Is this normal?

[zeppelinpage4]

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So, I'm starting my fourth week as an MS1 and feel like I completely derailed myself.

My first two weeks, a lot of my studying was misdirected and disorganized, and as a result I fell behind. The second weekend, some very close friends came to visit and I my class went out together, so I put off work Friday and Saturday. By then, when Sunday hit I realized I was very behind. I tried to catch up during the week, but with all the new material coming in, I just fell more behind and I briefly got sick which set me back also. Now, I have glycolysis and the TCA cycle to memorize (a couple hours), anatomy from last week to review (3 hours), two anatomy practice exams to go through (about 20 pages each, and they each take about 4 hours to go through), anatomy readings (2-3 hours), and biochem readings (2 hours) for Monday, and I need to re-watch two lectures (each one over an hour). However, I have no idea when I'll do them. This is all just to catch up to this week. My family came to visit today and I was just too burned out to work last night. I feel like I screwed around too much, I have worked hard, but I took many Friday nights and Saturday afternoons off the last few weeks and now I am afraid I am too far behind to catch up.

Anyhow, I just feel like I'm so behind, there's no feasible way for me to catch up, because of all the new material coming. I am legitimately scared I am going to fail my first set of exams which start in two weeks.

Any ideas on how I can recover or get caught up with so much material still coming my way? There's new material coming every day, and I only have time to pre-read for the next day because mandatory classes and lab take up my morning and entire afternoon. I should use the weekend to catch up on older material, but if I do that, I don't get a chance to review what I learned during the week over the weekend. I am just really scared of failing my first exams.

 

[ShinyDome19]

Just about every M1 has been there or will be there at some point in time. At some point you get used to being behind and it wont be as stressfull anymore.

The best thing to do is learn how to Triage. Take the classes that you are worst at or most behind in or worth the most GPA wise and spend the majority of time on them; salvage what you can.

 

[DrBodacious]

You are 20 hrs behind after 3-4 weeks. You need to realize you need to put personal life on hold for a few days to catch up enough so that you pass your tests, and then add about 1 hour a day (on average) of studying compared to what you have been doing.

 

[DrBodacious]

I only have time to pre-read for the next day because mandatory classes and lab take up my morning and entire afternoon.

Also, make sure you really utilize your day time. If possible, use breaks between classes to study rather than chit chat. Make sure you are actively taking notes in a productive and useful way during class so that reviewing and studying for tests will be easier.

 

[yehhhboiii]

skip class, watch the lectures at 2x speed at home or the library. don't spend any more time on friends and family until after the exams. read lecture notes while you're eating. go to sleep when you're tired because efficient studying > time spent studying. try to understand the concepts and skip the nitty gritty details for biochem. if you need to, draw out the pathways from memory and keep doing it until you don't need to look at your notes anymore. don't just read, actively learn by taking notes and thinking about the material. for anatomy, don't waste time on origin/insertions and random bone trivia (except important ones like the first rib, vertebrae [atlas, axis esp], scapula, etc.) but know how to id everything [u mich website and downstate], study the blood supply and memorize nerves

 

[Epinephreus]

Honestly, you need to find a way to be more efficient. Set up time to get work done and then (shock) get it done.

I have 4 hours of lecture every morning 8-12 and then I spend 2-3 hours directly after making sure all my notes are complete and going over things I didn't completely understand or was new to me. Then after the gym/dinner/random socializing, I do reading for the next day or relax depending on my mood and I'm in bed by 10:30. If I was in your situation, I would stop finding reasons to hold off work and get caught up before the material builds up even more. Visiting family or hanging out with friends for a short time shouldn't be the cause of missing a full day of studying if you are behind.

 

[J ROD]

First, you need to learn that you cant do everything.

You need to cut out some social life. This is med school. If you want to be a MD, then you are going to have to give up some things.

Then, learn to cycle study. And how to get faster, better, and more efficient.

 

[zeppelinpage4]

Thanks guys. Buckling down now...yeah, I've pretty much realized the freinds/family distractions were a bad idea...or at least I could have done better about managing that.

I just wanna catch up though, I'm worried it's too late.

 

[JP2740]

Thanks guys. Buckling down now...yeah, I've pretty much realized the freinds/family distractions were a bad idea...or at least I could have done better about managing that.

I just wanna catch up though, I'm worried it's too late.

Is worrying going to make you catch up? Stop worrying and buckle down like you said. You'll be fine. Don't look too far ahead. Just take med school 1 day at a time and before you know it 3rd year will start and you'll wonder what happened over the past 2 years.

 

[Kahreek]

as someone said you need to triage. And while that may seem like a lot of material, once you get to know what's important it isnt at all. You dont need to catch it or follow a path, realize your knowledge weaknesses and study that. It is awful if you try to rail up things in a strict order or spend a whole afternoon trying to memorize some details about something, before you have general knowledge about it.

 

[paul411]

Realize that you'll never be fully caught up or fully prepared for any exam in medicine. The secret is to optimize the limited time you have and to develop an intuition for the 'high-yield' material (to help you triage/prioritize). Ask some upperclassmen for tips on the higher yield material and focus on that stuff first.

 

[Shjanzey]

.

 

[operaman]

I don't think I ever felt truly prepared for an exam in med school yet. I just study my arse off and eventually the exam happens and that's it. You'll eventually learn to be comfortable with this, but it takes time.

You're not really THAT behind if you get everything together now. Ditto the triage advice. Only a small % of the material on exams in med school is super tiny details, but darn if everyone doesn't flip their s--t about those few points. Spend your time focusing on the 80-90% of stuff likely to be tested and worry about the minutiae later.

For example, take 20 minutes and just repeatedly write out TCA and glycolysis until you know them cold. Take another 10 minutes and make sure you know all the rate-limiting steps. Take another 10 minutes and use your multiple copies of the TCA/glycolysis and note what comes out where (NADH, FADH, ATP, etc.) Know where energy comes and where it goes. That kind of stuff is big picture high yield. Knowing that aconitase contains an Iron-sulfer cluster may not be particularly high yield at this point. Don't waste your time chasing those Fe-S points and neglect stuff like PFK-1, hexo/glucokinase, why/when pyruvate gets shunted to lactate, regulatory control of the whole shebang, etc.

 

[hunterjumper14]

Realize that you'll never be fully caught up or fully prepared for any exam in medicine. The secret is to optimize the limited time you have and to develop an intuition for the 'high-yield' material (to help you triage/prioritize). Ask some upperclassmen for tips on the higher yield material and focus on that stuff first.

This is really well-stated. I just took my first round of exams and felt wildly unprepared. They happened anyway, and here I am. I'm going to try to remember this statement! 👍

 

[IlDestriero]

Study more efficiently, not more.
You need to figure out what works for you.
Don't forget to exercise at least 3x a week and prioritize quality sleep.
You can have relationships, etc. whennyouve worked out your system.
And don't forget..
C = MD
D = crushing Debt load and no pot of gold waiting for you.

 

[DrBodacious]

Study more efficiently, not more.
You need to figure out what works for you.
Don't forget to exercise at least 3x a week and prioritize quality sleep.
You can have relationships, etc. whennyouve worked out your system.
And don't forget..
C = MD
D = crushing Debt load and no pot of gold waiting for you.

Uh, it sounds like the OP admits to slacking and not putting in enough hours. Quality studying is obviously important, too. You do need to avoid going crazy with nonstop fruitless studying. In regards to the title of the thread, yes it is normal to take some time to figure things out. If you fail a class, that is not normal.

 

[Donald Juan]

Uh, it sounds like the OP admits to slacking and not putting in enough hours. Quality studying is obviously important, too. You do need to avoid going crazy with nonstop fruitless studying. In regards to the title of the thread, yes it is normal to take some time to figure things out. If you fail a class, that is not normal.

I'm not sure if you're disagreeing with the post you quoted or not...OP said he slacked off 1-1.5 days on the weekends. Honestly, that shouldn't set someone behind enough to panic mode (I mean, not once your better at this med school thing 🙂).

The good part about getting behind at the beginning of med school is it quickly teaches you how to be more effective. There's nothing quite like having to cram two weeks of med school work into a week to let you know that it is possible to go out of town for a weekend or go out on a Friday night without worrying about needing to start studying at 8am on Saturday.

 

[yehhhboiii]

I'm not sure if you're disagreeing with the post you quoted or not...OP said he slacked off 1-1.5 days on the weekends. Honestly, that shouldn't set someone behind enough to panic mode (I mean, not once your better at this med school thing 🙂).

The good part about getting behind at the beginning of med school is it quickly teaches you how to be more effective. There's nothing quite like having to cram two weeks of med school work into a week to let you know that it is possible to go out of town for a weekend or go out on a Friday night without worrying about needing to start studying at 8am on Saturday.

yeah but it's the first month
it takes time to get to the level where you have an idea of what you do and don't need to know

 

[zeppelinpage4]

Hey everyone, thanks again for all the helpful posts.

Just as a quick update, I've basically been grinding away since Sunday and although I am almost just as behind, I feel a little better knowing I am trying my best.
I talked to some MS2 students, and went to a learning specialist today also, and got some advice on how to proceed from now on, so I feel a little better having some idea that I can still make it. I got some ideas and want try and work out a plan or study schedule based off of the advice I got.

I just need to be very smart about how I utilize my time these next three weeks.

One major problem is that I lost balance, e.g losing sleep, skipping meals etc, it throws everything out of whack. I stayed up working last night, barely got sleep and was a zombie most of the day/night. Hence I did not get what I wanted to done today. But, going to try and address things tomorrow, hopefully I'll be rested and capable. Health comes first!

 

[zeppelinpage4]

Just a quick update. I sucked it up, had some ups, had some downs but officially passed my anatomy and biochem exams.

I didn't do exceptionally well on either, actually my anatomy exam was definitely on the lower end, but considering all the circumstances, I am glad I just passed.

This week was sort of a limbo, I had some outside class issues to deal with, and am visiting home this weekend, so I am already behind. But hoping if I work as hard as I did for those tests starting from next week I'll be able to catch up by the end of the month. It's all just a big balancing act, with random school and life related variables thrown in to make the balance constantly shift. Staying hopeful, and I definitely think I have a better sense of what I should be studying.

Just want to say thanks for the advice guys.

 

[JediZero]

Just a quick update. I sucked it up, had some ups, had some downs but officially passed my anatomy and biochem exams.

I didn't do exceptionally well on either, actually my anatomy exam was definitely on the lower end, but considering all the circumstances, I am glad I just passed.

This week was sort of a limbo, I had some outside class issues to deal with, and am visiting home this weekend, so I am already behind. But hoping if I work as hard as I did for those tests starting from next week I'll be able to catch up by the end of the month. It's all just a big balancing act, with random school and life related variables thrown in to make the balance constantly shift. Staying hopeful, and I definitely think I have a better sense of what I should be studying.

Just want to say thanks for the advice guys.

It's hard. Med school is tougher than anything you've had before in school, and you'll find new standards for success (there is a reason the adage "P = MD" is so popular). But if you're passing, then you're starting at a good place. Figure out how you study best, and keep growing until you're where you want to be. In the meantime, don't sweat it.

It took me until third year to figure out studying and school/life balance. Residency programs are still interviewing me. You'll be fine. 🙂

 

[yehhhboiii]

It's hard. Med school is tougher than anything you've had before in school, and you'll find new standards for success (there is a reason the adage "P = MD" is so popular). But if you're passing, then you're starting at a good place. Figure out how you study best, and keep growing until you're where you want to be. In the meantime, don't sweat it.

It took me until third year to figure out studying and school/life balance. Residency programs are still interviewing me. You'll be fine. 🙂

well if it's fm i won't be as impressed as i would be if it's ortho

 

[Brain Bucket]

It took me until third year to figure out studying and school/life balance.

Share them pearls? I'm still not there.

 

[JediZero]

well if it's fm i won't be as impressed as i would be if it's ortho

Haha... EM, actually. So somewhere in the middle. 😉

Share them pearls? I'm still not there.

That's the thing, it's different for everyone. Don't expect anyone else's system to work for you- you've got to figure out what's best for you. For me, it was figuring out that I do well with long study binges, alternating with equally long breaks. It also involved taking the time available, deciding on a reasonable amount of material to get through in that time, and have the goal of finishing it. Finally, I figured out that I work better in coffee shops, libraries, parks, my car, etc... anywhere, as long as it's not home. XD