Is there anyone who did much better during their second year compared to their first year?

[shadowlightfox]

Is there anyone here who didn't do as well as they wanted to in their first year but improved greatly in their second year? If so, any advice on what you did?

I'm very well aware that second year is harder than first year, but is there anyone who pulled off performing better during their second year compared to their first and how they managed to do so?

Any help would be appreciated.

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[trs88]

For me, that was the case. But, it was a lot of factors (what the subject was, how the professor taught the course, school related time restrictions, etc) and I'm not too sure how well it will help you but perhaps I can at least help with some concerns.

What really helped was finally having study aids that were high yield for the courses. For the second half of first year, I was able to use SketchyMicro and SketchyPharm whereas the earlier semester there wasn't anything that I could find that was a high yield study resource. Then, moving into second year, the classes became more of what my brain was good at (riddles, puzzles, memorization) and it become "Patient has these signs, what do they have?" or "patient has these signs, what is the common genetic component?" compared to first year first semester where it was just "long stem that finally asks what an enzyme does at the end but the only way you know the answer is if you read the side comment on slide 58 out of 100 slides".

Second year was also where we started the clinical sciences as I like to call them, the cardiology, pulmonary, derm, etc and I was able to use Pathoma, First Aid, referencing back to Sketchy when needed and UsmleRx and the questions were finally similar to what our school exams were like.

 

[Staphylococcus Aureus]

For me, that was the case. But, it was a lot of factors (what the subject was, how the professor taught the course, school related time restrictions, etc) and I'm not too sure how well it will help you but perhaps I can at least help with some concerns.

What really helped was finally having study aids that were high yield for the courses. For the second half of first year, I was able to use SketchyMicro and SketchyPharm whereas the earlier semester there wasn't anything that I could find that was a high yield study resource. Then, moving into second year, the classes became more of what my brain was good at (riddles, puzzles, memorization) and it become "Patient has these signs, what do they have?" or "patient has these signs, what is the common genetic component?" compared to first year first semester where it was just "long stem that finally asks what an enzyme does at the end but the only way you know the answer is if you read the side comment on slide 58 out of 100 slides".

Second year was also where we started the clinical sciences as I like to call them, the cardiology, pulmonary, derm, etc and I was able to use Pathoma, First Aid, referencing back to Sketchy when needed and UsmleRx and the questions were finally similar to what our school exams were like.

My experience exactly.

 

[anthony78001]

Is there anyone here who didn't do as well as they wanted to in their first year but improved greatly in their second year? If so, any advice on what you did?

I'm very well aware that second year is harder than first year, but is there anyone who pulled off performing better during their second year compared to their first and how they managed to do so?

Any help would be appreciated.

i did much better second year because it was easier for me to tie courses together especially when i started studying for boards. hopefully your school helps you with boards, if they do not just study for boards all day every day then a week before your exam memorize slides to pass.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

I did better because I found pathology to be more interesting than learning anatomy and physiology.

 

[shadowlightfox]

Regarding what trs88 said, I don't know exactly how my second year will play out in terms of what professors we have. I don't know if they're good. However, one thing I did notice is that the courses I did extremely well in were the ones where the professors did an amazing job teaching it. However, I don't want to rely on their teaching skills to bring me up. I want to find a way to improve on my own.

 

[ortnakas]

I did better second year, but because:
--anatomy is not my strong suit, I'm better at micro/path/pharm
--I had my study/test strategies figured out
--I had managing my anxiety figured out (probably the most important of the three)

 

[TheOther]

Yes. Anki.

 

[Goro]

I've seen it happen with some of my students. usually they've overcome some life event of health problem that was plaguing them.

Go check out my post on guide to med student success.

Is there anyone here who didn't do as well as they wanted to in their first year but improved greatly in their second year? If so, any advice on what you did?

I'm very well aware that second year is harder than first year, but is there anyone who pulled off performing better during their second year compared to their first and how they managed to do so?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[shadowlightfox]

How does it affect your audition rotations and applying for residencies? Don't the directors look at your transcripts from your first two years?

 

[IslandStyle808]

How does it affect your audition rotations and applying for residencies? Don't the directors look at your transcripts from your first two years?

Not nearly as much as your board scores, letters of rec., and 3rd year grades.

 

[hallowmann]

How does it affect your audition rotations and applying for residencies? Don't the directors look at your transcripts from your first two years?

Honestly, it doesn't. As long as you didn't fail anything, they're not going to dig in and ask you why you got a C in Anatomy first semester of first year. They might ask you why (for example) you are ranked in the bottom quartile of your class, but they aren't going to nitpick like that in front of you unless its a crazy competitive field or something, or unless you want to do Pathology and you got a C in your path course (and even then it probably wouldn't happen).

I personally had no one ask me anything about courses from 1st or 2nd year. I also don't know of anyone who was asked, unless they failed a course. People did get asked about boards pretty regularly, and occasionally about rotation grades.

 

[Soccer171983]

exact situation as me. I felt I gravitated towards a better understanding of the second year material better because because it was a step towards application and not just basic sciences. Some people do better with the clinical sciences than they do with the basic sciences. I did much better on comlex two and three than the first comlex.

 

[jtm0021]

What trs88 said about the enzyme on slide 58 is exactly how I feel!

Hoping for the same as well, just because we have a bunch of random lectures that don't pertain to boards. I realize this comes with the territory, but it seems like there is too much emphasis on memorizing minutiae on slides (that I will forget tomorrow and they specifically told us not to do) and occasionally learning high-yield stuff for boards. I always do better on exams when I try to memorize the minutiae, but I've shifted away from that realizing I should put more emphasis on the stuff that is in USMLE and COMLEX relevant.

 

[Rhabdoviridae]

I thought second year was way easier than first year but everyone will have a different opinion on this. By any means, I am currently finishing up my second year and am doing much better than I did in my first.

 

[shadowlightfox]

I thought second year was way easier than first year but everyone will have a different opinion on this. By any means, I am currently finishing up my second year and am doing much better than I did in my first.

Did you find it easier because of a change or modification in your study habits, or the materials in the second year just happened to click with you compared to first year?

 

[padfoot777]

to the OP, second year is not harder than first year in terms of material. Students tend to get overwhelmed studying for class and boards which makes everything feel more difficult. I am a firm believer in studying for boards throughout second year, not just during your dedicated 4-6 week period of time prior to the actual exam, will benefit you greatly. If you are learning the board prep material well and are passing your classes you are doing well. Residency programs care about your board score, not your pre-clinical grades.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

to the OP, second year is not harder than first year in terms of material. Students tend to get overwhelmed studying for class and boards which makes everything feel more difficult. I am a firm believer in studying for boards throughout second year, not just during your dedicated 4-6 week period of time prior to the actual exam, will benefit you greatly. If you are learning the board prep material well and are passing your classes you are doing well. Residency programs care about your board score, not your pre-clinical grades.

I think pathology is significantly more nuanced than physiology and requires an integrative understanding where physiology can honestly be accomplished by just memorizing things. With pathology you're simply not going to know everything before the test and you're going to have to use your knowledge base to work for you.

I also agree somewhat with studying for boards before the dedicated. That being said, don't feel bad if you don't have time to do so. My curriculum was based around reading robbins and I was wiped out just doing that.