual student?

 

[Medic741]

If you do away/elective rotations like this, does the school pay for travel/moving expenses? I would assume not for a nontrad with a family, but for the individual student?

Regrettably not, it's actually a really financially difficult position to be in if you're in the civilian match. The rub is that you set up your own rotations with the hospitals you want to audition/rotate at and have to cover costs to travel to the site, find temporary housing etc. often while maintaining a residence at/near your home institution where you'll do a lot of rotations anyway that year. This will be covered in your COL loans but I hear from the years above that it's really tight.

And then towards the end of 4th year you apply to residencies and often go on 15+ interviews each costing $500-700 apiece w/ airfare+hotel. That process can get really expensive really fast, but private loans are available from banks who recognize that this easy-money good-credit vulnerable population exists but w/e good for them for figuring out how to rip-off deeply in debt professionals just starting out their lives.

If you apply to the military match through the HPSP program you're applying to only 5 programs and have 2 ADT rotations in which you're being paid $6-$8k each depending on where you're rotating and don't have any additional interviewing costs. Don't know if you're considering HPSP @MemeLord but if that's the road you're taking the .mil will cover your PCS from your medical school location to residency which is really nice and saves a bundle. If anyone has questions about HPSP feel free to shoot me a PM.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Can you elaborate on your schedule a bit? I’m a nontrad with kids, and a morning person. The idea of getting up around 5:00 and putting in a few hours of studying before family obligations and required school stuff starts sounds ideal to me.

Edit: sorry, just noticed that you’re looking for schools, not already in school! If anyone else can help, I’m all ears.

I got up at 5 every morning, or at least I did when I'm not on break lol, and worked out and then hit the anki train starting at about 7. Rotations will be different so my schedule will be all over the place now but getting up at 5 is very doable and I would encourage anyone to do so if they can. I would suggest to not go into school with hard and fast familial obligations. I too have a family and kids and what I wanted to do when school started and what I was able to do as time went on were different. Not necessarily in a bad "I can't do anything with the family" type way but more in a "I can't do that thing you want me to do but how about I do this instead" type way.

So, like, at what point during medical school do you actually start learning about disease states and treatments?

Depends, for us it's when we start systems in spring of first year. Many do this second year which is more the traditional curriculum.