I've gotta ask the million dollar question here

[Username555]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Before I start, I wanna preface by saying I don't say any of this to come off as an arrogant prick, and if it seems that way, I do apologize. That is not my intention at all.

My question is, how come the only thing I hear about med school is how hard it is?

I am currently weeks away from finishing up my first semester, and so far I'm pretty confused by why everyone makes it out to be the hardest task in the universe and why so many claim to struggle through the initial stage.

Here's my experience so far: for the first test, starting from the first day of class, I probably studied about 3 hours a day on the weekdays, and like 4-5 per day on the weekends. The week of the test when we had no class to maybe an hour of class per day, I studied about 4 hours a day and got all the sleep my heart desired. I did a little better than the class average on the test.

For the second test, my motivation went straight down the tubes. I took stretches of days off at a time, I took some of the weekends off, I started skipping most of my classes, etc. On the days when I did study, the maximum I would hit is 2 hours, most of the time it was between 1 and 1.5 hours. Then during test week I buckled down and studied around 5 hours a day. This time I did a little worse than the class average, but still passed.

My doubt is, if I can get away with studying less than 2 hours a day on days I actually choose to study, and then studying 5 hours a day for a week before a test and still pass, what is it about med school that makes everyone complain incessantly?

I go to the gym 6-7 times a week, I'm eating well, I get as much sleep as I want, I'm in a relationship, I dick around with my friends for at least some time every day, I see my family every other weekend, I party on the weekends (sometimes on weeknights), I waste time on Netflix, blah blah blah.

At this point you might be thinking I'm one of those annoying dinguses every class has who can get away with putting in a fraction of what everyone else puts in and still gets the same grades. But as far as med school matriculants go, I'm definitely below the pack. I got more Bs than I got As in high school, and I even got some Cs. In undergrad I would've probably been a straight B student if my friends didn't teach me everything the few days before a test.

With all of this in mind, I'm just wondering what is it that makes everyone talk about med school as if it's the hardest thing in the world? Something just isn't adding up for me.

 

[muhali3]

nvm

 

[Mad Jack]

Depends greatly on the school and your personal goals for yourself. Some schools set the bar to skate by lower than others, and you're going to have an easier time in the third or fourth quartile than trying to be AOA. Second and third year are often way worse than first, so there's also that. And then there's the boards, which are basically a nightmare just because of the grind.

 

[ACSurgeon]

Before I start, I wanna preface by saying I don't say any of this to come off as an arrogant prick, and if it seems that way, I do apologize. That is not my intention at all.

My question is, how come the only thing I hear about med school is how hard it is?

I am currently weeks away from finishing up my first semester, and so far I'm pretty confused by why everyone makes it out to be the hardest task in the universe and why so many claim to struggle through the initial stage.

Here's my experience so far: for the first test, starting from the first day of class, I probably studied about 3 hours a day on the weekdays, and like 4-5 per day on the weekends. The week of the test when we had no class to maybe an hour of class per day, I studied about 4 hours a day and got all the sleep my heart desired. I did a little better than the class average on the test.

For the second test, my motivation went straight down the tubes. I took stretches of days off at a time, I took some of the weekends off, I started skipping most of my classes, etc. On the days when I did study, the maximum I would hit is 2 hours, most of the time it was between 1 and 1.5 hours. Then during test week I buckled down and studied around 5 hours a day. This time I did a little worse than the class average, but still passed.

My doubt is, if I can get away with studying less than 2 hours a day on days I actually choose to study, and then studying 5 hours a day for a week before a test and still pass, what is it about med school that makes everyone complain incessantly?

I go to the gym 6-7 times a week, I'm eating well, I get as much sleep as I want, I'm in a relationship, I dick around with my friends for at least some time every day, I see my family every other weekend, I party on the weekends (sometimes on weeknights), I waste time on Netflix, blah blah blah.

At this point you might be thinking I'm one of those annoying dinguses every class has who can get away with putting in a fraction of what everyone else puts in and still gets the same grades. But as far as med school matriculants go, I'm definitely below the pack. I got more Bs than I got As in high school, and I even got some Cs. In undergrad I would've probably been a straight B student if my friends didn't teach me everything the few days before a test.

With all of this in mind, I'm just wondering what is it that makes everyone talk about med school as if it's the hardest thing in the world? Something just isn't adding up for me.

It's multifactorial:
- people have different levels of anxiety. Many med students have above average levels of anxiety, and those constantly complaining probably all have high anxiety and therefore have a worse perception.

- you might just be oblivious to how close you are to failing. Maybe the handful of questions you correctly guessed this time will be incorrect next time. For most students, that's an unsettling thought so many over study because you never feel like you're confident. See anxiety above.

- second year is way harder. Memorizing bugs and drugs is no easy task.

- you might be better at organizing your time or just studying smarter rather than harder.

- your school might be better organized than others, and might be better about cutting the useless information out.

Overall- one can have some fun and sanity while going through med school. It takes some good time management, but not impossible.

 

[Raryn]

Before I start, I wanna preface by saying I don't say any of this to come off as an arrogant prick, and if it seems that way, I do apologize. That is not my intention at all.

My question is, how come the only thing I hear about med school is how hard it is?

I am currently weeks away from finishing up my first semester, and so far I'm pretty confused by why everyone makes it out to be the hardest task in the universe and why so many claim to struggle through the initial stage.

Here's my experience so far: for the first test, starting from the first day of class, I probably studied about 3 hours a day on the weekdays, and like 4-5 per day on the weekends. The week of the test when we had no class to maybe an hour of class per day, I studied about 4 hours a day and got all the sleep my heart desired. I did a little better than the class average on the test.

For the second test, my motivation went straight down the tubes. I took stretches of days off at a time, I took some of the weekends off, I started skipping most of my classes, etc. On the days when I did study, the maximum I would hit is 2 hours, most of the time it was between 1 and 1.5 hours. Then during test week I buckled down and studied around 5 hours a day. This time I did a little worse than the class average, but still passed.

My doubt is, if I can get away with studying less than 2 hours a day on days I actually choose to study, and then studying 5 hours a day for a week before a test and still pass, what is it about med school that makes everyone complain incessantly?

I go to the gym 6-7 times a week, I'm eating well, I get as much sleep as I want, I'm in a relationship, I dick around with my friends for at least some time every day, I see my family every other weekend, I party on the weekends (sometimes on weeknights), I waste time on Netflix, blah blah blah.

At this point you might be thinking I'm one of those annoying dinguses every class has who can get away with putting in a fraction of what everyone else puts in and still gets the same grades. But as far as med school matriculants go, I'm definitely below the pack. I got more Bs than I got As in high school, and I even got some Cs. In undergrad I would've probably been a straight B student if my friends didn't teach me everything the few days before a test.

With all of this in mind, I'm just wondering what is it that makes everyone talk about med school as if it's the hardest thing in the world? Something just isn't adding up for me.

It depends on your curriculum and tends to get harder as time goes on.

My M1 year in a "traditional" subject-based curriculum was about as hard as a high class load (~20 semester units) in college. You had to pay attention, but in weeks without exams I could ignore classes and play video games most of my day. My grades were average at best, but I didn't care. Certainly wouldn't have said it was the hardest thing ever.

M2 year sucked. Second half of M2 year *really* sucked. It's significantly more, often less intuitive material, and once you add board studying on top of that...

M3 year varied depending on the rotation, but it wasn't the least bit comparable to college. It's more like working a job, except you're the one paying $20/hr to be there and you typically cause more work than you actually perform. Oh, and you're studying for periodic exams that have little overlap with your day-to-day activities. While doing your best to kiss ass to those people whose job you are only making more difficult.

M4 year, after the summer where I did my subi, was a big joke. Easier than college ever was. Me and my buddies were going to bar trivia 3 days a week in addition to our weekly poker games. Interviewing was stressful, but meh.

Residency was much more interesting, but certainly harder work. But hey, they paid me.

 

[Rekt]

Before I start, I wanna preface by saying I don't say any of this to come off as an arrogant prick, and if it seems that way, I do apologize. That is not my intention at all.

My question is, how come the only thing I hear about med school is how hard it is?

I am currently weeks away from finishing up my first semester, and so far I'm pretty confused by why everyone makes it out to be the hardest task in the universe and why so many claim to struggle through the initial stage.

Here's my experience so far: for the first test, starting from the first day of class, I probably studied about 3 hours a day on the weekdays, and like 4-5 per day on the weekends. The week of the test when we had no class to maybe an hour of class per day, I studied about 4 hours a day and got all the sleep my heart desired. I did a little better than the class average on the test.

For the second test, my motivation went straight down the tubes. I took stretches of days off at a time, I took some of the weekends off, I started skipping most of my classes, etc. On the days when I did study, the maximum I would hit is 2 hours, most of the time it was between 1 and 1.5 hours. Then during test week I buckled down and studied around 5 hours a day. This time I did a little worse than the class average, but still passed.

My doubt is, if I can get away with studying less than 2 hours a day on days I actually choose to study, and then studying 5 hours a day for a week before a test and still pass, what is it about med school that makes everyone complain incessantly?

I go to the gym 6-7 times a week, I'm eating well, I get as much sleep as I want, I'm in a relationship, I dick around with my friends for at least some time every day, I see my family every other weekend, I party on the weekends (sometimes on weeknights), I waste time on Netflix, blah blah blah.

At this point you might be thinking I'm one of those annoying dinguses every class has who can get away with putting in a fraction of what everyone else puts in and still gets the same grades. But as far as med school matriculants go, I'm definitely below the pack. I got more Bs than I got As in high school, and I even got some Cs. In undergrad I would've probably been a straight B student if my friends didn't teach me everything the few days before a test.

With all of this in mind, I'm just wondering what is it that makes everyone talk about med school as if it's the hardest thing in the world? Something just isn't adding up for me.

If someone makes a post about how hard med school is, plenty of people will come and post how easy it is.
If someone makes a post about how easy it is, there's plenty of people who will come and say how hard it is.

And I'm assuming your "three hours studying a day" does not include the lecture time. That would make sense seeing as your scoring at the bottom of the pack. It's all relative as well. I rarely ever studied in undergrad. The max time I put in for any single exam was about 8 hours, cumulatively. So for me, I study about 5 hours a day not counting lectures and then do about 5-10 on weekends, but I also gym 6/d week and sleep >7hours a night. So for me, yeah, medical schools blows because I've never studied anywhere close to it. But then again, I'm routinely scoring >95% on every exam.

Be careful with becoming complacent with mediocrity. It'll likely carry over into your board studying and then you'll be stuck wondering why you have a 205.

 

[Foot Fetish]

Being average to below average in med school really isn't difficult...it's when you're trying to be in the top 20% of the class that it gets hard. I get 100 or 90's on every exam, and it takes a lot of work. 5+ hours of studying per day on week days. 8+ hours per day on the weekend. More during finals week (up to 14-16 hours per day)...So, my guess is that the people you heard complaining about the difficulty of med school were high-achievers / very ambitious. Merely passing all your classes is relatively easy.

 

[doctor_crane]

From what I've heard, it gets harder. I'm preparing for the MCAT now, but I've heard that the USMLE is a very hard test. As long as you feel like you are understanding and learning the material well enough to remember it for the long-term, good. If not, I'd recommend lightly reviewing material now and then to stay fresh.
Everyone learns differently. I'd say that the fact that you exercise, eat well and sleep well makes you study more effectively than the average student.
One person mentioned some schools are easier than others, but we all take the USMLE. If you feel like your school is an easier than average school (I'm not saying it is), then it is more important to study beyond what is needed to pass. Remember, you are preparing for a profession where you will be responsible for making life and death decisions. You will want to know everything you need to be the best doctor you can be. Try not to focus on pass/fail, but on learning.

I'm sailing through a college biochemistry degree, currently with a 4 GPA, so I can relate as I sometimes feel like I hardly ever study as much as others, but we must focus on the learning over the grades.

 

[KinesiologyNerd]

Next thing he's going to say is he's going for ortho 🙄

 

[Mad Jack]

From what I've heard, it gets harder. I'm preparing for the MCAT now, but I've heard that the USMLE is a very hard test. As long as you feel like you are understanding and learning the material well enough to remember it for the long-term, good. If not, I'd recommend lightly reviewing material now and then to stay fresh.
Everyone learns differently. I'd say that the fact that you exercise, eat well and sleep well makes you study more effectively than the average student.
One person mentioned some schools are easier than others, but we all take the USMLE. If you feel like your school is an easier than average school (I'm not saying it is), then it is more important to study beyond what is needed to pass. Remember, you are preparing for a profession where you will be responsible for making life and death decisions. You will want to know everything you need to be the best doctor you can be. Try not to focus on pass/fail, but on learning.

I'm sailing through a college biochemistry degree, currently with a 4 GPA, so I can relate as I sometimes feel like I hardly ever study as much as others, but we must focus on the learning over the grades.

I'll just put it this way: The USMLE is as difficult in comparison to the MCAT as the MCAT is in comparison to the SAT.

 

[Foot Fetish]

The USMLE makes the MCAT look like the SAT.

I haven't taken Step 1, but I think it's more of a memorization test than a critical thinking test. You could get a decent score (30) on the MCAT with just good reading comprehension and logic skills alone. The verbal reasoning section was a glorified IQ test, for example....the super high scores (36+) then required some memorization and higher IQ....The USMLE, on the other hand, requires you to memorize a huge amount of information, but you don't necessarily need to have a high IQ to get a super score...There are plenty of average IMG's who score 260+ simply because they have an abnormally long amount of dedicated study time in which to memorize the content. Given enough time, basically anyone could pass Step 1. In contrast, there are lots of people who could never, no matter how much study time they have, crack 35 on the MCAT...because IQ becomes the bottleneck.

 

[Username555]

If someone makes a post about how hard med school is, plenty of people will come and post how easy it is.
If someone makes a post about how easy it is, there's plenty of people who will come and say how hard it is.

And I'm assuming your "three hours studying a day" does not include the lecture time. That would make sense seeing as your scoring at the bottom of the pack. It's all relative as well. I rarely ever studied in undergrad. The max time I put in for any single exam was about 8 hours, cumulatively. So for me, I study about 5 hours a day not counting lectures and then do about 5-10 on weekends, but I also gym 6/d week and sleep >7hours a night. So for me, yeah, medical schools blows because I've never studied anywhere close to it. But then again, I'm routinely scoring >95% on every exam.

Be careful with becoming complacent with mediocrity. It'll likely carry over into your board studying and then you'll be stuck wondering why you have a 205.

That might honestly be it. I've gotten to the point where I'm completely fine with being average, and just making it through with not doing that much work. My standardized testing so far (SAT and MCAT) have been better than what my grades in high school and college correlate to, so hopefully that continues. I don't know, I've always been the type to slack off when it comes to the actual courses but actually study every last detail when it comes to standardized testing. I guess I just prefer it when there's a big book that tells me everything I need to know as opposed to a bunch of disorganized lectures where we're tested over the most irrelevant points.

 

[Goro]

Because venting is a healthy stress reduction method for us lesser mortals?

Before I start, I wanna preface by saying I don't say any of this to come off as an arrogant prick, and if it seems that way, I do apologize. That is not my intention at all.

My question is, how come the only thing I hear about med school is how hard it is?

I am currently weeks away from finishing up my first semester, and so far I'm pretty confused by why everyone makes it out to be the hardest task in the universe and why so many claim to struggle through the initial stage.

Here's my experience so far: for the first test, starting from the first day of class, I probably studied about 3 hours a day on the weekdays, and like 4-5 per day on the weekends. The week of the test when we had no class to maybe an hour of class per day, I studied about 4 hours a day and got all the sleep my heart desired. I did a little better than the class average on the test.

For the second test, my motivation went straight down the tubes. I took stretches of days off at a time, I took some of the weekends off, I started skipping most of my classes, etc. On the days when I did study, the maximum I would hit is 2 hours, most of the time it was between 1 and 1.5 hours. Then during test week I buckled down and studied around 5 hours a day. This time I did a little worse than the class average, but still passed.

My doubt is, if I can get away with studying less than 2 hours a day on days I actually choose to study, and then studying 5 hours a day for a week before a test and still pass, what is it about med school that makes everyone complain incessantly?

I go to the gym 6-7 times a week, I'm eating well, I get as much sleep as I want, I'm in a relationship, I dick around with my friends for at least some time every day, I see my family every other weekend, I party on the weekends (sometimes on weeknights), I waste time on Netflix, blah blah blah.

At this point you might be thinking I'm one of those annoying dinguses every class has who can get away with putting in a fraction of what everyone else puts in and still gets the same grades. But as far as med school matriculants go, I'm definitely below the pack. I got more Bs than I got As in high school, and I even got some Cs. In undergrad I would've probably been a straight B student if my friends didn't teach me everything the few days before a test.

With all of this in mind, I'm just wondering what is it that makes everyone talk about med school as if it's the hardest thing in the world? Something just isn't adding up for me.

Before I start, I wanna preface by saying I don't say any of this to come off as an arrogant prick, and if it seems that way, I do apologize. That is not my intention at all.

My question is, how come the only thing I hear about med school is how hard it is?

I am currently weeks away from finishing up my first semester, and so far I'm pretty confused by why everyone makes it out to be the hardest task in the universe and why so many claim to struggle through the initial stage.

Here's my experience so far: for the first test, starting from the first day of class, I probably studied about 3 hours a day on the weekdays, and like 4-5 per day on the weekends. The week of the test when we had no class to maybe an hour of class per day, I studied about 4 hours a day and got all the sleep my heart desired. I did a little better than the class average on the test.

For the second test, my motivation went straight down the tubes. I took stretches of days off at a time, I took some of the weekends off, I started skipping most of my classes, etc. On the days when I did study, the maximum I would hit is 2 hours, most of the time it was between 1 and 1.5 hours. Then during test week I buckled down and studied around 5 hours a day. This time I did a little worse than the class average, but still passed.

My doubt is, if I can get away with studying less than 2 hours a day on days I actually choose to study, and then studying 5 hours a day for a week before a test and still pass, what is it about med school that makes everyone complain incessantly?

I go to the gym 6-7 times a week, I'm eating well, I get as much sleep as I want, I'm in a relationship, I dick around with my friends for at least some time every day, I see my family every other weekend, I party on the weekends (sometimes on weeknights), I waste time on Netflix, blah blah blah.

At this point you might be thinking I'm one of those annoying dinguses every class has who can get away with putting in a fraction of what everyone else puts in and still gets the same grades. But as far as med school matriculants go, I'm definitely below the pack. I got more Bs than I got As in high school, and I even got some Cs. In undergrad I would've probably been a straight B student if my friends didn't teach me everything the few days before a test.

With all of this in mind, I'm just wondering what is it that makes everyone talk about med school as if it's the hardest thing in the world? Something just isn't adding up for me.

 

[Foot Fetish]

That might honestly be it. I've gotten to the point where I'm completely fine with being average, and just making it through with not doing that much work. My standardized testing so far (SAT and MCAT) have been better than what my grades in high school and college correlate to, so hopefully that continues. I don't know, I've always been the type to slack off when it comes to the actual courses but actually study every last detail when it comes to standardized testing. I guess I just prefer it when there's a big book that tells me everything I need to know as opposed to a bunch of disorganized lectures where we're tested over the most irrelevant points.

Those little points scattered throughout your lectures only *seem* irrelevant because they are now like trees in a forest to you. Once you know the "big book," a.k.a. the forest, a.k.a. First Aid, those points may not seem so irrelevant anymore.

 

[sliceofbread136]

Some people are smarter than others

/thread

 

[sloop]

The first two years weren't that hard for me either.

However, when you're in the hospital for a ridiculous amount of time each day during third year, taking calls where you don't learn a lot, trying to kiss ass because the majority of your grade is subjective bull**** and then studying for shelf exams/step 2 when you get home, it sucks. In my mind, whenever I say med school is tough, I'm talking about third year. Not conceptually extremely difficult, but a very frustrating and exhausting experience. Your mileage may vary but for me it really blew.

Fourth year has been the bomb because the hours are much better, I'm doing things I chose to do, I'm far more competent and I'm generally given a more important role on the team.

 

[Mad Jack]

I haven't taken Step 1, but I think it's more of a memorization test than a critical thinking test. You could get a decent score (30) on the MCAT with just good reading comprehension and logic skills alone. The verbal reasoning section was a glorified IQ test, for example....the super high scores (36+) then required some memorization and higher IQ....The USMLE, on the other hand, requires you to memorize a huge amount of information, but you don't necessarily need to have a high IQ to get a super score...There are plenty of average IMG's who score 260+ simply because they have an abnormally long amount of dedicated study time in which to memorize the content. Given enough time, basically anyone could pass Step 1. In contrast, there are lots of people who could never, no matter how much study time they have, crack 35 on the MCAT...because IQ becomes the bottleneck.

As someone who's taken it, I've got to disagree- there is a lot of material on the exam that is conceptual, and a lot of it is about connecting vague dots that must be inferred by minor knowledge of things that have little relation to the answer to the question. While about half of the questions are first or second level recall, most questions are tertiary in nature, requiring you to know a basic fact, as well as a related concept, and to have the ability to integrate that fact with an understanding of the concept to come to an answer. I don't have access to my question banks anymore to give you a good example, but it's a beautiful test because some of the questions legit blow your mind. Never felt that way with the MCAT, where it was 10% knowing equations and 90% just understanding what the question was saying, making it feel like I was really only working on second level material for all but the most difficult of questions. For reference, I scored in the 44th%ile on the USMLE and the 96th%ile on the MCAT.

 

[KinesiologyNerd]

I haven't taken Step 1, but I think it's more of a memorization test than a critical thinking test.

Yes, but the secret to a high score is your critical thinking ability. My one beef with UWorld has always been that Step 1/2 always comes with an extra layer of muck to get to the answer.

 

[sloop]

I haven't taken Step 1, but I think it's more of a memorization test than a critical thinking test. You could get a decent score (30) on the MCAT with just good reading comprehension and logic skills alone. The verbal reasoning section was a glorified IQ test, for example....the super high scores (36+) then required some memorization and higher IQ....The USMLE, on the other hand, requires you to memorize a huge amount of information, but you don't necessarily need to have a high IQ to get a super score...There are plenty of average IMG's who score 260+ simply because they have an abnormally long amount of dedicated study time in which to memorize the content. Given enough time, basically anyone could pass Step 1. In contrast, there are lots of people who could never, no matter how much study time they have, crack 35 on the MCAT...because IQ becomes the bottleneck.

All standardized tests rely a lot on IQ. IQ is largely a measure of learning efficiency and processing ability—both of which are important for board exams. I do believe that on the extremes of score, your exact score may not be a reliable indicator of intelligence, but scoring a standard deviation higher than the mean on any of these tests almost requires being pretty smart.

 

[Mad Jack]

Yes, but the secret to a high score is your critical thinking ability. My one beef with UWorld has always been that Step 1/2 always comes with an extra layer of muck to get to the answer.

Yeah, gotta agree there. UW gives you damn near every bit of information you'll ever need within the question so it can teach you why each piece of information applies. The real exam is much less straightforward, and often has confounding variables that can only be ruled out with a strong knowledge base and good critical thinking skills.

 

[Mad Jack]

When all the first years and premeds are like, "the MCAT was like, REALLY hard, Step 1 is just X or Y or Z, it isn't that bad in comparison" all the people who've actually been there are like

 

[ACSurgeon]

I'll just put it this way: The USMLE is as difficult in comparison to the MCAT as the MCAT is in comparison to the SAT.

I haven't taken Step 1, but I think it's more of a memorization test than a critical thinking test. You could get a decent score (30) on the MCAT with just good reading comprehension and logic skills alone. The verbal reasoning section was a glorified IQ test, for example....the super high scores (36+) then required some memorization and higher IQ....The USMLE, on the other hand, requires you to memorize a huge amount of information, but you don't necessarily need to have a high IQ to get a super score...There are plenty of average IMG's who score 260+ simply because they have an abnormally long amount of dedicated study time in which to memorize the content. Given enough time, basically anyone could pass Step 1. In contrast, there are lots of people who could never, no matter how much study time they have, crack 35 on the MCAT...because IQ becomes the bottleneck.

Med school kind of prepares you for the USMLE. Undergrad does no such thing. I'd take step 1 over taking the MCAT any day (and I was an engineer pre-medicine, so logic and critical thinking wasn't a problem).

 

[Mad Jack]

Med school kind of prepares you for the USMLE. Undergrad does no such thing. I'd take step 1 over taking the MCAT any day (and I was an engineer pre-medicine, so logic and critical thinking wasn't a problem).

Undergrad did fine for me in regard to the MCAT- was scoring 11 right out on VR and BS, only thing I was weak on was PS, and that was a 9. If you've done your prereqs, you can prepare for the MCAT and do well in 6 weeks. Want to do well on the USMLE? Better sink in two years of difficult work, followed by hitting it hard for the three months leading up to the exam. The base knowledge required to excel on the MCAT is just tiny in comparison, given the choice between the two I'd go with the MCAT again in a heartbeat, it was a cakewalk.

 

[Goro]

Amazing how pre-meds and MS1s are such experts on Step1, eh, Jack?

When all the first years and premeds are like, "the MCAT was like, REALLY hard, Step 1 is just X or Y or Z, it isn't that bad in comparison" all the people who've actually been there are like
View attachment 211274

 

[sloop]

People are seriously comparing the MCAT to USMLEs? I barely studied for the MCAT. The amount of time, energy and money I spent studying for even Step 2 CK blew MCAT studying out of the water. This is to say nothing of Step 1.

 

[Foot Fetish]

People are seriously comparing the MCAT to USMLEs? I barely studied for the MCAT. The amount of time, energy and money I spent studying for even Step 2 CK blew MCAT studying out of the water. This is to say nothing of Step 1.

Exactly my point. MCAT is more akin to an IQ test, what with folks like you waltzing in and taking it well enough to get into medical school with no preparation. The Boards, on the other hand, can't be "beaten" (240+) unless you essentially sit your butt down and memorize a ton of stuff. Memory + endurance + time are the keys w/ USMLE.

 

[Say]

Exactly my point. MCAT is more akin to an IQ test, what with folks like you waltzing in and taking it well enough to get into medical school with no preparation. The Boards, on the other hand, can't be "beaten" (240+) unless you essentially sit your butt down and memorize a ton of stuff. Memory + endurance + time are the keys w/ USMLE.

As someone who has taken step 1, I don't think you are making a 100% incorrect statement. I think step 1 does reward hard work more than MCAT. However, I don't think many spent even a fraction of the amount of time preparing for the MCAT as they did for step 1. In college I studied the night before the test for every MCAT subject course and did not learn to retain. Med school however I studied everyday in hopes that I could retain the concepts for boards.

 

[operaman]

Ive often wondered similar things as the OP and in the end I think it comes down to some people are fortunate enough to have intellectual gifts better suited to,the study of medicine and others lack those innate gifts and must compensate with time and hard work. I too always heard the stories about how the next year is when the pain starts, but it never did. I remember speeches at the end of school where many spoke of feeling like they weren't going to make it, but inside I knew I had a very different experience. We all have seen articles here and elsewhere that describe medical training as abusive and even driving some to suicide, but my medical school and residency experience thus far has been rather idyllic.

I definitely studied more than OP, but I came in knowing I wanted a competitive field. More than that, I came in as a non trad career changer desiring a particular field so I worked hard to ensure I'd be able to match. Even so, I rarely felt stressed or felt that the material was particularly difficult. But I've come to recognize that many were not as fortunate, and I can imagine that I would have had a hard time too if I ever felt in danger of failing.

I would strongly advise OP to take advantage of his/her gifts and aim to be one of the best. Everything really does build on itself. While I've definitely forgotten much preclinical minutiae by now, I still use a large part of what I learned back then. Steps and shelves and future exams all build on the material you're learning now, and I'm sure that the time I spent then has enabled me to do better now with less study, which is good since the one constant I've noticed that crosses the intellectual divide is that as training progresses, you will have less and less time to study. These days it's a real challenge to squeeze in much reading at all.

MCAT was definitely harder for me but I also took it without ever having set foot in a science class. Step 1 was difficult and definitely gives a thorough examination of your understanding of basic science concepts and how they apply to the practice of medicine, but since I had worked so hard for two years, I didn't really need much dedicated time - just a little under two weeks.

 

[KinesiologyNerd]

The Boards, on the other hand, can't be "beaten" (240+) unless you essentially sit your butt down and memorize a ton of stuff. Memory + endurance + time are the keys w/ USMLE.

No. As people who have actually taken boards are trying to tell you, all the memorization in the world isn't going to get you a great score. You ability to unravel the question (ie critical thinking) is the key. Every Joe Schmoe sitting for step 1 has the knowledge base, but they don't all have the ability to reason out the question to apply that knowledge.

 

[Username555]

If someone makes a post about how hard med school is, plenty of people will come and post how easy it is.
If someone makes a post about how easy it is, there's plenty of people who will come and say how hard it is.

And I'm assuming your "three hours studying a day" does not include the lecture time. That would make sense seeing as your scoring at the bottom of the pack. It's all relative as well. I rarely ever studied in undergrad. The max time I put in for any single exam was about 8 hours, cumulatively. So for me, I study about 5 hours a day not counting lectures and then do about 5-10 on weekends, but I also gym 6/d week and sleep >7hours a night. So for me, yeah, medical schools blows because I've never studied anywhere close to it. But then again, I'm routinely scoring >95% on every exam.

Be careful with becoming complacent with mediocrity. It'll likely carry over into your board studying and then you'll be stuck wondering why you have a 205.

Also, for the first test, my 3 hours did include lecture time. For the second test, though, I started skipping most lectures so it was literally 1 to 1.5 hours a day of total studying until the test was getting close.

 

[673441]

Before I start, I wanna preface by saying I don't say any of this to come off as an arrogant prick, and if it seems that way, I do apologize. That is not my intention at all.

My question is, how come the only thing I hear about med school is how hard it is?

I am currently weeks away from finishing up my first semester, and so far I'm pretty confused by why everyone makes it out to be the hardest task in the universe and why so many claim to struggle through the initial stage.

Here's my experience so far: for the first test, starting from the first day of class, I probably studied about 3 hours a day on the weekdays, and like 4-5 per day on the weekends. The week of the test when we had no class to maybe an hour of class per day, I studied about 4 hours a day and got all the sleep my heart desired. I did a little better than the class average on the test.

For the second test, my motivation went straight down the tubes. I took stretches of days off at a time, I took some of the weekends off, I started skipping most of my classes, etc. On the days when I did study, the maximum I would hit is 2 hours, most of the time it was between 1 and 1.5 hours. Then during test week I buckled down and studied around 5 hours a day. This time I did a little worse than the class average, but still passed.

My doubt is, if I can get away with studying less than 2 hours a day on days I actually choose to study, and then studying 5 hours a day for a week before a test and still pass, what is it about med school that makes everyone complain incessantly?

I go to the gym 6-7 times a week, I'm eating well, I get as much sleep as I want, I'm in a relationship, I dick around with my friends for at least some time every day, I see my family every other weekend, I party on the weekends (sometimes on weeknights), I waste time on Netflix, blah blah blah.

At this point you might be thinking I'm one of those annoying dinguses every class has who can get away with putting in a fraction of what everyone else puts in and still gets the same grades. But as far as med school matriculants go, I'm definitely below the pack. I got more Bs than I got As in high school, and I even got some Cs. In undergrad I would've probably been a straight B student if my friends didn't teach me everything the few days before a test.

With all of this in mind, I'm just wondering what is it that makes everyone talk about med school as if it's the hardest thing in the world? Something just isn't adding up for me.

Your true medical school experience won't begin until M2. Have fun till then.

 

[TaroBubbleTea]

With all of this in mind, I'm just wondering what is it that makes everyone talk about med school as if it's the hardest thing in the world? Something just isn't adding up for me.

Consider yourself fortunate that your medical school experience is not as miserable as you initially thought it would be. No point or utility in questioning it.

As for me, I spend a ton of time studying just trying to do slightly above the average.

 

[medicinewoman101]

In some ways I'm glad trump won. Because it's started to force people to question conventionally held beliefs more and more. To the point that they don't know what the heck to believe when before they were so certain about things.

When it comes to med school and medicine there are many many myths and legends that surround the whole system. Always look back at the fundamental blocks of everything and anything when you try to frame an understanding. The $$ are what you need to look at when it comes to medicine and this will help you understand the medical world better.

Our whole system of medicine from the top all the way down to the every single part of the wheel is being manipulated and performed bc of the $ sign. Never lose sight of that. My hope is we go to a single payor system bc you guys will see as you move through how impressively entrenched medicine is in just one thing. $$

 

[jw3600]

In some ways I'm glad trump won. Because it's started to force people to question conventionally held beliefs more and more. To the point that they don't know what the heck to believe when before they were so certain about things.

When it comes to med school and medicine there are many many myths and legends that surround the whole system. Always look back at the fundamental blocks of everything and anything when you try to frame an understanding. The $$ are what you need to look at when it comes to medicine and this will help you understand the medical world better.

Our whole system of medicine from the top all the way down to the every single part of the wheel is being manipulated and performed bc of the $ sign. Never lose sight of that. My hope is we go to a single payor system bc you guys will see as you move through how impressively entrenched medicine is in just one thing. $$

Wut

 

[EM17ThrowAway]

In some ways I'm glad trump won. Because it's started to force people to question conventionally held beliefs more and more. To the point that they don't know what the heck to believe when before they were so certain about things.

When it comes to med school and medicine there are many many myths and legends that surround the whole system. Always look back at the fundamental blocks of everything and anything when you try to frame an understanding. The $$ are what you need to look at when it comes to medicine and this will help you understand the medical world better.

Our whole system of medicine from the top all the way down to the every single part of the wheel is being manipulated and performed bc of the $ sign. Never lose sight of that. My hope is we go to a single payor system bc you guys will see as you move through how impressively entrenched medicine is in just one thing. $$

Dafuq did I just read

 

[sazerac]

In some ways I'm glad trump won. Because it's started to force people to question conventionally held beliefs more and more. To the point that they don't know what the heck to believe when before they were so certain about things.

When it comes to med school and medicine there are many many myths and legends that surround the whole system. Always look back at the fundamental blocks of everything and anything when you try to frame an understanding. The $$ are what you need to look at when it comes to medicine and this will help you understand the medical world better.

Our whole system of medicine from the top all the way down to the every single part of the wheel is being manipulated and performed bc of the $ sign. Never lose sight of that. My hope is we go to a single payor system bc you guys will see as you move through how impressively entrenched medicine is in just one thing. $$

You forgot the link to the road dating website.

 

[username456789]

In some ways I'm glad trump won. Because it's started to force people to question conventionally held beliefs more and more. To the point that they don't know what the heck to believe when before they were so certain about things.

When it comes to med school and medicine there are many many myths and legends that surround the whole system. Always look back at the fundamental blocks of everything and anything when you try to frame an understanding. The $$ are what you need to look at when it comes to medicine and this will help you understand the medical world better.

Our whole system of medicine from the top all the way down to the every single part of the wheel is being manipulated and performed bc of the $ sign. Never lose sight of that. My hope is we go to a single payor system bc you guys will see as you move through how impressively entrenched medicine is in just one thing. $$

I'll have whatever Dr. Quinn here is smoking.